Page 34 of Promise Me Nothing
He adjusts the napkin resting on his knee and lifts his drink to his lips again. “Well don’t ask questions to which you don’t want the answer,” he murmurs, then tips the glass back and finishes the last bits of amber liquid.
Having come from a life of financial struggle, I’ve never been a big drinker. There just isn’t really a chance to spend money on stuff like that when I’m trying to make rent and survive on coupon food from the clearance section of the grocery store.
And the few times Ihavehad too much to drink, nothing good has ever come from it. So when I dohave the chance, I drink slowly. Really try to savor it.
Lucas, on the other hand, is on at least his third glass of whiskey. Clearly he doesn’t experience the same feelings about alcohol that I do.
“Do you want another wine, miss?” the server asks me.
I shake my head. “No thanks. I think I’m good for a while.”
Lucas lifts his glass and the server nods, heading off to get him a refill.
“Not a big drinker?” Lucas asks.
I shrug. “Just don’t like not being able to defend myself.”
The words slip out before I can stop them. My eyes widen and I glance at Lucas.
He’s sitting with his hands frozen where they were cutting his own food, his eyes on me.
I turn and focus my attention on the new plate of food I was just given. Some sort of chicken. I quickly slice it into pieces and stuff a big one in my mouth, looking around at the other people at our table, desperate for anyone to engage in conversation so I can avoid Lucas’ eyes.
“Where did you say you were from?” the woman to my left asks me, and I let out a quiet sigh of relief in my mind.
“Phoenix,” I reply. “Arizona.”
She nods as she daintily cuts up her own chicken. “I have a cousin who used to live there. In Paradise Valley.”
Of course her cousin lived there. I’m pretty sure that’s the richest part of the entire state.
“She and her ex-husband had a home on a golf course until he came home and found her screwing her caddy.”
I nearly choke on my chicken, but manage to sort myself out. Lucas taps me a few times on the back and I give him a grateful grimace.
“That sounds… unpleasant,” I reply.
“From what I heard, it wasverypleasant for her.”
It takes everything in me to just nod my head and take a sip of my water without laughing. And from the look on Lucas’ face, I’d guess he’s going through the same thing.
We manage some light chatter with the remainder of guests at our table until I see a woman take the stage to my left.
“Ladies and gentleman, thank you so much for joining us tonight at the Annual Charity Auction for the Arts.”
Everyone applauds. Once it trails off, she continues.
“Our evening tonight is made possible by the Calloway Foundation, who provide one hundred percent sponsorship for this event year after year, so that each and every dollar raised goes where it belongs. Now if you’ll please join me in welcoming the CEO of the Calloway Foundation to the stage, Calvin Calloway.”
We all applaud as a tall man in in a fitted suit heads to the stage. He’s handsome for a guy looking to be in his late ‘50s.
“Remember what Paige said about the guy with the midlife crisis and the nineteen-year-old wife?” Lucas says, his voice quiet.
I nod. Then gasp. “The child bride?” I whisper.
Lucas grins. “That’s him.”
I giggle, looking back at the man on the stage, trying to imagine how anyone around my age could ever be interested in someone so much older.
