Chapter 28
Eamonn
December came and finals descended upon Stroude. A week after interviewing, Eamonn had gotten word from human resources that he’d been selected for the management trainee program. She had more enthusiasm on the phone than Eamonn. His mom got choked up, which made it all worth it. He did his best to sound when he told her, but it was hard to be jazzed about anything knowing that the Yank across the hall was all packed up and ready to leaveforever.
Their breakup was assumed and went unspoken. When Eamonn walked by Rafe’s room and saw bare walls or overheard Rafe bequeathing Louisa his wooden spoon (the two had apparently made up), he got the idea. They hadn’t had sex or slept with each other since their talk on Thanksgiving. They were cordial, friendly even, but Rafe had evidently mastered that British skill of properly holding in one’sfeelings.
He spent his final week of the term taking exams and writing up final papers. One more semester, and he would be done with this completely, ready to become a manager and join the realworld.
Eamonn had avoided Apothecary during this time, too, for he didn’t want to bump into Rafe at work. After his final class of the term, he stumbled over to Grey’s, the unfettered, dive-ish bar on the opposite side of campus. It was mostly frequented by rugby and football players, who itched for a fight after a certain number ofpints.
He wasn’t the only one with this idea. Louisa sat alone at the bar, halfway through something that seemed much stronger than a Midorisour.
“Is this seat taken?” He pointed to the stool next to her. She signaled that it was allhis.
“I’ll have another,” she called to thebartender.
“What is that?” Eamonn asked of her now-emptyglass.
“Vodka with a splash ofsoda.”
“Celebrating the end of theterm?”
She cocked an eyebrow. Eamonn ordered the same drink. They toasted their glasses. He winced at the pure taste of vodka. That was why he stuck to beer. Louisa could always drink him under thetable.
“So how’sJeremy?”
“Jeremy is no more.” She swirled the straw in herglass.
“I’m sorry to hearthat.”
“Don’t be. I cut him loose. It was neveranything.”
Eamonn figured that since he magically appeared at Thanksgiving dinner, and he hadn’t seen Jeremy around the dormitorysince.
“It’s because Heath had the audacity to shag that American twat. Those damn Yanks are ruining our lives,” shesaid.
“She didn’t mean anything to him.Shewould even tell youthat.”
“And now I mean nothing to Heath.” Louisa downed about half her drink, and she would’ve chugged the rest had Eamonn not stoppedher.
“I don’t get it, Louisa. He’s been bloody in love with you this whole time. You knew that, and you still treated him like rubbish.” Eamonn would joke about the Heath and Louisa drama, but he knew how much it tortured his best mate. “You haven’t been fair to him. Why did you act likethat?”
“Not all of us are made for relationships.” She elbowed him. “Committing to someone is scary. It’s like a real fucking decision. And Heath was always just…there. Bugger. I didn’t know what Iwanted.”
“Congratulations. Now youdo.”
They both drank. This time, the vodka went down muchsmoother.
* * *
He and Louisareturned to Sweeney Hall. Seeing Rafe’s door completely bare – no name plate, no signs, no notes tacked to the small corkboard – shot a small dose of pain to Eamonn’sheart.
“Do you smell that?” Louisa asked. The savory smells of a dinner explosion spread throughout the flat. “I reckon drinking heightens all my othersenses.”
He followed her into the kitchen. It really was a dinner explosion. Plates of ravioli and bowls of soup covered the entire table. Heath sat at the head with a napkin tucked into hiscollar.
“Are you going for a world eating record, mate?” Eamonn askedhim.
