The UnKnown (A Novel) (18 page)

“Just give me some time, Drake, to process everything. So much has happened so fast. Maybe we just need to take a step back and reevaluate what this is.”

“I don’t need to reevaluate anything, Misty. I love you and I am not going anywhere. I will prove to you that you are the only one I want.”

“I believe you, I do, but this is all just moving too fast. We have only known each other a few days. Let’s just take this slow. Really get to know each other.”

“I will do whatever you want, just as long as I haven’t lost you.”

“You haven’t lost me, Drake, but I do need time.” I pulled him close for a long, passionate kiss.

“I have to go. I’m really tired and my feet hurt.”

“I spoke with Silvia today. She invited me for dinner. I can come if you want me to and I will rub your feet.” When he talked like that it made all my worries disappear.

“Maybe another night, ok, I just need to unwind by myself.”

“Okay. Will you at least call me later?” I nodded and got into my car. I drove off, leaving him in front of the diner. I wasn’t sure if I was going to call him or not. At that moment I felt that our relationship had come to an end. I watched him as he got smaller and smaller in the distance. I loved him, but could I live without him was the question. Deep down I knew the answer to that question.

Chapter 22

Drake

When she drove off in her car I knew something had changed. Why did I bring Sara here? I should have never let her talk me into seeing her. I told her a thousand times in that booth that things were over between us, but she didn’t comprehend it. She kept living in the past. I will admit we were good together at one time, but she wasn’t Misty. She didn’t have the same qualities and morals. Our relationship wasn’t even a close comparison to what Misty and I shared. I missed Misty every time she left my presence. I sometimes missed Sara, but not like the ache I got when Misty was not around. Now she had walked away from me. I wouldn’t let her. I needed to reassure her that I was what she wanted and needed. After standing there watching her drive off I turned and looked to see Carla staring at me.

“Don’t let that one get away. She is a good girl. Whatever you did today to make her doubt you, you need to fix it.” How did she know? Who was I kidding; Carla knew everything about everything.

“I will, if it is the last thing I do. I love her and I am going to prove it.” Carla smiled that warm smile I had seen a thousand times since I was a kid.

“Good, now get out of the parking lot. Go home.” I gave her a quick hug and made my way back home. I would start my internship on Tuesday, an entire week early. I called the director and they thought it was a great idea for me to go ahead and start. Turned out they were just trying to give me some time to get settled before working. I noticed that I still had the roses in my hand. She never took them. I turned the car around and headed to Silvia’s house. Once I pulled in the driveway I saw her car there. I took the roses and laid them under her windshield wiper. She would see that I wanted her and that we were unified whether she liked it or not.

I returned home and started off towards my bedroom when I heard chatter in the living room. I turned on my heels and saw my mom, dad, and Sean talking and laughing.

“What’s going on here?” It was weird seeing them all together and even weirder seeing them laugh. They thought of Sean as a screw-up. Did they finally see him for who he was?

“Nothing, we are just talking. Come join us.” My mom patted the seat next to her. I walked over and sat down. I was trying to engage in the conversation, but all I could think about was her. She never for a moment left my thoughts. We sat in the living room for hours shooting the breeze. I think this was the first time in a long time we were all in the same room talking without any arguments. We laughed and smiled. I felt a sense of home that I hadn’t felt in a very long time. We ended up ordering pizza and watching a movie. My parents were actually pretty cool and I would enjoy getting to know them again. It was well after midnight before I made it to bed and again I was struck with the feeling of loneliness. I had been checking my phone all night and I had no missed calls or text messages from her. Would she have another nightmare without me there? I couldn’t take it anymore. I decided to send her a text and see if she responded.

Me: Hey baby, I just wanted to make sure you are ok. I haven’t heard from you. I love you. Please call me tomorrow. Sweet dreams.

I watched the phone, but she never responded. Maybe she was already asleep. Who was I kidding; she was still pissed or hurt by what I did. Maybe I should just listen to her and give her some space. Please God let me not have lost her. I pulled my clothes off and jumped in the bed stark naked. I had no energy to put anything on. I missed having her next to me. I closed my eyes and all I saw was the image of her driving away from me. My future had driven away from me.

