Frozen Barriers

by Sara Shirley

  It is much easier to get Emily to her car once I pick her up outside of the lounge. It would have been too much of a scene had I carried her out in my arms, so I did my best to get her legs to move with me. Hitting the Alert button on her key fob, I find her car easily. As I lower her into the passenger seat, she starts to stir just slightly. Her big blue eyes peer up at me, “Jeremy?”

  Pushing some stray hair away from her face, I lean down toward her. “Hey, Em. How are you feeling?” She leans over the edge of the car and throws up all over the ground.

  At the same time, Dave walks over and sees the situation unfolding before walking away, holding up his hands and saying, “Call me if you need me to come pick up your ass. I’m out of here.” Big help he is.

  Grabbing the water from my back pocket, I kneel down to Emily’s level and unscrew the bottle cap, handing it to her. “Em, you need to drink some of this. Are you okay for a while, so I can try to drive you home?”

  Nodding, she looks up at me with soft eyes. “Yeah, I’m fine. You remember where I live, right?”

  “Same house in Andover, right?” I ask as if I didn’t already know.

  “Yeah, just when you get there, pull into the garage on the far right of the driveway. My place is over the garage,” she says as she starts to pass out again. Clicking her into the seatbelt, I shut the door and walk around to the driver’s side and hop in. After adjusting the seat and turning on the car, I pull out of the parking lot. Her iPod begins playing, and the song that comes on surprises me a bit, considering these are songs she chose herself. Another version of “House of the Rising Sun” fills the car. I would have taken her for more of a current pop or show tune chick, but never classic rock.

  I glance down at the iPod screen to see the song is from the Sons of Anarchy soundtrack. Oh, please, don’t tell me she’s a Charlie Hunnam fan and only watches that show for a sighting of his naked ass. Scrolling through her menus of music, I see she has all the Sons of Anarchy seasons’ soundtracks and more hard and classic rock, very little pop, and only one Broadway musical called Once. Not a bad selection, chickie. She never ceases to surprise me.

  Pulling up on her street, I turn down the radio and try to wake her just to make sure I brought her to the right place. “Em, hey, we’re home,” I softly say as her eyes open slowly. “Hmm?” she questions.

  “We’re at your house. Can you tell me where you want me to park the car?” I whisper into her ear as she leans against the car door.

  “The large garage over there. Just hit the button above the visor, and the door will open to pull in.”

  Pulling down the driveway, I spot the garage and drive up slowly and hit the button. As the door finally slides all the way up, I pull in and kill the engine. Glancing over, I see Emily’s eyes have shut again. I quietly get out of the car and go around to get her out. She’s basically dead to the world. I grab all her belongings and pull her up in my arms, shutting the car door behind me. Looking around, I notice a stairwell at the back of the garage and head up, assuming that must be where she lives. Once at the top of the stairs, I set her feet down and pull her key chain out of my pocket. There are only a few keys, and on the second one, I manage to unlock and open the door.

  As I feel around the inside wall for a light switch, I find one and flick it on. I pick up Emily and set her on one of the round kitchen table chairs before turning toward her cabinets and looking for a glass to get her some water. Locating them almost immediately, I fill the glass and place it onto the table in front of her. Her head rests on her arm as she keeps slipping in and out on me.

  “Emily, can you try drinking some more water, please?” Her eyes open to meet mine as she grabs the glass and slowly takes small sips. Suddenly, her hand flies up to her mouth, and I watch her gag. “Em, are you okay?” Running for what I can only assume is the bathroom, she disappears and I immediately hear her throwing up in the toilet. I walk in her direction and stand in the doorway, not sure if she wants me to help or not. I grab a washcloth from the towel rack and run it under cold water. Once I’m near her, I run the cold towel over her neck and rub her back. Once she’s done expelling all the liquor it appears she consumed tonight, she stands and makes her way to the sink. Grabbing the mouthwash, she swishes it around her mouth before spitting it out into the sink. She turns around to face me, and her eyes meet mine. “You feeling better, Em? Can I help you or get you anything?”

