Building on Lies (14 page)

“ You stopped being short little Nellie to me a long time ago”. He said, but then he sighed. “ But come on, it is freezing out here. Let’s go in”.

We walked hand in hand inside. I looked up at the night sky, wishing things were easier. That I could open up about my relationship with Chan. That Joaquim could see me as just a friend.

Our friends swarmed around us when we arrived. I could see the approval in their eyes. We made a cute couple, and our relationship would be the typical love story. Friends who turned into more…

I scanned the crowd for Ro, but didn’t see her anywhere. She was probably still out with Tommy.

Joaquim found a table for us. The tables had been rearranged so there was a dance floor, and there were already a couple of kids dancing.

Emanuela swung by our table, a drink in her hands. “ You wouldn’t believe it… Ana convinced the manager to serve alcohol. Look, this is a Long Island Iced Tea” It seemed like Emanuela had enjoyed a few Long Island iced tea because she swayed back and forth as she held the drink under my nose for inspection.

“ Awesome, Em," Joaquim said, getting up to hold her steady. He sat her down in a chair next to us.

“ How’d Ana manage that?" I asked Joaquim, as Emanuela guzzled down her drink like a thirsty man in a desert.

“ The owner is her uncle," Joaquim said, looking at Emanuela with amusement. “You know, Eric DaSilva? He’s married to Ana’s mom’s sister”.

That’s how our town is. Everyone is related to one another, either by blood or marriage. Sometimes it was annoying, because people always knew who you were, and who your family was. But other times, it came in handy. Like when you could convince your uncle to serve alcohol to minors at a party.

Joaquim got up from the table. “Keep an eye on her while I grab us something to drink. You want a beer or something?”

“ A rum and Coke," I said, deciding I may as well take advantage of being able to drink without getting in trouble.

“ On it," he said, and weaved his way through the crowd to the bar.

“ Are you in love with him?" Emanuela suddenly asked, slurring her words.

“ Joaquim is a great guy," I said, carefully. Emanuela might be drunk, but she was a keen gossip. It was better to watch what I said, even if it didn’t look like she’d remember anything.

“ He really is. And he’s sooo cute”. She took another slurp of her drink. “ You are one lucky girl, Nellie Depaola”.

If you only knew how unlucky I can be, Em, I thought to myself, but I just patted her on the back.

Ana came to the table, and when she saw the state Emanuela was in, she gave an angry sigh. “ Damn it. Is she drunk already? I told her to take it easy”.

Even though I’d seen her earlier, I got up to give her another kiss.

“ Parabens, Ana!” I said, wishing her happy birthday in Portuguese. “ Don’t be mad at Em. It’s what happens when you serve alcohol, love. Which is very cool you got your uncle to agree to, by the way”.

“ I know, right?" she said, kissing me back. “ I just have to call cabs for people who get pissy…like this one over here!”

Emanuela looked up from her drink, and said something unintelligible.

“ Oh, there’s Thiago! Let me see if he wants to dance! Keep an eye on her, okay?” Ana flitted off to find Thiago, grabbing Em’s drink away from her.

“ Hey!" Em protested, then laid her head on the table.

“ Are you going to be sick, Em?" I asked her, but she just shook her head.

Joaquim returned with my drink, giving Emanuela a rueful look. “ Looks like someone’s going to need a ride home”.

I took my drink from him, and took a careful sip. I love rum and cokes, but I didn’t want to end up like Em.

Tommy and Ro showed up just then.

“ She drunk already?" Tommy asked incredulously, as they both sat down.

“ Looks like," Joaquim said.

Em’s popped her head up, and said, “ I am not!”

She then grabbed Joaquim’s hand. “ Dance with me, Joaquim”.

Joaquim looked at me helplessly. I gave him a wave of my hand.

“ Go ahead. It might do her good to dance it off!" I said, smiling.

He let Em lead him out onto the dance floor. Tommy and Ro started cuddling and talking in hushed voices. I had no choice but to focus on my rum and coke, wondering if it was too soon to make an exit.

