Chapter Eleven
Xavier
Dinner with Holly had gone much better than I had expected it to. After the burgers, which neither of us could finish, we took a drive to a café that opened late to enjoy a cup of coffee. I’d been keen on drinking alcohol, but I had to be careful after my DWI and figured coffee was the safer bet. I had a tendency to get carried away when I drank too much, and I wasn’t quite ready for her to see that side of me. I barely saw it myself anymore. We drank two cups each and squeezed as much as we could into the evening. As it turned out, we didn’t even need the alcohol to enjoy ourselves. I hadn’t had such a good time with someone in a very long time. Holly was easy to talk to. She had always been a very animated person, and I loved how obvious it was when she was happy or excited. She would look like an older sophisticated woman and then break into a giggle that made her seem like a teenager again. But mostly, she seemed to get me in a way that nobody else seemed to. I didn’t feel like I had to be anyone other than myself around her. This was unusual because I always felt like I was pretending with other people. The following day, I couldn’t wait to see her again at Rick’s house. But when I arrived, she wasn’t there.
“Where’s Holly?” I said to Rick as casually as possible. “I didn’t see her car.”
“Oh, she’s gone out for the day. I told her that it was fine. I’d rather finish everything up for her. So, I hear the dinner went well. She said it was just the two of you,” he said and then laughed. “I told her that you were protective over her and that none of the guys were probably good enough for her. Is that what happened?”
I’d laughed politely. “Oh, well, sort of. I figured I’d see what kind of guy she was after first. I mean, I don’t know this older Holly, and I didn’t want to set her up with just anyone.”
“That’s very nice of you. I knew I could count on you, Xavier,” he said, and I wasn’t sure why I felt so guilty about it. Why hadn’t I set her up with someone like he had asked me to? I hadn’t even considered bringing anyone else on the date. I was sure some of the guys at the station would go crazy if they saw her.
I spent the whole day at Rick’s hoping that Holly would show up, but she didn’t. Not only did she not come home that day, but she never once called me or even sent me a text. I wasn’t sure why it mattered so much to me, but I just got the sense that she was avoiding me. Did that mean that I enjoyed our dinner out more than she did? It wasn’t a date or anything, but her avoidance hurt me more than it should have. Also, it was confusing. She’d never avoided me before, and she’d certainly never ignored me.
I went to work that day wondering if perhaps I should try and set her up with someone at the station. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to, though. I walked around looking at all the guys in a new light. Could any of these guys be a potential boyfriend for Holly? They were great guys, but suddenly nobody seemed right for her. She deserved someone that treated her with respect. Someone that saw her for who she really was. I was just worried that Rick was going to keep asking me to set her up. I’d have to tell Rick that nobody was good enough. He would understand.
I spotted Kenny sitting at the table looking ill. If he was at work then it meant he wasn’t sick from the flu but sick from too much drinking. He would never miss a day of work simply because he’d had a good time the night before. That had always been the way he conducted himself. I admired him. I wasn’t sure I would want to be at work with a severe hangover, and by the looks of it, his was very bad that morning. I poked him, and he looked up at me and groaned.
“Coffee, please,” he said.
“What am I? Your waiter?”
“Coffee and a tall glass of water, and a painkiller. Please,” he croaked.
I laughed. “You’re lucky I want a cup myself.”
I walked over and poured us each a cup of coffee, and took it back over to the table along with a glass of water. When I got back, his head was back on the table.
“I have everything except a painkiller.”
He lifted his head slowly. He took a large sip of water before reaching for the coffee. “Thanks, Xavier. Wow, my head is pounding. Today is going to be rough.”
“First day back after a break and you look like this? That wasn’t smart.” Since when had I become the sort of guy that always did things by the book? A few years ago I would’ve been in the exact position as Kenny. I used to love going out and having a good time.
“Let me guess, you had a good night’s rest?” he teased. “You look a little too refreshed.”
I smiled and took a cup of my coffee. “As a matter of fact, yes, I did. It was wonderful. And that’s exactly what you should’ve done. At least you have pants on.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s one good thing. No pants and a hangover from hell wouldn’t have been a good combination.”
“You’re hilarious. Well, tell me the hangover was at least worth it.”
He smiled. “It was so worth it. I met the most amazing woman last night.”
I groaned. “Another one? You seem to meet a lot of those. If they’re so amazing why don’t you ever see them again?”
“Actually, I might see this one again.”
