Am I running away from my problems? Absolutely. I couldn’t bear the thought of going back to my quiet apartment for the night. Not when I’d had such big plans. I figured we’d end up there after he told his friends and went ahead and bet on it going swimmingly. Which means I had cookies and beer ready to go.
Plus a surprise toy on the nightstand.
The thought of walking into my home and putting all the stuff away, only to spend the night waiting by the phone for Aaron to call, was too much. Instead, I stopped off at a mall on the way and bought a few items.
Coward? Absolutely.
I know I have to go back and take care of things. It’ll be much worse now, a pile of stale, moldy cookies sitting on the counter, but at least I’ve had a few days to think.
“So, how was she?”
“She cheats.” Hey, she can’t do anything about it if she doesn’t know.
“Yeah, they both do.” Jane goes straight for the cabinet and pulls out a couple of wine glasses. “Did you call her on it?”
“Um, no? I’m the fun uncle. It’s your job to instill values and crap in them.”
She sighs as she pushes a full glass of red wine in my direction. I start to ask what kind it is before I remember, I don’t care.
“You could help. I was like a third parent to you.”
“A third parent who bought me beer on my sixteenth birthday.” She sits down at the kitchen table, so I join her.
“And spent the night helping you puke it all back up in my bathroom. I think that taught you a lesson.”
Not a great experience for anyone.
“Yeah, not to let you give me any alcohol.”
She leans over as if she’s going to take my wine glass.
“Nope, I changed my mind.”
“So…”
“Yeah?”
“Do you want to talk about it?” She puts her elbow on the table and cradles her chin in her palm. I knew this was coming. We talked on Saturday, but since then, we’ve stayed away from the subject.
“The airport being on fire counts as a serious emergency.” I’d heard about it on the news during my drive. I’d wanted to turn onFlour & Felonies, but it only makes me think about Aaron now. So talk radio had to do the job. Apparently, some electrical system malfunctioned, and the whole place filled with smoke. If ever there was an excuse to get called into work, that one would do it.
“But?”
“So why do I still feel so shitty? I know he didn’t light the place on fire to avoid talking to his friends. There’s literally no one to blame for it.”
“So you’re mad, but there’s no one to direct your anger toward?”
“Don’t play therapist with me.” I down half my glass of wine. It tastes like… wine. Which is okay by me. “I know it’s stupid.”
“It’s not stupid, baby brother. You’re hurt. You were looking forward to something important to you, and it didn’t happen. It’s not anyone’s fault, but it still sucks.”
Why does everything seem so clear when she says it?
“You know, this happens a lot with David and me. Both of us being doctors means that our schedules are never entirely our own. I might think I’m getting out of work at four, but an emergency happens, and suddenly I can’t be home until eight. Or my colleague gets sick, and I get called in to work a weekend when we were supposed to be doing other things. Same thing for him. I can’t count the number of date nights we’ve had to cancel over the fifteen years we’ve been together.” She gives me awistful smile. “We had tickets toHamiltonwhen it came through a few years back. I bought them the day they went on sale. Stayed up after working all night so I could be one of the first in the online queue. Then the day of the show came, and David got stuck in an emergency surgery. One of his interns texted me to let me know he wouldn’t make it.”
“What did you do?” The story sounds vaguely familiar, but I can’t remember the details.
“I went by myself. We already had the babysitter, and I desperately wanted to see it.”
