Champagne Toast (40 page)

“
Well, there
’
s your answer.  You need to go.
”

Kate

December 14, 2012

Another Friday night at Molly
’
s.  Another night fighting off advances from drunken frat boys.  Another night of serving drink after drink after drink.  The only thing that
’
s different about tonight is my nerves.
My art show is in less than 24 hours and my nerve endings are blazing inside my skin.
I
’
m terrified, excited and a little overwhelmed to be showing my piece.

I gave out a total of five fliers for the exhibition.  Vince, Bree, Jason, my parents (who I doubt even noticed it in their mailbox) and Evan.  Although
,
if I had known how that night of Patrick
’
s wedding would end, I wouldn
’
t have bothered.  He left me.
Again
. 
My brain has been useless ever since.  Bree keeps begging me to talk to her about it, but I just can
’
t.  I feel like such a fool for letting him in again, for thinking that things could be different between us.  I should
’
ve known he
’
d just walk away from me.  I
’
ve never been good enough for him.

Jason, who
’
s sitting at the end of the bar, laptop and beer in tow, has been one of my biggest cheerleaders.  Being a novelist, an independent one at that, he gets what it
’
s like to put yourself out there through your art.  He understands how important this show is to me.  Every time he walks through the door of Molly
’
s, I think to myself, why can
’
t I just love this man?  This man with the crazy t-shirts and hipster glasses.  This man who
’
s funny and supportive and artistic?  But, I can
’
t.  And he
’
s okay with that.  Thank God.  I
’
m not sure what I
’
d do without him.  Learning to be friends with a man has been interesting.  But, I wouldn
’
t trade it for anything.

“
I
’
m really enjoying your lates
t t-shirt.”
I nod to him and the Super Grover t-shirt underneath his navy and white-striped button down.

“
It
’
s one of my favorites, so you
’
d better not be making fun of me,
”
he warns playfully.  If there
’
s one thing I
’
ve learned about Jason, it
’
s not to mess with him and his crazy shirts.  I
’
ve also learned that each one of those t-shirts has a story, another insight into who he is.  But, I still like to give him crap.  That
’
s just me.

“
Not making fun of you at all,
”
I reassure him with a smile, sliding another draft beer his way.

“
So, tell me,
”
Jason says before taking a sip of his fresh beer,
“
are you getting anxious about tomorrow?
”

“
No,
”
I say, rolling my eyes.

“
Right,
”
he says, suspiciously.  He
’
s learning plenty about me, too.  He knows my defense mechanisms and that I
’
m softer than I seem.  He
’
s a patient and kind person and I love that he accepts me for who I am.

“
Okay, fine, I
’
m a
little
nervous,
”
I concede.

“
That
’
s totally normal,
”
he says, opening his laptop.

“
Do you get nervous each time you publish a book?
”
I ask.

“
Absolutely,
”
he says without a thought.

“
How is your latest coming along?
”
I say, pretending to peek at the screen.  Jason hates when anyone looks at his works in progress.  It
’
s one of the few quirks he has in his otherwise normal personality.  He pulls the laptop out of my view and smiles.

“
It
’
s fine, but I
’
ve hit another roadblock with my dumbass main character,
”
he huffs.

“
You make it sound like he has a mind of his own,
”
I scoff.

“
Sometimes he does, believe it or not.  I don
’
t always tell my characters what to do; sometimes it
’
s the other way around
.” 

My gut instinct is to make fun of him for saying that, but then I remember sitting on the floor of my bedroom, piecing together all of my photos for the exhibition.  There were times that afternoon whe
n
I felt like I was on autopilot, like my hands were creating all on their own. I get it.

“
Well, I hope he pulls his head out of his ass so you can keep writing
.” 
I smile, taking his empty glass away.

“
Thanks
.” 
He nods before looking behind me with a curious look in his eyes.

“
Well, if you aren
’
t a sight for sore eyes,
”
I hear a familiar voice calling from the other end of the bar.  The hair on my arms stand up
,
as goosebumps grow on my skin. 
He can
’
t be here.  Not now.  Not today. 
I turn to glare at the person I loathe the most in the world.  Shawn.

