16. Brielle
Chapter sixteen
Brielle
A s I was getting ready for my sister's engagement party, I checked Elijah’s flight information to see when it was getting in. He was getting a rental car and meeting me at the party. Just as I picked up my phone to check one last time before heading out, Elijah's name appeared on the screen.
“Hey, did you get your car okay?” It was silent for a second. “Eli? Are you there?”
His throat cleared. “Yeah, I um…need a ride. They won't rent to me.”
“What? Why not? Didn’t you pre-plan it?”
“I’m drunk.”
I didn’t know whether to feel angry, sad, hurt, or a mix of all three. I tried my best to keep my voice calm. “I will be right there.”
I drove thirty-five minutes out of my way to the airport, and when he got in, he didn’t even look at me.
After about twenty minutes of silence, I broke it, “I have to call Callie and tell her where I am.”
He stared out the front windshield and shrugged.
“Hey Siri, call Callie.”
The phone rang through my car a few times before she answered.
“I will be there in about twenty minutes. I had to pick up Eli.”
His mood instantly changed the moment he heard her voice. “Hey, Calster, what’s up, girl?”
Calster?
“Elijah, are you drunk? It is ten in the morning,” Callie said.
“It’s five o’clock somewhere, babyyy,” he said, dragging out the “E” sound.
I heard her slap either her face or forehead. “You better not be too drunk. I will kick your ass out. Do you hear me? This is an important day for Aubs and Link.”
“I will be fine. I—”
“I will watch him. He is fine.”
“No, I will have Nick watch him. You are the maid of honor. You have more than enough to do.".
“Callie, I got it, okay?”
“Fine. See you in twenty.”
I let the silence fall over us again, but I hated the awkwardness between us. “Are you okay?” I asked hesitantly.
He looked over at me this time. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
I switched lanes to get onto the correct highway before answering him.
“Well, as far as I knew, you were still sober, like as of yesterday morning. You checked in with me, remember? I even picked you up some of the non-alcoholic beers you asked for.” I gestured to the back seat where said beers currently sat.
“Yeah, the sober life just wasn’t for me. I figured I'll try again after my dad dies,” he replied dryly.
I looked over in absolute horror. “What? Why would you say something like that?”
“He is dying, Brie. You knew that. I saw him yesterday, and he’s worse. So when he dies in a few days or weeks or months, maybe I’ll try again, maybe not. I didn’t really like who I was when I was sober anyway. I wasn’t me.”
I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter.
“Well, I did. I think that version of Elijah was probably one of my favorite people.” He shrugged.
“Do you want to talk about it? ‘Cause once we are out of this car, I will be in maid of honor mode, and you will need to have your shit together. If you ruin this party, I will—”
“Brielle!”
“Don’t fucking yell at me, Elijah."
“Then stop harping on me. Please.”
I let a few minutes go by, but I couldn’t help blurting out, “You should go to rehab.”
He cut his eyes and stared at me. “And why the hell would I do that? I told you I hated being sober.”
“Well, I know that’s not true.” I sighed. “If you are going to keep drinking and keep treating people like you are currently treating me, then you can just write this friendship off. I don’t want to watch someone drink their life away.”
I saw his eyebrows raise from the corner of my eye, but he didn’t say another word.
I pulled up to the restaurant and called Nick and Link to come down to help me carry a few things inside. Link saw Elijah heading into the restaurant area instead of onto the roof where the party was being held.
“Dude, it's upstairs, not in there.”
Elijah waved him off and walked inside and straight to the bar instead.
“Is he good?” Nick asked.
I looked up at him, hoping he couldn’t see the complete defeat I was feeling. “I don’t know, and I honestly can't worry about how a grown man is acting right now. I need this party to be perfect for my sister.”
Link came up behind me, putting his hand on my shoulder before hugging me. “I will handle this, Brie. I promise he won’t ruin today.”
Nick chimed in, “No, I will handle it. You and Aubrey will enjoy today. Today is for you, too.”
The party went off without a hitch. I took some engagement pictures as the sun was setting and then sent everyone on their way. I was cleaning up when Elijah’s voice came from behind me, “Can we talk?”
“No,” I said curtly. “Not here. Not now.”
“When?”
I turned to look at him. “I tried already, remember? That whole conversation in the car. You yelled at me and blew it off.” I was doing my best to keep my voice down, but I was getting angrier by the second.
He moved next to me and boxed me in between him and a table.
“Masterpiece,” he whispered. His breath on the side of my face sent shivers through my body.
I closed my eyes tightly and swallowed, trying to regain some composure. “Eli, can we not do this right now? I know you aren’t going to hurt me, but I need you to back up.”
“I need to talk to you. Please?”
“Back up now or I will knee you in the balls. I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
He lifted his arms. “I’m sorry.”
