Chapter 25

I was up before the sun. Or at least I would have been if you could've actually seen the sun. A dense layer of thick, gray clouds covered the sky, promising that another blustery winter day was just beyond the horizon. Usually, we could milk the last vestiges of fall up until Thanksgiving, but the holiday was still a week away and it looked like winter had decided to come early and settled in for the long haul.

It was funny how much the weather seemed to mirror my moods.

Like the sky, my disposition today was dark and gloomy. I hadn't slept well. Thoughts of Erik's sudden shift in temperament had kept me up for hours and when I finally did fall asleep, I'd tossed and turned to the point where I barely felt like I'd gotten any rest at all.

Dragging myself to the closet, I pulled on a worn pair of jeans and one of my favorite oversized long-sleeve shirts. Then I gathered my hair into a stumpy ponytail, slipped on an older pair of work sneakers, and went downstairs to make coffee.

The house was still dark. The air felt dense, the silence almost deafening. Erik was nowhere to be found. The chair by the fireplace sat forlorn and empty and the book he'd been reading the night before lay forgotten on the coffee table where he'd hastily abandoned it. Not for the first time, I wondered where he went when he wanted to be alone.

I had to stop dwelling on him, though. I'd already allowed my insecurities about it all to ruin my night, and if I wasn't careful my melancholy thoughts were going to ruin my Saturday as well. And I still didn't even know if I was getting worked up for nothing. So, determined to remain upbeat and positive, I made my way to the kitchen, flipping on every light as I went, and resolved to keep busy enough that I didn't have time to think about anything else.

And for a while, it worked. I found a radio station that played a combination of newer and older rock and was belting my heart out to Journey's Wheel in the Sky while using the handle of the shovel as a microphone when I turned and saw Erik standing in the doorway.

"Don't know where I'll be tomorro—oh! Erik!" I yelped, my face instantly turned several shades of red. I lunged toward the countertop and switched off the radio. Still holding the shovel, I propped my elbow on top of the handle and tried to look casual as I brushed a loose piece of hair out of my eyes with my other hand. "How uh…how long have you been standing there?"

The grin that spread across his lips said it all. "Long enough."

"Oh. Sure. I see. You disappear all night and half of the morning and you pick this moment to come back, huh?"

Erik's golden eyes sparkled mischievously. "I couldn't help it. I simply had to know what you were doing in here. Your performance was very…spirited."

"Well, I'm no Christine Daaé," I said with a flippant wave of my hand and a self-deprecating laugh, "but I have been known to butcher my way through a few songs during karaoke night once or twice."

"I know someone who could help you with that."

Shaking my head, I replied, "Oh no. You're not going to Opera Ghost me. Forget it."

His laughter reverberated around the small kitchen. The warmth of his timbre pooled in the bottom of my stomach and made my insides tingle.

"Are you feeling better?" I dared to ask.

"Yes," he said with a nod.

Angling the handle of the shovel toward him, I asked, "You wanna join me?"

He came forward and took the shovel from my hand. "I would love to," he said softly.

"Awesome," I said, trying to conceal my giddiness over such a simple statement. I pointed to the table. "I'll start sweeping up over here."

We quickly fell into a rhythm after that, skillfully dancing around each other and anticipating one another's movements as though we'd been doing it for years. And for that brief, perfect moment, all was right with the world.

I had intended, somewhat selfishly, to stay away all day. I needed time to collect my thoughts and develop a proper strategy for interacting with Christine without my muddled feelings getting in the way, but as the morning went on and I could hear her working in the kitchen, her presence called to me, beaconing me to her side with the force and power of a lodestone. It was becoming increasingly difficult to resist her pull. The final nail in the proverbial coffin that made me abandon my plan of self-imposed solitude was when she started singing.

Strangely, it wasn't her voice itself that drew me to her. She was far from unpleasant to listen to and could stay on key fairly well, despite obviously never having had any formal training. No, it was the way she sang. There was a light-hearted, carefree nature to her tone, as though she didn't have a care in the world. I envied her that freedom.

Her enthusiasm was infectious. As I stood there, watching her sing the song's chorus into the handle of that shovel, I felt a great weight lift from my shoulders. I could sulk and bemoan my fate and what would never be, or I could let go and just allow myself to enjoy moments like these. I may never possess her heart, but I possessed her friendship. And while it wasn't love, it was enough. It had to be.

Time flew by, as it usually did whenever Erik and I were together. By mid-afternoon we had broken up all of the remaining tile. I was sweeping up some of the smaller pieces with the push broom when my phone went off. I pulled it out of my back pocket and glanced down at the screen. It was a text message from Maddie.