He walks over to the bar, looking smug and satisfied with himself. The last two years haven
’
t been kind to him.  He looks like he
’
s aged about six or seven.  His hair is thinning near his hairline and he has crows
’
feet starting near his eyes.  He looks tired and worn and possibly tipsy.

“
What are you doing here?
”
I glower, wanting to tear him apart limb from limb.

“
I was in the area and thought to myself, there
’
s no way that Kate is actually still working at this dump.
But, my curiosity got the best of me.  And here you are.
”

“
Good to see you
’
re still the asshole I remember,
”
I say, looking at Jason out of the corner of my eye.  His laptop is closed and he
’
s listening to everything being said.  It feels good to have someone in my corner.  I
’
m not sure where this is going to lead.

“
Whatever, I
’
ll take a Heineken.
”

“
Didn
’
t you see the sign above the bar?
”

“
What?
”
he snips.  I roll my eyes, pointing towards the board.

“
Molly
’
s reserves the right to refuse service to anyone at any time,
”
I read from the chalkboard sign Vince installed after my last interaction with Shawn.  How ironic.

“
Seriously?
”
he asks bitterly, rolling his little weasel eyes.  How did I ever date this loser?

“
Yep, consider yourself refused.  You know where the door is,
”
I snap, walking down to Jason.  His brow is furrowed.  He
’
s worried.

“
You okay?
”
he asks, staring Shawn down with angry eyes.  It
’
s kind of funny to see the normally laidback Jason go into full defense mode over me.  I feel like he
’
s having a
‘
big brother
’ moment
.

“
Yeah, I
’
m fine,
”
I sigh, gripping the bar tightly.
“
He
’
s just a douchebag who keeps popping into my life at the worst times.  I have enough on my mind right now without seeing him again.
”

“
Well, he hasn
’
t left yet, just so ya know.  He
’
s lurking by the end of the bar,
”
Jason replies.
I turn to see Shawn standing at the end of the bar, tapping his fingers on the bar, looking pissed.  I walk towards him, with my hands on my hips.

“
You need to go, Shawn,
”
I say matter-of-factly, staring him down.

“
Hey, you said you could refuse service, not that I couldn
’
t be here
.” 
His face is so smug.  I don
’
t know how I ever dated this man.  He is the epitome of the word
loser
.  I walk around the bar until I
’
m face to face with him.
His breath smells like garlic, which makes my stomach turn.  I
’
ve had enough.

“
Get out,
”
I raise my voice.

“
Listen, I have every right to be here, I
’
m not going anywhere
.” 
Shawn crosses his arms in front of his chest, raising an eyebrow.  He
’
s so goddamn smug.

“
I
’
ll get Vince, I mean it,
”
I threaten.

“
That dumbass doesn
’
t scare me.  And neither do you,
”
Shawn says, taking another step towards me, his beady eyes glowering at me.

“
You seem to get off on making others miserable,
”
I say, my eyes narrowing.

“
No, just
you
.  Can
’
t get myself to stay away
.” 
The corner of his mouth turns up in a lopsided smirk.

“
Find a way,
”
I say, seething.  My heart is starting to pound furiously in my chest.

Shawn looks up at the ceiling in a dramatic way,
“
No, I don
’
t think I want to.
”

“
Listen, Shit-for-brains, you ruined my life!  I never want to look at your miserable face ever again.  Get the hell out of this bar.
Now!
”
  Shawn laughs, and the piercing sound of his laughter makes me boil over with rage. 

I slap him across the face.  Hard.  A stinging sensation shoots through my palm and fingertips.  He looks at me, shocked, like he didn
’
t think I had it in me. 
I guess I
’
m full of surprises.

“
You fucking bitch!
”
Shawn yells, putting a hand to his cheek before moving towards me like he
’
s going to hit me back.

“
Hey, hey!
”
I hear Jason yell, jumping in between us.  Vince is not far behind.

“
You have exactly three seconds to get the hell out of my bar before I call the cops,
”
Vince yells, grabbing Shawn
’
s arm.  He
’
s fuming and narrows his eyes at Shawn. 
“
You walk through those doors again, and I will personally beat your ass down.  Kate
’
s a member of my family, and you don
’
t mess with my family!
”

“
Whatever, I
’
m outta here,
”
Shawn says, prying Vince
’
s hand off of his arm, knocking him with his shoulder as he walks away.
“
Have a nice life.
”