by Scott, Lisa
“I’m twenty-six. It’s gotta happen sometime.”
Emily grinned. If he meant, if he really changed, maybe she’d take him back to the corner booth and kiss him again and tell him she was the one he was looking for. Could she do that? Could she risk it?
A group of shrieking, laughing women snapped her out of her daydream. “I’m Mrs. Right!” shouted a woman with a cheap, costume wedding veil on her head.
Ten women with pink “The Wild Bridal Party” printed across their chests applauded her and hooted some more.
“Mrs. Right? I’ll be the judge of that,” Eric said waggling his eyebrows.
Emily faked a big grin and waved over their heads. “See you tomorrow!” She went outside, and decided not to get a cab. She could use the walk home to clear her head.
***
Eric went home before midnight. When’s the last time he did that? Sure, locking lips with some hot chicks had been fun, but he was surprisingly down that he hadn’t found the girl. He’d had plenty of offers to help him forget his mystery woman; he could’ve brought at least ten different girls home that night. But what was the point anymore? They’d have sex—possibly great sex—she’d leave in the morning and he’d avoid her phone calls for the next week or so. It had become depressing.
He thought about calling Emily, but he didn’t want to wake her. Luckily, he had a back up for Emily and he didn’t care at all if he woke her. He grabbed his phone and dialed her number. “Kyla, you awake?”
“Of course I am. I’m talking to you.”
“I mean, did I wake you?”
“No. Stone and I are having a moon party.”
“Get out. You’re mooning people? I like him better already.”
“We’re looking at the moon with some friends.”
“Funny. What are you really doing?”
“That’s what we’re doing.”
“Shit. What happened to you?”
“I’m in love. Now why are you calling me so late?”
“I don’t know. I’m just feeling down. I kissed some girl in a bar yesterday and I don’t know who it was, but I really want to find her.”
“Find another girl. Shouldn’t be hard.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “I want this girl.”
“What’s wrong with you? You don’t sound like you’re drunk.”
Eric gritted his teeth. “I’m not.”
“Shit, you must really be upset. Why don’t you come over?”
Eric took a cab to his sister’s new place in Cambridge. She’d finally relented and started spending some of the money their mother left her. Somehow, she’d made peace with the tense relationship she and their mother had had. Kyla had leased an incredible penthouse with a rooftop garden so her astrophysicist boyfriend could look at the stars. Then she found out the light pollution would make it really hard to see anything, so she bought a house on the cape, too, so they could do their stargazing down there.
Luckily, Eric and his brothers liked Stone, or there could’ve been an accident on that roof. Or so they liked to joke, in a way that left Stone wondering if they were serious. Always good to keep your sister’s boyfriend guessing.
Eric walked out onto the garden and got a few funny looks. Kyla grabbed Stone’s hand and ran over to Eric. “Dude, what’s that?” she said, pointing to his shirt.
“Damn, I forgot I was wearing it.”
Stone looked at Kyla. “Why didn’t we try this when you were giving me pickup lessons?”
“I think our lessons turned out just fine,” Kyla said, wrapping her hand around his shoulder.
Stone laughed. “A shirt like that could have helped. I should have come to your brothers for help. They’ve got some good ideas.”
Kyla put her hand on her hip. “Wouldn’t it be interesting to see the rate at which your telescope plummets to the ground from up here?”
Stone paled. “You’re right. Your lessons were just what I needed. I ended up with you, didn’t I?”
Kyla smiled and kissed him and Eric was going to suggest they get a room, but it was his sister and that was gross. Instead, he cleared his throat. “So, don’t you want to know why I’m sober, wearing a kiss me t-shirt at my sister’s star party?”
Kyla pulled away from Stone. “Right, I forgot. What’s up? Toby and Nick are here. Let me call them over. I’m sure they’ll want to hear this.” She ran and got her brothers and Eric knew he was going to regret turning the search for his lost love into a family affair.
