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“I appreciate it, but I’ve got to get home soon.”
“Hope you’ll come back soon. I’m here every weekend. Name’s Polly.”
Figured. Polly, the parrot. He chuckled, but she took that as a positive sign, leaned forward as far as the bar would let her, and gave him an eyeful of over-stretched and tanned breasts that did nothing for him. Nothing at all.
He stood, downed the last of his beer and ended the conversation. “Nice to meet you, Polly.”
He quickly strode from the bar and hit the john before walking into the blinding sun. With a heavy sigh, he climbed back on the bike and headed for home.
22
It took her longer than usual to make it home. She found it difficult to travel more than forty-five miles per hour. Her headache was now in full force, the pounding in her temples beginning to make her nauseous. She didn’t have any sumatriptan—a medicine used to treat migraines—with her; besides, it made her sleepy. Dr. Troy had prescribed it for her when she first began seeing her. She’d been able to wean herself off it for the most part, but today would be an exception.
Finally pulling into the parking lot, she exhaled loudly, immediately sorry as the exertion cause the throbbing in her head to increase. It felt like a mining crew was mining for ore in her head and weren’t finding any. Barely moving her head, she reached over and grabbed for her purse. It tipped over and spilled a couple of things onto the seat. Without looking, she grabbed what she could: lip gloss, her wallet, and a package of gum. She them in without care and slowly turned to exit her car. Careful to make the smallest moves possible, she very slowly climbed the stairs, afraid the elevator would make her throw up.
At the fourth floor, she walked to her door, turned the key in the lock, and let herself in. Her vision was now blurry, so she felt for the security system keypad to shut the system off. It didn’t beep, so she tried it again. This time she got the signal that she could move about. Twisting the deadbolt, she decided not to engage the door security until she could see straight. She slowly walked to the bathroom and felt for her pills. She immediately took one, leaving the bottle opened and on the counter and made her way to bed. Slowly reclining back, she let out a deep sigh and closed her eyes hoping it wouldn’t take the medicine long to work. She still needed to call David, but she just needed a minute or two.
* * *
Evening had arrived. He could smell the grills in the area and the goodies on them—steaks, chicken, brats. His mouth watered and he realized he hadn’t eaten anything today. As he neared Gray and Sam’s place, Gray popped out of the garage and waved him in.
He briefly thought about just waving and continuing on, but he didn’t want to do that to Gray. He didn’t deserve that.
Pulling into the driveway, his friend came to greet him, hand extended. “Did you have a nice ride today?”
“Yeah, not bad. Did you ride at all?”
“No, today was dinner at Mom and Dad’s, so that takes up most of the day. I’m just throwing some steaks on the grill, would you like to join us?”
He made eye contact for the first time since stopping, and Gray’s brows dipped in concern. “You okay?”
He heaved out a heavy sigh. “Gray, to be honest, it’s been a shitty day. I’m probably not very good company.”
“Shit. What happened? And don’t tell me you don’t want to talk about it. Let’s talk it out.”
He hesitated, but Gray insisted. “David, let me help you. You’ve helped me enough over the years.”
His lips turned down into a frown, but he dropped the kickstand and dismounted his bike. Gray led him through the garage to their stunning backyard, and he could smell the mixture of the hot grill and the flowers that were blooming. It was intoxicating.
Pointing to a chair, Gray said, “Take a seat; I’ll grab the steaks.”
He watched his friend open the patio door and slip inside. Seconds later he popped out of the same door with a platter and three enormous steaks stacked on it.
“It seems as though you were expecting me.” He nodded to the platter.
Gray chuckled. “No, we just came back from grocery shopping and hadn’t put them in the freezer yet. I heard your bike coming down the road and cut through the garage to see if I could catch you. Just great timing, that’s all.”
He watched his friend lay each steak on the grill and close the lid. He turned and sat in the chair next to him just as the patio door opened and Sam came out with two beers and a glass of wine.
“Nice to see you, David. Did you have a nice ride?”
“Hey, Sam. Yeah, it was good.” He took a bottle from her hand and watched as she turned to hand Gray his, but he got a kiss too. Normally that wouldn’t bother him. He was actually happy they’d found each other, but tonight it rankled. Sam moved to sit in a chair opposite him when Gray said, “Sam, honey, David and I need to have a chat. I’m sorry, but do you mind giving us a moment?”
The startled look on her face turned to worry. “Of course not. David, I hope everything is all right.”
“Sam, don’t leave, I don’t want to ruin your night. I’ll just go.”
“No. You sit. I’ve got things I can do in the house.”
