(Not So Innocent)

NOW

(Adena)

Okay, to be fair, there is nowhere really special and fancy to go in town. Not that I was looking for some five course gourmet dinner with a violinist playing. I had no desire to ever dress up and pretend to be something I wasn’t.

The bowling alley was where the cool kids went to hang out. The cool kids like Evan. Like Anna. But not me. Unless I was actually bowling, which made me out to be an even bigger dork.

Built right off the side of the bowling alley was a restaurant-slash-bar. The guy that owned the bowling alley handed it over to his son. He then shut it down and cut the bowling alley lanes in half. He added a game room on one side and the restaurant-slash-bar on the other.

That was the new spot to hangout if you were a kid in town.

A lot of the other old hangouts had been shutdown. Corner stores stood empty with old newspapers in the windows. The only reason they weren’t knocked down was because people occupied the second floor apartments.

So I sat with Evan at a high top table in the corner on the opposite end of the pool tables and the dart boards. The bar was full, two large screen TV’s angled so everyone could see whatever sports that were on that night.

We each had a tall glass of beer in front of us.

“I never thought I would see something new in this town,” Evan said.

“It’s not really new,” I said. “Just changed.”

“Makes you wonder,” he said.

“About what?”

“Your business.”

I shook my head. “There is no business. I have no business.”

“Yes you do,” Evan said. “Your location changed.”

I laughed. “My location changed? My location meaning shutting down and working for someone else? Making that person money?”

“Until you get everything else figured out,” Evan said. “Right? I mean, what happened?”

“So you wanted to take me on a date to ask about the time my dream business failed?”

Evan looked away for a second. “Dena, I didn’t mean it like that. I’m just asking what happened. Making conversation. You want to know about me? I live in a small apartment. I went to work for my uncle, which was going to be for a few months. But it turned into years because I had to save his business. I grew it, made him a ton of money, and now the old prick is refusing to sell it to me.”

“Wow,” I said. “Why won’t he sell it?”

“Stubborn.”

“Do you two get along?”

“He’s the only family I’ve got,” Evan said. “It’s okay though. It’s his business. I’m surviving.”

“But are you happy that way?” I asked.

Evan smiled.

“What?” I asked.

He reached across the table and took my hands. He leaned toward me. “Who’s the one asking personal questions now?”

“Why don’t you just answer the question?”

“Fine,” Evan said. “No. I’m not fucking happy. But it’s what I do right now. Kind of like you. You’re not happy at that other place. But it’s what you do.”

I pulled my hands away. I hated him for calling me on my shit.

“Okay,” I said. “But you see what my life is, Evan. So I have to figure this out now. Sort through so much.”

“Well, start here,” Evan said. “What happened to your bakery? Was it financial?”

“At the end, yeah,” I said.

“Well, why? I mean, people loved your stuff… right?”

“How would you know? You weren’t here.”

“Ouch,” Evan said.

“Sorry,” I said. “Yeah, people loved the business. Okay? It was booming. It was great. It was probably the best time of my life, Evan.”

“Look at you right now,” he said. “I wish you could see the way your face is all lit up. Jesus, Dena, you have no idea how fucking beautiful you are.”

I didn’t know what to say when Evan said that to me. That was the truth. It hit me in a way that I didn’t want to believe him that I was beautiful because the let down was too great. But it was so good to hear.

“I mean, you’re radiating right now, Dena,” he said. “So what happened?”

“What happened,” I said. I shook my head. “What happened… is that I tried to do the right thing, Evan. I tried to take my happiness and open it enough for someone else.”

“A guy?” he asked.

“No, Evan. Anna. She’s the one who-”

“Holy shit,” a voice said. “Tell me that’s Evan sitting at a table across from Adena.”

I turned my head and saw Jason standing there.

A guy Evan never liked.

A guy I sort of dated once.

* * *

Evan stood up and shook hands with Jason. Right behind him came a small group.

Two guys, two girls. I knew them all from high school, even if I didn’t remember their names. Which didn't matter to me; it wasn’t like we were all old friends ready to catch up. Well, at least not me. But I sat there and watched as Evan shook hands and hugged everyone in the small group.

“Bro, are you back here now?” one of the guys asked.

“No, Phil. Not exactly that. Just having dinner tonight…”

Evan turned and looked at me. Great. Now I was the center of attention once again.

“Oh, hey,” Phil said. I remembered Phil now. He slept in every class. And only got into trouble when he snored. “You’re, uh, Alana. That’s it. Alana.”

“Adena,” Evan said. He put a finger right to Phil’s jaw. “It’s Adena. How the hell don’t you know that?”

“Adena,” one of the women said. “So you’re Anna’s sister. Ohmygod. I’m so sorry…”

“Thanks,” I said.

“That was a real shame,” Jason said as he inched closer to me. “Sorry I wasn’t there. I didn’t want to kick anything up.”

