Chapter 22
Emmett
I
follow Drew into her apartment. I can tell she still has steam blowing out of her ears from that interaction. I can’t tell if she wants to be alone, or if she wants to talk, but I did notice that she told that guy to move out of our way.
I’m not sure, if she does want to talk, if she wants to talk to me. I stay put just inside the door, but I close it behind me to make sure that prick doesn’t try to come in. He took a second to register once Drew unleashed all of her feelings on him, and I would have felt bad for the guy if he didn’t completely bring that upon himself.
Drew had to ask him again to move, and when he finally stepped out of the way of the door, his face changed from surprise to disbelief, like he couldn’t believe she had the audacity to not want to see him. Drew paces in her kitchen, back and forth, head down, arms crossed. I don’t know what she’s thinking, but I can’t believe the kid just showed up unannounced like that, expecting to be invited in for…
For whatever it is they do.
I shake the thought away as Drew stops, in the middle of the kitchen, and turns to face me.
“I’m sorry,” she says.
“What?” I ask, completely puzzled. “Why in the world are you sorry?”
“When we got in the elevator, you were headed to the garage. Were you on your way out?”
That’s what she’s thinking about right now?
“Don’t feel like you have to stay,” she adds. “I mean, you’re welcome to, but I understand if you have somewhere you need to be.” She steps closer to me.
I smile at her. Smiling has never been so easy when it comes to her. I feel like it is getting easier and easier to feel my emotions, raw and real, when she is in my vicinity.
Before I lose the nerve, I ask, “Can I buy you a drink?”
The walk over to Lenny’s is quiet, no awkwardness and no talk of the incident outside her door, and it’s nice.
Seeing her red hair as the sun sets, giving it a warm glow, has my mind running in circles enough that I doubt I would have been able to string together a sentence anyway.
It is a little after 5 PM, so it is getting dark, but the sun stuck around just long enough to accentuate the gold rings around her irises.
I wanted to be at the bar by five, but I guess that is one of the perks of being the boss: no one can tell you you’re late.
I’m not sure if Drew knows where we’re headed, so when we get closer to the door of Lenny’s, I walk a few steps ahead of her to get to the door. The bar is on the same side of the road as the apartment complex, about a quarter mile down the street.
“I’ve never been here before,” she says. “This is where you work right?”
“This is the place.” I feel heat creep up my neck, for once being the one whose body has a reaction I can’t control, but there is no way it is enough for her to notice. I can’t help but feel something at the thought she knows that little tidbit about me, even if it’s not exactly true.
“Hey, boss!” Eddie shouts from behind the bar as we walk in. The group of regulars at the far end raise their drinks to me. I give them a wave, placing my hand on Drew’s back to lead her to the less crowded end of the bar, the familiar smell of worn-in leather and whiskey filling our nostrils.
I can tell her eyes are on me as we walk through the Happy Hour crowd that will disperse when it ends in less than an hour.
I like to keep the light at Lenny’s down, lit mostly by dim overhead lights and neon signs lining the walls, no light coming in due to minimal windows. Music is always playing, either my and one of the bartenders’ playlists. The actual bar takes up most of the place, but high top tables and a few booths line the outside perimeter.
With everyone back to work after the holiday, the place is packed tightly for the half-priced beers, hard seltzers, and house wines.
I pull out the chair on the far end of the bar, and Drew hops up, her feet hanging because she is so short. We are right next to the back door that leads to my office, giving us a little area of our own. It is loud enough to know it isn’t just us, but it is quiet enough for me to only focus on her.
“What can I get you?” I grab a towel from underneath the bar and wipe down the space in front of her before setting a coaster down. I throw the towel over my shoulder and place my palms on the bar, leaning in closer to her.
“Boss? Are you the manager or something?” Her eyes avoid mine as she takes in her surroundings.
“Or something,” I clear my throat. “I’m actually the owner.”
Her eyes wide, finally meeting mine.
Is she impressed?
“So yeah. Safe to say you’re the boss.”
I chuckle. “I guess so. My dad bought the place when I was five-years old, so I’ve been coming here forever. When he owned it, he called it Larry’s, Very creative… For a guy named Larry.” She laughs, and it is my new favorite sound.
“When my sister and I were old enough to work, we spent most of our time here.”
“How did you come to take it over?” She asks, resting her elbows up on the bar, balancing her head in her hands. She is looking at me as if I’m the most interesting person in the world, making my stomach flicker.
“My parents spend nine months out of the year in Florida, so I took it over from my dad around five years ago.”
“What about your sister?”
I pause before answering, my smile slowly fading.
My instinctive response is to change the subject, but there is something about how Drew is looking at me that makes me want to open up myself to her.
I shy my eyes away, looking down at the ice bin below me. “My sister died a while back.”
I can’t bring my eyes back up to look at her, worried that the bomb I just dropped ruined the good thing we had going, not talking about the stuff that makes us sad.
I feel one of her hands over one of mine, my eyes finding their way to hers again.
“What was her name?”
Realizing, while I’ve thought about her plenty lately, I haven’t said her name aloud since my last therapy session a few months ago.
I exhale. “Lennon.”