Before You: Standalone Contemporary Romance (7 page)

I met his eyes as I answered Abbot. “Well, this time there isn’t.”

Abbot laughed again as André tapped my bottle with his then turned away to have a conversation with someone at the next table. He was still standing and leaned his toned arm on top of the bench seat that divided the two booths. Every now and then he would glance over at me and as much as I was trying not to watch him, I could feel it every time his eyes were on me.

“How do you all know each other?” I asked Abbot. Amanda and her friend had moved across to the other side of the booth to join André’s conversation.

Abbot shrugged. “College, work. Some we just know from here.”

“So this is your regular hang out?”

He grinned. “Yeah. This is where we all meet up. I met Dave through André, and I knew André back when we were freshman at college. The guy next to him, Dozer, is actually a cop. Your brother got a speeding ticket a couple of years ago and they got talking, next thing you know, they’re buddies and Dozer’s part of the group. But you know what Dave is like, he can make friends with anyone.”

“That he can,” I agreed. “And them?” I shifted my eyes to Amanda and her friend.

He grinned, and I sipped on my beer as he slid his arm across the back of the seat and leaned in to talk in my ear. “There are some girls who really like the idea of what Dave and André do for a living. And not to say a bad word about your brother, but they both take advantage of it. Dave tells some pretty fascinating stories about their travels when he’s here, it draws them in, and André’s the dark horse that they’re all trying to fix, I guess. I don’t know. But these two are the latest. Amanda lives in your building and doesn’t seem to get that André doesn’t go back for seconds, and the girl with her, Stacey, is interested in your brother. I have no idea what the status of that is.”

Finally placing Amanda as that girl in the hall on the first day I arrived, I pulled away a little so I could turn to face Abbot without butting heads. “So, what do you do while all this is going on? Just sit, watch and take notes.”

Releasing a soft chuckle, he leaned into my ear again. “I’m just here for the music and the company,” he said. “I don’t have issues with relationships like the other guys do, but I don’t exactly have the time to participate in one.”

“I see. You’re a one day at a time kind of guy.”

He nodded. “Exactly.”

I grinned, besides André, I could usually read people really well. Abbot seemed like a nice, normal guy in his late twenties. I assumed he was busy climbing the career ladder and that was the reason he didn’t have time for a relationship, but I also didn’t see him as the kind of guy who picked up a new chick every time he went out.

“So what do you do that keeps you so busy, Abbot?” I asked, glancing toward the stage where I could hear the band tuning up.

“That actually.” He nodded toward the stage.

I looked back at him quickly. “You’re in a band?”

He laughed. “No. I find good bands and book them into venues.”

“Wow. That must be kind of cool.”

“It can be. It has its ups and downs like all businesses do.”

We continued talking back and forth for a while, talking about his job and then my job. His arm stayed around the back of the seat behind my back as we had to sit and talk close to hear each other over the rising noise of the room. I could feel the hair on the back of my neck rising periodically, but I didn’t look up until another beer was placed in front of me, and André slid into the seat across from us.

“Thank you.” I met his eyes and smiled. He nodded and looked between Abbot and me with very little expression on his face. I took a sip then reached for my purse. “Let me fix you up for this. You don’t have to buy me drinks all night,” I told him. But, the moment my hand opened the clasp, he placed his hand on mine to stop me.

My entire arm seemed to catch fire, and I pulled it away quickly. He pulled his hand back as well, frowned then met my eyes again. “There’s no need. I don’t mind.”

We stared at each other for an uncomfortable moment while I searched my mind for something to say. Something that would move us past the awkwardness of that touch and into neutral territory. Thankfully, Abbot came to my rescue.

“We’re going to miss you around here, buddy. Friday night won’t be the same without you and Dave here to share giant hippo stories.”

André spun his beer between his hands and smiled. “That was mainly Dave. I’m afraid I don’t tell a story as well as he does.”

Abbot turned to me again. “Dave likes to tell the story of how he and André became friends. Have you heard it?”

I glanced at André and smiled then shook my head before turning my attention back to Abbot.

