CHAPTER TEN - CARTER
Sofia Gomez was still all over me – even after what went down at the fundraiser. I had no idea why she was there or why her father was a guest of honor or whatever it was Vanessa had called him. But whatever it was, she kept calling me nonstop. I would usually avoid her calls, choosing to drink myself into oblivion, all alone in my penthouse. But even that wasn't enough to deter her and she continued blowing up my phone at all hours of the night.
So when my phone rang, I assumed it was her and rolled my eyes. I planned to cancel the call, but when I looked at my phone, I noticed it was a different number on the caller ID – one I didn't recognize. The curiosity got the best of me, so I picked up the call.
“Hey Carter?” a vaguely familiar voice said on the other end of the phone.
“Yeah? Who's this?” I asked.
“Uh, well, it's Amy,” the woman's voice said. “I'm Vanessa's best friend.”
“Holy shit, I remember you,” I said, my head pounding, still reeling from my hangover. “Long time. What's up?”
“You care about Vanessa, don't you?” she asked bluntly, cutting right through the small talk.
“Of course,” I said. “Not that it matters. She's made her position pretty clear.”
“Well, she cares for you too,” Amy said. “And you need to do something, dude. Seriously, if you keep this up, you're going to lose her and I don't want my best friend to end up with a dick like Dylan Montgomery. She loves you and you need to get your shit together.”
Hearing his name filled me with rage, and an overwhelming sense of resignation.
“Not much I can do about it,” I said. “She seemed pretty into him when I saw them together at that stupid fundraiser the other night.”
“Yeah, well maybe there is something you can do. And if you can get your shit together for five minutes, I'm willing to help,” Amy said. “But please, whatever you do, don't tell Vanessa I called you. This is totally confidential. When I tell you what I tell you, you have got to pretend like you ran into her randomly, got it?”
I was confused as all hell, but I agreed.
“And if I find out you told her that I told you,” Amy said, trying to make her voice low and menacing, “I'll come over to your place, cut your pecker off, and throw it down the garbage disposal. You got me?”
“Yeah, I got you,” I said, not even close to understanding what she was going on about or why she was threatening me.
“Fine. She's meeting Dylan this evening for dinner at Moscato,” she said. “She's totally not interested in him, but he's told her he just wants to talk about her career and she bought it.”
“Just like her father,” I said. “A relationship not of love and feeling, but of political expediency.”
“Exactly,” Amy said. “And we can both agree that she deserves better than that, right?”
“Yeah,” I said simply.
“Good. Then I need you to stop being an absolute shithead and be the Carter we knew back in high school,” she said. “You need to stop taking no for an answer.”
“What are you – ”
“I'm saying you need to win her back, Carter,” Amy said. “Because I know she loves you, even if she won't admit it out loud. But you screwed up, buddy. And you're going to have to bust your balls to win her back. But you have a window to do that.”
My heart raced as she spoke. No one knew Vanessa like Amy did. If she was telling me there was a chance, I had to believe that there was. I sat up in my bed and as the cobwebs in my head started to drift away and a surge of adrenaline rushed through me, I wrote down the time and the address and promised Amy I'd try to stop the date.
“And don't punch the guy again, please?” Amy said. “Because while that sadistic rage thing might be sexy in the movies, it's a turn off in real life. Believe me.”
She hung up and I was even more confused than ever. I sat back and looked at my phone, wondering if I'd fallen down the rabbit hole. Had I dreamt that entire conversation?
Looking at the clock, I realized I had a little less than hour to make myself presentable. For the first time in days, I cleaned myself up, showered, shaved and even put on nice clothes. I looked at myself in the mirror and felt a wave of doubt and self-consciousness come crashing down over me. I took a deep breath and tried to stuff it all back down. I had to do this. For me. And for Vanessa.
