Bending the Rules: Breaking the Rules #2 (5 page)

Chapter 6

Morgan

“You’ve been home for a week now, Morgie, it’s time you left
your apartment and had some fun. Come on, let’s go out tonight and celebrate
your new job. You only have a few days left of freedom before you once again
have to join the good old American workforce!” Amanda squeals into my ear. I
have just come back from my run and her call catches me just as I was getting
out of the shower.

“Perfect timing girl, I just got out of the shower and could
use a little dinner. I’ll pick the entertainment. Why don’t you head over to my
place then we’ll jump in a cab together?” I say as I run a comb through my long
wet locks, and put a little moisturizer on.

“A cab? I don’t mind being the designated driver if you want
to get your drink on, Morgan.”

“Well, I could use a drink or two, but where we’re going you
don’t want to drive. Trust me,” I giggle before hanging up. By the time Amanda
arrives, I’ve dried my hair and flat-ironed out the frizz, thrown on my
favorite go-to skinny jeans, a black V-neck sweater, and some black Chuck
Taylors.

“Am I overdressed? I thought we were going out for dinner
and cocktails!” Amanda asks as she shows up wearing one of her favorite
clubbing outfits. Her vintage Stones t-shirt she stole from her dad that he got
at their concert in ‘79 will do just great, but the black leather mini skirt
and spike ankle booties might not be very practical for what I had in mind.

“Your shirt is perfect for what we’re doing, but why don’t
you come to my room with me and let me find you something more suitable to wear?”
I say as I grab Amanda’s hand and pull her into my bedroom. I grab another pair
of dark skinny jeans that I paid far too much to have holes already worn into,
and a pair of Frye calf-length biker boots. “That should be more comfortable,
what are you in the mood for food wise? I’m starving!” I say as we head out the
door.

Amanda and I walk to the corner of my block and grab some
veggie wraps and baba ghanoush from a little café before hailing a cab and
heading downtown to the more “seedy” part of town. The first time Drake brought
me here, I was definitely out of my element, and a little freaked out as this
was not an area my mother would have ever allowed me to go to when we visited
the city. Now that I’ve been here more than a handful of times, I realize that
Drake was right when he said the only trouble I’ll find down here is the kind I
seek out. So now I’m not so freaked to hang here. Amanda, on the other hand,
looks a little pale when we exit the cab and she takes in her surroundings.

“Morgie, are you sure the cab dropped us off at the right
place?” She asks.

“It’s fine; I’ve been here a bunch of times. Drake’s friend
Garrett owns the place. You’ll have fun, Amanda, I promise,” I say as I open
the door, stepping back to let her enter first. I want to see the excitement in
her face when she figures out where I’ve taken her.

“A bowling alley! Fun! I haven’t been bowling for years!”
Amanda giggles as she jumps up and down clapping her hands like a cheerleader.

I immediately spot Garrett at his usual perch behind the
shoe rental counter and he gives me a large smile and a nod hello. I motion for
Amanda to follow me as I make my way towards him. I normally just give him a
shy smile and a wave hello, but tonight I walk right up to him and wrap my arms
around his middle in a warm embrace. Garrett reluctantly hugs me back, letting
me stay there a while before tightening the squeeze momentarily, then releasing
me to pull back and look at me.

“Are you okay, Morgan? What’s wrong?” Garrett asks.

“I’m okay, sorry,” I say, taking a step back. “I think I
just needed a hug.” I feel my cheeks warm. In all honesty, I’m sure I just
needed to feel some sort of connection to Drake. It’s been almost two months
now since he held me in his arms, and I think I was just craving that
connection, and Garrett is the last remaining link I have to Drake. Stepping
away slightly from Garrett, I motion to Amanda.

“Garrett, this is my best friend Amanda. Amanda, this is
Drake’s friend Garrett, he’s the owner of this fine establishment,” I say as I
catch Garrett gazing around the bowling alley with a little pride and
amusement.

“Well, fine establishment might be a stretch, but Morgan is
right when she calls it mine. It’s nice to meet you, Amanda, any friend of
Morgan’s is a friend of mine,” Garrett says with a flirty wink in Amanda’s
direction as he extends his hand to her.

