by Cee, DW
Deciding I didn’t care about her not liking PDA, I lightly kissed her lips and answered, “Sure.”
It was going to be a long day without her.
“Jake, do you want to drive to the Westside with us?” Mom asked.
“No, I need to stop by and pick up a present for Uncle Dave. I’ll meet you at the restaurant.”
“What are you going to get him? Do you want me to come with you?”
“Not sure what, but I want to stop by Cartier. I’ll walk over to the restaurant from there.”
“Cartier? Could it be that you want to pick up something for Emily and not Uncle Dave?” Mom smiled at me. “Isn’t it a bit premature to be picking up jewelry for her already? I’m dying to meet this girl.”
“Mom, I don’t think I’ve ever felt so strongly about anyone in my life. This is the girl I’m going to marry!”
“Marriage? Already? All right…See you at lunch.” Mom sounded skeptical but curious.
Before leaving, I thought it might be too soon to call so I texted her a message.
Call me when you’re done. I’ll drop by and see you if it’s not too late. I miss you very much already.
She sent back another quick response.
How can you miss me already? It’s only been ten minutes. I think you are lying. Maybe I am lying too when I tell you that I miss you as well.
I wanted to text back, I love you but thought I should wait on that one.
There were about thirty of us at brunch. Bobby, my father was the oldest of five boys and Uncle Dave was the youngest. All my aunts and most of my cousins were here to celebrate Uncle Dave’s fiftieth birthday. Though we cousins didn’t get together on our birthdays, we were pretty religious about getting together for all holidays and our uncles’ birthdays.
The only ones not present were Gram, who lived in London, Jane, my sister who lived in New York, and Laney, my cousin who was in Japan on an undergraduate student exchange program. We had a lively lunch.
“Hey, Jake,” Uncle Dave called, “your gram says she wants to talk to her favorite grandchild.”
Of course that would be me. “Hi, Gram. How are you doing?”
“Jakey, when are you getting married so I can have great-grandchildren? What’s taking you so long? Why are you so picky?”
“Gram, I promise you within a year, I’ll be married. I’ve met the most incredible woman.”
All eyes and ears fixed on me.
“Who is she? Why don’t you bring her to London to visit me?”
“I just met her. I’ll bring her soon, I promise. I have to warn you though, she’s even more beautiful than you are, and I may already love her more than I love you.”
“She’s no good for you, then. I can’t have someone stealing my grandson’s love away from me.” We both chuckled. “Be good to her, Jakey. Call me often.”
“OK, Gram, I love you.”
“So who’s this girl you’ve met?” Aunt Barbara, the chief’s wife, wanted to know.
“Only the most amazing woman!” I answered.
“You sound pathetic,” Uncle Henry replied. “If she’s so amazing, why didn’t you bring her today and introduce her to all of us?”
“I tried, but she already had plans.”
“Hey, bring her to Mom’s for Thanksgiving,” Doug suggested. “You know Mom throws the craziest theme parties.”
“Aunt Babs, what’s the theme this year for Thanksgiving?” one of the cousins inquired.
“Pilgrims and Indians—everyone must come in costume.” Aunt Babs threw the best theme parties. Each family took turns hosting a holiday. Christmas was always held at our house, Thanksgiving at the chief’s, Easter at Uncle Billy and Aunt Sandra’s, Mother’s Day at Uncle Dave’s and Aunt Debbie’s, and Father’s Day was at Uncle Roy and Aunt Pattie’s home. We had a good relationship with one another.
“Can I bring Emily this Thanksgiving?”
“We’d worry if you didn’t,” Aunt Babs reassured me.
Several times during our meal I texted Emily but got no response. Once our meal was over, I called to find out how her day was going.
She picked up on the first ring.
“Hi, Jake.” She sounded happy to hear my voice.
“Hi. Are you busy?”
“Um…kind of. How was lunch? Is your whole family still there?”
