Since when is it important that I show up for a birthday party? “I don’t know. College keeps me pretty busy. I’m not sure I’ll be able to make it out there.” I don’t want to go and probably won’t.
“It’s important, Jamie,” she stresses. “You need to be here. It’ll be a big night.”
“Sorry, but I have to go. We’ll talk soon.” But hopefully not for a long time. I hang up before she can so much as breathe another word.
I don’t understand how my sister’s birthday is such an important event, for Mother to call and beg me to attend a stupid party. Why are we still throwing birthday parties anyway? She’s older than I am. I most certainly don’t want my parents to throw me a damn birthday party. Why the hell does my freaking twenty-seven-year-old sister need one?
The thoughts dig and dig under my skin while I work. It’s not even a big birthday. I couldn’t wiggle a sweet sixteen party out of them. Okay, so that’s partly because the week before they caught me sneaking into the house at four in the morning. But still. They could’ve punished me some other way. And they haven’t thrown a party for me since. Michelle has had at least three.
Favoritism has no place in families, yet it runs rampant in mine. Why do I insist on letting it get to me? Why do I feel like I should go to that damn party when it’s the last thing I want to do? Because I know it’s a simple way to put me in my parents’ good graces. Might as well take the easy way when I can.
When I leave work, campus is the last place I want to go. But I need to run. I stop by campus long enough to change my clothes and leave again. Maybe Brent won’t mind if I park at his house while I run. I decide to call to make sure.
“Hey, Jamie,” he answers.
“Hey, can I park at your house while I run?”
There’s a slight pause. “You’re running at this hour?”
“I’m about to, yeah. So...do you mind if I use your driveway?”
“No, come on.”
We hang up and I drive over. What I don’t expect is to find Brent waiting on his porch steps for me. He looks like he’s ready to run. I don’t want that. My run is completely different than his. I don’t want him along for this.
“What are you doing?” I ask when he reaches me once I’m out of the car.
“Jamie, it’s a quarter after ten. I’m not letting you run alone.”
“You can’t come.”
“Why not?”
I sigh. “I don’t run like you. I got a call from my mother and I need to run it off, okay?” Because I don’t want to talk about it and running is the only way to stomp that urge to eat my feelings. Brent doesn’t look swayed. “Fine. But I warned you.”
While I walk down the driveway, I put in my earbuds and turn on my running playlist. I’m all set by the time we reach the sidewalk and that’s when I take off running. Thanks to the streetlights, things are fairly well-lit. I focus on running, checking for cars before I cross the streets, and shoving all the negative emotions into the bottle where they should be until I’m ready to deal with it.
I don’t need to think about why my sister is so freaking special and worthy of yet another birthday party. Or why she’s the favorite. Or why I’m constantly failing and disappointing my parents. Cram, cram, cram those thoughts away. I don’t need to wish they were back to being Average Joes. How the reason my family probably dislikes me is because when my parents came into some money, it changed them and I didn’t change with them.
I slow into a jog, my lungs burning with a need to breathe in more air. All I have to do is survive this last semester of college, find a full-time job, and then I’ll be free of them. I just need to remember my plan. Stay in Raleigh, or move further away, find a job, and avoid my family. Surely I can survive until then.
My pace increases again. I remind myself I’m strong. I used to binge-eat through my stress and negative emotions. My self-esteem plummeted entirely by Christmas once my mom practically slapped me in the face with a lecture about being overweight. If I can overcome that, I can hang tight until I can get away from them.
I come to a stop because I’ve reached a dead end. With my hands propped on my hips, I turn around. My heart startles for a moment at the sight of Brent; I forgot he was running with me. I pause my music, aware of him shaking his head and eyeing me like I’m a little crazy.
“What?” I finally ask.
“Do you have any idea where we are? Or how we got here?”
I glance around. “No and no.”
He shakes his head. “I’m glad I came because you don’t pay attention when you run. Do you feel better?”
