Page 24 of The Last Dance

Before I can even remember what I should do in such an event to save myself, his arms wrap around me from behind and thrust up into my ribcage, immediately sending the chicken halfway across the room, landing on the plate of a man who now looks less than thrilled with me. I would apologize but the sudden coughing fit won’t allow for it, so I hold up anI come in peacehand sign to defuse the situation. I’m sure that’ll smooth things over.

I drop back into my chair, out of breath and continuing to hack up any evidence of the bite I had taken, reaching for the pitcher of water that’s yet to be poured into our empty water glasses. I chug it right from the pitcher, which is about the only other thing I could do to really drive it home that this definitely isn’t my finest moment. And it’s about to get worse.

He walks around my chair, stopping when he’s at my side. I take my time with the water knowing full well he’s having a panic attack himself. If I never set this pitcher down, I’ll never have to have the conversation I’ve dreaded one day having. I’ll never have to look at the face I thought I never wanted to see again. I definitely don’t want to do this right now in front of his now girlfriend.

‘Ambri.’ He says it with a noticeable gasp. As if I’m the ghost he continues to run from. Don’t worry, Henry, that makes two of us that feel like we just got sucker-punched by life.

Henry Decker. The exact Henry I honestly thought I’d never see again. I promised myself I’d never forgive him and I’m not about to go back on that.

‘Guilty,’ I choke out as I try to calm myself both emotionally and physically. My ears are starting to burn and where butterflies once landed on my heart the last time Henry was around has now turned to what I can only imagine dry ice burning through my insides feels like: uncomfortably painful.

‘Whatare you doing here?’ he asks almost under his breath, as if me sitting here in his presence is something I chose to do.

The panicked look in his eyes says everything. He’s scared I’m here. Good. He should be. It’s totally my luck that I finally see him again and he literally saves my freaking life.

‘Henry, this is the reporter I told you about,’ Karmen says, not even picking up on the awkwardness between us.

He looks from her to me, the panic on his face fading to something softer.

‘Wait, you two know each other?’ Karmen slowly sits back in her chair, her brow furrowed as she glances from me to Henry.

Never mind, based on the awkward look on her face I’d say she noticed our mutual shock of seeing one another again. This should be fun. Not.

He clears his throat, his hand on his chest. Maybe he’s having a heart attack… Ugh… I don’t want that. Jeez. I can’t even wish death on him without feeling bad. I mean, hewasmy best friend. I don’t want him to die. Just suffer.

‘Um.’ He nods. ‘We do.’ He finally sits down, pulling his chair a little closer to me than it previously was. ‘Are you OK? I can take you to the hospital if you need? I’m parked right around the corner.’

I stare at him, a little pissed he’s playing the nice and innocent card. He no longer gets to take care of me and act all concerned.

‘I don’t need to go to the hospital, Henry. I’m fine.Really,’ I insist. Even saying his name again is irritating.

This time it’s Karmen who clears her throat. ‘Do I get to know how you two know each other?’ She snaps up Henry’s attention with the cold tone in her voice. He scoots his chair away from me and back to the center of his side of the table.

‘Ambri and I, we uh – we…’ He glances at me with a clenched jaw. I’ll just sit and watch him suffer for a minute. Let’s see what he’s told her about me. He rubs the back of his neck, looking more than pained. ‘This is Rory’s little sister.’

I nod. I suppose that’s not a lie. But really? Rory’s little sister?That’swhat she knows me as. Not his lifelong best friend? Or even the woman he seduced before he ran away, but Rory’s little sister. Like I was a side character in his life. Just some girl he once did.

‘Oh.’ Karmen gasps. ‘I amsosorry about your sister. I can’t even imagine what you went through.’

‘Thanks.’ I refuse to make eye contact with Henry and instead stare down at my food that I’m now afraid of.

‘I gotta say, I’m a little relieved to hear who you are.’ She forces an awkward laugh.

I finally glance over at Henry, hoping he doesn’t notice. I haven’t seen him in so long and, as much as I hate him, seeing him again isn’t completely depressing me. He hasn’t changed at all. Our eyes meet before he turns back to Karmen when she starts speaking again. ‘From the reaction you two had when you saw each other I kind of thought you dated.’ She laughs a little too enthusiastically, telling me she’s still uncertain about Henry’s awkward story of who I am.

A weird huh-huh sound comes from me as I shake my head no. ‘Nope. I can honestly say we’ve never dated.’ We only slept together.

‘Good.’ She laughs a little less suspiciously. ‘Because that would have made this evening a little awkward.’ She settles into her chair, patting Henry’s hand on the table.

Oh, no. Before I knew Henry was a part of this equation, going to the Crystal for a show might have been no big deal. But I haven’t been there since the last time I was there with him. I kind of banned the place. I couldn’t go back and relive what happened when things started to fall apart. Now the first time I go back he’s going to be there, reminding me of everything that I’ve tried so hard to forget.

‘What’s happening tonight?’ Henry glances between us.

‘Ambri is coming with us to Lyssa’s show. She’s doing a story on her for the PDX Weekly website.’

The fact that I even have my job at all is because he pushed me to apply. I know he remembers that. And that stings the tiniest bit right now that it’s somehow worked against me.

It’s not that I didn’t want my job, I never thought I’d get a job doing what I loved. I had always assumed that you had to already be somebody before actually becoming somebody. Not that I’m anyone special, but he always made me feel as if I were. He was always the one to remind me that I could do anything I wanted. That I could turn motivation into whatever I desired. His advice even kind of worked when he disappeared from my life. It forced me to look at things in a different way. It made me realize that I was the one responsible for my own happiness. Without him, I’d probably still be that same hesitant girl, unsure she could achieve anything important in life, much less her dreams. Damn him. The longer I sit next to him, the more I hate him.

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