After handshakes and back pounding, the four of them sat down on a pair of outdoor couches staged around a fire pit. A table was set up behind them with all the fixings for a gourmet marshmallow bar, but the rest of the guests were with Stone who was adjusting the telescope. Even so, Eric kept his voice down. “I kissed a girl at a bar the other night and now I can’t find her.”
Nick snorted. “Did you look under your bed?”
Eric rolled his eyes. “We didn’t make it home. I left her at the bar, and I want to see her again.”
“Why?” Toby asked. “I told you when you were twelve, you can’t knock up a girl just by kissing her. Emily lied to you when she told you that.”
“That’s because Emily hated Jessie Lewis. And Jessie Lewis always crushed on you,” Nick said.
“I hate Jessie Lewis, too,” Kyla said.
“Emily hates any girl you like. Ever notice that?” Toby asked
Eric clenched his fists. “She does not!”
Toby waved him off. “So why do you need to find this girl? The one you kissed? Did she steal your wallet?”
Eric sighed and stared at the flames from the fire pit. “Because she was different.”
Nick pointed at him. “You sure it wasn’t a guy dressed up like a girl? That’d be different.”
“No, this was the most amazing kiss of my life,” Eric said.
Toby made a face. “Shit, bro. You sound like a girl.”
Kyla twirled a long metal skewer with a marshmallow on the end, just waiting to be roasted. “You guys are idiots. Just go back to the bar and look for her.”
“Emily and I did that tonight. Thus, the shirt.” Eric gestured to his chest. “Got lots of tongue, but no mystery girl.”
“How about a Craigslist ad?” Nick offered.
Toby rolled his eyes. “Pathetic.”
“They have a missed connections section,” Nick said.
“Save your money and take out an ad that says I’m a loser instead. Or buy a t-shirt that says it. Oh, wait. You already did,” Toby said, pointing to Eric’s shirt.
Kyla drummed her fingers on the arm of the couch. “I don’t know. I think you’ve gotta keep going back to the bar. She’s gotta turn up sometime, and maybe she’ll come up to you.”
“True. Maybe she’s out there trying to find me right now. All right, new plan. I’m going to be at the bar every night,” Eric said, leaning forward putting his elbows on his knees.
Kyla wrinkled her nose. “Hasn’t that been your plan for a long time?”
Eric sighed. “Yeah. But that’s going to change. This non-stop partying is pointless.”
He expected to hear some grumbling and complaining from his siblings, but no one said anything. “That might be a good idea, bro,” Toby said.
“What?” Eric asked.
“You’ve been partying hard for a long time.” Nick wouldn’t look at Eric.
Eric’s stomach clenched. “Is that what you all think?”
No one said anything, until Kyla cleared her throat. “It’s not like we were going to stage an intervention or anything.”
“Yet.”
Eric stood up. “I gotta go.”
“Eric, I haven’t even served the strawberry star tarts I made. There’s one for everyone. Moon pies, too.”
“Good lord, are we going to have to stage an intervention for you?” Toby said.
Kyla pointed her marshmallow stick at him. “You know I like unique party foods.”
Eric sto
od up. “It’s been a blast as usual, sibs, but I gotta split.” He quickly left, and took a cab to Emily’s place, but her lights were out. He didn’t want to wake her, but he was lonely. He liked when she crashed at his place. He felt complete when she was around. Hell, he kind of felt the way he felt when he kissed that girl. But Emily was just a friend. If something were going to happen between the two of them, it would have happened by now. At this stage in his life, Eric needed more than that. He needed the girl with the lips. And he needed to be sure Emily wasn’t hurt when he found her. What would Em do without him?
***
“Do you really think she’d be out on a Sunday night?” Emily asked.
“I’m going to come here every night for two weeks, and if I can’t find her, I’ll move on.”
“It sounds like a plan. Wait, move on to what?”
He shrugged. “I’ll find someone else who makes me feel that way.”
She looked over at his glass. “That doesn’t sound like the Eric I know. What are you drinking?”