“Lunch was good. You would have enjoyed it. Have you had lunch?”
“Not really.”
I heard her saying no thank you to some guy who kept asking her if he could get her a drink. I hoped she had not been spending the day with another guy.
“Who are you talking to?”
“Oh…you don’t want to know.”
“I think I do. Is he the reason why you haven’t responded to any of my texts today?”
“Uh huh. Let’s just say he reminds me of those ER doctors I met on Friday.”
That wasn’t good news for me. That probably meant he hit on her. He probably had her cornered since she couldn’t move around too well.
“Do you want me to come get you right now?”
“I’d like to say yes but I need to stay. I’ll call you when we’re done. I hope it’s soon. I’m hungry.”
“Why haven’t you eaten?”
“I don’t do hot dogs at kids’ parties.” With that she gave me a cute giggle and said good-bye.
My cousins and my brother, Nick, wanted to catch a movie so I decided to tag along. I thought it would be a good way to kill some time while I waited for Emily to get back. Of course I couldn’t concentrate on the movie when I thought about the creep who had Emily cornered. I was on edge since my conversation with Emily.
Nick, Doug, and I decided to go have dinner in Venice, and Emily still hadn’t called. It took every ounce of self-control for me not to call her again.
“Who is this girl who has you in knots right now? Why do you keep looking at your phone?” Nick shook his head in disbelief.
The phone rang as I was explaining to Nick about Emily. “Sorry, Nick, I need to get this.”
“Emily?”
“Hi. Are you still on the Westside right now? Sarah, Charlie, and I want to go out to dinner. Do you want to meet us?”
“I’m in Venice with my brother, Nick, and my cousin Doug. Where will you be?”
“I’ll text you the address. Bring both of them. I want to meet them.”
“I’ll ask. See you soon.”
“Was that my future sister?”
“Yup. We’re meeting right now. She invited you guys to come but I’m uninviting you. I don’t need a third and fourth wheel. See you later.” I ran out the door.
When I got to the restaurant, Charlie and Sarah were seated at the bar.
“Where’s Emily?”
“She’s answering a call. You didn’t see her outside?” Sarah asked.
“No.”
“I’m sure she’ll be right in.”
“So, Jake…Did you and Emily really just meet on Friday?” Charlie asked.
“Why do you both have such a surprised look on your face? Is something wrong?”
Sarah and Charlie kept looking at each other like they were wondering whether or not to tell me what was already on the tip of their tongue. “Well, we’re just a bit shocked at how comfortable you two seem to be already. Emily hasn’t dated anyone in a while, and even when she was with Max, I never saw her so…what would be the right word, Charlie?” Her conversation started with me and ended with Charlie.
“At ease? Relaxed? Let loose? Are those the right words?”
“Do you like our Emily?”
I found it comforting that Sarah and Charlie both protected this girl whom I was so fond of.
“I like her enough to want to be able to call her my Emily.”
They both gave me an approving nod. “Please be good to her,” Sarah pleaded. “She’s been through a lot in her short twenty-four years of life. No one
deserves more happiness than she does.”
Charlie sensed my alarm. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Sarah. Underneath that pretty face, Emily’s a tough girl.”
I felt someone tap me from behind, and I quickly turned the stool around.
“Boo!” Emily attempted a scare.
“Hi, Beautiful!” I grabbed and kissed her, catching her off guard.
She unconvincingly nudged me away. “I told you, I don’t like PDA,” she whispered.
“You asked for a rain check,” I whispered back.
“Not here and not in front of those two who are staring at us.” Sarah and Charlie laughed.
“Who were you talking to for so long?” Sarah beat me to the question.
“Charlie! Your sister gave that creepy guy my number. He wouldn’t let me get off the phone. Please tell Janice I won’t ever go back to her house if Dr. Erickson is around.”
“Who’s Dr. Erickson?” Though this probably wasn’t a story I wanted to hear, Emily’s mad face was darling.