“Meaning what?” Evan asked.

“Nothing,” I said. I started to stand up.

I felt like I was right back in high school. Everyone around me talking. I was just like a fly on the wall. The only reason anyone knew me or talked to me was because of my sister.

“I can’t believe she’s really gone,” the woman said to me. I studied her face for a second and the name started to come to me. Leslie? Tina?

I couldn’t be sure. There had been this group of girls that were nothing but fake bitches.

“Let me buy you a beer,” Phil said.

“Not tonight,” Evan said. “We’re having dinner. I’d like…”

“Oh, shit,” Phil said. “You’re on a date?”

I felt my face turn red.

Evan, however, didn’t let anything bother him.

“Yeah, we’re on a date,” he said. “Is that a fucking problem?”

“Not for me,” Phil said, lifting his hands. “Could be for this guy though…”

Phil nodded to Jason.

I felt my heart sink.

Evan raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, I’m done with her,” Jason said and started to laugh.

Evan looked at me.

I shrugged my shoulders and bit my lip. Giving everything away. Not that it was really a big deal. There was a time when…

“Done with her?” Evan yelled. “That’s how you talk about a woman?”

Evan closed in on Jason. Jason put a hand to Evan’s chest. “Come on. I’m fucking around. Take it easy, Evan. Jesus Christ.”

“I won’t take it fucking easy,” Evan said. He ripped Jason’s hand away from his chest. “What the fuck did you mean by that?”

“Holy shit, Evan,” Phil said.

“Shut up, Phil,” Evan said.

The other guy grabbed for the two women and started to tug at them, pulling them away from the scene.

“Evan, it’s fine,” I said.

“No it’s not,” he said.

“You want to know what I meant? Exactly what I said.” Now Jason was squaring off with Evan. “Not sure where the hell you came from, Evan. Or what you think happens around here. But the world moves on. Adena’s a big girl. She can make her own decisions. I was one of them.”

“Go back to your drink,” I said to Jason.

“Listen to her,” Evan said.

Jason grinned. “You got it. Good to see you, Evan.” He looked at me. “Good to see you, Adena. Maybe when he abandons you again, you can call me. We can catch up. I’ll lick all those wounds… and I’ll lick your-”

I saw it happening. And instead of reaching for Evan to stop the punch, I covered my mouth. Maybe in some way I wanted it to happen that way.

Evan’s fist slammed against the side of Jason’s jaw. It sent Jason spinning like a top, stumbling back, one hand grabbing at his face, the other hand outreached for balance. He danced all the way to the bar and grabbed a glass. He threw it right at Evan as though the liquid was poisonous. The glass didn’t even reach Evan. It fell short, hitting the floor, shattering.

All eyes were on Evan as he stood there, his back flexed, looking massively huge. He was ready to fight. Jason stepped from the bar and Phil grabbed his arm to keep him back.

“That’s right,” Evan said. “Phil just saved your fucking life, man.”

Evan looked around, realizing everyone was staring at him. He looked back at me. He put his hand out and I took it.

Without a word, he walked and I followed.

So much for our date, huh?

Then again, seeing Evan jealous was kind of sexy. Maybe he really thought I was beautiful.

Once we were outside, Evan spun me around and next thing I knew, my back was against the building. Neon lights for bowling and beer hung above me, the red color reflecting off Evan's face, making him look angrier.

“What did that comment mean in there?” he asked me.

“What?”

“Jason. What he said.”

“I dated him, okay?” I said. “Not long. But whatever.”

“So you and him were together,” Evan said.

“Yeah. We were.”

“Why? What the fuck did you see in him?”

“That’s my business, Evan,” I said. “Are you jealous?”

He gritted his teeth and curled his lip. “No. I can’t stand the idea of a guy like that…”

“What?” I said. “Kissing me? Touching me? Huh?”

Evan pushed away and then started to pace. He held up a fist and I thought he was going to punch the building. I never had a guy get jealous over me before. I was usually just an afterthought.

“Evan,” I said.

He finally stopped pacing and looked at me.

I saw the look in his eyes.

I could have said something to him. But why should I? He was jealous of him. Let him work this out. Figure this out. I kind of liked the attention anyway. I couldn’t stop seeing him punching Jason. The way Phil grabbed for Jason, knowing if Jason wanted to challenge Evan, he would have gotten his ass kicked.

“I hate that guy,” Evan growled. “He was always a prick. A fucking asshole.”

“Yeah, I agree,” I said. “So what? Are you going to dig through my past now? Huh?”

Evan faced me again. His right hand grabbed for my waist and he pinned me against the building.

“No, sweetheart,” he growled. “We can do that later.”

“So what do we do now?” I asked, knowing I was teasing him.

“Get in my fucking truck,” Evan ordered. “I’ll show you what’s happening next.”