“Diet Coke.”
“With…”
“Ice.”
Emily set down her drink. “So you weren’t kidding? About slowing down the drinking?”
“I want something different in my life.”
Emily couldn’t turn down her smile.
“What?”
“I’m just so glad.”
“Because now you won’t have to stay over at my apartment every weekend night to make sure I’m okay?”
That killed the smile. Emily pressed her lips together. What would she do with herself when Eric eventually found a girl? If he was serious about growing up and moving on, where did that leave her? Alone. Like Wendy without Peter Pan. Maybe she’d have to tell him. Maybe she should just lay it all out on the table and see what happened.
She looked up in his eyes and her courage slunk back into the hole where it’d been hiding. Just because Eric was drinking a coke without any rum didn’t mean his partying days were done for good. Her father had promised to quit several times and it had never lasted longer than a week. She always knew when it had ended because she’d come home to her red-eyed mother and a few more dishes missing from the cupboard until her mom could get to the store to replace them. Her mother practically had a panic attack when Pfaltzgraff stopped carrying their pattern. How would she keep up appearances next time her father had to work out his rage? At least he’d never hit any of them, but the fear was always there.
Emily toyed with her straw wrapper. Could Eric really quit? The only thing that had finally gotten her father to stop drinking was the telephone pole he wrapped his car around when she was nineteen. Death puts an end to the party. She looked up at Eric. Could she ever trust him?
“What?”
“I just wonder if party-boy Eric is really hanging up his hat.”
“You don’t believe in me.”
“I do. I want to.”
***
So for the next five nights she joined Eric at the bar, and true to his word, he had no more than one beer a night, and kissed as many girls as he could. He got slapped a few times when he asked if the girl had any blond friends.
They were just about to leave on Friday night, when a tall, pretty blonde with long silky hair walked up to Eric. “I heard you’re looking for the girl you kissed two weeks ago.”
Eric sat up straight. “Yeah, I am.”
“Your search is over. It was me. Guess that kiss meant as much to you as it did to me.” She looked down, smiling. Blushing, even.
Emily jumped from her seat, eyes wide. “Are you sure about that?”
The woman gestured to Eric. “Who could forget that face?”
One corner of Eric’s mouth quirked up. “There’s only one way to find out for sure. Kiss me again.”
“Maybe you should take him to the very spot you two hooked up?” Emily suggested to the girl.
The girl took Eric by the hand. “I will. We were back in the corner. Come on.”
Emily froze as the two of them walked to the back of the room. How did she know that? What was the girl playing at? Should she say something? Surely, Eric would kiss her and realize she wasn’t the mystery woman.
But once fifteen minutes had passed and the two of them were still at it, Emily was worried. She walked to the back of the bar and cleared her throat.
Eric stopped kissing and looked up. He grinned. “I found her Em! This is Shawna.”
Shawna held out her hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Emily forced herself to say, “You, too.”
“I’m going to take Shawna home. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“Don’t worry, Mom. I meant I’m going to walk her home. I’m going to take things slow with this one.”
“Okay. Good. Yes, we’ll talk tomorrow.” Emily stalked out of the bar, went home and punched her pillow. She was such a coward. Why hadn’t she said anything?
***
Eric linked his hand with Shawna. He couldn’t believe he’d found her. True, when he kissed her for the second time, it wasn’t quite the same as the first, but she had found him. She’d been looking for him, too. It was like it was meant to be or some sappy shit like that.
They got to her apartment building and she looked up at him shyly. “I’m embarrassed to admit this, but I don’t even know your name.”
“You don’t know who I am?”
She shrugged and laughed. “No, if I’d gotten your name the first time, I would have tracked you down!”
Eric struggled to swallow the lump in this throat. She didn’t know he was one of the Carter brothers. She thought he was just a stranger in the bar. “It’s Eric.”
She held out her hand. “Nice to meet you, Eric.”