911, it read. Call me ASAP!

"Erik," I said. "Let's take a break. I need to call a friend."

He stopped what he was doing and looked at me, his eyes darting between me and the phone in my hand.

"Of course."

"Thanks," I muttered and hurried out of the kitchen, selecting Maddie's number from my phone list as I went.

She picked up on the first ring.

"Hi. Are you okay? What's going on?"

"No, I'm not okay!" she sobbed. "Eddie and I had a fight and I stormed out. I don't want to go back there but he's my ride home. Can you come get me?"

"Sure," I replied without hesitation. "Where are you?"

"At some gas station around the corner from Eddie's apartment."

I quickly jotted down the address she gave me and assured her I would be right there, then hung up.

"Okay, change of plans," I said to Erik as I stuffed the phone back into my pocket and walked into the kitchen. "A friend of mine needs my help. I'm going to go pick her up and bring her back here. I don't think it's a good idea that she be alone right now."

Erik nodded in acknowledgement.

I glanced around the kitchen and let out a heavy sigh. "We never get a full day to spend together, do we?"

"It will keep and I'm not going anywhere," he replied. "Go help your friend. I'll be here when you return."

"All right. I'll see you in a bit."

Pivoting on my heel I went back to the front room and put on my coat, then grabbed my purse and car keys from the end table and went out to my Jeep. While I waited for it to warm up and my windshield to defrost, I called Rochelle.

"Heya Chris. What's up?"

"Maddie needs our help," I told her. "She and Eddie had a fight. I'm on my way to get her right now. I think she might benefit from a girls' night. Can you meet me at my place in fifteen?"

"Oh no, that's terrible! Yeah, I can definitely meet you. You thinking about going out or staying in?"

"Staying in. That way she can talk if she feels like it."

"Okay, got it. I'll bring the booze then."

"Okay," I laughed.

"See you in fifteen."

"See you then."

I hung up and tossed the phone into the cup holder. After a couple of swipes with my front and rear windshield wipers I put the Jeep in reverse and pulled out of the driveway.

The storm I was certain we'd see today never materialized. Although the skies had remained overcast all day, the temps had actually been closer to what we were used to seeing this time of the year. As a result of the warmer weather, a dense layer of fog had begun to roll in.

Hopefully Maddie will take a cab home and I won't have to drive in this later, I thought and then immediately chastised myself for being selfish. She was my friend and I'd help her any way I could. Even if that meant driving in shitty weather.

I spotted Maddie shivering on the sidewalk in front of the convenience store portion of the gas station and pulled into the empty parking spot in front of her. As soon as she saw me, she hurried to the jeep and jumped in, slamming the door forcefully behind her.

"Hi Maddie," I softly greeted.

"Hey," she responded sullenly.

"I took a chance and figured you wouldn't want to be alone, so I told Rochelle to meet us at my house. I hope that's okay."

"Yeah." She folded her arms and scrunched down lower in the seat, burying her face in her scarf.

I didn't press for details. She'd tell me when she was ready, and it didn't make much sense to launch into the story right now only to have to repeat it for Rochelle a few minutes later. So, we drove back to my house in silence, both of us lost in our own thoughts.

Rochelle was waiting for us on the front porch when I pulled into the driveway. She waved as the Jeep coasted to a stop. Maddie, who had been glaring out the window the entire time, perked up a bit when she saw her. Rochelle waited until Maddie had opened the door and then came down the steps and pulled her into a big hug. I carefully picked my way around the car and joined them.

"Thanks, you guys," Maddie whispered.

"You're welcome," I said.

"Always," Rochelle replied.

Letting go, I pointed toward the door. "C'mon. It's freezing out here. Let's get inside."

The three of us shuffled inside and spent the next few moments hanging up our coats and getting comfortable.

"Sorry for the mess," I said, indicating the fine layer of dust that had settled over the coffee and end tables. "I just finished tearing out the tile floor in the kitchen and haven't had a chance to clean up."

"You did what?" Rochelle blinked. She angled her head to try to see into the kitchen from where she was standing. "Seriously, Chris. You're amazing. I would never dare to do something like that."

"Thank you," I said, beaming with pride. Although I can't take all the credit. I had help…. "Give me a sec. I'll be right back."

While Maddie and Rochelle made themselves comfortable, I went into the kitchen to fetch some damp paper towels to wipe up the dust.

"Bring some shot glasses, too!" Rochelle hollered at me from the front room.

"Shot glasses?" I muttered questioningly to myself. Not wine glasses? What kind of booze did she bring?