“What? Wow, I’ve never heard you say that again. Oh, wait, isn’t your rule that you’ll see them twice and no more?”
“You’ve been listening. Yeah, that’s the rule. But I might even see her more than that. We’ll see. I was, as you can probably tell, very drunk yesterday, so my memory is hazy. But from what I can remember, she was incredible. And I remember thinking that about her early in the night when my head was completely clear. We had the best time. And, I know this is going to sound strange, but we couldn’t stop talking. It’s not often I meet someone that I can talk to like that. Usually, it’s more about the physical side of things. I usually spend most of the time thinking about getting the girl into bed. But it was different with this one. She was gorgeous, but she also had a personality to go with it.”
“So you didn’t sleep with her?” I asked. I hadn’t heard Kenny talk about a girl like this before.
He laughed. “Well, of course, I slept with her. Like I said, she was amazing.”
I shook my head. “Some things will never change.”
“So, how about you then? What did you get up to with your weekend off?”
“I actually spent the weekend at Rick’s.”
“Not again.”
“Again. But it was cool.”
“Cool? What did you do?”
“Ah, we were getting the garage ready. Turning it back into a bedroom. Oh, I didn’t tell you. Guess who’s back in town? Holly. Rick’s daughter. Remember her?”
“Holly? Little Holly?”
“The very one.”
Kenny laughed. “How could I forget? Poor girl used to get teased so much. You were always sticking up for her; I remember that. Wow, I haven’t seen her in a long time. Is she still walking around with those big glasses of hers? They were always falling down her face. Man, that girl was such a nerd.”
“She’s not a nerd.”
“A dork, then.”
“She’s not a dork.”
“Oh come on, you have to admit she’s ridiculous. I’m assuming she’s the same if you’re sticking up for her. You always had a soft spot for her. I still remember that one time at school when she fell down the stairs. Her dress went flying. Her books went flying. You weren’t there that day. Everyone gathered around her to laugh.”
“Did anyone help her?”
“I don’t think so. It was just too funny. I’ve never seen anyone fall like that.”
I shook my head. “Seriously? That’s not nice. Can you imagine everyone crowded around you laughing? That’s not cool at all. She had enough to worry about at the time, and all she needed was a friend. I had no idea that even happened.”
Kenny waved his hand. “Hey, you can’t get mad at me. I wouldn’t just stand at laugh at her now. But I was a kid then. You know what it was like. We were all kids.”
I felt myself get more and more worked up at the thought of Holly lying on the floor while everyone laughed at her and I had to tell myself to calm down. It wasn’t worth getting upset about. It was years ago, and things were different now.
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”
“Wow, you really still feel protective over that girl, huh?”
I shrugged. “I can’t help myself. She’s a sweet kid. Anyway, we better finish our coffee and get started on our work. Today is going to be a long day. I hope you’re sleeping in tonight.”
“I’m going to crash the moment I get home. It’s the only thing seeing me through this day. The thought of my bed waiting for me at home. But what about tomorrow night? Are you free?”
“Tomorrow? What’s happening tomorrow? Haven’t you had enough of going out?” I asked.
“Are you really asking me that question? When would I ever have enough of going out? Of course not! I’ll be fine by tomorrow and raring to go again. You know me. Come on, why don’t you come with me this time? I told you I’m not going to rest until you say yes to me. And I’m not even going to a club, just a bar in town. Why don’t you come and have a few drinks with me? Come on it will be fun.”
I almost said no. It was a natural reaction for me to say no to Kenny whenever he asked me out. But then I thought about Holly and realized I was thinking about her too much. It wasn’t right for me to get so worked up about her. Perhaps the best thing for me to do at the moment was to go out and meet someone. Rick was right; I was never going to meet anyone if I didn’t at least make an effort.
I finished the rest of my coffee and stood up.
“Come on, let’s go to work. And yeah, I’ll come with you tomorrow night.”
Kenny looked up in surprise. “Seriously? Wow, I didn’t expect you to actually say yes.”
I laughed. “Yeah, well it’s only because I want to you stop asking.”
He chuckled. “I knew I’d wear you down eventually. Do we have to go to work now? What if I crawl under this table and take a nap?”
“No way. You’re coming with me. If I’m coming to a bar with you tomorrow night, then you’re going to suffer with me today.”
He groaned. “That’s so not fair.”
“Yeah, well, life isn’t fair,” I said and helped him up. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of his pale face as we made our way over to start our day. It was going to be a long day for Kenny.