Page 23 of Halloween Hottie
My back straightens. “We talked, had some drinks, danced,” I start rattling off things.
“Did you score a home run?”
I laugh and nod. “Yeah, I guess I did.”
He laughs. “So, when’s the wedding?”
“Wedding?”
He shrugs. “You don’t strike me as the type to like a girl, sleep with her, and not seal the deal. Come on, Jake. I’ve known you a long time. You’ve always been the relationship type.”
I shake my head. “Nah, not anymore. I don’t even know if I’ll see her again. Haven’t made up my mind yet.”
“Why not?”
I shrug. “Don’t know if I’m ready yet. You know, after—”
“Trish?” he finishes.
I nod. “Yeah, I just don’t know if I can put myself back there again. Getting dumped is hard enough, but having to watch the one you love die, it changes you.”
He nods. “I’m sorry you had to go through that, Jake. I really am. Especially at your age, but that’s life, you know? You don’t know what you’ll get, you don’t know what’s around the corner. You can’t live your life always afraid, or you’d never live.”
I nod. “I know. I’m just not going to jump to an ending. I just met this girl. She might not be the one.”
He nods. “I’m sure she’s something special. You attract that type.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Are you hitting on me?”
He chuckles and holds up his middle finger while tipping back his beer.
The day goes by as usual. I do some bartending, and when Step comes in I head back to the office. I take a seat behind my desk and my eyes fall to the picture on the desk of me and Trish before she got sick. She’s sitting on my lap and we’re both beaming wide smiles. We were only about twenty at the time. We had our whole lives ahead of us. Little did either of us know that was a lot shorter than we thought.
My mind drifts off to one of the last conversations we had.
I’m sitting in the hospital, holding her hand as she sleeps. I’m tired, feeling run down and stressed out. She’s sound asleep and all I can hear is the steady humming of the machines. I have my head bowed over, resting it on the mattress in an attempt to catch up on some sleep. I must have drifted off because the next thing I know, I wake to her hand running through my hair, combing it into place.
My head pops up, and I find her eyes watching me. Her dry lips are tipped up into a weak smile. “Go home. Get some sleep.”
I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you.”
“I’ll be fine. You need your rest,” she argues.
“I’ll be fine as long as I’m here with you. Don’t worry about me.” I kiss the back of her hand and she offers up a sad smile.
“You’ll be fine… even when you’re not with me.”
“Don’t,” I warn, not wanting to have this conversation again. Actually, I’ve never allowed her to talk about when she’s gone. I never wanted to hear it, and I don’t want to hear it now.
“We need to talk about this, Jacob. Avoiding it won’t make it go away. I’m dying.”
I let out a long breath. “I know.”
“Okay, then let me say what I need to say.”
I wait, so she continues.
“When I’m gone—”
