12. Callum
12
CALLUM
“ W hat were you thinking?” I sat in Liz’s kitchen, a towel full of ice pressed to my eye.
“What did you expect me to do?” I asked. “He was in my face!”
“Walk away! Do you think getting into a fist fight with Darcy’s ex is going to make her like you more?”
“He was being an ass,” I cried out. My head was throbbing from where John had clocked me hard in the eye. Luckily, I got a few good punches in before Liz heard the commotion and put herself between us to break up the fight.
“You deal with assholes all the time,” Liz said. She sat down next to me at the table. “Thank God no one saw you. It would not be a good look to have this plastered all over the Internet.”
It had all happened so quickly I hadn’t had time to consider that. I sighed as I realized Liz was right—I needed to keep my cool. That sort of bad publicity could kill a career. I leaned back against the chair, feeling the adrenaline finally draining out of me. Liz had bundled me into the car as soon as John stormed away, yelling back curses as he did so. I told her not to worry about me, that she should get back to work, but she locked up the real estate office and took me home.
“I shouldn’t have done it,” I said, finally ready to admit I had overreacted. “But all that stuff you told me about him. About how he treated Darcy. I couldn’t think of anything except making him pay.”
“Darcy doesn’t need you to fight her battles for her. She gave the guy a piece of her mind when she left.”
“I know. God, she’s probably so mad at me.” I brought the ice away from my eye and rested my elbows on the kitchen table. It was stupid to fight John like that. Darcy had tried to stop us, but I didn’t listen to her. Now she was probably furious with me, angry I had made some show of defending her when we weren’t even together. I had completely overreacted and embarrassed her in the process.
“I’m sure she’ll get over it,” Liz said. “She’ll probably be mad she wasn’t there to see that punch to John’s mouth.”
I smirked a bit and remembered the satisfaction I felt when I got that swing in. I certainly didn’t enjoy violence and I wasn’t in the habit of getting into fights. But if anyone deserved a good sock in the mouth it sounded like this guy did.
“I should apologize,” I said. I didn’t want to sit here all night with the guilt I felt churning in my stomach.
“Maybe you should give her a day to cool off,” Liz said. She glanced at the purple bruise forming around my eye. “And to let that heal.”
“It’s only going to look worse tomorrow,” I mumbled.
“Don’t you dare tell Alan you got in a fight!” Liz said, referencing my nephew. “The last thing I need is him thinking fighting is cool because his uncle is doing it.”
“What do you suggest?” I asked, laughing.
“Tell him you were playing catch and got a baseball to the eye.” I rolled my eyes at her, sure he wouldn’t believe it, but Liz doubled down. “He’s five! Whatever you say he’ll believe.”
I stood up from the table but had to grab the back of the chair when I did so. I felt a rush of dizziness that made me squeeze my eyes closed, sending pain through my face from the bruise.
“Are you sure you should go?” Liz asked, but I quickly recovered.
“I’m alright,” I said. “Any idea where I might find Darcy?”
Liz looked at me, as if debating whether she should tell me. If she had her way, I would stay home and rest. But I think she knew I wasn’t going to do that. If she didn’t tell me where Darcy was, I would simply drive around, trying a few likely spots to see if I could find her.
Finally, Liz sighed.
“We’ve been texting,” she said. “When she knew the office was clear, she went back to catch up on work.”
It was almost six at this point, but I knew Darcy was the type to work as long as it took. And I had taken up her whole afternoon making her show me properties. I suddenly felt guilty, knowing Darcy would be at the office late because of me.
“Think she’ll still be there in half an hour?” I asked, an idea forming.
“For sure,” Liz said. “Another offer came in for the hardware store, so she’ll review it. I’m not sure why she bothers, though. She’s just going to deny it.”
“A bad offer?” I asked.
“Not bad at all,” Liz said, shaking her head. “It’s pretty close to asking, which is saying a lot since it’s already listed too high. But none of the offers are ever good enough for Darcy. That place is really special to her, you know? It’s hard to put a price on something with so many memories.”
I nodded, remembering my most recent visit to the hardware store. Darcy took good care of the place, and it was easy to see how much she loved it. I understood why she wanted a good paycheck for something so special to her.
“Tell the kids I’m sorry to miss dinner,” I said. I grabbed my keys and headed out to the driveway, thinking of what I would say to make Darcy forgive me.