“Nice to meet you as well, it’s been far too long since I’ve
been bowling,” Amanda says as a blush crosses her cheeks. Amanda never blushes;
she’s normally the outgoing one between us, never afraid to make a new friend
while we are out on the town. “I used to go bowling with my dad all the time
when I was little and my mom would go out of town on business. We would tell
her we went to the movies, or worked on my Girl Scout merit badges, but really,
he’d take me bowling and would drink too much while I got sick on stale
popcorn. It was awesome.”

“Sounds like me and my old man growing up. I run a few
leagues here, if you are ever interested,” Garrett says. Suddenly I feel like a
voyeur watching the sparks fly all over their conversation.

“Hey, so I was wondering if you’ve heard anything from
Drake,” I ask.

“No, Morgan. I’m sorry, I haven’t. I know how hard this is
for you. If I hear anything, I promise you will be the first one to know.”

“Okay, sounds good. I’m sorry to bother you. I really did
come down here to have a little fun tonight and not wallow in my own broken
hearted self-pity, I promise,” I say with a half-smile.

“I’m sorry you’re hurting. I know wherever Drake is, he’s
most likely in rough shape too. That man loves you girl, you’re his life. If I
know Drake half as well as I think I do, whatever is going on right now, he’s
off trying to fix it.”

“Thanks for saying that, Garrett, it really means a lot. I
like to think that Drake is off somewhere fighting for me, but it’s been so
long now and I haven’t heard anything. No form of communication whatsoever. I’m
at my wits’ end here; I’m not sure what to do or how to move on. If it weren’t
for Amanda dragging me out every once in a while I don’t know what I’d be
doing.”

Garrett doesn’t say anything for a moment. He almost looks
like he’s struggling with whether or not to say what’s on his mind. Finally he
looks at me and hesitantly says, “I’ll tell you what. I have an old email
address of Drake’s from when he was on the bowling league here. I doubt he ever
even checked it, he’d still show up for games on days when I sent out an email
canceling them. I really doubt it’s still active, but I’ll look it up and write
it down for you. It most likely won’t get to Drake but it’s worth a shot,
right?” Garrett shrugs.

“That would be wonderful, thanks Garrett, I really
appreciate it,” I say as a huge smile crosses my face for the first time in forever.
Even if there is the smallest chance I’ll be able to find Drake, or at least
reconnect with him through email it’s a relief to be able to try.

“Sure thing, Morgan. Any time, you know that. You two go
grab lane five, your games are on me tonight. I’ll grab some shoes and that
email address and meet you over there in a few,” Garret says before heading
through the closed office door behind the shoe counter.

With a nod, Amanda and I head to the bar first to get a
pitcher of beer, and then grab our girly pink bowling balls and head to our
lane.

“So, are you actually good at bowling?” Amanda asks as we
pick our nicknames on the scoring screen.

“Oh hell no, I totally suck. This is the only place Drake
and I ever felt comfortable going to without constantly looking over our
shoulders, worried we would get caught,” I say as pain twists my stomach in
knots. I knew coming here tonight would be a constant reminder of Drake and
it’s both comforting and brutally painful.

“I’m sorry to upset you, Morgan. Are you sure you want to be
here? We can go at any time. I will say I’m enjoying the eye candy though, why
didn’t you say Drake’s friend is so hot? You know I’m a sucker for baby blue
eyes and a hint of bad boy.”

“Who, Garrett? I guess I’ve never thought of him like that.
I’m always so engrossed in Drake I guess I never really see anything else
around me.”

“Tell me about it,” Amanda says as she downs her first beer.

“He’s a really good guy, though. Both he and Drake have been
through a lot and have some crazy pasts. It’s actually a little heartwarming to
see that they can reconnect and be so close after all these years as they both
try to make more positive changes in their lives.”

“Is he single?” Amanda asks as she picks up her ball and
abruptly throws it right down the gutter.

“Nice,” I say sarcastically as I hold my hand up for a high
five. “Yeah, I think he’s still single. A girl’s name has never come up in
conversation and he doesn’t seem to be too private.”

