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This was a nice surprise. I texted back immediately.
NASH: I am. And this is funny, because my mom just texted me a little bit ago that she can’t sleep, either.
SARIAH: Weird. I keep looking at the clock thinking about how much sleep I can still get, and then stressing when I still don’t fall asleep. Recalculate. Stress again. Repeat.
NASH: Busy day at work tomorrow?
SARIAH: Just the usual. What about you?
NASH: A little busy. It’s an early morning, but a short day.
SARIAH: Want me to let you go so you can sleep?
NASH: Nope.
SARIAH: How’s your mom? And where does she live, by the way?
NASH: My parents have been in Asheville for several years now. And she’s okay. She’s alone again tonight because my dad’s a worthless asshole.
SARIAH: That’s terrible.
NASH: Yeah, and the worst part is, my mom doesn’t even know.
I set my phone back on the table and took a sip of my second beer of the night. I’d never told anyone what was up with my parents. Saying it out loud seemed like it would just make it worse. Texting about it didn’t seem as bad, though. And Sariah was a good listener. She might have some advice for me about the anniversary party.
SARIAH: Want to tell me about it?
NASH: A couple of years ago, my dad asked me to get him tickets to a hockey game in NY for him and a business associate. I ended up being in town at the last minute, so I went to meet up with him. Thought maybe we could go get a drink. When I got there, he was with a woman and he had his arm around her.
SARIAH: Oh no.
NASH: Yeah. He just introduced her as Sandy like it was no big deal. I left and confronted him about it later and he told me he hasn’t been happy with my mom in a long time and he’d started seeing Sandy almost a year earlier. Fucking shitbag.
SARIAH: And he never told your mom?? This whole time??
NASH: No. He said it would break her heart and that he doesn’t want to do that to her.
SARIAH: But he already did it to her.
NASH: Believe me, I agree. We went a few rounds about it. And now he’s trying to get me to go to their thirtieth anniversary party next month.
SARIAH: Oh, my heart just broke for her. An anniversary party, and she has no idea he’s been cheating on her for two years now.
NASH: Yeah, and she’s the sweetest person. She doesn’t deserve any of this.
SARIAH: What are you going to do?
NASH: Idk. I’ve thought about telling her, but that’s something my dad needs to man up and do himself.
SARIAH: I can’t even imagine doing that to another person. Have you ever cheated on someone?
NASH: Never. Either you’re happy enough to be faithful, or you break up.
SARIAH: I don’t think I could go to that party if I were you.
NASH: I really don’t want to, but my mom keeps asking me to come. She wants to introduce me to her friends there. I’m an only child.
SARIAH: That’s really hard.
NASH: Yeah, it sucks.
“Hey man, I’m heading out,” Wes said, tapping my shoulder.
I looked up and saw that my teammates had started clearing out of the bar while I was busy texting Sariah.
“Yeah, I will too,” I said.
NASH: We should both get to bed. Thanks for listening.
SARIAH: Anytime. Good night, Rob.
I felt a stab of guilt over the fake name I’d given her. What the hell was I going to do about all of this? I didn’t want to tell her the truth, because she’d be pissed—rightfully so.
Fuck. I sounded exactly like my douchebag father.
NASH: Good night.
Chapter Thirteen
Sariah
* * *
“Hey, Sariah?” Kevin looked up from his desk. “I have Everett Jackson on the phone and he says he wants to talk to you.”
“Thanks! Send him my way.” I waved at him as he transferred the call and picked it up on the first ring. “Everett!”
“Sara!” Everett Jackson was a retired professional baseball player who now ran a fitness center in St. Louis. I’d sold him tons of ad space when I’d worked for the newspaper and he’d called me Sara from the first time we’d met, no matter how many times I’d corrected him. One night at a charity function, he’d gotten drunk and admitted he did it just to hear me get huffy about it. Now it was our joke.
“You’ve been a hard man to reach,” I told him.
“I had no idea you’d left the paper,” he protested. “You didn’t call me!”
“You were in Europe for two months and didn’t tell me.” I pointed out. “You’ve been on my list of people to call, but I’ve been swamped since I joined the Mavericks organization. Everyone is buying season tickets.”
“You’re gonna make me watch hockey now, aren’t you?” he groaned. “And Maya is going to divorce me if I add another sport to the list.”