Tommy got up to get Ro a drink. As soon as he was gone, I asked her if she’d be able to get a ride home with him and Joaquim.

“ Chan wants to see me. I’m thinking I should leave now, so I can have some time with him," I said.

“ And what are you going to tell Joaquim when you leave? Oh, let me guess, you’re going to leave it up to me?”

“ Romina”. I groaned. “ I just made up with Chan! Help me out here”.

“ Well, don’t leave right now. Give it another half hour. That’ll give me time to think of something!" she said.

“ Fine”. I went back to sipping my drink.

The party was fun. All the Cove kids from school were invited, and the atrium was packed. Ana had hired an awesome DJ, who soon had the makeshift dance floor crowded with kids dancing.

But my mind was on Channing. As fun as the party was, I was impatient to leave. I got up to dance with Joaquin a few times, and had two more rum and cokes.

I decided it was time for me to make my exit when the room started to spin a little. I couldn’t find Ro or Tommy anywhere, and even Joaquim had left me alone to dance with Ana.

I put on my jacket, and scanned the atrium one last time for my friends. I didn’t see them. The atrium was just too crowded. I weaved my way through the crowd, and left the restaurant.

I had to blink a few times when I got outside, to get things into focus. It even took me a minute to remember where I’d parked. A small part of me wondered if I was okay to drive, but a bigger part of me was dying to see Channing. I hadn’t had any real alone time with him since the last evening at Old Dowd Farm.

I fumbled with my car keys, put the key in the ignition, and was able to drive my car out of the parking lot. The streets were well lit, and I tried to focus on driving in between the lines.

But I got confused when I reached the end of Main Street. I simply couldn’t remember if I needed to make a left or a right to get back to my house. I decided then I was definitely not okay to drive. I pulled over, and dialed Chan’s number.

“ Hey you," I said to him when he answered. “ Wanna come and meet me on Main Street, Egg Cove? I really don’t think I should drive all the way home”.

“ You been drinking?" he asked, sounding amused.

“ A little. I’m not all the way polluted, but I know I’m not good enough to be on the road. I’m in front of the pharmacy at the top of Main Street.”

“ All right. Don’t move. I’m not too far away, so I should be there like in ten minutes”.

I hung up, and turned my car off. I closed my eyes, and breathed in deeply, hoping I could sober up just a little before Channing arrived. I wasn’t drunk, but I felt kind of light headed.

I didn’t realized I’d dozed off until I heard a rapping on my window. I shrieked, and looked around wildly. It was Channing.

“ How much did you drink? You were sitting there with your eyes closed and mouth hanging open," he said, laughing, when I rolled down the window.

“ I was not!" I denied, but then I let out a small hiccup.

He laughed again, and opened my door. I got out, and wobbled a little bit.

“ Whoa, Nellie!" he said, and that made me laugh so hard I almost lost my balance again.

“ Do you need me to carry you to my car?" he asked.

“ Whatever! I’m not bad,” I said, but I leaned against him as we walked to his car.

“ Where to?" he asked, as we drove slowly down Main Street.

“ Wouldn’t a moonlit walk on the beach be nice?” I sighed, and closed my eyes again.

“ It would be if it weren’t like thirty degrees outside," Chan said, chuckling.

I touched his cheek. “I picture myself strolling hand in hand with you, on the beach, the waves splashing by our feet. Isn’t that a nice fantasy?”

He took my hand, and kissed it. “ It’s a really great fantasy. We can make it come true when the weather gets better, I promise you”. But we both wondered if that would ever be true...

“ Yeah, it is cold.” I said, softly, the words unspoken between us.

We drove on in silence, but it was a nice silence, a comfortable silence.