A shrug seems like the best, most honest answer. Before I know what’s happening, Brent steps forward and hugs me. My mind and body are stunned by his action, my arms hang limply by my sides while I stare at a house behind him. The heat from his body warms mine. His scent lingers in the air. I slowly relax and lift my arms to hug him back.
“You look like you could use a hug,” he says. “You could also talk to me if you wanted. Just another option instead of running yourself ragged.”
“Thanks. Talking won’t change anything, though, so what’s the point?”
Brent leans back with his hands on my shoulders. “It might make you feel better.”
“More than running?” I ask skeptically.
“You probably wouldn’t be so tired afterward.”
“Ah, but that’s one of the best parts.”
He watches me for a moment before sliding his hands down my arms and taking one of my hands. “Let’s walk back.” I’d rather run, but I’m already tired from however far we’ve run so far, so I don’t object. “You know,” he says after a while, “if I wasn’t running almost right next to you, people would probably think I was chasing you.”
I laugh. “Well, at least you know now that you can keep up with me.”
Brent smiles and chuckles a little. “I wasn’t worried about that, Jamie.” His phone rings in his pocket and he fishes it out. “Sorry. It’s Gregory. Do you mind?”
“No, of course not.”
He answers the call. With the silence of the night and the volume level on his phone, I’m able to catch bits and pieces of the conversation. It sounds like he’s gotten into an argument with his mom over pumping gas. That can’t be right. I do clearly hear him ask if he can come over and stay with him tonight, though.
“Don’t turn into your sister, Gregory. Just hang out in your room for the night. If you see your mom or Glenn, be respectful and civil. That’s all you have to do. You didn’t do anything wrong and I’m on your side, but there’s no need to run away from home.” He pauses and after a moment, he sighs. “Yes, I’ll talk to your mother.” One more pause, he tells his son he loves him and hangs up.
“Everything okay?” I ask.
“Yeah. Gregory just embarrassed his mother’s boyfriend, Glenn. They went out to dinner, but stopped for gas. When Glenn made no move to get out to pump it for her and it was obvious his mom was going to do it, Gregory jumped to do it. The problem is he made a comment about how a real man wouldn’t allow her to pump gas. I guess Glenn later made a comment to Shannon about how he was embarrassed and she got on Gregory about it. Bet you five bucks she’ll call and blame this on me.”
I frown. “Why would it be your fault?”
He raises an eyebrow at me. “Where do you think Gregory learned that mindset from? That if he’s with a girl, he should pump the gas for her?”
“But it’s nice that he does those things.”
“I know,” he agrees as his phone rings with a call from Shannon. I know because he holds up his phone to show me. He ignores her call and silences the ringer. “I’ll deal with her tomorrow. Mind if I ask you if you’re feeling better?” This time, I nod and that earns me a smile. “Good.”
We walk the rest of the way in silence until we reach his house and Brent invites me inside. I, of course, don’t turn him down.
Shannon repeatedly kept calling, so I stepped away to dea
l with her and make the calls stop. Oh, the joys of telling an ex-wife she’s wrong to tell a sixteen-year-old not to have manners. Sure, Gregory could’ve kept his mouth shut, but that ultimately isn’t what she made an issue about. I despise these conversations with her, especially since she’s extra resistant to anything I say, but if I need to defend my kids, I will and do.
When I return to the living room, I find Jamie lying on the couch, a throw pillow tucked under her head while she sleeps. I grab the blanket from the back of the recliner, lay it over her, and head upstairs for a quick shower. I should probably wake her up and send her on her way back to campus, but she’s had quite the day. The last thing I want to do is disrupt her sleep.
Jamie ran with all her might and I’m not so sure she would’ve stopped any time soon, had she not reached that dead end. She ran like someone was chasing her, like she couldn’t get away from whatever it was fast enough. She did slow down a few times, but it’s as if her thoughts would get away with her, and she’d speed back up once more.