Eric shook her hand, and then pulled her in for another long kiss. She broke away and smiled at him. “We better call it a night before things get out of hand. I want to take things slow with you. I just feel this special connection with you and I don’t want to ruin things.”
Eric squeezed her hand. “I feel the same way.”
They traded phone numbers and waited for a cab in daze. He’d found her. It was so hard to believe, it didn’t seem real. The news was probably just taking a while to sink in.
***
The next week, they talked each night and made plans to go out to dinner on Saturday. He met Emily for lunch on Friday to tell her all about it.
Emily sucked on the lemon from her drink and frowned. “Something just doesn’t feel right about this, Eric.”
“What are you talking about? I was looking for her and she was looking for me. She didn’t even know who I was—and she wants to take it slow! I couldn’t ask for anything more. I haven’t even had a drink in five days.”
Emily spread her hands on the table and closed her eyes. “I just have a bad feeling about this.”
Eric pointed his straw at her. “I think you just don’t want to be alone. Because where does that leave you if I’ve got someone and you don’t?”
Emily sucked in a breath like she’d been slapped. “No, that’s not it, Eric.”
He softened his voice. “You’ll find someone, too. Maybe I’ve been keeping you from getting out there. Maybe if I’m serious about someone, you’ll have the chance to find someone, too.”
“I just don’t think you know enough about her to declare your unending love so soon.”
“I would’ve thought you’d be happy for me. Isn’t this the kind of romantic shit women love? I’ve got my happy ending,” Eric said.
Emily forced a smile. “I sure hope so.” She took a deep breath. “So, where are you two going Saturday night?”
“Out to dinner and then back to the bar. We’re going to celebrate the three week anniversary of our kiss.”
“Wow. You’re whipped.”
“I know.”
***
Emily left lunch hoping she wouldn’t throw up. If Shawna was willing to lie that she’
d been Eric’s mystery woman, she was probably lying about not knowing who he was, too. Of course she knew Eric was a Carter brother. Shawna had to be after his money. But how to prove it?
She spent Saturday trying to convince herself not to crash Eric’s date. She made it through dinner, but at nine o’clock found herself driving to the bar. She couldn’t let Eric be fooled any longer. If only she could prove this woman was a fraud. Should she hire a private detective? Hide in a stall in the ladies room hoping she’ll spill her guts to a friend?
She sat at the bar, clinking the ice cubes in her empty glass when Eric and Shawna walked in. The bartender brought her a refill and his eyes flicked over to them. “I’m so glad he’s not wearing that shirt anymore, and telling the story about his lost love.” He rolled his eyes. “Ten days in a row of that nonsense was enough.”
“Yep, thankfully the girl he kissed finally found him,” Emily said, her voice seething.
The bartender laughed. “Is that the story?” He crossed his arms and sighed. “I wasn’t going to say anything to him, but she came in one night, and asked one of the other bartenders why Eric Carter was wearing that shirt.”
“She knew who he was?”
The bartender smirked. “Most single women in this bar know the Carter brothers.”
“So what did she say when she found out about the kiss?” Emily held her breath.
“She gave the bartender fifty bucks to keep his mouth shut that she’d asked.” He shrugged. “If she wanted me to keep my mouth shut, she should’ve slipped me a twenty.”
Emily kneeled on the stool so she could reach across the bar and kiss him on the cheek. “Thank you.”
“It’s not twenty bucks, but I’ll take it.”
Emily’s eyes locked on Eric’s across the bar. He took Shawna by the hand and led her over to Emily. “Hey Em, you trying to duplicate my kiss quest?”
Emily folded her arms. “I’m just trying to get the truth about your new friend.”
Shawna set her hand on her throat. “What are you talking about?”
Emily put a hand on her hip. “You knew he was Eric Carter all along.”
Shawna’s eyes widened. “What? I…I did not.”
“That’s not what you told the bartender,” Emily said.
Eric looked pale. “Shawna? Is that true?”