“Well, the way Dave tells it, they were in this aluminum boat on the Nile. Dave was getting footage of the banks flowing past, and they saw some locals waving their arms at them. Dave and most of the crew just smiled and waved back thinking they were just excited to see Americans or something. But the local’s waving gets more frantic. Then all of a sudden, André shoves Dave to the side and leaps for the motor while yelling at everyone to get down and hold on.”

I looked at André. “What was happening?”

André clasped his hands in front of himself and leaned his chin on them as he shook his head. “A hippo,” he said with a smile.

“A hippo?” I repeated.

Abbot continued the story. “Yeah. A fucking hippo was under the water, chasing down the boat. André grabbed the controls and steered them to the side just as the fucking thing rose up out of the water ready to snap.”

I looked at André again. “What, like a crocodile?”

“Yeah,” Abbot said. “Those things can rip a boat in half. More people are killed by hippos every year than sharks, or lions, or any other animal most people are afraid of. They’re dangerous.”

God. I hated Dave’s job...

I took a deep breath and plastered a broad smile on my face to hide the fact those stories scared me. “No wonder Dave likes you so much. You saved his ass.” I was truly grateful that André had kept my brother alive when his own commonsense couldn’t.

André looked away then took a long drink of his beer. “Dave likes to see the good in people. But I assure you, it was my own ass I was worried about when I did all that.” Then he got up and left the table.

“Don’t take that personally. He’s a complicated guy,” Abbot said as I stared after André, watching as he joined the group that had gathered not far from our table. Amanda was a part of it and moved to stand next to him, placing her hand on his chest as she said something in his ear. He smiled, looked at me then took her by the hand and walked into the next room where the pool tables were set up, and I couldn’t see them anymore.

“I don’t think he’s too complicated,” I stated, lifting my beer to my lips and taking a long drink until I’d drained its contents.

“Just don’t take his actions personally. He generally hurts himself worse than he hurts everyone else.”

I turned and meet his eyes. “He’s not hurting me. There isn’t anything going on.”

He looked at me for a long moment then gave me a friendly smile as he watched me pick at the label on my empty bottle in agitation. “You want me to take you home? I’m kind of ready to call it a night anyway. I’ve got work tomorrow.”

I let out my breath slowly, looking in the direction André went before I nodded. “Yeah. Actually, I’m pretty tired.”

––––––––

W
ith my head down, I kept scrubbing the sink. Cleaning the apartment was the only thing that had stopped me from going insane until André finally walked through the front door around lunchtime on Sunday.

“You must have been having fun.” 

I kept my voice as even as I could. He was wearing the same clothes he had on Friday night, and his hair was messy in that I’ve-just-spent-the-weekend-fucking way that is hard to synthesize on your own.

He shrugged and dropped his jacket on the back of the couch and his keys on the table nearby. “It was OK. You?”

I kept scrubbing. “Cleaning is awesome.”

Truth was, I spent most of the last thirty hours listening for the front door. I’d barely slept. Abbot had been a complete gentleman and brought me back here straight from the bar, seen me to the door and he even told me, ‘Give André some time. I think he’ll come around’. I’d laughed off what he’d said and made a point to remind him there was nothing going on, but he wasn’t buying it, and I guess I wasn’t really buying it either, otherwise I wouldn’t have tossed and turned all night while a painful lump seemed to form in my chest as the hours ticked by, and I realized he was probably spending the night down the hall with Amanda the blonde bombshell – Amanda, the girl who was the opposite of everything I was. She was tall, she was playboy bunny gorgeous, she was forward... and whatever else she was, she definitely wasn’t anything like me. My distress only got worse as the hours ticked on.

“You and Abbot seemed to get along really well.”

I switched on the faucet and let the water wash the suds down the drain. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I snapped, switching it off quickly then leaning on the counter as I finally met his eyes.

He shrugged and tensed his jaw. “You left with him.”

“And what? You think I fucked him?”

His eyes flinched slightly but he didn’t respond, he just kept his gaze locked with mine, accusingly.

