“Max. Thank you, but your apology is unnecessary. You didn’t feel as deeply about me as I’d hoped. That’s not a crime. I don’t blame you for my pain. It took awhile but I’m OK now. I hope one day we can be friends again. Let’s go home. It’s late.”
The car ride back was a quiet one, though Max looked like he still needed to talk. I thought through what Max finally admitted and how I handled the situation. Was this the closure I needed?
Max apologized, I accepted, end of our story? I was going to accept tonight as closure and move on with life.
Luckily, when we got back to the house, we found a distraction in Peter and James who had passed out at my front door.
“Pete, James, are you guys OK?” Max asked.
“I need to sleep,” Peter slurred. “We both drank too much, so Will dropped us off here. Emily, can we spend the night at your house? I’m so tired I don’t think we can make it home.”
“Um, I suppose you guys can spend the night. You know that I’m leaving early in the morning?”
“Yeah. Can you open the door? It’s cold.” Peter and James crawled into the house but never made it into the guest bedroom. They both fell asleep on the living room floor.
Max didn’t have much of a choice but to settle into the guest bed. It was 3:00 a.m.
Chapter 4 San Francisco Confessional
Ding Dong.
Exactly at 7:00 a.m., Jake was at the door. Looking as amazing as ever in slacks, a button-down, and a blazer, he held a latte and a croissant as I opened the door.
“Good morning. Are you ready to leave?”
“Not quite. Come in.”
“Whoa, what happened here?” he asked, surveying the mess all around the house. “A slumber party?”
“There was an after party I didn’t attend, and these guys drank too much to drive home. They asked to spend the night here, but never made it into the bedroom.” I left out the part about me crying like a fool in my ex’s arms again. “I think they’re getting up now.”
Peter and James stretched their arms and slowly got up from the floor. “Good morning,” they muttered with one eye open.
“Hey. Did you sleep well? Are your backs OK? You both fell asleep on the floor the second you walked into the house. I have breakfast ready for you guys. You know I won’t be home all day, right?” I asked.
My pedantic rambling, followed by obedient nodding of heads, reminded me of my fourth graders at school. I laughed to myself.
“Jake, do you still have my spare keys? Can I have them back?” He slowly handed them to me. I winked at him, knowing he didn’t like giving these up.
For a sleepy guy, Peter’s senses were alert enough to catch my fumbled throw.
“Make yourselves at home. Just lock up when you go, and return the keys next time.”
Without any warning, Max walked out and I caught a startled glimpse on both Jake’s and Max’s faces. I looked over at Jake apologetically and hoped I hadn’t spoiled his mood for the rest of the day.
“Road trip!” My dear friend Peter yelled out, turning the attention on himself to save me. “We need to support our football team. Emily, are you in? Jake, you want to come too? I have ten tickets to the Las Vegas Bowl.”
“When is it?” I asked.
“The day after Christmas,” he replied.
“I guess so. You want to go?” I said turning toward Jake. “It would be fun.”
“You do know I went to your rival school?”
“Boo!” We all jeered, then laughed like good friends.
“I don’t know if I can sit through one of your football games.” Sure, rub it in that your school has a better football team. Wait till basketball season. “Plus, I can’t take any more time off from the hospital.”
I was bummed at the thought of Jake being really busy again, No doubt we’d be back to our once-a-week date night at best.
“Emily, what are you doing next Monday to Thursday? My mom called this morning to tell me that we are all going to Hawaii right before Christmas, and she wants me to bring you along. You know my family’s been dying to meet you. She’s reserved a seat for you on the plane, and you can room with my sister, Jane.”
“With your whole family?” I was a bit flustered at the thought of being with Jake’s family for four days. Would they like me? Would I like them? Then it dawned on me. “How did you get four days off?”
“Well…the chief of staff at the hospital is my dad’s brother. Mom reminded Uncle Henry that I haven’t had a vacation since I got there. It didn’t hurt that she promised him four tickets to the New Year’s Day football game.”
“I see. Are you sure you want me there for four days with your family?”
“I couldn’t think of a better Christmas present than to have you spend four days with me and my family!” Jake declared.
“OK, then. Tell your mother I said thank you and that I’d love to go.” The thought of being a part of Jake’s family on this trip gave me a sense of belonging and a sense of family I so desired.
We headed out the door, and I knew I had some explaining to do so before we reached the car; I pulled Jake’s hand to a halt.