It was now or never, and if Amy thought I had a chance – why the hell should I not roll the dice and try to make it work with Vanessa?
ooo000ooo
Not wanting to be too obvious, I picked up Sofia and brought her along with me, pretending we were on a romantic date. As the host took us to our seats, I saw Dylan and Vanessa sitting huddled closely together at a nearby table. Seeing them look so cozy again, I felt the wave of anger welling up within me, and I had to fight to keep it in check.
Vanessa hadn't seen me, not yet, but Dylan had. He looked over at me, a look of mild surprise on his face and then turned, and said something to Vanessa. She turned around, eyes wide and fixed on me as Sofia and I took our seats. She said something to Dylan and shook her head vigorously, the expression on her face darkening. I had no idea what she was saying, but I knew it wasn't good news for me.
It was Dylan who stood up and walked over to us, which surprised me.
I stood up and felt my body tense. I was half expecting him to return the favor from the other night, be instead, he took my hand and shook it, a smile on his face – a genuine smile. Surprised by how friendly he was being after I'd broken his nose – which was bandaged and slightly crooked – I didn't know what to say. I was more than a bit taken aback, to say the least.
“Hey, Carter,” he said. “We meet again; hopefully on better terms this time.”
Vanessa walked up behind Dylan and just stared at me, a blank look on her face. She looked over at Sofia and I watched as her eyes fell. There was a look on her face that was not just sad, but heartbroken.
“I'm sorry about the other night. And about the broken nose,” I said, cringing. “I appreciate you not pressing charges. It was just a bad night. And I genuinely apologize for my behavior.”
“Water under the bridge,” Dylan said, shrugging it off. “I could see you were stressed, I didn't take it personally. I probably shouldn't have put myself in the line of fire like that.”
Yeah, well maybe you should have taken it personally, I thought to myself. But I held my tongue for Vanessa's sake. I hated seeing her with him. And the more I saw them together, the more I hated it. The more I realized that she didn't belong with him – she belonged with me.
Vanessa was wearing a wrap dress that pulled in her tiny waist, and she looked fantastic as usual.
“You're looking beautiful tonight, Vanessa,” I said, finding that I couldn't meet her eyes. “I'm sorry I missed your speech the other night, I'm sure it was great.”
“There was no speech after you left,” she said, her voice cold. “Most everybody started to leave, in fact. Watching somebody assault an innocent man tends to have a chilling effect on a party.”
“Oh, I'm sorry,” I said. “I didn't know.”
There was an awkward silence as the two of us stared at each other. There was no much I wanted to say to her, but seeing her there with Dylan – a man better suited for her than I ever would be by every measure – made it difficult. The silence between us was growing progressively more strained and awkward. But, it was Dylan who finally filled it.
“Why don't you and Sofia join us,” Dylan said. “I've never really had an opportunity to speak with Ms. Gomez, though I admire your grandfather's work regarding immigration reform. And I've heard you're following in his footsteps?”
I looked over at the beautiful Sofia who beamed proudly and nodded. “Yes, sir,” she said. “I hope to one day run the organization, once my grandfather steps down, that is.”
“Excellent. I'm sure you'll work wonders and continue to do his good work,” Dylan said, motioning for us to follow him to their table. “Well then, I think we all have common interests, join us. Please.”
Vanessa put a hand on his shoulder and said, “Perhaps they'd rather enjoy their date alone,” she said.
“No, I'm good with joining you,” I said a little too quickly. “How about you, Sofia?”
She seemed game as well, and even though Vanessa looked uncertain, she sighed and didn't fight it any longer. We sat down at their table, and I found Dylan to be a lot nicer than I imagined him to be. He was very social, and obviously forgave me for punching him.
“So Carter, your stepsister and I were just talking about her political aspirations,” he said. “And maybe it's serendipitous that you showed up tonight. The reason I'm glad you joined us is because I know she's going to need her family's support over the next few years. Running for Congress is a huge step – ”
“You're running for Congress?” I asked, nearly choking on my water.
“Dylan thinks I should,” she said. “And truthfully, it's been on my mind for a while, I guess I just needed the push to make it happen.”
“Wow, I'm impressed,” I said. “Congrats, Vanessa. I always knew you'd be going places someday.”
