Page 94 of David's Proposal

So he called me first and then went upstairs, where I told him to get lost.

And he did.

He returned to the table, picked up‘his date,’and left.

“You want something to drink?” Terry asks.

“No. I’m fine,” I say, not fine at all.

I earn an inquisitive look from my mother.

“I’m fine. Seriously, I’m okay.”

“Are you having cramps or something?”

“No, I’m not,” I say, laughing––tense, though.

“I’ll get another drink, and then we leave.”

“Yes. Sure,” I mumble, struggling to hide my shitty mood.

She glances at me again but says nothing before she starts to chat with a woman at the other end of the table.

I slide my hand into my bag, retrieve my phone, and surreptitiously check it again.

I’m tempted to call him.

‘Call him?’

The voice inside my head is outraged.

‘Call him and tell him what?’she mutters.‘You want to whine and look desperate?’

‘I am desperate,’I shoot back at her in my head.

She waves me off.

‘Just sit on your butt and do nothing,’she tosses at me.

‘That’s easy for you to say. You don’t even have a butt,’I reply to her, annoyed.

She turns her back to me as in…‘You’re on your own, buddy.’

That may be sound advice, but I can’t sit on my butt and do nothing. I glance around the space, itching to do something. Anything.

Eventually, I leave my bag on the table, push my chair back, rise, and exit the tent.

The cold air dusts my shoulders with goosebumps as I inch closer to the house and check the decorations. The lights make the trees sparkle like a dream.

Everything seems effortlessly done when, in fact, so many hours of work have gone into putting them up.

Voices ring in the foyer, and I move closer to take a peek inside. I notice James, his brother, and Ed when the main door opens, and David enters the house.

Startled, I pull back. I don’t want anyone to catch me spying on these people.

What happened?

Was he even gone?

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