It’d only been a moment or two, but it felt like a lifetime holding her like this. I knew she’d have to be woken up soon, but I didn’t know how to do it. What would I say?
Hello?
Shifting her in my arms so her head lay on my shoulder, I bent and pressed my lips on hers softly. This wasn’t some stranger in a dressing room. This was me, her Gatsby.
Her eyes fluttered, but didn’t fully open.
“Gatsby,” she sighed and closed her eyes again.
Suddenly, a tone started going off a short distance away. My head jerked up and my eyes swiveled to the sound. It was her phone. Gently, I set her down and scurried to pick it up. I reached it just in time. The screen was lit up.
TUTH
I slid my thumb over the green button and put my face to the wet phone.
“Hello? Tuth?”
“Who is this?” they demanded.
“It’s—” I glanced back at Daisy; she was rousing. “I can’t say. You know who it is. She fell on the dock. I saved her. Come get her. She needs to be checked out.”
“What? I—Okay, I’m on my way.”
“I was never here,” I told them.
I hung up and set the phone right where I’d found it. Daisy was starting to sit up now, and the rain was starting to pick up again. I looked toward my boat, barely visible in therain. I'd been drifting near the trees when she fell, watching the house as I had many nights before.
I couldn’t help myself.
“Where is she?” Tuth’s voice yelled from a distance, and I panicked. I jumped over the side of the dock, back into the water. The freezing temperature was a shock to my body, and I had to push myself to stay afloat. As soon as I was steady, I started a stroke back to my boat, pushing myself to go fast. I could hear them now. Tuth and Neal had reached the dock and were frantically helping Daisy to her feet.
I reached my boat and launched myself over the rails, collapsing completely. Any and all strength I’d had before was used up. I coughed, struggling to catch my breath, and closed my eyes, letting the rain beat down on my face.
I could hear their muffled voices, but the distance and storm kept the words indistinguishable. Soon, they faded. With a groan, I stood and looked toward her house. The lights were on, but she and her friends were nowhere to be seen.
I stared blankly for a moment and something inside of me snapped. I spun away from the house. My eyes raked over the boat. I swung my arm, grabbing the bottle of whiskey I’d been drinking from before she came to the dock. I swung it down onto the floor of the boat and watched as it smashed into a thousand pieces, just like my heart had been by my own fucking hand.
My own fucking cowardice.
I kicked over a short cabinet and stormed to the back of the speedboat. The rain beat loudly on the canopy. It pounded in my ears, as if yelling at me for being such a fucking scaredy cat.
What was I scared of?
She’d told the unknown man that she loved me. She ran from him in devotion to me. I plopped into the chair I’dbeen sitting in and stared into the void as the thunder roared and lightning flashed around me.
Things had to change. No more.
Tomorrow, Daisy would finally meet Gatsby again.
Tomorrow, I’d have my green light.
Chapter 24
Gatsby
I knockedthree times on the plain-looking door and waited. When there wasn’t an immediate answer, I looked at my watch. It was nine am on the dot. I knocked again, louder.
“Who the fuck—” The door swung open as Neal greeted me with a groan. They blinked and shook the sleep from their eyes. “Oh shit, uh—this is... what is this?” They looked me up and down.
