Emma turned and looked at me. “Garrett?” she said as she stood up. “Oh my God! What are you doing here?”
At first, she wasn’t smiling, but then a huge smile spread across her face before it quickly vanished. She must have realized what was happening.
I looked her body up and down, and I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and kiss her. “I wanted to surprise you, but it looks like the surprise is on me, Em.”
She looked back at the guy she was with, who was just sitting there, and then she turned back to me. She shook her head and said, “Um, Garrett…wait, no. Philip is…well, he is helping me with biology, and he’s my—”
I let out a laugh. “No need to worry about explaining, Emma. You waited as long as you could, right? While I’ve been lying alone in bed at night, thinking about you, after working my ass off for fifteen hours a day…you’ve moved on, right? I bet your father is happy. Phil here will most likely give you that life your daddy wants for you.”
Emma’s mouth dropped open. “Garrett, that’s not what’s happening here. Philip and I—”
I took a few steps back. “Please, don’t explain it to me, Emma. I saw the two of you through the window. It was really touching, seeing y’all holding hands.” I looked at Philip, and he acted like he wanted to say something, but I didn’t give him a chance. “Take care of her. She deserves the world.”
I quickly turned and started walking out of the restaurant.
“Garrett!” Emma called out after me.
I picked up the pace, and by the time I got outside, Raymond was jumping into the car and starting it. I could hear Emma pleading with Margie and Billy to get me to stop and just listen to her.
“Margie, please! You know I would never—”
Billy was pulling Margie by the arm, and he pushed her into the car and jumped in next to her.
“Wait! Garrett, wait and let her explain. She said it wasn’t what it looked like,” Margie said.
“Drive, Ray,” I said.
“Garrett, please,” Margie said.
I slammed my hand down on the dashboard and yelled, “Drive, Ray! Margie, just stop! You saw what I saw. They were holding hands and having a grand time. There is nothing for her to explain.”
Raymond backed the car out, and right before he pulled away, I glanced back at Emma. She was standing there, crying, and the jerk had his hands on her shoulders while he was saying something to her.
I looked straight ahead and said, “Head back to Mason, Raymond. I never want to set foot in Austin again.”
New Year’s Eve
I downed another beer and gave the empty bottle a good throw as Billy and Wayne argued about something. I was well on my way to getting drunk, and I didn’t care. Emma had tried to call me every day for the last few days, and each time, I’d told Mother to tell her I wasn’t around. I’d seen the worry in my mother’s eyes.
She would hang up and ask me, What happened in Austin, Garrett?
I would say the same thing each time, My eyes were opened, Mama, to my true future.
“Hey, Mathews. Why the long face?” Anna purred as she walked up and looked down at me.
She was wearing a pair of tight pedal pushers and a black shirt that was tied just above her midsection. I licked my lips as I took in her body.
Wayne leaned over and said, “Don’t do it, Garrett. You know you’ll regret it the moment it happens.”
I grabbed another beer and continued to stare at Anna. I could take her around the corner and screw her brains out, but it wouldn’t help me forget about Emma. It could give my poor dick some relief, but that would be about it.
Anna leaned in and put her lips up against my ear. She whispered, “Let’s bring in 1958 with a bang, shall we?”
I pulled back as I looked at her and shook my head. “I might be on my way to drunk, but I’m not drunk yet.”
She gave me a dirty look and stood up straight. She smoothed back her hair and looked at me like she hated me. “Your loss,
jerk.” She spun around and made her way over to the next poor guy she was going to attempt to sleep with.