Into the Darkness

“I hate to break it to you guys, she still has a crush on him. Although no poster over our bed.” Elijah laughed.

“Hello, he’s a DILF!”

“DILF?” Emma asked innocently.

“Dad I’d like to fuck,” Eric answered instead of Adriana. They both laughed.

“OK, OK. Enough about me. How about you, Julian? How did you meet Charlie?” Adriana asked curiously. I’m surprised she asked given that Lex would give her an earful later but if there was anyone who would put up with his shit, it was Adriana. Lex tensed up, obviously not wanting to hear the story. I watched him watching me intently, like he was trying to read my mind or something. Julian put his arm around me causing Lex to tense up. He clenched his napkin into a ball, his face expressionless. This was the calm before the storm. I was waiting for him to lose it. It was only a matter of time.

“Nothing like you guys, considering it was only months ago. We met at our local gym. I had seen her working out for weeks. I mean, she was gorgeous. It was impossible to not spot her and that day I decided to go talk to her. I walked up to her and the first thing she said if I recall correctly was: ‘I promise I wiped my sweat off the chair, not that I have a lot of sweat but you know, just the usual amount of sweat. Here, let me wipe the seat again for you just in case.’”

“Oh my God Charlie, you did not say that!” Rocky roared.

The table erupted, everyone except Lex that is. Suddenly I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t believe I said that. I was usually fine around guys but the moment he walked up to me I acted like a sixteen-year-old girl meeting One Direction.

“Um yes, actually I did. Much to my embarrassment.” I blushed.

“Aw, Charlie, it sounds like you had the hots for him,” Bull’s said, obviously trying to provoke Lex. I kicked her under the table which was followed by an ouch and a what-did-you-do-that-for look.

“That’s why I wanted to make her my wife. You’d be stupid to let a woman like this go,” Julian gushed, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek.

With every fiber in my being I tried desperately not to make eye contact with Lex but I slipped and met his eyes. There was no denying that he was furious but he knew how to hide his feelings. I just knew him better than anyone here. The way he glared at us was expressionless but his eyes revealed his true colors. They were dark, reflecting his mood. I didn’t know what to do, so I drank. Because drunk Charlie was better than nervous Charlie. There was no way I could pull him aside for a moment without Julian questioning what I was doing.

“Okay, me next please,” Eric chimed in. How many wines did he have? Judging by the loudness of his voice I would say at least four; by five he would be up on the table dancing. I swear he was such a cheap drunk.

“We met about eighteen months ago. She rear-ended me.”

Rocky burst out laughing, spitting out his drink. “Dude, is that even possible?”

“Her cab, Rocky,” he sighed trying to hold in his own laughter. “So as the cab drivers got out and argued whose fault it was, Charlie started ranting on about being late for work. I argued of course saying it wasn’t as bad as me as I was going to be late for an interview. Another cab pulled up behind us and we both rushed at the same time to get in. I beat her to it, shutting the door quickly as the cab pulled away. I leaned out the window and I recall my exact words: ‘Sorry, honey, you can stomp your pretty little Louboutins all you want but you ain’t making me late.’”

“Oh Eric, please don’t tell me this was your interview to work with Charlie?” Adriana squirmed.

“Spot on. I sat there in her office pleased with myself for being on time. As she rushed in all huffed I was shocked to say the least. The look on her face was priceless.”

“But I hired you anyway,” I said. “Like my left arm, I couldn’t live without you.”

He stood up and rushed by my side. There was no one in the world like Eric and my life was never been the same since. “My Ying to your Yang,” he responded.

The fun continued with the rest of the guests taking turns telling everyone how they met me. The sangria kept coming and my glass kept emptying. I officially lost count but at least my nerves were calming down and I was starting to get giggly.

“Oh em gee, Lex, we can’t skip you!” Eric exclaimed.

“I don’t think I can remember when you first met Charlie…” Adriana spoke quietly.

Lex took a sip of the sangria and told his story. I remembered the story but I was curious about his take of when we first met. I sat there still, focusing intently on him.

“It was 1996. I was fifteen. I had pretty much spent the summer working my ass off for this collectors Batman comic I had seen in a store in Sacramento. Anyway, I finally saved up and bought it and went to our living room to read it. Adriana was in there watching TV and eating the last of a baked cookie. She and I got into a fight as siblings tend to do, so I decided since it was a nice day out I would go up to our tree house and read it. I climbed up and found a little girl crying in the corner. I hadn’t met Charlotte yet but Adriana raved on about her all the time so I assumed it was her.”

My heart stopped, knowing exactly the moment he referred to and the pain I had felt at the time when I thought my world was collapsing. I was a kid but it didn’t mean it didn’t hurt. It was the first huge fight my parents had, after which my mom stormed out and left for three days.

“I sat down beside her to ask if she wanted to talk. She was upset about her parents having a big fight. I remember her asking me if she should go look for her mom. I was only fifteen so giving a kid advice was hard. I remember telling her that it would somehow work out. She saw me carrying the comic and said Batman was her favorite superhero of all time, so I did what anyone would do when they see her smile.”

“You gave her the comic?” Bull’s asked, shocked.

“Yes, I gave her the comic. She looked so happy.”

“I can’t believe you did that,” exclaimed Adriana and Bull’s in unison.