She’s still asleep after my shower. I shake her shoulder and call her name, but that only causes her to roll over and face the back of the couch, settling in to get more comfortable. After I walk to my room to pull the sheets back, I return to her side. If she’s pissed in the morning for me not trying harder to wake her up, I’ll deal with it. Otherwise, she can keep sleeping and I’ll wake her up with plenty of time to go back to campus.
With it settled in my mind, I bend and lift her into my arms. It doesn’t faze her at all as her head knocks into my shoulder. I hold my breath, as if she’ll wake up at any second and freak out because she’s not where she fell asleep. But she stays asleep as I lay her in my bed, cover her up, and set my alarm to wake her up, just in case I don’t wake up first. She rolls over, hugging my pillow, takes a deep breath, and doesn’t move again.
I grab the other pillow, some sheets from the hallway closet, and walk back to the living room to my bed for the night: the couch. Sleeping on the couch isn’t unfamiliar to me. I’ve done it plenty of times at the shop, and once Shannon told me she wanted to end things, I slept on the couch if I was at home. But sleeping on my couch in my own home throughout the night? Haven’t done that.
Let’s just hope it doesn’t bite me in the ass, somehow.
At first, I feel a hand lightly squeeze my arm and then a brief kiss on my cheek. The smell of sausage lingers in the room and rouses my stomach.
“Brent?” The hand jostles my shoulder and I open my eyes enough to peer at Jamie standing and leaning over in front of me. “Thanks for letting me sleep. I hope it’s okay that I let you sleep in a little.” That makes me open my eyes some more. She let me sleep in? What time is it then? “I have to get back to campus, but I wanted to let you know I was leaving and I made you breakfast.” Which explains why I smell food.
I sit up and glance at the clock on the wall. It’s seven. I set the alarm upstairs for six thirty. I’ll be late for work. Not that it matters, or that I’ll actually be late, but compared to when I normally get there and when my brothers get there, I’ll be late.
“You’re not staying to eat?” I ask, rubbing my face and then running a hand through my hair.
“No time. I need a shower and my class is an early one today.”
I frown. “You can’t cook for me and not eat some of it.” I stand and head to the kitchen to see what she made. Pancakes and sausage. I grab a paper towel, put two pancakes on it and haphazardly wrap it as if it’s a sandwich. “Here. A pancake sandwich. You can eat while you drive, just be careful.”
Jamie laughs. “Sure thing, boss,” she says with a roll of her eyes as she takes the pancakes from me. “Thanks. I also raided your bathroom and stole one of your unopened toothbrushes, so that’s why there’s a new toothbrush in there.”
“That’s fine.”
“Okay, I really have to go now.” She steps so close, she would be invading my space if it wasn’t for the fact she’s Jamie and I don’t mind. One second she smiles at me and the next, she lifts up to kiss me. It doesn’t even start sweet and innocent. She attacks with passion and sensuality right off the bat. My arms lock around her like they always seem to do when her mouth touches mine and I’m seconds away from sitting her on the counter when she pulls away. “Bye, Brent.”
“Have a good day, Jamie,” I tell her as she walks away. She flashes me a smile and then she’s gone. I glance at the food. I can’t remember the last time someone made food just for me. I definitely won’t let it go to waste. There’s no harm in being late to work every now and then.
Except, apparently there is.
My brothers both stare at me like I’m an alien once I get to the shop. “What?” I snap after about ten minutes of it, though I know exactly what they’ll say.
“You were late,” Ronnie, the middle brother, says.
“And?”
“You’re never late,” Peter says. “Even when you’ve pulled an all-nighter.”
“Why were you late?” Ronnie asks.
I shrug. “Overslept.”
“Are you sick?” Peter asks, concern actually coloring his tone.
“No. I’m not sick. I was late. There’s nothing more to it than that. Can we work now?”
Ronnie laughs. “There’s definitely nothing wrong with him.”
