Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
I wake to the sound of my cell phone ringing. Right Said Fred plays “I’m Too Sexy.” That’s Anthony’s ringtone. I stretch and reach for it. He is way too sexy for just about everything.
“Hello,” I answer in a tired, gravelly voice.
“Good morning. Sorry to wake you. I just didn’t want to start my day without saying hi. I have meetings all day, and we probably won’t get to touch base until tonight.”
“Come home. I’m tired of sleeping alone,” I whine.
“I wish… how did things go with Kat last night? I talked to Damon, and he said you two were hanging out.”
“She brought me ice cream because I was down. I’m good now. There’s nothing a gallon of Rocky Road can’t cure. I’m sure it’s going straight to my ass.”
“I love your ass—I miss your ass. Actually, I miss everything about you.”
“I miss you, too. Tell me how things are going.” I sit up against the headboard and settle in for our conversation.
“I have a meeting with the accountant. There are some fairly large discrepancies, but they haven’t been going on for very long. The loss is negligible in the scheme of things. We’ll still be able to eat,” he teases.
“It’s awful that people you trust are stealing from you.” The idea of anybody doing something wrong to him pisses me off.
“Yes, it’s awful, but hey, at least we got good news about the drunk driving situation. Damon says they are wrapping up the investigation today. That’s one thing down.”
“That was very stressful. Hopefully, things will go more smoothly in Texas and you can come home early.”
“I’d love that, but I don’t see that happening at this point. I’ll get home as soon as I can. Speaking of home, did you decide to go back to our house?” I can hear the hope in his voice.
“When I get back from breaking dishes and dinner with the girls, I’m climbing into our bed in your house.”
“Emma, it’s not my house. I’m sharing it with you. We’re a team now.”
“Well, then I guess I should sign over half of my house to you. That way, we both have a vested interest in staying together.”
“That sounds like a fabulous idea. I’ll get my lawyers on it right away. Listen, babe, I’ve got to run. I have an early meeting. I’ll call you tonight.”
Did I just offer him half of my house? What did he mean he was going to get his lawyers on it? Can he draw up papers to take half of my house? The funny thing is, I’d sign them. I’ve always held on to this house like it’s a bar of gold, and yet if Anthony wanted half of it, I’d gladly give it to him. I slide out of bed with a smile on my face. The thought of sharing everything with him fills me with joy. Then it hits me again—I could be pregnant. I’m so torn between feeling giddy that a piece of Anthony is growing inside of me and scared of the implications.
I don’t want someone to be with me just because I’m having his kid. I remind myself that he wants to be with me now, and he has no idea I’m possibly pregnant. I wrap my arms around my tummy and give myself a hug. I can hear us telling his parents. His mom would probably say, “That’s why you don’t try it before you buy it.” In the end, I think they’d be happy because lord knows, “They aren’t getting any younger.”
I shower, dress, and head off to work. The day seems to drag. An hour is the same amount of time every day, so how come some hours seem longer than others? By the time five o’clock rolls by, I’m itching to leave.
I hear Kat’s heels on the tile floor and her keys jingling in her hand. I reach in my drawer to get my bag and race out to meet her.
“Are you ready to break some dishes?” she asks.
“Yes, ma’am, let’s blow this joint.”
“I thought you might want to see this.” She hands me today’s edition of the Los Angeles Times . “Turn to page three.”
The headline to the article is Ahz is Red-hot. I read through the article and see Mr. Wakefield was pleasantly kind in his writings about Ahz. He called me professional, competent, and red-hot. Well, Mr. Wakefield, this red-hot girl is taken. Flattery will get you nowhere. He describes the elaborate measures Ahz has taken to ensure underage drinking doesn’t occur. It’s about the closest thing to a stamp of approval one can get from a paper. I feel good about his interview. Maybe I won’t write his name on a plate after all.
We climb into Kat’s car and head for The Smash Shack. She is still driving the orange Charger Damon gave her. “Are you going to keep this car, or do you plan to get a new one?” I look around the vehicle. It’s ten years old, but it’s virtually brand-new. I peek over at the odometer, and it just passed 12,000 miles.
“Damon wants to trade both of the cars in for new Mustangs, one convertible and one hardtop. You know me; I’m happy to drive whatever.” She keeps her eyes totally focused ahead of her.
“I have a doctor’s appointment on Friday. It was the earliest they could get me in. ”
“Did you buy a pee test? I don’t know if I could wait until Friday.”
