by Cee, DW
Rhys looked at his watch and answered, “I think it’s going to be nearly impossible to get tickets to a sold-out show that’s starting in less than an hour. It’ll take us almost half an hour to get up to midtown with all this traffic. Why don’t we watch Hamilton another time?”
As he was displeased with my answer, I was just as unhappy with his. He was sulking and that pissed me off.
“What do you want to do then?”
“Well, I’ve explained what I wanted to do. I didn’t think you’d have such a complex about giving me all of you. Do you not find me desirable? Do you not feel anything when you’re with me? We’ve been together and engaged for almost two months now and every time I broach the subject, you run the other way. Lilah, we’re going to have a long, difficult road ahead of us if you don’t want to have sex with me. I’ve never been with any woman who didn’t want to have sex with me.”
Now, he was just pissing me off with that statement. “Why don’t you go back to all of those women who want to have sex with you.” I spat those words back in his face and stood up from the table.
Rhys pulled me back down. “Don’t run away like you always do.” Oh my gosh! I wanted to scream. “We need to discuss your apprehension toward the physical aspect of our relationship. I’ve been on first dates where I’ve done a hell of a lot more than what I’ve been allowed to do with my fiancée.”
“Why is it that you and I always end our day in an argument?”
“This is more about you than it is about me.”
“Hear me well, Rhys Kent. I don’t want to have sex with you right now. Your pouting is like a tub of cold water on my face. You tell me that we won’t work if I don’t want sex. I say we will not work if you keep pressuring me.”
“Lilah.” That condescending tone bugged the hell out of me.
“Listen. Call me a prude. Call me a tease. I don’t care. I will do what I want and when I want. You will not pressure me like I’m some high school sophomore on her first date in the backseat of a boy’s car.”
“Only if you were a tease in the backseat of my car,” he lamented. “Let’s go to the museum as you asked, Lilah. We’ll talk about this another time. Obviously, I’m not getting anywhere today.” Once again, the condescension infuriated, but I let it go for the sake of the relationship. I wasn’t dumb. I knew Rhys was frustrated too.
“Sure. Let’s spend the day together visiting the Met.”
The strain of the conversation lessened with the day, but our relationship didn’t stabilize and normalize for a very long time.
Nolan: “I need your love...I need your time...” ~Calvin Harris, Ellie Goulding
I’d been putting off talking to my best friend Cam for as long as I possibly could. After the bombshell she laid, I didn’t know what the hell to say. She, too, stopped contacting me. It was my turn to reach out, but I’d been too chicken to do anything about it. Before I caught my afternoon flight with John and Nicky, I put on my big boy pants and called Cam.
“Hello, Friend.” I said with trepidation.
“It’s no longer best friend?” Her tone told me she was still upset. “When did I get relegated to the friend department?”
“Cam, you know there’s no friend in my life as special as you. Don’t be silly. I will consider you my best friend for life.”
“Even if Delilah and you become a couple? What if she asks you to cut me out of your life?”
“That’s not going to happen, Cam. Delilah’s not that kind of girl.”
The snort was undeniable. “Yeah. Whatever. As if you know exactly what kind of girl she is. You barely know her. How can you think you’re going to marry a girl you met, twice, at age five?”
“I was hoping to talk to you about us and not bring up Delilah. I think what’s between us has nothing to do with anyone else.”
“All right, Nole O,” that was Cam’s nickname for me, “what’s between us that you want to discuss? I’ve poured my heart out to you and you’ve ignored me for days. Is this how you treat the people closest to you?”
Ah, damn. Why did Cam choose to be a complicated woman, now? “I’m sorry about not coming to you with some sort of an answer. Time to think was of the utmost importance. I didn’t want to lose you and what we have.”
“Explain to me what it is that we have and how you see us moving forward, Nolan. I want to be in a relationship with you. We’re already the best of friends. I’m attracted to you. There’d be no transition period with us. Everything with us would be easier than being pro on a ‘Should we ban GMOs?’ debate topic.”
“I love the analogy,” I answered with a laugh. “You’re one of the wittiest girls I know, Cam. And you’re right. I don’t know Delilah as well as I know you. The thought of Delilah and me working out is ridiculous. You’re the one who’s perfect for me—at least that’s what I think in my mind. But, my heart feels differently. I want to try for a relationship with her. It’s crazy, but I’m pretty sure I already love her. None of this makes sense to you, me, and especially Delilah. I need to try, though.” That wasn’t the best answer during this sensitive time. But, it was the only answer I could think of at this juncture.
