“What?” I must've heard him wrong.
“My name,” he shouts. He’s two storefronts away now. “It’s Grady.”
The crowd on the sidewalk swallows him, and soon all I can see are three heads bobbing farther and farther from me.
“Bizarre,” I murmur and go back into the bar. I find Savannah and Sydney and tell them what happened.
“It’s a sign,” Sydney says drunkenly.
“A sign of what?” I ask.
"I don't know,” she mutters, laying her head down on my shoulder.
Savannah says goodbye to Drew, and the three of us head back home. When Sydney is lying in bed beside me snoring, I pull out my phone and bring up the picture Aidan used for my online dating profile.
I stare at it and pray we can make it through this.
22
Aidan
Natalieand I have seen four movies in four weeks. Allison is fifteen weeks pregnant and has begun to show. I still haven’t told my mother.
But I’m about to. She and my dad asked me to get lunch with them and considering this week Allison and I have an appointment to learn the gender of the baby, I guess it’s time. Allison asked if she could come today, but I told her it would be best if I told them alone. I don’t know what they’ll say, and I don’t want her present for that. They can meet her another time.
Allison wants to be a family. In some ways, she is a lot like Natalie. She wants things to be the way the world thinks they should be. I know she wants that, but am I supposed to give it to her? I keep waiting. I take her out for dinner, for walks, to get green smoothies. I’m stepping into the role of expectant parent like I’m supposed to, but I’m still waiting foritto happen. To feel something for her. To feel connected to the life growing inside her.
Maybe the reasonitisn’t happening is because I can’t get Natalie out of my head. When I’m not with her, which is often, I’m thinking of her. Her smile, her sense of humor, her playfulness. Last week I saw a homeless man fall in the street, and immediately I thought of how Natalie would’ve hurried to help him. I was across the street and couldn’t get there in time, and by the time the cars passed, and I could see him again, people had already come to his aid. Natalie would’ve teared up over that, and I would’ve pulled her close and kissed away her sadness.
When I arrive at the restaurant, I learn my parents are already seated. They both stand up when they see me coming and hug me when I reach the table.
My mom sits down and rubs her hands together, her eyes gleaming. “I have some good news for you. Well, Natalie really. I just came from my editor's office.” Her shoulders shake with her excitement. “My editor loves her book. She wants to meet with Natalie.”
I beam, wishing badly that Natalie were here so I could watch her digest this news. “She’ll be thrilled.” I always knew her dreams were going to come true. For a person as good and kind as Natalie, the universe had to come through for her. It just had to.
“You should've brought her to lunch today,” Dad says, taking a sip of his wine and setting it back down on the white linen tablecloth.
The waiter stops by our table and I order an iced tea. Pulling my hands together on the tabletop, I lean forward, glancing back and forth between my parents. “There’s something I have to tell you.”
Mom's eyes get big. “Is Natalie pregnant?” She slaps a hand over mouth, and a muffled ‘sorry’slips out.
I shake my head. “No, but Allison is.”Boom. Bomb dropped.
My parents both wear a look as if someone has told them aliens will be joining us for lunch.
“Who is Allison?” my dad asks.
“A woman I was seeing before Natalie. It was very casual.” I remove my hands from the table and wipe my palms on my jeans. It's not easy trying to find the nicest way to explain to my parents that Allison was somebody I met just for sex.
I sit back, giving my parents some time to absorb the news. Dad takes a big gulp of his chardonnay. Mom captures her lower lip between two fingers and twists.
Releasing her lip, she says, “You’ve really managed to fuck this up.”
“I know.”
“Where does Natalie fit into this?”
Staring at the iced tea the server placed in front of me, I say, “Natalie and I are still friends.”
