10. Anthony
CHAPTER 10
anthony
Ever since the arrival of Evelyn and Kelvin, my bi-weekly dinners with my parents dwindled to only weekly dinners. I wanted to limit the time I spent there, hoping Aunt Sue and Evelyn would leave me alone. I considered coming up with a last-minute excuse to not be here tonight, but couldn’t come up with a good one.
I glanced at my mom as she did a run-through of what she had planned for Aunt Sue and her crew for the month. She wasn’t looking at me, so I looked over to my dad, who I finally made eye contact with. My nose crinkled, slightly frustrated. I wanted to leave. Instead of a look of sympathy, he gave me a shit-eating grin.
“After a trip up to San Ignacio, we’ll be going up to Millerton Lake the following week,” my mom said. She finally turned to me. “Anthony, how long will we be staying there again?”
“I was able to reserve the house for a whole week,” I replied.
“Can’t wait to be on that lake and fish.” My dad let out a low whistle as I smiled. I specifically booked the lake house for a week so he could fish to his heart’s content.
“You fish, Uncle Gary?” Kelvin asked, surprised.
“Of course,” my dad said with a laugh as the two of them carried on with their conversation about fishing.
“A week at a lake?” Aunt Sue asked loudly. “How fun!”
“What? We’re going to a lake ? But I didn’t bring any bikinis with me!” Evelyn said. She shifted in her seat closer to my side and looked up at me. What the hell was I supposed to do about this? “Anthony, would you mind taking me to the mall to go shopping for one or two?”
I blinked, completely blindsided by her request. Before I could make the excuse that I was busy, Aunt Sue quickly spoke up. “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea, Evelyn! Anthony, you don’t mind, do you? It’ll be a great opportunity for you two to bond.”
I forced a smile. Whenever Aunt Sue suggested Evelyn and I bond , she meant she wanted us to be alone together. It’d typically end up feeling like a bad date that I hadn’t agreed to.
“No, sorry, Shoua and me are busy. We probably won’t be able to take you,” I lied.
“But we should go!” Evelyn insisted. “I would love to get Shoua’s input on which bikini I should get if she can come along with us.”
I forced my smile to stretch a little wider. “No, we can’t.”
Evelyn batted her lashes as her mouth formed into a pout. “Please? We should go. I would love to get to know Shoua better, you know? She seems like she’s really sweet. Besides, we have all month long to go. It doesn’t have to be this weekend. Please, Anthony. We should?—”
“She’s right. Why don’t you and Shoua make some time and take Evelyn for a shopping trip?” my mom said with a soft smile.
“Why don’t you take Kelvin too? It’ll give you all a chance to do things aside from hang out with us old folks,” Aunt Sue suggested with a grin.
“No thanks,” Kelvin muttered as my dad chuckled. “I hate shopping. I’d rather go fishing.”
“Even if Shoua can’t be there, then it’s fine. I’ll just pick out something simple,” Evelyn suggested happily and then shrugged. “It can be just me and you.”
Fuck .
“I’ll have to ask Shoua. She loves shopping a lot too, but she’s busy. I can’t promise anything,” I said.
“Oh, no. I’m not obsessed with shopping. I’m just going to the mall for my bikinis,” Evelyn said.
“That’s great. It should be quick then.” I nodded as I glanced between my parents. “Mom, Dad, I think I might head out early since I need to get to my project site early tomorrow morning.”
I was lying and my parents knew it. I didn’t want to be there any longer than I needed to be. Leaving early because I needed to hit the hay for tomorrow was a great excuse.
“Anthony, your dad has been telling me all the great work you’ve been doing in the company as a project manager,” Aunt Sue said, smiling. “Soon enough you’ll be ready to take it over when he retires.”
My stomach dropped at the sound of that. I could never imagine a world where I had to take over my dad’s place and position. Although it was a given that I would eventually take over, I couldn’t confidently say I could fill his shoes.
I nodded slowly. “Hardly. It’ll be another fifty years before I’m ready for something that big.”
My dad smiled at me, showing me a grin like mine and Andy’s. “Give yourself more credit as a general contractor and developer, son. Hughes Developers Incorporation wouldn’t be where it is today without your insight and fresh energy.”
That was what everyone said, but I doubted it. We were only able to double our revenues last year because of my dad. It was through his networking, great work, and direction that got us where we were today.
