by Lee, India
And the east coast was her coast now. She had needed to flee from him so badly that she picked up and crossed the entire country to do so. He had no business being there. He didn’t want to stay there for a vacation or to “catch up with friends” like Mike had said. What was there to catch up on, anyway?
“Don’t be like that, man,” Mike said, eying Tyler as he sulked. Though he had purposefully faced away from Mike, Tyler could see his concerned reflection in the window as the car went under an overpass.
“I don’t know what you’ve arranged, but I don’t want to deal with it,” Tyler said. He didn’t have to look behind him to know that Mike was hurt by his words. The silence said it all. He gritted his teeth and buried his face in his hands, looking up to see Mike texting someone on his phone. “What are you doing?”
“I’m cancelling the plans I made,” Mike shrugged.
“What were they?”
“Just messaged some of our buddies up in Vermont to have that house ready for us. I figured while we’re up there, we should spend a night – I mean there’s like, no phone reception so it’s we’re basically off the grid,” Mike laughed. “And you could go over your script and stuff in a quiet, peaceful place. Seemed like a good idea at the time. But I get if you don’t want to go.” Tyler could tell Mike was trying to put on a happy face for him. It was something he had been doing since the breakup, a desperate attempt to make Tyler feel like everything was okay. In the beginning, he had done a great job at carrying on as if nothing had ever happened, as if Tyler was the same Tyler he had always been. But when Tyler showed no signs of improvement, Mike’s energy began to run low. He still tried, still made every attempt to keep some semblance of normalcy for Tyler’s sake, but it was clear he was running out of fuel.
“No, let’s go,” Tyler said, shaking his head. “You’re right, that sounds like fun.”
~
Their “Vermont Friends” were two guys who had been in the original band that played live with Tyler as he toured and performed. About two years into Tyler’s career, Rufus and Moss quit to work fulltime on the custom snowboard company they founded together, a side passion of theirs that ended up becoming their careers.
Rufus and Moss were Mike’s best friends on the road. The three were the same age and had similar hobbies and interests. When they left, Tyler knew it was hard on Mike. They had offered him a position at the flourishing company, but Mike had turned it down. Though Tyler never knew why, he suspected it was because he and Mike had developed a friendship much like the brothers they never had. And since Tyler had gotten just old enough so that Mike didn’t look at him as some little kid he was hired to protect, it was a lot easier for Mike to let loose and talk to him like a peer.
Rufus had an empty cabin he had inherited from family and he had renovated the space to look like a rustic party house. Since he and Moss left the team, Tyler and Mike had taken any opportunity possible to hang out in the secluded space, inviting their city friends up to marvel over the vast stretch of evergreens and crisp, Vermont air. Everyone that Tyler had ever considered a friend in his past years had been there.
Even Gemma.
“Take a shot, little one,” Rufus laughed, pushing a double shot of tequila towards him. The four of them sat in the small, square restaurant, surrounded by mostly families. It felt almost like a treehouse, made of sanded, unfinished wood from ceiling to floor. Parents sat with their children, dressed in multi-colored sweaters that spotted the place.
“Isn’t it kind of early?” Tyler asked, taking the double shot into his hands. “We haven’t even gotten our food.”
“Aw, c’mon,” Rufus turned to Mike and Moss. “Is he still a lightweight?”
“What’s the point of putting on all that muscle if it can’t help you hold more alcohol?” Moss asked.
“I was, I don’t know, fourteen or something the last time I drank in front of you,” Tyler scowled, knocking back the double shot and sucking on a lime. He winced, feeling the burn of the alcohol as he stared back at Rufus and Moss. They held up their hands in mock surrender.
“Alright then, big guy,” Rufus laughed, shrugging as he waved down the waitress. Tyler rolled his eyes. It didn’t seem to matter to Rufus and Moss that nearly a decade had passed. In their eyes, he was still fourteen. Normally, there was a comfort in the familial ribbing that came with visiting the two, but Tyler wasn’t in the mood.