“This appears to be my weekend for attracting creepy doctors.” She quickly added, “Not you, of course.”
“Thanks...?”
“Charlie’s sister, Janice, wanted to set me up with her neighbor, Dr. Tom Erickson. He insisted I address him by his title the whole day. Then he followed me around from room to room, chair to chair ,and wouldn’t stop talking to me. He also had the gall to try to feed me a hot dog and spiked punch when he saw that I wasn’t eating. He was so gross.”
Our laughs encouraged her to elaborate.
“He was bald and short and had a six-month-pregnant belly. What was your sister thinking?”
“I think she thought it would be nice to set you up with an established doctor,” Charlie said, weakly defending his sister.
“He’s a podiatrist. All day long he talked about calluses and bunions. Eew! He asked me to go away with him next weekend. If I had eaten anything at all today, I would have barfed on him.”
Sarah and Charlie continued to laugh, but I put my lips over hers and kissed her again. Her shocked look was worth another try.
“Why do you keep doing that?” Though she complained, she kissed me back each time.
“I don’t want to hear about the podiatrist anymore. Can we talk about something else?” I leaned in closer.
“What do you want to talk about?” Coquettishly, her lips came dangerously close to mine.
“How about us?”
“What about us?”
“Since you haven’t had anything to eat yet, I thought I’d attempt to ask you to go away with me. Do you want to go to Bacara next weekend?”
“Didn’t we just meet yesterday? How are you any different than Dr. Erickson?”
“Would you allow Dr. Erickson to do this?” Before she could react, I grabbed the back of her neck and rushed my mouth onto hers. She initially tried to pull away but quickly gave up and enjoyed our deep kiss.
“I can’t believe I’m making out in public with a man I just met. What’s gotten into me, Sarah?”
“I don’t know. You’re definitely not the Emily I know.”
Charlie added, “I prefer the new you.”
Emily shook her head.
“Why are you shaking your head?”
“It’s in response to your invitation. I can’t go away with you.”
“Will you go if Sarah and Charlie come along?” I hoped this would encourage her to spend some uninterrupted time with me.
“Well…only if I get to room with Sarah and you room with Charlie.”
“Deal. You two OK with Bacara next weekend?”
“We can’t next weekend but the weekend after that is OK,” Charlie answered.
My phone buzzed while Emily ordered herself some dinner.
“Hey, Nick, what’s going on?”
As I started talking to Nick, Sarah began whispering to Emily, and my attention was on them rather than my brother.
“Emily, what’s going on with you?”
“What do you mean, Sarah?”
“Don’t you think you’re taking this a little too fast? Jake seems nice and all, but you just met him. You’re going to go away with him for the weekend?”
“Sarah. I only said yes after you and Charlie agreed. You know I wouldn’t have gone by myself.”
“Emily, I’m worried. It’s unlike you to take things so fast with a guy. You barely know him.”
“I know. I’m a little worried too. There’s something about Jake…I trust him. I feel safe with him.”
“Jake…Jake! Are you listening?” Nick interrupted my eavesdropping.
“Sorry, Nick. Say that one more time.”
“Jake, I’m sorry to bother you, but Doug left me here to meet some girl and I’m stranded. Do you think you can give me a ride back to school?”
“Nick! All right. I got it.” I was going to have to leave her again. Frustrated, I told him, “I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
I was hoping to hear more, but Nick hung up, and I didn’t have any more excuses to eavesdrop.
“You have to leave, huh? Do you have something against watching me eat dinner? Why do you always bail on me when dinner is about to be served?” I didn’t know she could pout. There was no expression I didn’t love on this girl’s face.
“Nick got stranded by our cousin so I need to go get him and drop him off at school. I’d ask you to come with me but I brought my two-seater so that’s not a possibility.”
“Well, I wouldn’t have thought too highly of you if you had decided to leave your brother stranded for some girl you met only yesterday. I’ll see you again soon.”