I picked up the paper towel and tore some off, running it through the sink to dry the water residue as I shook my head at him in annoyance. “Well, if that’s what you think of me, then I guess we know what type of girl I am in your eyes.”

I threw the towel in the trash and tied up the bag, growing angrier by the second. I lifted the trash bag then grabbed my purse before heading for the door. I needed to get out of there.

“Where are you going?” His voice cut through me and caused me to pause.

“Well, unlike you, I didn’t spend the last day and a bit fucking some random. Look around. I spent it all packing and cleaning up
your
apartment like the doormat I so obviously am. And now I’m tired, and I’m hungry. So I’m going out to eat then I’m coming back here to take a shower and get some sleep before the moving van comes tomorrow. Don’t touch anything. Don’t mess anything up. The movers come at nine, and our flight is at three in the afternoon.”

I looked back at him, took in the darkness in his eyes and the ticking of his jaw. Abbot was wrong. André wasn’t complicated. He was just an asshole who didn’t know what he wanted.

With a frustrated sigh, I opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, dropping the trash in the shoot near the elevator bay before hitting the button to ride it down. It seemed to take forever, but when it finally arrived, I felt relieved. I needed to get out of there for a while. I needed to be on my own, away from the apartment and stop obsessing over André. This was madness.

Just as the doors began to close, a hand pushed through the middle off them and they opened again. Then André stepped in and stood beside me. He’d changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a soft looking vintage green t-shirt.

The elevator closed and began its descent. We stood in silence.

Well, until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I broke it.

“What was going to
Daylight
even about, André? Was it a test of some sort? Did you take me there to show me that you didn’t need me because the Amanda’s of the world were readily available and came without strings?”

“I thought you were having a good time. You certainly looked to be having a great time. I don’t understand why you’re angry.”

“Jesus, André. I’m not angry.” I took a step back and leaned against the elevator wall. “I’m just...confused.”

With a sigh, he joined me against the back wall. “So, you didn’t go home with Abbot?”

“What? No. And frankly, I’m pissed that that’s what you thought I’d do.”

He shrugged. “You seemed to like him.”

“Yeah. Like. He’s a nice guy, he gave me a ride home. End of story.”

Nodding slowly, he seemed to chew on his lip in thought as we rode the elevator to the lobby in a tension filled silence.

“So I guess that leaves
the long-term relationship
girl, or the
doesn’t want a relationship at all
kind of girl,” André stated as the doors opened and we exited.

I gave him a sidelong glance and almost laughed as I realized he’d just ruled out ‘the kind of girl who sleeps around’ – at least he listened when I spoke. I struggled to stay angry with him, even though I really wanted to.

“Let me make it really easy for you,” I said as I reached into my bag and pulled out my sunglasses. “I’m not either of those.”

He stopped walking for a beat and frowned before quickly catching up to me as we exited the building. “That doesn’t make it easy,” he said, amusement in his accented voice. “That’s just incredibly confusing.”

I slipped my glasses on and smiled as I stepped out into the daylight. “Now you know how I feel.”

***

S
urprisingly, we managed to share a fairly pleasant meal together without anymore talk of the night before, or even the night before that. We stuck to friendly topics of conversation like work, travel and college. He had gone quiet when I asked him where he grew up and went to high school and had given a really vague answer then changed the subject. So I added that to the list of things we didn’t talk about – no family, and nothing before college. That suited me fine. Besides Dave, I didn’t want to talk about family either, and high school wasn’t much of a picnic once I became the girl who lost her parents in the local disgruntled employee shooting. It’s funny how people feel they can’t mention their own parents around someone who doesn’t have any. They treated me as though I was made of glass. Then they just stopped talking to me at all.

“When is your next assignment?” I asked when the waitress set a slice of apple pie and ice cream in front of me and gave André a coffee and a small folded piece of paper.

He picked up the paper and looked at it as he answered me. “I’ll set up a meeting when we get to LA to go over the shots from Afghanistan then they’ll let me know when I fly out next. I’m rarely ever back for more than a month or two.” He looked at it and smiled politely at the girl before slipping it under the saucer from his coffee cup as she walked away.