  She doesn’t respond, not even a word, as I continue to stare at her, looking for any kind of answer. What happens next is probably the last thing I would have expected from her. Tears well in her eyes as her entire face bunches up, and she lets go of all her emotions. Shit.

  “Hey, hey, hey, what’s with the tears? Why are you crying?” I ask as my thumbs run under her eyes to wipe away the tears.

  In between sobs, she says, “I ruined the whole night. I was so nervous about hanging out with Sue and Courtney. Then, I went and ruined her birthday, and you had to come to help me. I’m so embarrassed and sorry. I ruined your night, too. Didn’t I?”

  “Hey, listen. You probably won’t remember this conversation in the morning, but I can certainly tell you that you didn’t ruin my night or the girls’ night either. I’m happy to help you. If you ever need help, you can call me anytime. I’d rather know you’re safe than not.” More tears start falling, and she reaches out to hug me. I circle my arms around her and rub her back, trying to soothe her. I start to make my way out to the living room, but she grabs my hand, stopping me. “Jeremy, please don’t leave.”

  “I’m just going to the kitchen to grab some water for you, and I’ve got to check on everyone else.” She follows me into the kitchen and grabs the water from the table, taking small sips again. I grab my phone and send Dave and Court a text.

  Emily isn’t doing well. Not leaving her alone. I’ll call you in the morning. Everyone else get home ok?

  Ding. Damn, that was fast. I see from the icon that it’s from Dave.

  Everyone is home. Sue is still with me, but don’t get pissed. She’s sleeping on your sofa. Be careful with Emily. TTYL

  Why do I not want to know exactly why Sue is on my sofa? Dave can be quite the playboy sometimes, but I don’t think he would cross that line with her, or maybe he would. I’ll address that later. Right now, I’ve more pressing matters, like the girl across the room from me who just asked me to stay with her. Her eyes are glued to me right now, and I know I need to tread lightly.

  “Okay, Em. Let’s get you to bed, so you can sleep this off.”

  She stands and walks backward toward her four-poster bed while giving me a seductive eye. I will not take advantage of her; she’s drunk, and she’ll never remember a minute of this. I need to keep telling myself that. Before I can repeat it, she slowly removes her top, revealing a lace bra and then kicks off her heels.

  “Em, what are you doing?” As she finally bumps into the bed, she makes a move to remove her bra, and that’s when I move swiftly across the room and engulf her with my arms. “Not like this, Em. You will regret doing anything right now when I know you won’t remember this in the morning. You’re so much more than that to me. Okay? But, trust me when I say, it is taking a lot of effort to keep my hands off of you right now.”

  Reaching up, she wraps her arms around my neck and brings her lips up to within an inch of my face. She looks into my eyes and slowly places her lips unto mine and then pulls away. “Thank you,” she says.

  I hold her close to me and look her in the eyes. “I told you before, and I’ll tell you again, Emily, you’re totally worth fighting for.” Reaching behind her, I pull her fluffy comforter back, lift her up and tuck her back in. “I’ll be sleeping on the sofa if you need me at all.” She nods and yawns as I reach over to grab one of her extra pillows and the throw blanket from the bottom of the bed. Before I even make it to the sofa, she’s already asleep.

  I strip off my T-shirt and unbuckle my belt, kicking off my sneakers by the heels and tossing my jeans onto
the other chair before curling up on the sofa. Before I slip off to sleep, the last things I think of are how on Earth am I sleeping in Emily’s house and please don’t let her mom catch me in here, because I’m quite fond of my balls, and I’d like to keep them attached to my body.

  As the sun screams its ugly head into my room, my head feels as though a jackhammer is going off in it. Holy shit. How much did I drink last night? Rolling over to face away from the demon light, I see my heels kicked off randomly onto the floor and my shirt thrown next to them. What. The. Hell? Pulling up the sheet, I notice I’m wearing only my bra, and my jeans are still safely attached to my legs. How did I get home last night? Why can’t I remember anything after seeing Jeremy at Eavesdrop? Oh. My. God. Please don’t tell me last night really happened. I hear movement from my bathroom. No. No. No! Now I feel as though I’m going to vomit, and there’s only one place for me to go running. Aww, shit!

