AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Oh, hi,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
She nodded. “I’m here to pick up some things for Stephanie.”
“Oh, okay.” I moved aside so she could come in. “Her room is down the hall. What uh—what did she ask you to get? I might be able to help you find everything.”
“She told me where it all was,” she said. “No need.”
“Is she staying with you and David?”
“No,” she said. “She’s at a hotel. I would have put her in my old apartment, but the building is being fumigated.”
“I see. What hotel?”
Lily gave me a look and then said nothing and walked down the hall to Stephanie’s room. I followed her. “Look, I don’t know what she said to you, but I really need to talk to her. I know she’s upset, and I will give her some time, but if you could just tell me where she’s staying, then at least I could call and leave her a message or something.”
“No, I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“But if I could just explain.”
“Explain what?” Lily folded her arms. “How about you explain it to me first, and then I’ll let you know whether or not that explanation is at all adequate, because the story I heard was that Stephanie told you she was pregnant and you proceeded to yell at her and accuse her of trying to trap you in a relationship. Is that not what happened?”
“It’s a little more nuanced than that.”
“You want to know what nuances I care about,” she said. “I care about the fact that you took what should’ve been one of the happiest moments of my friend’s life and ruined it. I care about the fact that Stephanie really has feelings for you, and she was so scared to tell you she was pregnant, but she did it anyway because she’s an honest person who doesn’t like to keep people in the dark.” Lily sighed and threw her hands up in the air. “I don’t even know why I am wasting my breath on you when one of my best friends is crying her eyes out over some guy who’s nowhere near good enough for her.”
“She’s crying?”
“Of course she’s crying, you idiot!” Lily groaned. “God, if you weren’t my brother-in-law I would smack you! She’s pregnant, and she’s feeling all kinds of emotions right now, and instead of being there for her, you made her feel like she’d done something wrong, like it was all her fault, when it takes two to make a baby! You of all people should know that!”
“I want to be there for her now,” I said. “If you would just tell me where she is.”
“It’s too late,” she said. “It’s way too late.” She opened the duffle bag she’d brought with her and started throwing items in. I stood in the doorway watching her, waiting for her to say something else, but she was ignoring me and it eventually dawned on me that she wasn’t going to give me any more information. I left her to her packing and went to make myself some lunch. Will was in the kitchen getting a snack.
“Hey buddy,” I said when I saw him.
“Can I go over to Jack’s house?”
“Jack?”
“He’s my friend from school. Can I go over to his house and spend the night?”
“It’s a school night,” I said. “You can’t have a sleepover on a school night.”
“Jack’s mom said it was okay,” said Will. “We’re just going to do our homework together and then go to sleep. Please? We have a project we have to finish.” Will would never lie to my face, but I did get the sense that he was maybe only telling me a half-truth. I’m sure he really did have a project, and he would just do his homework with his friend and then go to bed, but he still wasn’t telling me the real reason he wanted to go over there. He wanted to get away from me.
“You’re sure Jack’s mom is fine with taking you to school in the morning?”
“She’s fine with it.”
“Alright then. I’ll pick you up in the afternoon.”
He sighed. “Whatever. I’m going to go call Jack. His mom can come pick me up so you don’t have to drive me.” He took his soda to go and ran upstairs to his room. I proceeded to make myself some food. Five minutes later, when Lily came out of Steph’s room, I tried to talk to her again but she wasn’t having it. She left in a hurry and shortly thereafter, a car honked out in front of the house and Will ran out the door to meet up with his friend. I waved from the porch, but only Jack’s mom waved back. I closed the front door and looked around at my empty house, suddenly feeling very alone.
* * *
“Yeah, that’s right, two chicken tacos, two shrimp tacos, chips, and a margarita pitcher.” I was ordering my dinner over the phone, already two beers into my night. I didn’t feel like going out or cooking, so I was ordering for delivery, and the pitcher of margaritas was something I tacked on at the end, for fear that my beer supply was running low.
I wanted to forget about everything that happened that morning, and the only way I could think of making that happen was to drink. More specifically, drink tequila. It would either make me forget or put me in a better mood, and either of those options would work for me. After I hung up with the restaurant, I sat around in the living room waiting for my food and trying to think of anything else besides her. I turned on the TV, just to have a distraction, but that didn’t work either. There was nothing good to watch, and a woman came on the screen who looked a little bit like Stephanie so I quickly turned it off.