“How can I help you?” the waitress said as she approached their table. Tyler watched as the trio eyed her. He bit back his lip, embarrassed that his three friends didn’t have the best self-control. Their waitress was pretty and very much their type. She had snow-white skin covered in ornate, flowery tattoos and jet-black hair that was probably only pulled back for work.
“I can think of all sorts of ways,” Moss muttered. The waitress smiled a stiff smile, her pen and pad in hand.
“Well, think something up quick because my shift’s about to end,” she replied.
“What? No!” Rufus teased. “But I like you and I want you to stay.”
“Yeah, we want to keep looking at you,” Moss smiled. Tyler cringed. Rufus and Moss never really had game, as far back as Tyler could remember. Their cheesy lines were drawing the attention of those sitting within earshot. And he could see just how much the waitress hated standing at their table in that moment. It was a shame because Tyler had liked the fact that he was sitting in a private back corner, covered by the hulking mass that was Mike, with a waitress that seemed to have no idea who he was. He tried to make eye contact with her, to perhaps offer his apologies, but the girl wanted nothing to do with anyone in the party.
“I think we were just going to order more drinks,” Mike said, his tone as apologetic as Tyler felt. “But I’m not sure these guys actually figured out what they wanted yet. Why don’t you go wrap up your day and we’ll just order from the server who’s taking over for you?”
“Okay, have a good night then,” the waitress said, turning on her heel and tearing her apron from her waist. To Tyler’s horror, Rufus and Moss were delighting in the sight of her taking any article of clothing off of herself.
“I love me a bad girl,” Moss said, kicking his feet under the table. He pounded his balled up fists on the table. “And I can just tell that girl was bad.”
“I’m hoping our next server is a dude,” Mike said, shaking his head. “We’re surrounded by families for Christ’s sake. And it’s not even really late enough to be drinking like this. Or acting like this.” Tyler looked over at Mike who looked strangely tense. He was thankful Mike was on the same page as him, so he would be the one saying all the things that Tyler himself was afraid to say aloud. But Tyler also suspected Mike was only doing it because he could sense Tyler’s discomfort.
“Hi!” a bright voice suddenly said, tableside. Tyler looked up, leaning forward to see to whom the voice belonged. Their new waitress was standing there, a pen and notepad in hand and ready to take their order. Her pale blonde hair was pulled into a low knot that sat at the nape of her delicate neck and her sparkling blue eyes flitted around the table as if to greet them individually. Her gaze stopped on Tyler for a second longer than the rest of the men. Tyler’s heart fluttered. Normally, his stomach had a slight sinking feeling when he was recognized at an inconvenient time, but that feeling was absent. Probably because he wasn’t sure if she had actually recognized him. Probably because she was kind of sort of gorgeous. He was surprised the other boys didn’t seem to notice.
“You our new waitress?” Moss asked.
“Yes, I’ll be taking over for Jana and I’m happy to take your order whenever you’re ready,” she replied.
“I want a new server,” Rufus said, gruffly. Tyler looked over, momentarily horrified by his rude tone. Rufus pointed to the waitress’s arm. “This one’s broken.” The table burst out laughing. Tyler looked back at the waitress, noticing only at that moment that the new girl’s arm was in a sling.
“I assure you, sir,” the waitre
ss replied, her smile remaining soft and genuine. “That I’m perfectly capable of taking your order. Besides, I’m a leftie.” She shrugged, indicating the pen in her free, left hand. “Anyway, my name’s Sophie and I’ll be right over there so whenever you figure out what it is you want, give me a holler.”
~
The night was long, extending well past the restaurant’s hours, much to the dismay of the staff and restaurant owner. Sophie seemed fine with it, waltzing about the restaurant like sunshine trapped in a wooden box, just waiting for it to be morning so she could climb up into the sky. Her energy and vibrancy was contagious – Tyler could feel his mood pick up anytime she was a mere five feet from their table. He was glad the guys were much too drunk to pick up on his sudden eagerness to be around their waitress.
But there was one thing – one very coincidental matter – that bugged him.