The more I listened to her and Dylan talk, the more I realized that maybe I was making a mistake by intruding on their conversation. Maybe Amy was wrong about all of this. It sounded like Dylan could probably make all of Vanessa's dreams come true. And she seemed genuinely excited about it.
While Sofia and Dylan talked about immigration reform, I couldn't stop myself from stealing glimpses of Vanessa. She was also looking over at me, cautiously, and every now and then she'd give me a soft, heartfelt smile.
“Excuse me, I have to use the restroom,” she said, slipping out from her seat.
I watched as she walked away, her tight little ass swishing with every step, her long hair flowing behind her. I felt my body yearning for her. More than that though, my heart yearned for her.
Before I could stop and think, I stood up. “I think I need to use the bathroom as well actually.”
I slipped away, heading off in the direction I'd seen Vanessa go. And when I rounded a corner, there she was, standing outside of the restrooms, waiting her turn. As I approached, my footsteps slowing while my heartbeat accelerated, the door opened and a woman stepped out, letting Vanessa in. I quickly slipped in behind her and followed her into the bathroom.
“Carter, what are you – ”
She didn't finish her sentence – almost like she expected me to cut her off with a kiss or something more. When I didn't, she just stopped talking and stared at me, her expression drifting from annoyed to outright hostile.
I stared back at her, not quite knowing how to say what I wanted to say. Not sure how to express everything that was churning in both my head and my heart.
“It wasn't a coincidence you being here, was it?” she asked, finally breaking the awkward silence between us.
“No, not really.”
“Amy?” A smile spread across her face and she shook her head.
She knew, I didn't even have to answer her question.
“She just wants you to be happy, Vanessa,” I said. “As do I. But now I'm questioning everything I thought I knew walking in the door tonight. After seeing you two together, maybe Dylan does make you happy. I don't know when I've ever seen you smile that much. And I know that he can – ”
“Dylan?” Vanessa asked. “Seriously, Carter? You're jealous of Dylan?”
“Aren't you two on a date?”
“No,” she laughed. “Not at all. He genuinely is only interested in me in terms of my political future. In fact, I found out something very interesting about Dylan tonight, something very few people know.”
I raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer.
“He's gay, Carter,” she said and laughed. “As in, he's got a serious boyfriend he plans to propose to within the next year. Wait, is that why you punched him the other night?” realization suddenly dawning on her face.
“God, I feel like an absolute asshole,” I said, burying my face in my hands.
Vanessa surprised me by coming up to me and pulling my hands away from my face. She leaned her forehead against mine and looked into my eyes.
“Carter, I'm still upset at how you handled yourself the other night,” she said. Her voice was soft, and her breath was warm against my skin. “Don't think I'm letting you off that easily. I'm still very pissed. And rightly so.”
She kissed me gently on the lips, and I took her face in my hands. I kissed her longer and harder this time, savoring the feeling of her lips against mine.
“I promise, Vanessa, I will make it up to you,” I said.
“Oh, I know you will,” she said with a wink. “But for now, we need to get back out there. Your date is probably wondering where you're at.”
“Pfft. I had a talk with Sofia earlier, she's only interested in me to get to you,” I said. “And not in the sexual way. She thinks you're a rising star and wants to hitch her wagon to yours.”
“Mmm look at us,” Vanessa said with a laugh. “The political power couple, huh?”
As soon as she said the words, however, she stopped. “I mean, not like couple-couple – ”
“Shhh, stop while you're ahead,” I said, kissing her one last time before we went back out to the table.
Without even realizing it, we were holding hands. Dylan eyed our intertwined hands and looked at us with a raised eyebrow. Vanessa pulled away as soon as she realized what was happening.
“So, the rumors are true,” Dylan said with a grin.
“What rumors?” Vanessa said, her face turning beet red.
“Sit down,” Dylan said. “And don't freak out so much. This isn't nearly as big a deal as you seem to think it is.”
I was starting to like him more already.