Page 37 of Saltwater Memories
“Wow.”
He slid the margarita in front of her. “What?”
“Ah. I don’t know. It’s just that…you’re like a saint or something.”
He laughed. “Hardly.”
She had to find a way to get out of this party. Maybe she could fake another GI bug? No, that would be questionable since it happened so recently. “Listen, I don’t know that I can go tonight. This isn’t really my scene.”
“Oh come on, it’ll be fun. And if it’s not, we can leave. And do whatever you want to do. I’m sure there are tons of places that we could get a decent dinner.”
Ah. She wasn’t going to get out of it that easily. “Well I’m not – the thing is…”
“Let me see your mask. Wait – I’ll show you mine.”
He disappeared for a moment before coming back into the room in an all-black, Phantom of the Opera style mask. “Pretty cool, right?”
“Yeah. Really cool.” She took a sip of the margarita.
“Where’s yours? If you don’t have one, they’ll have some at the ball – ”
She shook her head. “No, I have one. It’s Morgan’s, actually. I just feel silly.”
“Let me see.”
She sighed and pulled the mask from her purse, slowly tying the ribbon behind her head.
A smile broke across his face. “You are absolutely beautiful.”
Now Amanda really felt like she was going to be sick. “Will, I really don’t think – ”
“Listen, I get it. It’s a stuffy event. I told my boss I was coming, so I just need to pop in for twenty minutes, say hello. And then we can leave.”
“I just…” Her voice trailed off.
“Please? For me? Your favorite stalker?”
Her throat was totally dry. She took another sip of her drink.
She hated herself so much in this moment, for so many reasons. “Okay.”
He clapped his hands together. “Okay? Okay! You won’t regret it.”