He drove out of Egg Cove, and toward Ardsley Park. The streets got wider, cleaner, with manicured lawns and trimmed hedges on both sides. There were street lamps designed to look like old gas lamps, and despite it being winter-time, bouquets of fresh flowers hung from iron poles. It was pretty, but I preferred the weather beaten look of Egg Cove. Egg Cove was unique in its narrow streets, shabby stores, worn triple-decker houses, and signs both in English and Portuguese. I was certain you could find a thousand other towns that looked like pristine Ardsley Park all throughout the US, but there were probably a handful of places like Egg Cove.

Still, it was hard not to be impressed by the huge houses, with their circular driveways and heavy brick gates. The houses in Egg Cove were built so close together people liked to joke you could smell your neighbor’s breath in the morning. There was no chance of that happening in Ardsley Park. Each house was like its own island among of sea of perfectly cut grass and shade trees.

It was a reminder of what different worlds Channing and I came from. In his world, he’d move out of his parent’s lavish house and buy his own expensive mini-mansion, with his own private gate. In my world, I’d probably move into the apartment upstairs from my mother’s house, or possibly down the street to live with Joaquim’s parents.

“ You okay?" he asked when we reached his house. He leaned out of his car, and punched in the security code which opened his gate.

“ I’m good," I said, softly.

The gate slid open and he drove the car down the the long driveway into the enormous garage. The Sutton garage was bigger than my entire house.

I held Channing’s hand tight when we got out of the car. I was always nervous in his house, because it reminded me of my horrible spider encounter. Seeing a spider scared me more than possibly running into his parents, or his housekeeper.

“ Where are your folks?" I whispered, as we climbed the winding stairs to his room.

“ They’re in New York,” he said. “ Mom went shopping, and I think my Dad had some convention for work. They’ll be gone all weekend.”

We walked down a wide landing, and toward a private hallway which led to Chan’s bedroom suite. He opened the door to his room, which was also an unbelievable size. The room I shared with Ro was like a crawl space compared to Chan’s room. Chan flipped on the lights, and I walked in.

I never quite knew what to do whenever Chan brought me to his bedroom. Throwing myself onto his bed made me feel kind of sluttish, but sitting down on the leather sofa he had made it seem like all I wanted to do was watch TV. He had a huge flat panel TV screen built into his wall, as big as the wall itself.

I was still feeling a little tipsy, and I rocked back and forth to keep myself steady.

Chan led me to his bed, and we sat down next to each other. He began to nuzzle my neck, and it felt so nice I leaned my head to the side to give him better access.

“ Wouldn’t it be awesome if you could spend the weekend here?" he murmured, pushing me back against his pillows. “ We could hang out, watch movies, you could make breakfast for me…”

“ Um, hello? Why do I have to make breakfast for you? It’s your house, you should be making breakfast for me!” I trailed my fingers down his nose and across his lips.

“ Don’t you Portuguese girls like to cook for your men?" he asked, teasingly.

“ I’d punch you if I weren’t feeling so tipsy right now," I said. “ Just kiss me, and quit talking stupid”.

“ Sinto muito" he teasingly apologized in awkward Portuguese, which made me giggle.

A million thoughts raced through my head as he kissed me. How wonderful he smelled, like soap and pepper and maybe wood chips?…his hair was so soft, but his body was so strong… he was a lot bigger than I was, but he knew exactly how to position himself so he wasn’t squashing me to death…it was silly how our teeth sometimes clacked together when we really got into kissing…so many thoughts racing into one another, they all sort of added up to the same thing…how much I loved him.

I was so into how great Channing felt I didn’t even stop him when his hand slipped under my blouse. I didn’t stop him when he pressed his body down so close to mine you wouldn’t have been able to slip a hair between us. I didn’t even stop him when he pushed up my bra, and his hands began caressing my breasts. It all felt so awesome.

I was actually kind of surprised when he rolled off me, breathing hard like he’d run a marathon.

“ Chan?” I fixed my bra and blouse, then rolled over onto my side to look at him. He was staring straight up at the ceiling. “ What’s up?”

He ran a hand over his face, then looked at me, his green eyes so intense I knew instantly what he wanted.