“No, I finally concluded it’s not a terrible thing if I’m pregnant. Even if I bought a pee test, as you call it, I’d still have to wait for official results.”
“I’m dying to know. You swore me to secrecy, but it’s so hard keeping something like this to myself. I could be an aunt, and I am missing valuable days of shopping for baby stuff.”
“Yes, and you might not be an aunt, so don’t rush me. I’m wavering between absolute fear and happiness. There are so many unknowns. The first is whether I’m knocked up.”
“All right, Friday it is.” We pull up in front of The Smash Shack. Roxy is waiting patiently in front for us. She’s leaning against the front window wearing a pair of low-hung jeans and a crop top. Her belly piercing catches the light and sparkles.
“Hey girls, are you ready to break some shit?” she asks.
We all shout, “Yes” at the same time. I see our reflection in the window. One blonde, one redhead, and one brunette; you couldn’t have picked three different-looking girls.
As we enter the building, I can already hear the sound of glass breaking. I stop and catch my breath. Both girls flank me and stop. Kat knows my history, so she knows what this is doing to my insides. Roxy, on the other hand, probably just thinks I’m crazy.
“I don’t know if I can do this.” My hands sweat, and my breathing becomes erratic.
“Doctor’s orders, Emma, you’re doing it.” The girls each take an arm and walk me to the front desk.
“Welcome to The Smash Shack,” a perky little pink-haired girl says, and she asks us to sign in. “Which one of you is Emma?” Her eyes travel from face to face, looking for someone to claim the name.
“That’s me.” I give her a narrow-eyed questioning look.
“A Mr. Haywood called and said to tell you he loved you and that all the stress reduction is on him. Something about him causing most of it, anyway.” She looks to me as if searching for some type of confirmation.
“Now if that’s not true love, then I don’t know what is,” Kat chimes in. She pinches me in the side as she speaks.
“Ouch.” I back away and out of her reach. “He’s just protecting his dishes at the restaurant. He thought I was going to chuck plates in the kitchen at Ahz.”
“I can still see you doing that. On a bad day, I’ve seen you toss anything that was in your way.” Kat smiles at me. She’s probably remembering the time she thought she lost my favorite pair of earrings. I picked up my jewelry box and flung it at her. All the jewelry spilled everywhere, and as fate would have it, the earrings in question lay at her feet as if saying, “I’m right here.”
The pink-haired pixy leads us to a private room. There is a back table full of cups, plates, and saucers. Sharpie pens in all colors litter the table, as well. In front of us is a cinderblock wall. Faceless people of each gender are painted in various places on the wall. All skin colors and hair colors are represented. All you need to do is imagine a face, and you’re set.
Kat walks to the table and picks up a plate. She writes the name Mara on it and sets it aside. She picks up a plate and pen for each of us. Roxy takes her plate, writes the name Eddie on it, and places it off to the side. I look at my plate for a minute and eventually scribble the name Daniel across it.
“Let’s do this together, girls.” I hand safety goggles to Kat and Roxy and lead the way to the yellow line that’s painted across the floor. It’s a safety line to avoid stray glass splinters that might pop back at you.
We line up in a row, and I count down from three to one. I find the blond-haired male figure on the wall and picture his face. As I shout the final number, the plates fly. The crashing of glass against the wall startles me at first, but then I laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Roxy asks.
“I don’t know. It’s just that it’s not as scary when you’re the one doing the throwing. The sound of breaking glass sends me running, and yet here I am—throwing glass—liking the sound.”
We walk back to the table to get more plates. Roxy tries a cup. We write the names of people who have done us wrong or things that have held us back. In the process, we toss all of those fears away. I take one last plate and write the name Blake Havers on it. I look to my right and see Roxy write creepy lurker on her plate.
We step up to the line and slam the last bits of frustration into the wall. I take my phone out of my bag and snap a picture of the debris lying on the floor and send it to Anthony.
I turn to Roxy and ask, “Who is the creepy lurker?”
“There has been this guy that has been across the street staring at the house. I wonder if he’s a homeless guy, but he’s dressed nicely, so I didn’t think so. Have you seen him before?”
Kat and I look at her like she has three eyes. “No, what does he look like? Are you sure he’s staring at the house?”
“He’s tall and slender. He’s dressed nicely, but I can’t make out his facial features. He was wearing a baseball cap. I walked onto the porch and stared him down, and he left.”
Kat shakes her head. “Don’t mess around with that. Call the police the next time he shows up.”
I leave their conversation as my phone beeps. I have a text.