“I won’t wait for you, Nolan.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to, Cam. But, can we stay friends? Does it have to be all or nothing? Can’t we go back to hanging out on a Friday night without being angry or awkward with one another?”
“I don’t know. I guess we’ll have to see.” Hearing Cam’s sadness made me feel like shit. “Can we talk some more over dinner?”
Hell. This wasn’t going to end well. “I’m headed to New York in about an hour, Cam. Can we do dinner when I get back? Would Wednesday work for you?”
“Are you going with Delilah Taylor? Isn’t she engaged to be married to another guy?”
How did women know these kinds of things so well? Women’s intuition was a real world problem. “I’m not exactly going with Delilah, but she’ll be there.” The wounded sigh told me I needed to explain further. “Some of her cousins were heading to New York and Nicky invited me along. We’re going to visit a few pharmaceutical companies.” Cam didn’t believe me. “Really. I’m going there to work.”
“Really? Pfizer will meet you on a Saturday or Sunday?” Ouch. Her distrust hurt.
“No, but we have an appointment with them first thing Monday morning.”
“So this is all part of your plan to woo a woman who’s already engaged?”
“It wasn’t by design, but I’ll use our proximity to my advantage.”
“Well then, bon voyage. Call me when you’re done wooing a girl who’s already committed to another guy. That doesn’t speak too highly for you, nor for the girl who might be tempted by you.”
“We’ll talk again, Wednesday?”
“Whatever.” She blew my request off. “Just remember that our team is counting on you to be prepared for the debate next weekend. You think you’ll be able to prepare while Delilah is in the same city?”
“I’ll be there and I’ll be ready. How about we pick up this conversation in San Francisco? I’ll see you soon?”
Pissed, Cam hung up. What the hell had I done wrong this time? This relationship stuff was damn hard.
Delilah: “Reunited, and it feels so good...” ~Peaches & Herb
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Rhys came into town just in time to pick a fight with me, he stayed perfectly long enough to piss me off, and he left right before we could right our relationship. What. The. Hell!
“You’re mumbling profanities again.” James alerted me to the fact that I was cursing, not so stealthily, and not so quietly.
“Sorry, James.” I decided to put on my happy face for James and Ellie. “How was your flight? Is Jacob bummed he can’t be here?”
James chuckled. “Yeah, he was pretty pissed the four of us were hanging out while he had summer school to finish up.”
“Maybe he can come with your dad in a few days.” What? I had no idea Dad was hea
ded our way.
“Ellie, what do you mean? I thought Dad was headed to San Francisco?”
“Right before we left for the airport, your father and Auntie Jane said there were issues in the Manhattan and San Francisco offices. They were picking straws to see who would have to travel. Uncle Donovan lost.” My cousin explained.
“Gotcha. I guess we’ll see Dad, soon.”
“That’s not all, Lilah.” James added, with another manly chuckle. My cousin James was such a good-natured guy. I couldn’t wait to see the woman who fell in love with him and vice versa. She would be the luckiest girl alive. “We ran into a friend of yours.”
“Which friend?” I asked, wondering who they met. All four Reid siblings busted up in laughter. “What?” The question begged itself.
“Let’s just say,” James was interrupted by the door chime. “Never mind. He’ll present himself.”
The four Reids motioned simultaneously for me to open the door. I did as was asked and SHIT! What. The. Hell! Again!
“Delilah!” Nolan barged in and hugged the breath out of me. “It’s good of you to welcome me at the door.”
“Get your hands off me, Nolan. I’m a third-degree black belt. If you value your reproductive organs, I’d let go.”
Most normal guys would’ve let go immediately and stepped aside. But this guy, he wasn’t normal. He was not normal at all! Instead of walking away, afraid, he laughed, pinched my cheeks, and kissed my nose like he was greeting his little niece. What was wrong with this guy?
“Hey. Keep that third-degree black belt action to yourself, Cuz.” Nicky raised his hands in mock-surrender and walked in behind Nolan.
“Hello. I’m Nolan O’Shaughnessy. You must be Ian.” Damn fool was ingratiating himself with all my cousins. I was about to slam the door and have a word with him when he called out, “Wait—”
Another surprise greeted us, Ellie mostly, at the front door.
“Hey, Lilah.”
“John!” Now this man, I was thrilled to see. “Welcome! Welcome! Ellie. Look who’s here!”
“John...” Uh-oh. My cuz didn’t sound all that pleased, though the soft expressions on both their faces made us all want to leave the room to give them some privacy.
