Chapter Seventeen
Cade
December 18, Monday Evening
The restaurant was loud; chatter came from every single direction, which made it very difficult for me to talk to my friend. He didn’t mind, of course, this was right up Matt’s alley, but I would’ve preferred something a little more intimate.
“Oh my God,” he loudly declared as he re-joined our table after visiting the restroom. “I just got talking to some chicks over there, and they’re headed to a party in a minute. Are you up for it? They’re seriously hot. There’s a redhead over there who has the most banging body I think I’ve ever seen.”
“Come on, Matt.” I rolled my eyes at him. “I thought we were having a quiet night tonight. I don’t want to go to a party.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot you aren’t doing that bullshit anymore. You’re all boring-”
“No, it isn’t that.” It kinda was that, but I didn’t want to admit it. “It’s just supposed to be me and you having a quiet night.”
“Yeah...” Matt glanced back towards the bar, and it was clear he was disappointed in me. “I suppose. I guess I’ll just go to a party with hot women another night.”
“That’s pretty much what you do every night, come on!”
At that moment, one of the waiters brought over the bill. Matt must’ve asked for it when he thought we were going to the party. He continued to stare behind him, so I handed the waiter my card to cover the bill. I wanted to treat my friend since I could afford it, and because I’d ruined his night. I felt bad for that, but I couldn’t bear to party again. I just wasn’t in the mood.
“Can you bring over two more drinks, as well?” I asked quietly. “Thanks.” Another couple and we could go back home, sober enough for Matt to get to work tomorrow without a raging hangover. “How are things at work?” I asked as he finally turned back to face me. “All going well?”
“Yeah, I guess so.” He shrugged a little dejectedly. “I mean, I wish my boss would notice what I do a bit more because I’m certain I’m due for a promotion, but you know how it is.”
“Maybe it’s time for a meeting. Maybe you need to go and tell your boss what you do. You know how people are, they never notice.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. Maybe that’s what I’ll do on Monday. I don’t like blowing my own trumpet, but I assume if that’s what I have to do, then so be it.” I hoped Matt realized that once promoted, he’d have to give up much of the partying lifestyle, but there was no point in having that conversation now. “So how are things with you? How’s the job hunt going?”
“Erm...” I didn’t like to tell Matt that I hadn’t even been looking really. “Yeah, alright I suppose. You know how it is. I’m searching for my passion.”
“So, you really have no idea?” The waiter came over with our drinks, and Matt held his out to mine in a cheers gesture. “No inkling of how you want to spend the rest of your life?”
“I know this is hard for you to understand. You have known what you want to do for years, but me... I dunno.” I felt lost, but I wanted to keep that to myself. “It’ll be fine; I will figure it out. Somehow. It’ll be okay.”
“Yeah, I’m sure you will.” He took another swig and gave me a bright smile. “So, if you have nothing to tell me about work, then why don’t you tell me about this girl? I mean, she must be something special for you to blow off what turned out to be an incredible night out with Henry. He just gets better with age. Honestly, it was hilarious.”
Undoubtedly, my night was better. Sleeping with Alissa for the first time had been wonderful. I could tell she was shy and held back a lot, but since we had plans to see one another again, I hoped that she’d come out of her shell a bit.
I really wanted to be the one to go on that sexual journey with her.
“She’s special, alright,” I smiled. “A really great girl.”
“Will you put me out of my misery already and just tell me who it is? Honestly, you’re driving me crazy!”
I paused for a second, wondering if it was a good idea. I didn’t have secrets from Matt, that wasn’t my thing, but this was something I wanted to hold close to my chest. Then again, I also didn’t want to deny Alissa because I was proud to be seeing her.
“This is a bit weird,” I admitted before I started. Matt leaned in closer, too intrigued to stare at sexy women now. “But it’s Helen’s daughter, Alissa.”
“Helen? As in your father’s wife?” He almost laughed at the insanity, which to be fair, I couldn’t blame him. “As in your stepmother? This girl is your stepsister?”
“Yeah, I know, but they’ve only been married for a while, and it isn’t like we knew each other.” I was being defensive, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I made myself sound guilty, but still, I couldn’t stop. “I think I met her briefly at the wedding, but that’s literally it. Until recently, of course.”
“Damn, you don’t have to defend yourself to me, you know I have no morals when it comes to a hot chick. Show me photos – I need to see this girl.”
“I don’t have any pictures.” Even if I did, I wouldn’t show them to Matt. He was acting in a way that was okay when it was just a hook-up, but what Alissa and I had was so much more.
