Chapter 2

Her:

Ten years is too long for a single project.  I need to move on. It is time.  But for tonight, I will enjoy the celebration.  I think.  That is until I see him.  Once again he is isolated. Drunk?  I often imagine us being friends. We could have tried. But we didn’t. 

I wonder what makes him drink so hard. Every time.  I saw his wife earlier.  Maybe that has something to do with it.  Being this our last night “together”, I guess I will never know.  In the meantime, I try not to think about it. About him. Nothing good will ever come from that. 

I fail.  Watching him, brow to table, it breaks my heart.  I reach his table. He looks miserable.  “Hey!”  I call his attention.  “You have to stop drinking, like now!”  I say, but get no response.  He is almost unconscious.

Behind the back doors, I talk to the bar owner. Jimmy, a good friend of mine.  “I’ll leave my car here. Take the keys. I’ll call for them later.”  He looks at me in shock and then he jokes. “But you don’t even look tipsy!”  It is not uncommon for me to ask for this.  I often drink.  A lot.  As well.  I glare at Jimmy and point at him.  He immediately gets the situation and nods.

I drag him out the door.  Too heavy.  He maybe unconscious, but his subconscious is well aware that he is leaving the tequila bottle behind.  “I am taking you home.” Again, no response. Only a look that pierce my very skin. 

The journey elapses quietly.  So does the night.  I know the directions by heart. Though I have never entered his house. Their house.  He and his wife had invited us so many times. Too many. I managed to avoid it. Every time.  It was not an easy task to do.  We work and, sort of, hang together.  But overall, we spend almost every hour of every day together.  It had to be done that way. 

I recognize temptation when I see it. And he was it for me back then.  He still is now. I needed to keep him at arm’s length. If not more.  I yet can’t believe I’m pulling this off.  Taking him home.  I need to call his wife. Again.

“Lucy, I’m calling because your husband had a bit too much to drink tonight. Go figure. I’m driving him to your house.  I don’t know if you heard any of my previous messages, but please give me a call. Thanks!”

I am rolling down a no-luck road tonight.  First, I miss part of our farewell party. Second, I break my own rules of proximity with him. And now we are approaching his house and his wife is nowhere to be found.  Just my luck.

Is not the first time I go that way. Not even close.  Life is not easy for me and Brian.  We met too young. And got engaged too soon.  By the time I met him, the wedding was a work in progress. 

I never saw the trouble, anyway.  He showed no interest for me at the moment. None. I sometimes think, he even regrets me replacing his long time partner. A nice girl.  Very pretty too. 

We are approaching our destiny.  He looks at me. Confused. I swear I see a smirk on his lips. Maybe I’m the one who’s drunk.  Or maybe I’m just dreaming.