I’m able to work in peace for a few hours. This place started out being where my dad worked and where he dragged me and my brothers to, so he could teach us about cars. After a while, it evolved into a place where I could escape from whatever was going on in my life. I could work with my hands and focus on something else for hours on end. If I didn’t want to escape, but wanted to talk about a problem, I could always find my dad either here or in our garage at home. Some people go to the beach, the mountains, a library, or elsewhere for their happy place. This is mine.
“Hey, Dad.”
I glance up from my lunch as Kayla walks into my office. “Hey. I didn’t know you were coming,” I say as I stand to hug her once she walks over to me.
“Decided last minute to come by and see you.” She sits in the chair on the other side of my desk.
I went with chicken tenders and fries for lunch. If I’d known she was coming, I would’ve gotten her something when I went out. I slide my meal closer to her. “Eat some if you want. You look tired.”
Kayla shrugs. “Still adjusting to working and keeping up with school.” She recently moved out to live with her boyfriend, which required her to get a job and pay her own bills. She tutors others at the university and is a housekeeper for some of the wives of Carolina Rebels hockey players. As far as I know, she makes enough doing that to sustain herself. “You look tired, too.”
“Don’t start, little girl.” My daughter worries entirely too much over my well-being, especially when I’m perfectly fine.
“But Dad, if you keep on like this, it’ll catch up to you and it won’t be good! You can’t work late or get here early and work yourself to death. Don’t you want to be around for your grandchildren?”
I stare at her for a moment. “Are you pregnant? I don’t like the jackass enough for you to be pregnant yet.” I do like her boyfriend, Logan, but it doesn’t stop me from calling him a jackass every now and then.
“No!” She looks horrified, so I’m satisfied with her answer. “I’m just saying, one day, you’ll have grandchildren and I want you to be around for that, not have an early heart attack.”
“Kayla, I’ve had enough. I didn’t even come into work on time today.”
“It’s true,” Ronnie chimes in as he walks past my office, clearly hearing our discussion.
Kayla frowns. “Are you sick?”
I sigh. “No. Are you going to spend my lunch battering me? That can’t be why you’re here.”
“It’s not. I missed you and I have an idea for your birthday.” She leans forward and steals one of my fries. “Let’s go on a cruise.” I level a stare at her. This is another one of her tactics to get me away
from work. “Don’t look at me like that, Dad. This is a big birthday and you should do something to celebrate. You approve of cruises. It’s a no cell phone, no internet vacation.” That’s definitely a perk. “We had tons of fun before. So, what do you think?” She grabs a chicken tender.
“I’m assuming you want Logan to come?” I ask. I push the food closer to her. I’ll grab something from the vending machine later or go out and buy something. She can have the rest.
“If he can get the time off and if it’s okay with you.”
“Where do you want to go?” A cruise does sound nice and I usually try to take at least one vacation a year with my kids.
“I don’t know yet. I was waiting to see if you wanted to go first.”
“Pick a destination with your brother and get back to me.”
Her eyes light up with excitement. “We can go? Logan too?”
“It’s a maybe right now. Get me destinations and dates and we’ll see.”
She stands and rushes around my desk to hug me. “Thanks, Daddy. And you won’t have to worry about paying my way. I have some money saved and I’ve been saving since I moved out, so it’ll just be you and Gregory to worry about.”
I shake my head. It’s a nice gesture, and I’m glad she’s growing up, but isn’t it too soon for her to pay her way on a big trip like this? “Kayla—”
“No, Dad. I live on my own and I work. It’s my responsibility to pay my way on vacations now.” She’s so determined that I nod and relent.
Kayla talks about possible destinations while she eats and soon, conversation evolves to her living with Logan. They’re still in the honeymoon stage of things, it sounds like. But as long as she’s happy, I’m happy. She soon leaves to return to campus for class.
The rest of my day goes smoothly. Gregory comes by after school to work with me. We recently struck up a deal. If he comes in to work, he’ll learn about cars and the biggest bonus to him, he can earn some money. He’s an erratic worker so far. I never know if he’s coming in until about thirty minutes after he gets out of school when he shows up. But he comes at least three times a week and that’s good enough for me right now.
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