“I know I’m the last person you want to see right now,” I said when Darcy came to the door. A steady rain was falling outside, and I pulled the hood of my jacket over my head in an attempt to stay dry. Darcy had locked the front door since it was after five o’clock, but I saw her sitting at her desk through the glass. I knocked gently, not wanting to startle her, and she came over to unlock the door.
“I see things escalated,” Darcy said, sweeping her eyes up to the angry bruise that had formed around my eye.
“He looks worse,” I said, smiling at her. She smiled back, accepting my joke, but she didn’t make a move to open the door any further or invite me in. The rain fell around me, and I worried about the food in my hand getting wet.
“I brought a peace offering,” I said. I held up the plastic bag in my hand. “I figured you haven’t had dinner yet. Could we talk?”
She looked at me, trying to decide, but then she opened the door fully to let me inside, saving me from the rain.
“I won’t be long,” I said. I set the food on Liz’s desk and took off my jacket that was dripping with water as I hung it on the coat rack. I took the seat at Liz’s desk while Darcy sat back at her own. “I only want to apologize.”
She looked back at me, but there was no hint of anger or frustration in her eyes. She seemed willing to let me talk, and so I launched into the speech I had been formulating the full ride over here.
“I shouldn’t have let him get to me,” I said. “I’m sorry I let him pull me into a stupid fight. And I’m sorry if it seemed like I didn’t think you could fight your own battles or anything like that. I wasn’t trying to embarrass you.”
“I don’t need you to defend me,” Darcy said, her voice even. “It’s not like we’re together or anything like that.”
The words hit me in the gut, but I tried to keep my face neutral. Darcy had made it very clear that she wasn’t interested in a relationship. I knew that, so I shouldn’t be surprised or hurt when she reinforced it.
“I know we’re not,” I said. “But I still don’t want some ass treating you badly. I’d do the same thing for Liz, you know?”
It was hard to read the expression on her face as she watched me. She seemed subdued, as if she couldn’t quite figure out what she wanted to say. But I took it as a win that she was at least letting me have a conversation and wasn’t telling me to leave.
“You got a few good punches in?” Darcy asked, and I delighted in the small smile on her face. Once again I felt the satisfaction of that hit to John’s mouth.
“It would have been worse if Liz hadn’t broken us up,” I said.
“He is an ass,” she said, and I felt the tension break between us. “I kind of wish I had been there to see it.”
“Liz can tell you all about it,” I smiled. We were quiet then, both unsure of what to say next. I saw the papers still strewn on her desk and knew she probably had more work she wanted to finish up. I didn’t want to make her night any longer than I already had.
“Anyway,” I said, standing up. “I’ll let you finish your work. I hope Chinese food is alright.” I gestured to the bag that was sitting on the desk. “Liz said it’s your usual meal for working late.”
“It is,” Darcy said. She smiled at me, and I felt a warmth in my chest. It felt good to do something nice for her, and it made me thrilled to know I had done something to make her happy.
I grabbed my still-dripping coat from the coat rack and slid into it. The sound of rain surrounded the building and filled the silence around us.
“Could you do me a favor?” Darcy asked. I spun around to see her close to me, leaning against Liz’s desk.
“Of course,” I said. “But if you want me to beat someone else up it might have to wait until tomorrow.”
Darcy rolled her eyes at me, and we smiled. I was hopeful this meant our friendship had been restored and we could put today’s incident behind us. I could only hope I wouldn’t run into John anytime soon.
“I walked over here from my house,” Darcy said. I saw her eyes slide to the front door where we watched the rain falling steadily. “Would you mind dropping me off?”
“No problem,” I said.
“It’s only a few blocks,” she said, as if wanting to assure me it wouldn’t take up too much time. “I just didn’t know it was going to rain. If I can avoid getting soaked to the skin, I’d certainly like to.”
The image of Darcy in the rain, her clothes wet, brought a sudden flash of desire. I pushed it away, forcing myself back to the present.
“Of course,” I said. “Do you need to finish anything up here?”
“All done,” Darcy said. “I don’t think I can focus on anything else for the night.”
I handed her a sweater from the coat rack, which I assumed was hers, and she thanked me for it. She gathered the rest of her things and we rushed out to the car, shielding ourselves from the heavy raindrops falling around us.