Biker's Virgin

***

“That was a great film,” Garrett said to me as the credits started to roll.

I glanced at him in the dim light casting from the screen. For a moment, it appeared that his eyes were rimmed with tears. Personally, I had cried my heart out at the end. Seeing that it had gotten to Garrett a little stirred something in me a bit. I was a bit impressed by his apparent sensitivity, even though he did seem to be trying to play it off. I wanted to slap myself for wondering if Emerson would have been as moved.

Garrett stood up and reached his hand down to help me up from the blanket spread out on the grass. It looked like he wanted to say something, but just as his mouth opened, another voice interrupted.

“Hey, Brooke!”

I turned around to find one of my friends from RAG, Stacy, standing behind us.

“Hi, Stacy,” I responded.

“That was just an amazing film, wasn't it?” she asked.

“It really was,” I agreed. “Got me all teary-eyed.”

“Me and you both,” Stacy said with a smile. “I’m glad I ran into you. I was going to call you after this anyway. Naturally, you know about the charity bachelor auction that's happening tomorrow night. You helped with the planning.”

“Of course.”

“Well, do you think you'd be able to help me emcee it?”

“But I thought Megan was co-chairing with you and she was going to emcee?”

“You didn't hear what happened?”

“Apparently not,” I stated curiously. “What’s going on?”

“Megan was in a car wreck earlier today.”

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed. “Is she alright?”

“She's going to be alright, yes. But she has some broken ribs and one of her legs was broken in several places. She's going to need surgery on her leg. She’ll be in the hospital for at least a week.”

“Oh no, that's terrible news.”

“Yeah, it is. So, obviously, she can't co-chair the bachelor auction with me tomorrow night. So, are you free? I mean, I know it’s last minute. If you've already made plans, please don’t feel…”

“No,” I replied

quickly. “It's fine, it's fine. I don't have plans for tomorrow. I'd be happy to help. I hope Megan gets better soon, though.”

“Yeah, me, too. We're gonna go visit her in hospital tomorrow before we set up for the bachelor auction if you wanna come along?”

“Absolutely, count me in.”

“Great. I’ll email you all the info you’ll need to review for tomorrow night. We'll talk more about it all at tomorrow morning's meeting. I’ve gotta get going. See you in the morning, Brooke!”

“See you then, Stacy!”

After we said our goodbyes, I turned to Garrett.

“Well, it looks like I've suddenly got a lot more on my plate than I expected to have. I’m so sorry, but I suppose you'll need to take me home now if that's alright.”

I noticed a gleam of disappointment and a hint of something else in his eyes. Whatever it was, he covered it up pretty quickly as that odd smile of his returned to his face. I couldn’t help but think he might have been a little angry over my cutting the evening short.

“Not a problem,” he said smoothly. “Whatever you'd like. I'm sorry to hear about your friend, by the way.”