“Wasn’t the name of the only girl that was injured that we couldn’t visit named Sophie?” Tyler asked at the breakfast table the next morning. Mike had his head propped up on the counter, shoveling huge mouthfuls of bacon and eggs into his mouth.
“Yeah, I think so,” he replied. “Why?”
“That was the name of our waitress last night.”
“Yeah, I remember. Sophie’s a name people have – what’s your point?”
“Our waitress had her arm in a sling. Like she was recently injured. You don’t think maybe she was the one at the concert?”
“Our waitress last night gave zero indication she even knew who you were,” Mike said, swallowing his food. “Don’t you think she would have been like, ‘Well, gee. What a coincidence that Tyler Chase is my customer when just the other day, he broke my arm or whatever.’ Not saying that you actually broke her arm – I was saying Tyler Chase as like, the concert, not as like, you, Tyler. You know.”
“I know. And I guess,” Tyler conceded.
“Huh,” Mike put his fork down. “You know, if it is the same Sophie, she was kind of creepy for not saying anything.”
“Isn’t that just being professional?” Tyler asked. He winced at how quickly he had jumped to the waitress’s defense. “Maybe?”
“Maybe,” Mike shrugged, not sensing anything odd or out of the ordinary. He seemed to think Tyler was just making conversation. But the fact of the matter was that Tyler had lost sleep over his curiosity. By the time they left the restaurant, Sophie had ended her shift and gone home. The owner, a cranky-looking elderly man, was the one who closed up shop. He made sure to give them a disapproving eye as he held the door open for them to leave.
Tyler wasn’t sure why he didn’t just ask Sophie if she was, by any chance, at his concert the other day. It was probably half in part due to feeling generally intimidated around Rufus and Moss. Despite the fact that he was now bigger than both of them, Tyler couldn’t help but feel like the little kid he was when he first met them. He didn’t want to come off as some child trying to hit on their waitress, especially when it wasn’t even his intention to be “hitting on her.” He didn’t want to deal with the car ride home where everyone would be giving him shit for trying to “be suave.” He just wanted to know a little more about her – that was all.
Not asking proved to be a big mistake. It had been a long while since any girl had caught his eye, and he wasn’t really sure how to deal with it anymore. He knew himself. He knew how he had a tendency to fall fast and fall hard, to see someone just once and create, in his head, an elaborate story of what their lives would be like together.
After all, that was what had happened with Gemma.
Granted, then, he didn’t know that Gemma was her name. He just knew her as Queen Bee, like everyone else in the world. He had seen her on stage, performing the last concert of her European tour in Barcelona. He had wanted to meet her after the show, but he was informed that her family had already whisked her away. She was covered in ornate disguises and surrounded by protective handlers, but Tyler was convinced he could see through it all. Tyler was convinced he knew that the person underneath the makeup and masks and costumes, was a person just like him. His other half. He was sure of it.
There were brief moments during their relationship where Tyler cursed the day he tweeted about Queen Bee. She had been, at the time, only a success abroad – a no-name in the states. Perhaps she had been long overdue for American fame and it was just a coincidence that she blew up after Tyler’s tweet, but he knew better than that. He knew it was all on him. In sharing his excitement for the strong feelings he had suddenly developed for her, he had shared her with the rest of the world, thus having to share her with the rest of the world. Though looking back, he realized he never truly had her.
In the most rational parts of Tyler’s brain, he knew he sounded crazy. Even within his own mind, he would scold himself for thinking the things he thought. This is why she left you. Because you were smothering her. He bit his lip, embarrassed by his self-admission. It was never his intention. He had never wanted to scare her off the way he did. But he had felt so strongly about her, and it killed him to know that she had probably never felt the same way back. Tyler never doubted that she loved him, but within their relationship he had learned there were many different kinds of love. He left the relationship still unsure what type of love it was that he was receiving from Gemma.
He found himself parked outside of the unnamed, wood cabin restaurant that they had spent the previous evening. Tyler had slipped out of the house while Mike was on the phone, not wanting to have to explain his whereabouts. He kept his phone on him, knowing Mike would probably worry.
As Tyler stepped out and closed the car door, he heard the familiar, raspy voice of the old man that had ushered them out of the place the night before.