I retrieved three shot glasses from the back of the cupboard, stacking them one on top of the other, grabbed the paper towels, and returned to the front room. Maddie and Rochelle were seated at the couch, so I quickly pulled a handful of paper towels off the roll and ran them over the coffee table, set the glasses down in the middle, and then took a seat in Erik's chair. As I snuggled against the backrest, I could have sworn that I caught the faint lingering scent of spices.

"Are you sniffing your chair?"

I froze, glancing over to Maddie, who wore a puzzled look on her face.

Uhhhh….

I tried to regroup mentally and scrambled to find any sort of answer that would make sense. "I'm just wondering if you guys can smell the dust and tile mortar because I can. No doubt it's settled all over the furniture." I took an exaggerated sniff. "Should I light a candle?"

Yeah, yeah. Nice save, Christine.

Maddie shook her head. "I don't smell anything. But then again, my nose is kind of plugged."

"Me neither," Rochelle said. "I won't say no to candles, but it's not necessary."

"Okay." I relaxed. A moment of silence passed between us. Then, I leaned forward and asked Maddie, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Maddie immediately burst into tears. I glanced helplessly at Rochelle.

"He lied to me!" she cried. "Eddie's been lying to me this whole time!"

"About what?" Rochelle asked.

My stomach tightened. Please don't say that he's been seeing someone else.

I didn't want Maddie to have to experience that gut-wrenching feeling of knowing the person you loved had betrayed you. I didn't wish that on anyone. Well, maybe Carly, but anyway.

"When we met, he told me he was a vegetarian," she revealed in between sobs. "But it turns out he's not!"

I knew that Maddie took her life choices very seriously, and it was obvious from how upset she was that she considered this to be a major transgression on Eddie's part.

Rochelle rubbed Maddie's back.

"How did this come about?" I inquired.

"We were making plans for Thanksgiving and I asked him who should get the Tofurky for dinner. That's when he said that he wanted to have real turkey."

Rochelle's eyes widened. "Did he expect you to eat real turkey too?"

Maddie shook her head. "No, of course not. He said we could still get Tofurky, but that Thanksgiving Day just wasn't Thanksgiving Day without a real turkey."

"Is the fact that he eats meat a deal-breaker?" Rochelle asked. "Can the two of you compromise? Like, would you feel more comfortable if he cooked the turkey at his house and just brought enough over for him to eat for dinner?"

"It's not that. I don't care that he eats meat. It's the fact that he lied about it. And if he can lie to me about something simple like that, what else has he been lying about?"

I nodded in understanding. Once the trust was broken it was hard to get it back. "Do you want me to kick his ass?"

She let out a sound that was half laugh, half wheeze.

"So, what did you say to him?" Rochelle said.

"I called him on it. Yelled at him and demanded to know how he could keep something like that a secret."

Rochelle made a circling motion with her hand. "And? What was his excuse?"

"He said that I had I all wrong. That he never actually told me that he was a vegetarian. That I just assumed he was because he always ordered vegetarian meals when we are together. And that he does that because he's trying to be supportive of my lifestyle. Then, he got mad at me for being mad and yelling at him and now it's a big ol' mess and we're not speaking to each other." She buried her face in her hands and started to sob even harder.

"Maddie," Rochelle said, resuming the circles she'd been rubbing on her back, "I think this is all just a big misunderstanding, and I know you might not want to hear this, but I think you owe Eddie an apology."

Her head reared up, fire flashing in her teary eyes. "What?" she demanded hotly. "You're taking his side? Whose friend are you anyway?"

"Your friend," she assured her. "And sometimes being a good friend means telling you when you're wrong."

Rochelle looked at me and widened her eyes, silently motioning to me to give her some backup.

"She's right," I agreed softly. "I don't think he lied to you. But I do think he's just as guilty. He should have been upfront with you about what he was doing instead of letting you assume he was vegetarian this whole time. I can see why you'd think that and why you're so upset over finding out the truth. I think you both need to talk it out and he needs to apologize too."

Maddie folded her arms across her chest. "I don't want to talk to him right now! Just let me be mad!"

"What you need is a distraction," Rochelle announced. "And luckily, I came prepared."

She bent over slightly and pulled a shiny black bottle of Tequila Rose out of the brown paper bag sitting by her feet.

Maddie immediately made a face. "I don't like tequila."

"It's not like the tequila you're thinking about," Rochelle told her. She motioned to me. "Chris, hand me the shot glasses."

I did as she asked, and Maddie and I watched as she poured a creamy pink liquid into each of our glasses.

Handing them back to us, she said, "See? It's sweet. Like strawberries. Trust me."