I immediately ran to the bathroom. Callie saw me and was walking up to me. “I am fine; I just need to pee.”
She nodded.
I stood in the bathroom, looking at myself in the mirror.
He isn't your responsibility. He isn’t your… anything, no matter how much it feels like he should be. He will never want you that way. Stop obsessing.
I patted my face with a cool, wet paper towel.
He will fix this when he is ready…right?
Elijah
Callie approached me just as Brielle walked away. I thought she would scold me, but she stood there quietly and people watched with me.
“You really love him, huh?” I was referring to Nick, of course.
She looked over at me, ignoring the question. “Are you okay?”
“I will be. I just need to get my shit together.” She gave me a surprised look. “What?” I laughed.
“Nothing. I just thought I was going to have to be the one to say it.” She smiled.
“Thanks, friend,” I said sarcastically.
She nudged my shoulder with hers. “You know if you need help, all you have to do is ask, right? We’re all here for you.” She motioned over toward Brie, who was back and now dancing with Link. “Especially that one over there.”
I looked back at Callie. “Brielle? She basically hates me now. She pretty much wrote me off when I told her I didn’t need or want rehab. She told me to get it together or never talk to her again.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “So, what are you going to do?”
I kept quiet for a moment and grinned, looking down at my feet. “I looked up a few rehabs before the party when I was downstairs at the bar.”
Callie was speechless. I was about to tell her more, but Nick interrupted us. “Can I steal my girl for a minute?”
“Steal away.”
Callie leaned in and placed a kiss on my cheek. “She cares about you more than you think.”
Before she could pull away completely, I grabbed her wrist. “This stays between us, okay?” She nodded.
I grabbed another beer off the table and opened it. When I turned back toward the group dancing, Brielle was staring over Link’s shoulder and directly at me. I lifted the bottle and sipped from it. She shook her head and whispered something to Link.
What the fuck is my problem?
As I was cleaning the tables toward the end of the party, Brielle came up beside me.
“Are you going to need a ride to wherever you are staying?”
I turned to look at her. “I am staying at Link’s. I can have Link take me whenever he leaves.”
She looked down at her feet. “So am I, actually. I told Amani she could have the dorm room for some alone time with Beck tonight.” She smiled, but it was forced. “They seem to really be hitting it off.”
“Yeah, he really likes her. That’s why he came without me a few days ago.” I chuckled.
“Yeah. He is staying in our dorm. Hence, I'm staying with Aubs tonight.” She smirked.
I smiled back. “Yeah. He’s a good guy.”
A second later, she started walking away. “Well, I’m leaving in a few minutes, so I’ll meet you there.”
“I’ll be there,” I said like an idiot.
She chuckled. “I figured.”
When we got to Lincoln’s house, Brielle wasted no time going upstairs to her room. I hung out with Aubrey and Link for over an hour, just hoping and waiting for Brielle to come back down. She never did, though. I got sick of the dirty looks Aubrey was giving me, so I eventually said goodnight.
Once I had showered and changed, I returned downstairs for a drink.
The kitchen was dark except for the light over the stove.
It gave off just enough light to navigate around.
I spotted Link’s favorite whiskey sitting on the counter and poured myself a glass.
I put my hands down on the counter with the glass of whiskey in front of me.
My hair fell over my face as I stared down at that damn glass.
“What are you doing, man?” I said aloud.
“That’s the million-dollar question.”
I looked up to see Brie leaning on the doorframe. “Oh, hey, sorry if I woke you. I just needed—” I looked back down at the drink and thought it was best not to even look back up at her. I couldn’t take her disappointment right now.
“I just needed some water. I will be out of your way in a second.”
I finally looked back up when she passed me to grab herself some water from the fridge. She was wearing yellow shorts with a cropped T-shirt. She had never looked more beautiful.
She took a few sips of water and turned back toward the stairs. “I will see you for breakfast. Sweet dre—”
“I am sorry you had to come get me,” I said, cutting her off.
She raised an eyebrow at me. “You think that’s why I'm mad at you?”
I leaned onto the counter behind me, crossing my arms. I looked down. “So you are mad at me?”
“What was your first clue?” she said sarcastically. I chuckled lightly, thinking that would make her smile, but when I looked up, she still had a stern look. “Eli, what happened?”
I looked down at her, trying to hide the sadness. “I told you, my dad is dying.”
She stepped closer and put down the glass. “Yeah, he was. He is getting better, isn’t he? Why all of a sudden are you ruining your life again?”
“That’s harsh.”
“It's true though, right?” she asked.
I ran my fingers through my hair and looked at her.
She pointed to the whiskey glass. “Is that helping?”
I shrugged. When I didn’t verbally give an answer, she turned to leave, so I blurted out my response.
“No, it’s not, nothing does.”
She stopped walking but kept her back to me. “Last chance. Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.”
“Goodnight, Elijah.”