  Throwing back the blankets and rushing toward the door, I have no idea who or what’s on the other side, and right now, I don’t even care that I see guys’ clothes thrown over my sofa. As I open the bathroom door with one hand and cover my mouth with the other, the last person I think about seeing is Jeremy. He’s standing there dripping wet from a shower and completely naked. My eyes shoot from the floor up to his face as he senses me coming in and removes the towel from drying his hair. I zone my eyes away from his penis and six pack abs. I rush for the toilet to expel the remaining demons in my stomach. As I continue to dry heave, I see Jeremy swiftly wrap the towel around his waist and rush to my side.

  Chuckling a bit, he says, “It’s not every day a girl sees me naked and throws up afterwards. Way to make a guy feel good about himself.”

  I glance up at him to see he’s smiling and still rubbing my back. “Can you get me some water from the fridge, please?” Shaking his head, he stands and walks out of the bathroom. While he’s gone, I can’t help but picture him as I just saw him standing there dripping wet with it all hanging out. I’m no prude. I’ve seen my fair share of photos from various book blog sites on Facebook and videos, but to see it all for real the first time, I’m in shock.

  Jeremy comes back into the bathroom with a bottled water and hands it to me as I sit up and lean my back against the wall. It’s at that moment I realize I’m still in my lace bra, and he can basically see everything. I make to cover myself with my free arm, and he crouches down to my eye level.

  As if sensing my nervousness, he says, “We didn’t do anything last night, in case you were worrying about that. I’m going to get dressed and then make some toast for you. And, we’ll talk, okay?” I nod back at him, and he smiles and walks back into the other room. I finish my water, throw on my pajamas that I had hanging on my bathroom door before brushing my teeth and fixing my hair. I don’t look good, but it’s better than nothing.

  Making my way toward the kitchen area, I see Jeremy standing there, fully clothed, and making coffee and buttering the toast. He’s moving around my kitchen as though he’s lived here for years. It’s kind of nice, but I’m still nervous about actually having a guy here in my place. It’s all new, and I don’t know how to act. Clearly, I’m not off to a good start after my showing last night.

  “You need to eat this. How do you take your coffee?” He asks, handing me a plate of toast.

  “Cream and one Equal, thanks,” I say. He makes his way over to the fridge and glances around in there before grabbing the carton of creamer and turning back to me, giving me a look.“This is not cream. There is no such thing as fat-free cream,” he says with a straight face. “Hey! It’s cream, and it all tastes the same once you put it in the coffee anyway. I can’t have fatty foods,” I say more sternly than I should have, considering my head is pounding again.

  As I’m rubbing my temples with my fingers, I see Jeremy make his way into my bathroom again, coming back shortly afterwards with a bottle of Advil. “Here, take these and eat the toast. You’ll feel better.”

  Popping the painkillers and eating a few bites of the toast, I notice Jeremy making his way back over to the kitchen table. When he sits down in front of me, I sigh, as I know I have to ask, “Okay, tell me. How bad was I last night?”

  Letting out a full-belly laugh, he responds, “Well, let’s see. First, you consumed what I can only assume was a total of four martinis. You were talking to Sue about pole dancing when Court called me for help. Once I arrived, the minute you stood up, you passed out and then threw up in the parking lot before I drove your car home. Once I got you here, you proceeded to try to seduce me and kiss me before I told you I wasn’t going to allow myself to be the guy who took advantage of you in that state when I knew you wouldn’t remember any of it. I slept on the sofa, and then, well, you basically saw the goods this morning, and now here we are. That about sums it all up.”

  Shit, I really made quite the impression with everyone last night.

