Page 20 of The Expiration Date

Instinctually, I reached out and touched her hand. “Oh, Hales. I’m so sorry.”

I couldn’t empathize with her at this moment, unfortunately. My dad is an absolute ass and the most despicable human being on this planet. If he died, I don’t know if I would truly miss him. I know how fucked up that sounds but when you grow up with an adulterous, alcoholic father, and a mean alcoholic at that, who used to beat on your innocent, sweet mother for forgetting to iron his button-down shirt and slacks for court the next day, it forces you to evaluate who you want to keep in your life and who you truly care about no matter what. I wish I knew Haley’s grief. I wish I knew this type of love from a father. I don’t give a damn if I ever see my father again.

After wiping a glistening tear from her cheek, Haley responds, “Thanks. He was my favorite person in the whole world. I miss him every day. I mean no disrespect to my mom. I love her to death, but I just had a bond with my dad that was very special. He was the dreamer in the family and really encouraged me to keep writing. He saw how much I loved it and how much I studied film and we would have in-depth conversations about the scripts themselves. My mom is definitely more practical. She always checks if I am okay with money, that my job is stable enough to support me. Not that she doesn’t support my dream of becoming a screenwriter, but she doesn’t want to see me fail. It’s a tough industry, I am finding out. My dad is also the reason why I love romantic comedies. We used to watch them all the time together. He told me that I should be with a man who treats me like I am his whole world. That’s how he always treated my mom–like she was his whole world.” Haley raises an eyebrow and takes another sip of her coffee. “Anyway, enough about me. What about your parents?”

Here we go. “Well, my mom is great. Maybe you’ll get to meet her at some point while we are in the city. She lives here now. She moved here a few years ago from my hometown in Connecticut. I guess my mom is how your dad was. She is very supportive of my acting career and fostered it throughout high school and college. I remember the moment I realized I wanted to be an actor. It was actually in high school. I took a theater class and thought I was going to hate it because one, I was more into athletics than anything and two, my dad always thought my interest in the arts was ‘stupid and impractical’ as he put it. He wanted me to follow in his footsteps and pursue law. He went to Yale and that was the expectation since before I was born. And there was no room for deviation from that plan. Now, my dad – he didn’t know the definition of the word grace. It wasn’t in his vocabulary and it certainly wasn’t in his philosophy of being a parent. I will never forget when I didn’t get accepted into Yale, the disappointment in his face was a sight that could break a kid’s spirit. It almost broke mine, but luckily, my mom is my guardian angel. She always sees the beauty in things that could be perceived as ugly or as failures. My father’s disappointment didn’t end there –when I announced I was majoring in theater, I was basically blacklisted as far as he was concerned. He didn’t speak a word to me for a solid six months.”

“Wow, Aidan, I am sorry. That really sucks.” Haley reaches out and grabs my clenched hand. I didn’t even realize that my hand was in a fist. I guess my dad really brings out the anger inside me. A real Bruce Banner over here. But Haley’s touch is the magic bullet and I relax my hand. She retracts her hand a little too quickly if you ask me, then says, “Well, your mom sounds like a real sweetheart. Your dad…”

“Sounds like a real asshole. Yeah, I know.”

She lets out a small laugh of relief that I was the one to say it.

“So.” I notice my leg is jiggling and stop it. “This wedding we are going to, who is who? I want to be prepared and be able to remember who everyone is.”

“Well, the bride is my best friend from childhood, Anna. She is honestly like my sister, I swear. We have gone through so much together and she is my ride-or-die.”

“Hold up, you’re saying I am not your ride-or-die? You know, Hales, that’s a little hurtful since we are in love and all.” I give her a smirk. I don’t know if I am imagining it, but it looks like she is blushing again.

“Sorry, lover boy. Anna is my one-and-only ride-or-die. Anyway, she is marrying Dan. They have been together for like a gazillion years. Since middle school. Theirs is a love that makes people jealous, and I get it. They are so cute it is sometimes nauseating, even for someone like me who loves romantic comedies. I am her Maid of Honor, so I may have to ditch you to do Maid of Honor duties.”

“No problem. I’m a big boy, I can handle myself. Okay, Anna, Dan. Got it. Who else do I need to know about?”

Her eyes avert from me once again. “Well, my mom is going to be there because she is like Anna’s second mom. She’s also going to stay in the house where we’re staying. And um, Dan’s best friend, Robert, will be there. He’s the best man.” Her voice cracks at Robert. There’s a connection there that she isn’t telling me. Reading her expressions is easy, but sometimes getting information out of her is so difficult. But it makes me want to know her even more. I want to know all her secrets.

Since she is not offering up the information herself, I egg her on a little. “And other than being the best man, I get a sense that this Robert has some sort of significance in this whole ordeal.”

Oh shit. She is definitely crying now. The light from the candle reflects off the tears rolling down her face. Without hesitation, I reach out and wipe the tears from her cheek. She flinches a little at my touch but didn’t fully retract. Progress.

She sniffles and laughs. “How could you tell?”

“I have no clue.” I realize my hand is still on her cheek. For some reason, I don’t want to break our connection, but she finally does it for me when she shifts away and wipes whatever is left of her tears away with her own hand.

“He’s my ex…fiancé.”

“You were engaged?”

She nods and looks at me with a hint of embarrassment. “Hence me needing a date for this wedding. I can’t face him alone.”

“What happened?”

She shrugs and blurts out, “He just broke up with me.”

Who in their right mind would break up with the sweetest girl I’ve ever met? What the fuck is wrong with this jackass? I already hate him and I haven’t even met him.

I hear her sniffle again, “Can we please change the subject? So, I’ve been curious…”

Oh God, I don’t know where this is going.

“What exactly happened with you and Natasha? I mean, I didn’t want to pry when it happened. It wasn’t my business. But in the spirit of getting to know each other, I thought I should know more about this.”

“I guess it’s only fair…Um, I honestly thought everything was going fine. Great actually. I even bought a ring.”

Her eyebrows rise to an alarming height.

“Yeah. I know. Joke’s on me right?”

“Aidan…” She no longer looks surprised. There is another expression on her face that I am definitely getting used to seeing as of late. Pity.

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