He was actually pissed that I got an abortion, blaming my mother for forcing me, and then blaming me for not being able to stop it. Eventually, he must have realized that we weren’t really ready to have a baby anyway, and his anger with me subsided. He wanted me back. And I made the stupid decision to sleep with him again, giving him hope when there wasn’t any there to find.
After I abruptly left for North Carolina, he relentlessly tried contacting me, but I ignored him. Apparently, that didn’t sit well with him. He started threatening my mom, saying that he would tell everyone about the abortion. Of course, Mom didn’t want that to happen. Sure, it was evidently talked about amongst my group of friends, but my mother didn’t want her friends knowing anything about it. Eventually, Chris must have just given up, because after that, I never heard anything about him again. Until now.
“Well, yeah. I feel a little guilty about leaving the way I did, and then shutting off contact with everyone from my old life.”
“So, you wouldn’t be opposed to hearing from Chris?”
“Um….” Sure, in theory I thought clearing things up with Chris would be a good idea, but I wasn’t sure about actually talking to him. Things would definitely be a little…awkward between us, to say the least. Our last encounter ended with him sleeping next to me, whispering into my ear about our future, a future that would never be possible for the two of us. It had scared the shit out of me. “I guess so.”
“Oh, good!” Marley squealed. “Because I already gave him your number. He’ll probably be calling you soon.”
“Well, good thing I don’t care,” I grumbled, annoyed with Marley. “Listen, I need to get ready for dinner with my family tonight. So, I’ll talk to you later.”
“All right. Oh, there’s one more thing that I didn’t mention, Chris is sort of in town.”
“What?” I shrieked. “And you gave him my number? What does sort of in town mean, anyway?”
“He’s about two hours away doing some kind of work for his dad’s business in Chapel Hill.”
Two hours was nothing, especially if Chris was determined to see me. I guess I would just see what he had to say, and try to avoid meeting up with him.
“Okay, well I guess I’ll see if he calls me or not.”
We said our goodbyes, and I headed to my room to get ready for dinner with my family. I was looking forward to seeing everyone, and having a nice, relaxing Friday night because I had a feeling tomorrow night would be far from calm.
“I HAD A really nice time, Justin.” Blaire leaned forward like she wanted to kiss me but I turned my head just at the right time, and her lips landed on my cheek. She sighed loudly as I pulled away from her, stuffing my hands into the pockets of my shorts.
Usually, it was the guy getting pissed about things not moving quickly enough in the physical department, but this time, it was Blaire. That girl wanted me and, I swear, I wasn’t even being cocky about it. She had been dropping hints all throughout dinner.
Her foot “accidentally” rubbing against mine, her skirt inching up higher and higher all night, that loud laugh that girls do to everything you say, even when it’s not funny. Her hand landed on my thigh as I drove her back to her apartment, and I patted it awkwardly before removing it. I never thought I would be turning someone down that was clearly willing.
“You sure you don’t want to come up?” she asked, her dark lashes fluttering rapidly. I gripped my stomach, scrunching my eyes up a bit. This used to work on my mom every time, so hopefully it would work on Blaire, too.
“Sorry. I must’ve eaten something bad. I think I’m just gonna head home.”
“Oh.” Her nose crinkled slightly. “Well, we’re still on for tomorrow with Ty and Emily, right?”
“Absolutely,” I responded and she smiled brightly. I could hold out on things with Della until then, so I could make my partner happy. And then I would let Blaire down easy. She really was a great girl. I’m sure she would handle it okay. I didn’t think Blaire would have problems finding someone else.
We said our goodbyes and I got into my car, but instead of heading home, I drove to Nate’s. He called me earlier and invited me over for poker night, so I told him I would try to make it. We hadn’t hung out lately, since I was so busy with my job. Nate didn’t really understand the responsibilities of being an adult.
I was surprised when I saw Mia’s car parked right out front. Surprised wasn’t even the best word to describe it, really. I had only introduced Nate and Mia once before, and they really didn’t seem like they hit it off or anything. I don’t think they said more than two words to each other, actually.
I was even more surprised when I walked in and Mia was straddling Nate’s lap while they both laughed loudly about something.
“What up, J?” Nate called out from underneath Mia, like there wasn’t anything unusual going on.
Mia popped up, twisting her body around, before sitting back down on Nate’s lap. “And what have you been up to tonight, Mr. Parker?”