  “Can you please give me Courtney’s number? I need to seriously apologize not only to her, but also Sue. I can’t believe I let myself act that way. I was so nervous, and I don’t know what I was thinking. Then, trying to come on to you, I’m so sorry. This is such a disaster.” I flush in embarrassment and drop my face into my hands. I mumble into my hands, “If you drove me home, where is your truck?” All I need is for my mother to see someone else’s vehicle in the driveway, and she’ll be over here knocking down my door.

  “My friend Dave came with me to Eavesdrop last night, because as it turned out, Sue also needed a ride home. Courtney took Suzanne’s car back to her house, and Dave took my truck and Suzanne back to my place. He’s been kind of staying there a couple of days for some reason or another. I don’t even want to think of what he and Sue got up to after I left with you. Dave may be my best friend, but he’s definitely more of a one-night stand kind of guy,” he says as he stands to put his coffee cup into the dishwasher. I look up at him, thinking at least I’m not the only one out of control, but I feel I owe him more than just a thank you.

  “I can’t really thank you enough for what you did for me. I’m just glad Courtney made the call because I don’t know how I would have made it home. I hate that I was even in that state to begin with. I hardly drink, so having more than two drinks was not a good idea. I must owe someone some money since I can’t remember paying the bill.”

  He stares back at me as he leans against my counter. “The bill has been taken care of. Don’t worry about it.” Glancing down at his watch, he checks the time. “I’ve got to actually call Dave soon to see if he can come pick me up. I’ve got a meeting with the Monarchs this afternoon.”

  I check the time on my phone on the table in front of me, seeing it’s already ten, and remembering I’ve got ballet and strength training later. “Shit! I’ve got to get ready, too. Thank goodness I’m not skating this afternoon. I’d probably be sick all over the ice.”

  It’s clear that Emily has never been hungover before. I’m glad that I stayed the night with her. Somehow I don’t think she would have been able to handle waking up alone and feeling the way she does without thinking a million other thoughts. I just really didn’t think she’d see my naked body and then throw up afterwards. No, I wasn’t expecting that. I have feelings too, and it wasn’t even cold after I got out of the shower. I’m not huge, but I can still hit the right spot when it counts. I can’t say that the minute Emily walked in and saw me I didn’t think about pushing her up against the bathroom wall, unclasping her bra, freeing those lace bound breasts of hers, and forcing myself to have her right then and there. Oh, I did, but the vomiting put a wrench in that thought.

  She feels a lot better since she has showered, so I check in with Dave, but whenever she walks by me in the kitchen and the smell of vanilla hits me, it is me that is feeling light-headed. The fifth time I ring Dave with no answer, I go to find Emily, who is down in the garage loading up her car with her bag for this afternoon.

  I find her just as she is closing her trunk, and she looks up at me, as she
must have heard me coming down the stairs. She looks stunning in her dance clothes with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. “Did you get a hold of Dave?” she asks.

  “No, I’m not sure why he’s not answering his phone, but I really do need to get back to my place to get to work,” I say with a slight hesitation in my voice. “You think you might be able to drop me off on your way out? I’m still in Tewksbury, so it won’t be too far.” I’m afraid of what she’ll think once I show her where I live, but she might understand, considering the kind of apartment she lives in.

  “Yeah, sure, it’s the least I can do since you helped me this morning and last night. Let me just head back upstairs and grab the rest of my stuff, and we’ll leave,” she says as she runs up the flight of stairs. Shortly after that, I hear the sounds of a locking door upstairs and garage doors opening behind me. Once she comes into view, she gives me a look and then tosses her keys at me. Sweet, a girl that has no problem letting me drive. I give her a glance as if asking if she is sure. She shrugs her shoulders and says, “It’s just easier for you to drive the car to your house instead of giving me turn-by-turn directions.” She does have a point, but at least this way I can have the next few minutes in the car trying to get this girl to go out with me for dinner this weekend.

  Both of us get into the Audi, and I start up the engine, proceeding to pull out of the garage and down around the driveway. It’s not as though I’m complaining or even want to ask, but I feel as though I ought to. “How is it I never had the pleasure of running into your parents at all while I was here last night?” I look over and see Emily scrolling through her phone before she glances up at me to respond.