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“I apologize for my sons earlier. They’re very protective of their sister. More so after their mother died.”
“No apologies necessary, Gary. Truthfully, I’m glad. I seem to have become protective of her myself, so I understand the need.” I take a slow sip of my whiskey. “Not that she needs it. She’s more of a bulldog than anyone I’ve known.”
He tilts his head back and laughs. “That she is, Aleck. She’s just like her mother. Almost a carbon copy.”
“So I’ve heard.”
“Has she told you about Jolie?”
“A little. Full disclosure? I’ve researched the case extensively. I hope you’re not offended, it’s just… My way of understanding.”
“I’m not offended. Though the court and police reports won’t tell you how my daughterfeels.”
“You’re right. I apologize. It seems I have a lot to learn about connecting with people. Your daughter is helping me in that way.”
“She always did feel it was her duty tofixpeople.”
Ouch.
He smiles warmly, though I sense a warning coming.
“The first time I met Jolie, she was reading on the stoop of my apartment building. I had never seen her there before, but the building was very large and always had vacancies. So, naturally I assumed she had just moved in or we just hadn’t crossed paths yet. I was bold and headstrong back then, but just barely twenty, so of course my faults were lost on me.”
He swirls the amber liquid in his glass, slowly curling his lips into a reminiscing smile. “Even though I had to be at work, I struck up a conversation that led to lunch, then a walk around our neighborhood. She was so beautiful. Her long caramel hair, soft brown freckles across her cheeks and nose, her long slender legs… I couldn’t understand why she was indulging me. I was cocky and presumptuous, she was soft and splitting at the seams with passion. I missed an entire day’s work, but I spent it getting to know my future wife.”
“Worth it in the long run,” I say, scanning the room for Winter, but still no sign of her.
“Right, I agree,” Gary says, ushering me back to our conversation. “It was worth it forme, of course. She was far beyond what I deserved. But how do we know whenweare worthy enough forthem?”
And there it is: the warning.
“I asked Jolie to meet me on my stoop every day so I could see her before I went to work. So, she did. She met me on that stoop every day for two months before she finally agreed to go out with me. That’s when I learned she was only waiting for a friend that first day. She didn’t live in that building. In fact, she lived clear across town. And in LA, two miles feels like ten without transportation. An hour of travel and two bus rides later, she arrived every day with a smile just to see me for fifteen minutes before I went to work.”
I glance up, spotting Winter at the edge of the dancefloor. She lifts her eyes, meeting mine, and smiles before laughing at something Keith has said.
That laugh, she’s so beautiful when she laughs.The collar of my shirt tightens, the air becoming too thick to breathe.
“I asked her why she never told me. I mean, it would have been so easy to tell me so she didn’t have to go through the trouble anymore. Her answer? Because I asked her to. That’s it.” He lifts his shoulders with a shrug. “Because I asked her to. She knew she loved me the minute she laid eyes on me. With Jolie, if she loved you, she loved youhard. Putting herself and her own needs last came easy to her. And even though I was a shithead back then, I loved her deeply. I’m thankful she found me and not some asshole who would have taken advantage of the sacrifices she made when she loved someone.”
Gary narrows his eyes on me. He’s trying to figure out what kind of man I truly am, I’m sure. Would I reap the rewards of Winter’s sacrifices selfishly or sacrifice my own needs instead.
“Like I said, Winter may as well be a carbon copy of her mother,” he continues. “Heart on her sleeve, splitting at the seams with passion, ready to love hard... I never sat down with Brian when they first started dating. For that I’ll always kick myself. I was trying to be…” His shoulders bob with a silent laugh. “Progressive.When he cheated on her, she was devastated. And when he broke up with her, she blamed herself. She spent more time than necessary wondering what she could have done differently. Took her months to get angry enough to realize it washimthat didn’t deserveher.”
Gary pulls a large breath of air into his lungs, then exhales like he’s shedding skin. “But Brian was a cunt.” He laughs. “You’re not a cunt, are you, Aleck?”
A knowing smile ghosts across my face. So this is‘the talk’from a concerned father? I’ve never received one before because I’ve never dated anyone exclusively. Icertainlydidn’t expect to have onenowat the ripe old age of thirty-two.
“I assure you, Gary, I have no interest in hurting Winter.”
I would rather bury myself alive.
“Good. Make sure she doesn’t show up on that stoop every day waiting for a crumb of your attention, sacrificing her own needs to do so. Because she will, Aleck. And she’ll do it without even questioning whether she should.”
With that, Gary smiles, shoots back the rest of his whiskey, stands, and walks away.
I find my girl in the crowd once more. She’s laughing, happy, swaying to the music, being Winter. And Winter in her element is a magnificent sight.
“Heart on her sleeve, splitting at the seams with passion, ready to love hard.”The words Gary spoke echo between my ears while I watch her with her friends. I want Winter in my life more than I’ve wanted anything. I crave her, Ineedher. But like the drugs my parents were addicted to, I know I’ve been lulled into a false sense of happiness, a false sense of deserving this euphoria.
