I sigh, not bothering to hold back my indignation.
“I’m parked right out front.” Before he turns to walk out of the hotel, Everett extends a hand toward the bag slung over my shoulder. “I’ll take these for you.”
“Oh, you don’t—” Everett ignores my protest and takes my tote bag, hooking it through his fingers and gently placing a hand on my lower back to guide me to his BMW. It’s shiny and new and black, just like his old one. The one with the cushy passenger seat with my strawberry lip gloss and country apple body spray tucked into the glove compartment and my scrunchy wrapped around the gearshift.
My fingers still on the handle of the passenger side. Suddenly, I don’t recognize the woman I see in the reflection of the polished window in front of me. I only see the sixteen-year-old girl, too eager to hop into her boyfriend’s fancy BMW, ready to be swept off her feet.
“Everett.” He’s at the back of his car, placing my bag in his trunk, when I call his name and he stops, looking up to face me. “I think I should drive my car.”
He scowls, closing the trunk with a light thud. “Why?”
I close my eyes and try my best to hold back the grimace twisting my face. How do I tell him that I might crumble into a million little pieces if I slide right into this passenger seat that’s no longer mine? How do I tell him that I’m not ready to sit there and watch him drive with the cool coastal breeze blowing through his hair and his wrist lazily slung over the steering wheel as if it hasn’t been twenty years since I last saw him like that? How do I explain the grief already slashed into my heart at the mere thought of it?
I look at him, one hand braced on my hip and the other trailing over my chin to hide the shakiness of my voice. “I, um,” I say, that wavering stammer too strong for me to hide with anything other than silence. Everett cautiously makes his way toward me, his hand resting on the frame of his car. He eyes me, letting me work through my words. “I just think that…” I pause, looking at him with the words caught in my throat. The truth resting there where it’s been held back for so long. “I can’t get in your car,” I finally tell him, my voice hoarse. “I don’t know if I can…”
He gently hooks his hand over my wrist, my fingers still creating this wall of defense to safeguard all the hurt so visible on my face. His index finger trails over my pulse point for a second before he drops his hand, creating this emptiness I’m all too familiar with.
“Okay,” he finally answers. “That’s fine.” He swallows, and a shadow casts over his features, making him look grave and somber. He walks back to his trunk, popping it open to retrieve my bag, and I lead the way to my car.
An hour later, as we sit in the thick of Southern California traffic, Everett and I fill the silence with talk radio. I let the concentration necessary to navigate through stop-and-go traffic fill my already preoccupied mind and do my best to ignore Everett’s presence along with the big pink elephant sitting in the back seat. Everett’s doing a much better job at ignoring the burgeoning metaphorical mammal behind us, busying himself with the same swatches and color samples I showed Eric earlier.
“I like the gold with the bluish-green color,” he comments, his gaze still focused on everything spread over his lap.
“That’s what Eric said.”
He responds with a low hum. “And I think a really large focal piece like some artwork or a really out of this world chandelier would go great with what you picked out so far.”
“Yeah. I’m already looking for light fixtures that I think might work, and I booked a meeting with a local art gallery for Eric to pick out some pieces.”
“When?”
I turn to quickly glance in his direction only to see him patiently wait for my answer. “Most likely in a week or two. They have a show in the coming week, so they wanted to get that out of the way before having any potential buyers in.”
“I’ll meet with them.”
“Eric already agreed to?—”
“It’s fine,” he interrupts. “I’ll tell him I’ll do it. He’s got a lot on his plate with hiring new staff and rolling out the new booking software. I told him I’d take on anything I can help with.” I don’t respond with an answer. Instead, I remain silent, bypassing a slow moving semi. “Have you talked to Josh recently?”
“I called him a few days ago,” I answer. “Why?”
“I had dinner with him and Mina last night. He mentioned something about a bachelor party in Vegas?”
“Oh, yeah. They’re doing this joint bachelor-bachelorette party. Mina told me about it too.”
“It’s still a while before the wedding.”
“I know, but Mina’s maid of honor is visiting, and it kind of worked out,” I explain. “Otherwise, we’d be squeezing in an overnight trip the day before the wedding.”
“So, you’re going?”
I smirk in his direction. “I think I’m a little too old to be out partying with the youngsters.”
“If you’re too old then what the hell am I?”
I laugh. “I don’t even know if I can get the time off. I’m working on a few other projects. And with this hotel renovation, I’m up to my neck with deadlines.”
He smirks a playful simper. “I think I can persuade your boss to give you some time off.”
