Chapter Thirteen
Mark
My hands are clammy, and my chest feels tight again from the anxiety ripping me to shreds. My nerves are shot because I’m about to tell my best friends my lifelong secret. And I’m worried that it may not go over well.
I invited Rylie and Sasha out to dinner tonight, just the three of us, like old times, so I could tell them about Eli. I’ve practiced my speech a hundred times since last Monday and yet, somehow, now that the time has come, I’m tongue tied and worried about what they’ll think.
“What is your deal tonight, Olsen? You’re acting like a freaking weirdo, all fidgety and shit,” Sasha notes, handing me the wine bottle we ordered before dinner.
I pour a glass, placing the bottle back down on the table before taking a fortifying sip. My hand tremors and I wonder if they notice. As I look over the rim of the glass, Sasha is giving me that ‘I’m on to you’look – so yeah, she noticed.
Rylie sits there looking thoroughly oblivious to what’s going on, her hand idly stroking her rotund pregnant belly. The thing is, Sasha and I have always been closest. We grew up with similar lifestyles and backgrounds and were each other’s confidantes in college as we each went through our share of relationships and one-night-stands. I’ve never been scared to share my secrets with her, until now.
“I’ve met someone.” I finally spill, letting the words hang there between us, staring down at my napkin before glancing back up at them both.
Rylie’s fork stops halfway to her mouth, the cheesecake it holds all but forgotten over my announcement. And Sasha jumps in her chair and claps like a little toy monkey with the cymbals.
“Oh my God, Olsen! It’s about fucking time you got over Elise. Tell us, who is she? How did you two meet? Is she a doctor, too?”
Sasha is teaming for information, her face alight with enthusiastic interest and it about guts me to know that my next words could possibly ruin our friendship.
Clearing my throat, I glance away, looking through the crowd for some source of support.
Finding none, but knowing it’s now or never, I turn back and instantly feel like a coward – riddled with guilt. From this moment on, they’ll always look at me differently. Maybe even feel like I’ve lied to them all these years. Kept a part of me a secret and not trusting them enough to share it with them. They’re going to hate me.
My voice wobbles with uncertainty. “See, here’s the crazy thing...”
I wring my hands in my lap, biting my lip nervously, the top of my lip covered in beads of sweat.
They both look at me with expectant expressions. Neither has a clue what bomb I’m about to drop. And how it will change things forevermore.
Everything.
“I didn’t know...well, Idid, I just didn’t pursue it much before now. I had no reason to.”
Sasha, the impatient one, interjects. “What the hell is the matter with you? Why are you rambling? Who is she?”
I swallow thickly. “He. It’s ahe. His name is Elijah. Eli.”
There. I said it. The weight lifts and falls to the floor like an anvil.
I hold my breath and wait.
And wait.
And wait.
They’re both staring at me. Rylie with a crooked smirk across her face and Sasha squinting at me as if she’s trying to figure out if I’m fucking with her.
“Eli, as in, adude?” Sasha’s voice is an octave higher than her normal shrill.
I give a helpless shrug.
“Yep.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yep,” I agree.