“Aw, Dad. Are you getting sappy on me?” I teased, wiggling my eyebrow at him.
He let out his booming laugh. “You bet.”
I shook my head at him with a small smile as I stood up from my chair. “You shouldn’t be too proud yet.” I turned to my mom. “Sorry, Mom and Aunt Sue. I got to get going. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
I bid my goodbyes with them and the moment I closed my parents’ front door, I took in a deep breath. It was cooler now that the sun had finally set, but I could still feel the heat lingering. Dinner had gone much worse than I expected. Going to the mall with Evelyn wasn’t part of the plan, and now Shoua and me were going to have to take her at some point. I wondered what Shoua’s reaction would be. She definitely wouldn’t be thrilled about it.
As I made it to my car, my phone started blaring. It was Shoua’s name that flashed across the screen. I immediately answered. “Hello?”
“A-anthony,” she said with a hoarse voice. She let out a wobbly sigh. “I had an anxiety attack.”
My stomach did a somersault as I stopped in my tracks. “Where are you?”
“Near home. Newton Street,” she said softly.
“Okay, I’m on my way,” I said, jumping into my car. “Stay on the phone with me, all right?”
“Okay,” she said with a sniff.
Guilt weighed me down as I started the car. I wished I could be with her whenever this happens, but it always seemed to happen when we weren’t together. I hated that I had to race to her instead of just being with her already.
“When I get there, why don’t we order some Chinese, hm? I didn’t eat much during dinner,” I said as I pulled my Jeep out of my parents’ driveway with a loud screech. I always talked to her about anything other than her anxiety attack to keep her focused on me and my voice. “Let’s get some of that walnut shrimp that you love and whatever else you want. I’ll pay. We can watch that movie you keep talking about some small-town romance or something like that.”
I tried to keep my voice even and neutral as I talked to her. We agreed that it was best if I didn’t ask her how she was doing over the phone because it’d only make her focus more on how horrible she was feeling.
I zoomed out of the neighborhood I grew up in and onto the main road. I was going well over the speed limit as my heart hammered against my chest. Even though she wasn’t saying much, the little sniffles I heard from her were enough to make me worried.
“You know what? We’ll even go to the farmers market again on Thursday,” I continued, forcing myself to laugh lightheartedly when I felt the complete opposite. My heart was heavy. My eyes started burning a bit as if I was getting ready to cry. “How does that all sound?” I whizzed through a stoplight turning yellow, knowing I was mere minutes away from where she was.
“Sounds good,” she croaked.
“Let’s go to the grocery store later to get more orange creamsicles. I ate the last one last night after showering, and I know how much you hate it when I don’t restock those,” I rambled. “We should also grab more pineapple cherry popsicles and some salted caramel ice cream. Maybe we should store them at your place this time.”
Shoua let out a wobbly laugh. “What? Why?”
I was glad I was able to make her laugh a bit at least. My eyes became watery as I bit my bottom lip. I turned the corner, and I saw her car parked by the curb with her emergency lights on. I pulled up behind her and got out of my car.
I ran to her even though she was only a few feet away. The moment I saw her and her tear-stained cheeks I pulled her out of her car and into my arms. I let out a shaky sigh of guilt into her shoulder while she cried in relief.
“I’m here,” I whispered. “I’m here, Shoua. You don’t have to go through this alone anymore.”
“I know,” she cried, burying her face into my chest. “You’re always here for me.”
My arms wrapped tighter around her shoulders as my emotions balled up in my throat. I should’ve insisted on going with her to see her mom. The last time she had an anxiety attack while driving was also on the way back from her parents’ place. It was months ago on a gray and rainy day, just like the day she got into her car accident. I thought it was the weather that pushed her over the edge then, but I’m certain now it was her mom who was triggering her anxiety attacks now.
“You’re never going to go to your parents by yourself ever again,” I announced. “I’m going to go with you.”
Sometimes I wished she didn’t visit her parents’ home at all. But I knew she loved her family as much as I loved mine. Who was I to tell her to not see her family? They meant the world to her.
“But, Anthony—” Shoua started, and I squeezed her waist as if I was desperately holding onto the remaining bits of her.
“No, I’ll never let you go there alone ever again. You hear me?” My voice trembled a bit despite my dismay. I was never demanding with her, but I couldn’t stand the idea of her suffering like this again. “I don’t want to lose you, Shoua. I almost lost you once and I won’t ever let that happen ever again.”