To demonstrate, she upended the glass and swallowed the liquid in one gulp. Shrugging, I did the same and was pleasantly surprised by how light and smooth it tasted.

Maddie continued to hesitate and then muttered, "What the hell," and downed the shot. Her eyes widened with delight, and she smacked her lips. "That was good! Gimme another one!"

Rochelle laughed and compiled.

"Chris?" she asked, waving the bottle at me.

"Yes, please."

She filled my glass and then hers and the three of us took another shot.

"This is weird," Maddie said after a moment, once we'd had a chance to let the liquor settle into our stomachs.

"What is?" I asked.

"This." She held up her empty glass. "I'm not used to drinking solely to get drunk. Usually there's more going on around us. Like, normally we're at a bar or something."

"I could turn on some music, if you'd like," I offered.

"Yeah, maybe that would help."

Nodding, I got up and went over to the radio and searched through the channels until I found a station I knew we all liked and turned down the volume so that it faded into the background rather than overpowered our conversation.

"We should play a drinking game!" Rochelle said. "Something to keep the excitement up and the merriment going. Like…oh! I've got the perfect one. Truth or dare!"

I twisted around to look at her. "Aren't we a little old for that game?"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Pfft. Hardly. We're old enough now that we can take a more…risqué approach and that's what makes it fun."

I eyed her skeptically.

"I'm game," Maddie said.

"C'mon Chris," Rochelle pleaded, giving me big puppy-dog eyes. "It'll be fun. I promise!"

"Okay, fine," I relented with a sigh. Settling back into Erik's chair, I pulled my legs up and crossed them in front of me.

"Yay!" Rochelle clapped. "Okay, first, the rules. Anyone can choose to pass on a truth or dare, but the penalty for passing is that you have to take a shot. Got it? Oh, and one more thing. If anybody brings up boyfriends, the person who brings them up has to take a shot too."

Maddie and I both nodded that we understood.

"Great. I'll go first. Chris," Rochelle said, turning towards me. "Truth or dare?"

"Umm…truth."

"Have you ever pretended to like a gift when you actually hated it?"

I blushed. Oh hell, this was going to be harder than I thought. "Yes. That polka dotted scarf you gave me for my birthday last year, Maddie. I can't stand it. It makes me look like an old woman."

"Christine!" Maddie exclaimed with mock indignation. "You told me you loved that scarf!"

"I know! I just didn't want to hurt your feelings."

"That's okay. I got it out of the bargain bin at work," she revealed. "I think I paid a whole two dollars for it."

"Maddie!" I yelled at her, pretending to be offended. "Is that all I'm worth to you. A measlytwo dollars?"

By this time, she was laughing so hard she had tears streaming down her cheeks. "Okay, okay. My turn. Rochelle, truth or dare?"

A mischievous grin spread across Rochelle's face. "Dare."

"I dare you to…call O'Malley's and order Chinese food."

"Ohhhh." Rochelle's eyes slanted. "You're dirty."

She took her phone out of her pocket.

"Hey, you wanted to play this game. Put it on speaker so everyone can hear," Maddie told her.

Rochelle searched the number and dialed it, glaring at Maddie the whole time.

"O'Malley's," a male voice answered after three rings.

"Yes, hi. Do you accept to go orders?"

"Yes, ma'am," he replied.

"Ma'am?" I mouthed to Maddie.

Rochelle shot us a venomous look and waved her hand at us furiously to silence our giggling. Maddie threw one of the throw pillows at me, which only made me laugh harder.

"Great. I'd like to order a large orange chicken, three sides of ham-fried rice, and three egg rolls."

"Come again?"

"Do you have egg flower soup? Three of those too, if you have it."

There was an unmistakable note of irritation in the voice that filtered over the line. "Ma'am, this is O'Malley's. We serve pub food."

"Oh. Okay. I'll have the pork chow mien, instead."

"You've got the wrong number, ma'am."

And with that, he hung up.

The three of us immediately burst out laughing.

"Oh my god," I cried, dabbing my eyes with my shirt. "That was amazing."

"I'll remember that," Rochelle vowed. "And payback's a bitch."

"My turn. Maddie," I said. "Truth or dare?"

"You think I'm going to choose 'dare' after that? Uh-uh. No way. Truth."

"All right then. Have you and Eddie ever done it in a public place?"

"Take a shot!" Rochelle screamed, pointing at me.

"Ah, crap," I muttered. "I forgot."

I hurried and slammed a shot and then looked at Maddie.

Pink crept across her cheeks as she dropped her gaze. "Pass."

"That's a yes!" I cried.