“Oh, come on, don’t be boring, there must be pictures online. Let me see the woman who’s turned you into a bore.”
I knew at that moment if I didn’t, Matt would only look himself, and this was something I preferred to be in control of. “Alright, wait a minute.” I flicked through the images and eventually found one where Alissa looked very pretty, with nothing of her on show so there couldn’t be any crude remarks. “Here, look.”
“Oh yeah, she’s gorgeous.” I was shocked by how much he seemed to approve. “Yeah, I can understand why you’re under this chick’s thumb. Wow! I can also see why you haven’t introduced me yet.”
“Well, it’s very new, that’s why.”
He lifted his bottle for me to clink mine against, and while the gesture felt cheesy and a little disrespectful, I went with it to keep my friend happy.
“Might be new, but just in time for Christmas,” he teased. “Got any big plans?”
Oh my God! It was the eighteenth of December. Christmas was near. Even though it had been rubbed in my face for over a month, I never paid any attention before, but maybe it was time to now. “No, I haven’t thought much about it.”
“No big family dinner?” He laughed very loudly as he asked that, proving just how hilarious he found this whole situation. I expected him to tease me, but I wasn’t in the right frame of mind to banter back with him right now. My brain was totally stuck in Christmas mode.
This year was different. This year I had a reason to celebrate...if Alissa wanted to. Maybe the holidays were ruined for her, too. After all, she did get upset when she saw the tree. Somehow, I wanted to make the holidays a pleasant time for her again. I needed her to forget about her mother and to realize that the world had so much more to offer instead of negativity.
“Oh, very funny! No, no dinner. My dad and her mom are in Europe, so there will be none of that.” Thank God! I wasn’t quite ready to face that trauma just yet. I didn’t even want to think about how that would go right now. Not when things were so new.
“Well I’m in Cabo San Lucas, so if you don’t think of anything to do, you could always come with me.”
“Partying? For Christmas?” God, did it ever end? “You aren’t with your family?”
“Not a chance in hell! Come on, how dull does that sound.” He shook his head as if the idea was ludicrous. “You know that’s the only way I want to spend the holidays! Drinking, women, fun...it’ll be awesome.”
“Hmmm.” I gave him an odd look, but, his words got me thinking. We didn’t have to stay here for Christmas. I could take Alissa away if I wanted to. We could go on a nice vacation somewhere...anywhere in the world. I could afford it, so why the hell not?
Apart from the fact that it’d be really hard to explain without revealing the billion-dollar gift from my father. How could I tell her that I’d booked us a trip around the world without a job? It was a nice idea, but I didn’t know how to pull it off. That didn’t stop me from wanting it badly, though.
“Right, where are we going from here?” Matt stood up. “You aren’t going home, are you? We could go to a bar or something, have a few more drinks, right?”
My brain was buzzing with ideas, and I wanted to get home to look online to see what I could do for Alissa for Christmas. Now that the concept was there, I wanted to see if there was a way I could manage it. It felt like the sort of thing that she needed to bring her out of her shell. The idea of helping her. To finally realize just how incredible she was, me with glee.
“I think I am, man. Sorry about that.” I sounded regretful as I said that, even though it wasn’t really how I felt.
“Well, I might as well go and find that hot redhead then.” He pouted out his lip, looking very irritated at me. “I might as well go the party if you’re not going to.”
He wanted to guilt trip me into it. In the past, I definitely would’ve fallen for that, but I had distractions now, other things to do. “Yeah alright, Matt. Just remember you have work tomorrow and you want your boss to see how useful you are. Going in dishevelled and hungover isn’t really the best way to achieve that. You want to be professional, at least until the promotion is secured.”
“Yes, Dad.” He threw me a mock salute, ignoring all the logic. “I will behave. Then when you stop being boring and things go tits up with this girl, I’ll go back to enjoying my life without judgment. I can’t wait until that day comes around.”
I didn’t want to rise to the bait, I didn’t want to give him what he wanted, so I simply rolled my eyes and kept quiet about it. One day, Matt would meet someone who made him feel the way that Alissa made me feel, then he’d get it. That would be the day I reminded him of how he’d treated me.
As Matt walked off and found the girl who he so clearly wanted to bed, I chuckled to myself. He didn’t even know that girl’s name; he didn’t care about her at all. It would be a meaningless sexual experience that he’d forget tomorrow. If that made him happy, fine; but it would never be for me again, not now that I’d experienced what it was like to have so much more.