“We’re closed!” he said, waving a rolled up newspaper in front of him as he made his way towards Tyler. “And you were just here, what, eight hours ago? Please give us some time to recover, for God’s sake.”
“I’m sorry,” Tyler replied. “For me and my friends last night, I know we well overstayed our welcome. And I’m sorry to bother you now, especially since you’re not yet open, but I have a quick question about the server who did the night shift? Sophie?”
“What do you want with her?” the old man said, crossing his arms over his red and black-checkered hunter’s jacket. His grey beard frowned with him.
“I just wanted to ask her a quick question.”
“It better not be for a date. Sophie doesn’t go for hooligans like you.”
“No, not for a date.” Tyler tried not to laugh. He had never been called a hooligan before.
Just in time, the front door of the cabin swung open. Sophie stepped out, dressed in a cherry-blossom-pink turtleneck dress over ivory tights. Pulled over her tights was a pair of fur-lined, knee high boots. Her pale blonde hair was loose and scattered over her shoulders, framing her face and catching the sunlight as she walked towards Tyler and the old man.
“Hey Pop Pop,” she called out. “I can’t find the drill bit to fit the trees out back. Do you know where to find them?” The old man’s face softened as Sophie got closer. He turned to give one last snarl at Tyler before turning back to Sophie with an unrecognizably sweet smile.
“Sweetheart, you shouldn’t even be doing that type of work, the doctors said you need rest,” he said. “I’ll take care of it, please. Your mother would have my head if she found out I let you get hurt, then made you work through an injury.”
“I think my mother would have my head if she knew I let her elderly father do as much heavy labor as you do,” Sophie said, wagging a playfully threatening finger at her grandfather. Tyler couldn’t help but smile. He watched as Sophie gave her grandfather a quick kiss on the cheek, leading him back into the cabin. She glanced over her shoulder at Tyler, giving him a “one-minute” sign and a flash of a smile as she disappeared into the restaurant.
Tyler stood there, alone, staring at the door and waiting for it to swing open once again. The moment it did, he felt a st
range rush of excitement. He hoped it didn’t show as Sophie made her way back towards him.
“Hi there,” she said. “Did you forget something?”
“No,” he replied. “I was actually hoping for… breakfast or something.”
“We’re actually not opened for breakfast this time of year,” Sophie’s pretty lips turned down into a slight frown. Tyler was mesmerized by it. “We’re just here early to tap the trees and keep an eye on them.”
“Oh, that’s a shame, I really liked it here,” he shrugged. “I’m leaving later today and I was hoping to eat here again before I left.” He felt the lie escape his lips with so little effort, that he surprised himself. Sophie looked at him for a moment, narrowing her eyes at him as her frown turned back into the coy smile that she had worn the whole night before.
“You’re here to apologize, aren’t you?”
“What? No,” Tyler started. “Why would I…” He stopped for a moment. She’s not talking about the concert. “Oh, you mean my friends yesterday.”
“Yes,” she nodded. “But don’t worry. I know you guys were just having fun. It seemed like it’s been awhile since you all saw each other or something.”
“Yeah, sort of,” he said. Tyler looked at her arm, resting in her sling. “So, uh…”
“Hey, you know what?” Sophie said. “I was actually about to make myself something to eat. Do you want to come inside? I can cook for you too.”
~
The air was thick and smelled sweet – decadent, even. He couldn’t see the speakers, but the radio was playing softly and it filled the room with a warm hum, the bass of the music thumping like a peaceful heartbeat.
Sophie was surprisingly quick with her hands, for a person with limited ability to use them. What had been two apples and a slab of dough just moments before, quickly became two handmade tarts ready for the oven. She poured Tyler a cup of coffee, convincing him to try maple syrup as his sweetener over his usual two cubes of sugar. While they waited for their food to bake, she told him about herself, how she was a student at Bennington who opted out of university housing and was living with her grandfather to save money. She had grown up in New Hampshire, right next door, but the commute was just easier from his place and she liked helping out at his restaurant.