We went around in a circle, with the truth questions getting more and more personal and the dares getting crazier and crazier. At one point Rochelle had Maddie quacking the ABCs like a duck and Maddie had dared me to talk with a country accent for the next two rounds. I got even by daring Rochelle to sing Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You really bad while pretending to be the best singer in the world.

The tequila was starting to take effect. I could feel my shoulders loosening with each passing second and a warm sensation spread out from my chest, making my arms and legs feel heavy. I'd have to slow down and make sure I accepted all truths or dares or else from here on or I'd be passed out on the couch within the next twenty minutes.

Half-listening to my friends' banter, I leaned back and surveyed the room. Alcohol had softened the edges of the furniture and made the space around us look smaller, cozier. Idly, I reached over and picked up the remote to the fireplace and switched it on, thinking it would only add to the coziness. And it did. But as the firelight washed away some of the dark shadows, it also revealed a certain apparition lingering by the staircase. He wore a small smile of confused amusement as he continued to watch the scene unfold before him and when he realized I'd caught him eavesdropping he turned his gaze towards me and gave me a conspiratorial glance. We shared a secret, he and I, and knowing that warmed me up inside better than any tequila ever could.

"Earth to Chris! Hello!"

"Huh?" I blinked, recentering my focus on Maddie.

"I said, it's your turn." She twisted around on the couch, glancing behind her questioningly. "What're you looking at?"

"Oh…uh, nothing. I was just zoning out. I'm starting to feel it," I laughed, referring to my own state of drunkenness. "My turn, you said?"

Maddie nodded. "Uh-huh. Truth or dare?"

"Truth," I replied. The dares were starting to get out of hand as the night wore on and I wasn't brave enough to do anything humiliating now that I knew Erik was watching.

"How does Jake really feel about that gold band on your left hand?"

"What?"

"Violation of the no boyfriend rule!" Rochelle yelled playfully. "Take a shot!"

"Oh, damn," Maddie said, rolling her eyes mockingly. "I have to take another shot of this absolutely delicious tequila. Poor me." She took her penalty shot and then looked at me expectantly. "Well? Does it bother him that it looks like you're already married, or does he like to pretend you're married to him? It is a wedding ring, after all, isn't it?"

"I…." A cold bead of sweat slid down my spine, chasing away some of my buzz and filling me with dread in its wake. Against my better judgment, my eyes shifted to Erik. Leave it to Maddie to meddle. I wasn't ready to confront what Jake and I were, especially in such a public fashion. "I don't think he cares. He knows that it used to be my grandma's and that it's stuck on my finger."

She pursed her lips. "I'd have thought you would have cut it off by now. Personally, I wouldn't want people to think that I was married and cheating on my husband while out with my boyfriend."

"I'm not going to cut it off!" I cried indignantly. Clasping the fingers of my right hand over the thin band and hugging my left hand to my chest protectively I retorted, "It was my grandma's! You have no idea how much it means to me!"

The severity with which I uttered that last part shook me to my very core. But it was true; this ring tied me to Erik and I'd die before I removed it or did anything else to cause him harm.

"You're right," Maddie said penitently. "I'm drunk and sometimes I get carried away. I'm sorry. Do you forgive me?"

"Of course," I replied.

"I think we should probably call it a night," Rochelle interjected, no doubt feeling smothered by the tension that was suddenly thick and hanging in the air around us.

"Yeah," I agreed, although I was reluctant to end things on such a heavy note.

While Rochelle busied herself with calling a cab, I stood and turned to Maddie. "Have we lightened your mood? Do you feel better?"

Our previous argument already forgotten, she smiled sweetly and nodded. "Yes. You guys are the best. I'm lucky to have such wonderful friends." She gave me a hug, and then gave one to Rochelle, who had just put her phone down.

"Okay, the cab should be here in about ten minutes," Rochelle said, letting go of Maddie and stepping back to look at her. "I'll have the driver drop you off on the way."

"Would it be okay if you had them drop me off at Eddie's house instead?" she asked. "I think we need to talk and clear the air and I don't want to wait."

"Good girl," Rochelle said, squeezing her arm.

A few minutes later I had them both bundled up and piled into the backseat of the cab.

"Bye!" they both called.

I waved from the sidewalk. "Bye! Thanks for a lovely evening!"

I watched until the taillights disappeared into the misty haze and then, rubbing my hands against my arms, I hurried back inside to where Erik was waiting for me.

Disclaimer: I have the utmost respect for vegans, vegetarians, and anyone else who chooses to live their life their own way, and no part of this chapter was meant to cause discomfort or offense. ~ Jamie