It looks like you had a lot of therapy. How did it feel?
So much better than I thought it would. I think it was a great idea. We probably put you in the poor farm with the number of plates we broke.
It’s not possible. I’m glad you found it helpful. I could break a few plates myself. However, I’ve learned my lesson and will resort to screaming in a pillow in the future. You can be the official plate thrower in the family.
I think I’ll pass. Maybe we can have a scheduled day a month to come here and break things. I miss you.
I miss you too. I’ll talk to you later. Call me when you get home.
I head back to the girls and herd them out onto the sidewalk. I take one of their arms in each of mine and lead the way to the Lily Pond. We walk into the little hole-in-the-wall with the best egg foo young known to man.
We decide to eat family style. We order the egg foo young, of course, chicken with cashews, and shrimp with lobster sauce. We eat until we are ready to bust.
The server brings the bill with three fortune cookies. I snag everything before anyone can get to it.
“Okay, you have to answer a question before you get a fortune cookie. Who wants to go first?”
Roxy raises her hand. “I’ll go. What kind of question?”
“Whatever I want to know.” I think for a minute before I ask, “Roxy, have you ever been in love?”
“Nope, hand the cookie over.” She lays her palm flat in front of me. I place the cookie in her hand. “Make sure you eat the cookie before you read the fortune, or it won’t come true,” I warn.
“Kat, when is the wedding?” It’s not a good question because she tells me everything, anyway, but I’m hoping she has some new info.
“No plans yet. If it were up to Damon, it would be yesterday, but I’m just getting used to living together. I’m not sure I’m ready for a joint checking account yet.”
“Wait. You’re marrying Damon Nobel, and you don’t want to have your name added to his checking account? Are you nuts?” Roxy asks.
“Our relationship has never been about money. I couldn’t care less. I have enough. I live in an amazing house with an amazing man, and he’s not going anywhere. There’s no rush. Besides, there seems to be a fight over who will be my maid of honor.” She makes a funny face at me. “Chris wants to wear the satin. He says he’s got better legs than you.”
“He’s so full of it. He doesn’t shave his legs. He can wear satin to the prom. He has to stand down for the wedding.” I rock my head back and forth and give her a funny face back.
“Prom? Aren’t you a little too old to go to prom?” Roxy asks.
“I never went to mine, so Anthony decided we’re going to hold one so I can experience that rite of passage.”
“I never went to mine either. My dad didn’t want me to date anyone he didn’t vet first.” She looks off into the distance as if she’s reliving a moment in time. “I’d have gone with Bobby Anderson if I were able to attend.”
“Can you get a week from this Saturday off? You can join us for prom. Maybe we can even find Bobby Anderson. I’ll look into it.”
“He’s probably married with three kids by now. I’ll still come. I assume Trevor and Chris are going to be there, right? They’re my biggest tippers, so if they aren’t at Trax, I might as well not go. I love those boys.”
“You have less than two weeks to find a dress for it and a date if you don’t want to go stag. I’ll try to find Bobby, but that’s a pretty common name.”
“You don’t have to find Bobby. Last I heard, he was working for LAPD. I’m not sure he would even remember who I am.”
“Well, we’ll work on it. It’s time for fortune reading. Has everyone finished their cookie?” I pop the last bit into my mouth and chew. “You first, Roxy.”
She unfolds her fortune and busts out laughing. “The fortune you seek is in another cookie.”
“I don’t believe you!” I take it from her and read it myself, and it says exactly what she said. “That is the funniest thing I’ve ever read. Kat, you’re up.”
She looks at her fortune and melts a little. “You’re guided by silent love and friendship around you.”
“I love that one. Okay, it’s my turn. Mine says… Love is not for the weak of heart.” I tuck my fortune into my wallet as I take my credit card out to pay for dinner. I may have to look at it to remind me of how much I love Anthony when he drives me crazy. Maybe I should give it to him to remind him of how much he loves me.
“That is so true. If someone had told me how much I would go through to get to where I am with Damon, I might have turned and ran. Now that I went through it and survived, I’d do it all over again. He’s worth the journey.”
“Okay, girls, time to go. Thanks for breaking dishes and breaking bread with me.” I sign the charge receipt and tuck my card back into my wallet. “I’m going to my beach house tonight. It’ll be the first time I stay there alone. Keep your phones close just in case I need some support.” I hug my oldest friend first and then embrace my new friend next. Kat gives me a ride to my car, and I am off to Malibu.