***

It had been one week to the day since I last spoke to Misty. She was avoiding my calls. I tried to go see her at the diner and no luck. Every time I went there Carla told me she wasn’t there, but I knew differently because I saw her car. It felt like my heart was ripped out of my chest and I found life dull and boring again. The woman who made me feel alive had left me high and dry. I wished she would just give me a chance to talk to her, a chance to tell her how much I loved her. Didn’t she know she had ruined me for any other woman? As I slipped on my dress shirt, I remembered her touch. Her soothing touch the night I told her my father had cancer. No one ever made me feel so loved. Not even my parents or nanny growing up. I had to figure out something to win her back, to let her know she could trust me.

I was starting my first full week at the gallery and I had to say that I loved it more than I thought I would. I found comfort in talking art with my coworkers and my boss. It confirmed that one day I would like to open my very own gallery. My father even said that he would back me financially if I wanted him to. It was nice of him to offer, but I felt I needed to do this on my own. The seven days since I had seen or felt her touch felt like an eternity in hell. I went to work and came home. At night, when I saw the image of her, I played video games until I got so sleepy that I couldn’t play anymore.

Kyle kept calling and texting me, leaving messages about how sorry he was. I hadn’t returned any of his calls or texts. I had no desire to talk to him at this point. I knew that incident was part of the reason that she was no longer talking to me. As I put on my pants an idea popped into my head. Why hadn’t I thought of this before? I finished getting dressed and raced out of the bathroom to get my phone. I scrolled through until I came to Silvia’s name. I hit the call button and it rang and rang. Please pick up, I thought to myself. She was my last hope of being able to get to her.

Money could buy you a lot of things in life, but not true love. I had always been able to skate by with my father’s money, but not with Misty. She made me look past the money and more toward happiness. I never knew I could be this happy until I met her. Sara, I had come to the conclusion, was a diversion to help me become the man I was today. I would give her that. I never cared for anyone except her. She made me treat her with the utmost respect and for that I would always be indebted to her. After about the third ring she finally picked up. My heart felt like it was going to explode out of my chest with the anticipation of her helping me.

“Hello, Drake, I was wondering when I would be hearing from you.”

“Hi, Silvia, how is she? I am going crazy worrying about her. I screwed up royally.”

“She is miserable. When she is not at work she mopes around the house. I hear her at night crying. I have tried everything to help, but she won’t let me. What did you do to her? She was getting along great and then all of sudden she is sad all the time. She won’t talk to me about it. It’s like she is barely here. I haven’t seen her like this since her parents died.” Silvia’s voice cracked. I knew she was just as concerned about Misty.

“She doesn’t think that she is worth anything. I made the mistake of bringing Sara to the diner and then there was an incident that made her believe she wouldn’t fit in with me. The thing is, Silvia, I would turn my back on all of that to have her. I don’t care about any of it. I love her with everything that I am. Can you please help me to talk to her?”

“I don’t think that is a very good idea. I just got her back and this will be a betrayal to her.”

“Please, Silvia, I have no idea what else to do. I am at my wits end and I need to see her. I need to tell her she belongs with me and that I love her.” I was pleading my case hoping she would help. She was the only way I was going to be able to see her.

“Come over for dinner tonight. I can’t promise you what will happen, but that is the best I can do. Dinner is at seven. Misty gets off at six. Better bring her flowers or something.”

“I’ll be there with bells on. Thank you. Thank you so much. I will do anything for her. I will see you at seven.”

“Drake, you better not make me regret this.”

“You won’t. I promise.” I hung up with Silvia and for the first time in a week I was feeling hopeful that I would get my angel back. I grabbed my keys and wallet and proceeded down to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast. My mom and dad where both sitting in the kitchen sipping coffee when I went in to grab my own cup; they both stared at me in wonder. I had been a bit testy the last couple of days and I knew they were scared to say anything to me.