“Well this evening is looking better still, come on blondie,
you’re up!” Morgan says as she smacks my ass like a baseball coach.

We bowl a few games, but honestly, I’m too anxious about
getting home and emailing Drake to really relax and enjoy myself. I have to
chuckle, though, when on our way out, I catch Amanda tucking her card into her
bowling shoes before handing them back to Garrett.

“I saw that!” I tease as we headed out the door to the
waiting cab.

“What? He’s hot! That was a really sweet move he pulled back
there giving you that email address. He seems like a good guy and you seem to
trust him, so why not give it a try, you know?” Amanda says while climbing into
the cab. “Plus, I’ve gotta end this dry spell sooner or later, I might as well
do it with someone with potential!”

*****

I practically race through my apartment door to get to my
computer and turn it on. Amanda had already gotten the hint that I need to be
alone and do this when I threw some cash at our cabby and kissed her on the
cheek before bolting out of the car. Not wasting any time, I strip myself of my
clothes on my way to the bedroom as my computer boots up so I can be in my
pajamas and comfortable when the laptop is finished loading. Sitting cross
legged on my couch, computer in lap, I stare at the blank email. I stare, and
stare, then stare some more. Fifteen minutes must have passed with me gazing
blankly at my screen before I close my computer and sit it next to me. Still in
a daze, I rise to my feet and head into the kitchen, foraging through the
fridge for the half-finished bottle of white. Forgoing a glass, I pull the cork
out of the bottleneck and tip my head back, letting the cold liquid slide down
my throat. My throat burns, and I’ve barely tasted the wine, but in this
moment, I don’t care. My hurt has turned to numbness these past few weeks, and
right now, even though binge drinking alone in my apartment on a Friday night
is probably wrong, just feeling something is better than the alternative.

When the wine is gone, I reach into the freezer and grab the
gin. I waste no time making an extra dirty martini, and toss that back as well.
When the liquid courage has set in and my now drunken numbness has replaced any
feeling of burn created by the alcohol, I stumble back over to my couch and
give the email writing another shot. I stare at the screen for just a few
moments again before screaming “fuck it”, and releasing a very primal and angst
filled grunt/sigh thing, then I dive right in. Drake most likely won’t even get
this email, so why do I even care? I need to unleash everything in my heart and
soul that has been plaguing me since his departure before it kills me. Or at
the very least causes me to drink myself into another ridiculous stupor.

From: Morgan Lane

Subject: White Noise

Date: October 20 2013 23:49

To: Drake Baylor Jr.

Drake,

I don’t even know what to say. I doubt you’ll even get this.
Don’t be mad at Garrett for giving me this email address, he had it from when
you were in the league at his bowling alley. He said you never even checked
this account anyway, but I had to give it a try. I’ve tried everything else to
find you. I miss you. I don’t know what else to say but I miss you and I love
you and ask that you please come home to me. You told me I was your home,
remember? Why won’t you just come home?

I spent a whole month searching the globe for you. I went to
every brilliant and stupid place I could think of that would mean anything to
you. I started in Vegas, and even went for a run in the desert heat trying to
bring you closer to me. You were absolutely right about that being a stupid
idea! I traveled through parts of Africa, then a lot of Europe looking for you
before ending up in Paris. I thought if I couldn’t find you anywhere, I’d
eventually catch up with you there. It’s the city of love, and you are the most
sappy, emotional, sentimental man I know so I thought there was no way I
wouldn’t find you sitting at some charming outdoor café, café au lait in hand.
I even thought I saw you in the airport. Like an idiot I called out to you a
few times but you didn’t turn. I could have sworn it was you. It was your hair,
and your build and my body was practically calling out to you as well. That old
familiar pull still haunts me I guess. It wasn’t you though, obviously. You
weren’t there. You weren’t anywhere I searched. So I came home broken hearted
and alone, again.

I’m not sure what happened to you, or to us. Your dad told
me that he dissolved your position, and that you would be somewhere tropical
licking your wounds in the arms of another woman, forgetting all about me. I
don’t believe him, Drake; I could never think that about you. I know how much
you love me, which is why I’m so shocked that we are now almost two months down
the road and you haven’t come home to me.