“Trust me, I was very tempted to leave him stranded, but I didn’t think my mother would have been too happy with me. I have to go to my house in the Valley tonight so I can’t stop by. I’ll call you from the hospital tomorrow.”
“OK. You want me to walk you out?”
“No, you go ahead and eat.” With that, I asked Charlie and Sarah to take good care of Emily for me, and I gave her a peck on the cheek good-bye.
Chapter 4
Can You All Just Leave Us Alone?
Once the week began, it wasn’t easy seeing Emily. She went to work earlier than I expected, and I always worked later than she expected. Her phone was off until school was done at three, then every time I attempted to call, I got a page sending me to the next patient.
Can we do dinner tonight?
It drove me mad we hadn’t seen each other since Sunday and it was already Thursday.
I don’t know, can we? It’s always up to you.
I’ll call around seven and let you know. I miss you.
I can’t remember what you look like so I don’t know who it is that I miss. Call me soon before I forget what you sound like as well.
What a sense of humor this girl had. Having visited all my patients, I called Emily the first chance I got.
“Hi, Emily. Are you ready for dinner?”
“Dr. Reid, do you know what time it is?”
“Isn’t it around seven?”
“It’s 9:30 p.m.! It’s long past dinnertime. Have you not eaten yet?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“I wish I were. I’ve never been stood up so many times in one week. My ego is beyond bruised.”
“I can’t believe I did this to you again. Did you eat?”
“Uh-huh. I assume you didn’t? Come over. I have dinner for you.”
Luck was on my side as I hit every green light from the hospital to Emily’s house. I got there in record time.
“Did you fly here?” she asked opening the door.
I got in and held her in my arms for a while. “I’ve really missed you. It’s been a long four days without you.”
“I’ve missed you too. Come and eat. I have dinner on the table for you.”
Emily had grilled a steak along with a variety of vegetables. It looked and tasted sc
rumptious. With the knowledge that I had purchased a ring for her, I was tempted to get on one knee and propose to her right now. Seeing how she could hardly stand kissing me in public, I didn’t think she was ready for any lifelong commitment.
“You can cook?” I had eaten half my meal before looking up to talk to her. She sat in front of me and enjoyed watching me eat.
“I can. Tonight’s meal was easy. The grill did most of the work.”
“What’s this mealy yellow stuff I’m eating?” I shoved some in my mouth.
“It’s polenta. I pan-fried it. Do you not like it?” She looked at me with a curious face.
“No. There’s not much flavor and it has a weird texture. Do you eat like this all the time? I thought you said you didn’t like eating by yourself?” The meal was so good, I was already done.
“I cook like this once or twice a week. The problem with me is that when I eat a meal, I need to eat a complete meal. I can’t eat random foods that don’t go with one another.” We took our wine and sat on the sofa. “Whether I’m at home or maybe one day eating at a place like French Laundry, my food has to have order and meaning. Way too complicated, huh?”
“It’s fascinating. You’re fascinating.” She looked embarrassed by my last comment. “So what do you eat the rest of the week if you only cook once or twice a week? Leftovers?”
“That’s the other terrible thing about me. I hate leftovers. I really dislike eating the same thing twice. Many times, I just don’t eat dinner. It’s lonely eating by myself. I’ll just have a big lunch and be done for the day.”
An image of Emily eating by herself made my heart feel a sense of pain I’d never felt before. I hurt for this beautiful girl who was by herself without any family. I wanted to be her family—to come home to her daily, to have dinner with her nightly, and to love her eternally.
“Jake... as much as I enjoy you being here, I have to get to bed. I have an early conference tomorrow morning and a meeting till late. My students don’t like me when I’m tired. I become psycho teacher.” That was my cue to leave. I guess we weren’t at the point where she was going to ask me to spend the night. Maybe a week of dating was a bit early for that.