“Good Morning,” I said with a little sarcasm in my voice.

“Good Morning,” they both replied at the same time. My mother giggled. That just made me more agitated than I already was. I didn’t want to see them all lovey dovey. I was wallowing in my own misery. I fixed my coffee and headed for the door. I had lost my appetite.

When I made it to my truck I was ready to punch the shit out of the dashboard. This week had been so frustrating to me. I pulled out and headed to the Gallery. It was the only thing that was keeping me sane.  When I pulled into the Gallery parking lot I saw my boss, Mrs. Carlson, making her way in. She must have been running late because she was usually there at the crack of dawn. Mrs. Carlson was an older woman in her mid-fifties with a nice hour glass shape. She had long dark hair that reached her butt and crystal blue eyes. She wore glasses that made her look like a librarian. Most of the men that came into the Gallery were sold something by her looks alone I was sure.

I parked the car and got out with coffee still in hand. When I entered I saw several large paintings packaged in the lobby. This must be the new collection arriving. I was excited to see it. Mrs. Carlson had been talking about it all last week and we were all eager because of her energy. I walked through the lobby and greeted Stephanie, our receptionist. She was a cute little plump lady with fiery red hair and an attitude to match. The Gallery was very high end. Everything from the marble flooring to the granite counter tops were of the highest quality. Mrs. Carlson spared no expense on the place. From what she was telling me, the Gallery has sold multiple multimillion dollar pieces. People from across the country would come to the Gallery for the art work. I made it to the cubical I was occupying during my internship and opened up my web browser. I wanted to do some research on the new pieces that had arrived.

About an hour into my research Mrs. Carlson came to my cubical. “What are you doing,” she asked with one eyebrow up. She was dressed in a soft grey pencil skirt with a matching jacket. She was always well dressed.

“I’m researching the new pieces that came in,” I replied.

“Good job. Come on and let’s go take a look at what we got. I am eager to see what the New York office sent. They said they were having trouble unloading these.” I followed her into the lobby. She unwrapped the first painting and I had no idea why anyone wouldn’t want it. The painting was of a distorted couple wrapped in each other. The colors were vibrant. The use of purples, blues, and greens were evident in the painting.

“Mmmmm. This is a very interesting piece. Stephanie, go fetch an easel from the back. I think if we set it in the lobby here it will catch someone’s eye. What do you think?” She backed up a little with her hand on her chin as if she were in deep thought. She was really asking my opinion? There were other, more qualified, associates to ask. 

“I think if you set the easel over to the left of the reception desk clients will have no choice but to see it as they enter.”

“Brilliant. See, I knew there was a reason I hired you. Finish opening the rest of these and place them as you see fit in the gallery. I trust your judgment. I have to run out to a meeting and I should be back sometime after lunch.” WHAT THE HELL was she thinking trusting me with this?

“Are you sure you want me doing this? Becky and Ronda are more qualified.”

“If I wanted them to do it, I would have asked. You have a good eye, Drake, and I trust your judgment. Get after it.” She winked as she walked away.

I finished my research on the paintings before I began placing them throughout the gallery. It took me most of the morning and afternoon to finish placing them. I was very proud of my work and wanted to share it with the only person not talking to me, Misty. I wanted to share everything I had been doing at the Gallery. But there I was again feeling so alone, doing something I loved and no one to share it with. The afternoon flew buy, with no return of Mrs. Carlson. I wondered if there was a Mr. Carlson, but never asked. I didn’t want to get into her personal business.

I stayed at the Gallery well past six. I was going to go straight over to Misty’s for dinner. The closer the time got the more nervous I got. Would she kick me out? Would she let me talk to her? I wanted her back more than ever. I set the alarm and locked the front door. I stopped by the local flower shop and bought a bouquet of purple Lilies. I didn’t want to do roses again. The last time she hadn’t taken them and with the meaning of the red and white, I didn’t want to scare her off with being too forceful. The drive over seemed like an eternity when I finally pulled along the sidewalk in front of her house. I decided against parking in the driveway. I grabbed the flowers and made my way to the door.