“Hey, Els. I hope I’m not bothering you.”
Els didn’t know what to say so I said the words for her. “You’re not bothering us at all, John. We’re glad you’re here. Do you know all of my cousins?”
James, my sweet cousin who was going to make some woman deliriously happy one day, made the introductions. “John, this is Ian, our world traveler and number four out of five. Ian, John—our friend and co-worker.”
“Let’s not forget, Els’ ex,” JR reminded all of us in a threatening way. He was most upset when we all learned about the breakup. He had actually threatened to kidnap and torture John for making his sister cry.
“JR,” I tried my best to ameliorate the tense situation, “John’s our guest.”
“He’s not my guest,” was not what I wanted to hear. Yikes. What had I done?
To my surprise, Nolan came to my rescue and broke the stare down. “JR, I was told you do work for the government. I’m in the midst of negotiating a contract with them for one of my software programs. Could you give me some advice on dealing with military people?” That did the trick. JR immediately did an about-face and animatedly struck up a conversation with Nolan. I stared at the man, curious and impressed, and he stared back with a smile and a wink.
Shit. How could I have forgotten myself? He was the enemy. Being impressed with his many talents was only going to get me into trouble.
“What’s he doing here?” Ellie asked quietly, but urgently.
“I don’t know,” I answered innocently, adding a shrug to aid my cause.
“Bullshit, Lilah. I know you’re lying. Your nose starts twitching when you lie.”
“It does not!” I spoke indignantly. “How dare you malign the Taylor nose?”
I thought I was pushing away from the topic at hand, but my cousin was no dummy. “Fess up or I’m going to make it my duty to pair you up with Nolan this entire trip.”
Damn. I couldn’t fess up or I’d be in deeper shit with Ellie. Without a choice, I had to stick to my original tale. “Seriously, I don’t know why he’s here. Why don’t you ask him?” To that, I called, “John, come here. Tell us what brings you to the Big Apple and where you’re staying.”
As soon as John walked over to us, I excused myself to the little girl’s room. Genius! I could be a genius at times.
There were two goals for this trip: 1) Avoid Nolan like the plague. 2) Get John and Ellie back together.
So far, so good!
Nolan: “I heard it through the grapevine...” ~Marvin Gaye
“Whatcha doing today, Delilah? I’m free all day today and tomorrow. You want to hang out?”
“Good morning, Nolan. Thank you for bringing John. I trust you both enjoyed your accommodations next door?”
“We did. The Benningtons and the Reids have fabulous apartments here in New York.”
“They do.” Delilah poured herself a cup of coffee and stepped aside for me to do the same. “From the looks of it, Ellie was really happy to see him. I don’t even know when she came to bed last night. They stayed up and talked. Hopefully, they’ll have worked out whatever their problems are by the time we get back to LA.” So formal. That was never good.
“I hope so too. How about going to brunch with me? I have someone waiting in line for us at that famous pancake place on the lower east side.” That was too random. I needed to learn how to be smooth like other men.
“What does that even mean?”
“Well, in New York City, there are people who wait in line for a living. For items like Cronuts, restaurants that don’t take reservations, tickets to impossible-to-get shows like Hamilton, there are companies who will stand in line for you.”
“Isn’t that kind of crazy?”
“Yeah, but New York is kind of crazy—in a very good way.”
In her eyes, I saw indecision. She was struggling with what she wanted to do and what she thought she should do. “Thanks for the offer, but I’ve already made my coffee. I’ll stay here. Why don’t you take Nicky or one of the other guys instead?”
Damn. She said no again.
Rather than fight her, I gave in to her wishes. “Sure. If you don’t want to go, I’ll give John the spot and he can take his lady.”
“But...” I liked the hesitation. “Didn’t you pay a lot of money to have some guy stand in line for you?” Even more so, I loved her undesired angst.
“I did—for you. But, I don’t want to make you do something you don’t want, or are not comfortable doing. I’ll let John enjoy the fruits of my labor. No worries.”
Delilah’s face displayed a myriad of thoughts and expressions. The foremost one was regret. Next, she was apologetic. No matter. I didn’t want to play those cards. I wanted her to hang out with me because she wanted to, and not because she felt bad I’d wasted money on her.
“Maybe another time...” she whispered.
“Definitely another time, Delilah.” Impulsively, I took a few extra steps, got close to her and gave her a firm side hug. She didn’t freeze, nor did she push me away. We were making progress.