Out of The Box Regifted (21 page)

We leave for the museum, and I’m amused that Todd would humor me and go. The place is breathtakingly beautiful. As we enter the gates, we see a prominent white monument sign proudly displaying in black letters, ‘
The Hermitage. Home of President Andrew Jackson.’

We tour the house and grounds, and Todd’s like a little kid in a candy store. He stops to look and read about everything. “This shit’s pretty cool.” He shakes his head in wonder, “I never thought I’d be caught dead in a fucking museum, but I actually kinda like it.”

In the gift shop, he looks at every little souvenir and knick knack he can find. He picks out a book about The Hermitage, along with another book about houses of the different U.S. Presidents. He walks aimlessly around, looking for something to buy Kyra. His eyes light up when he sees a beautiful boxwood necklace, adorned with pearls. He proudly holds it up, “Do you think she’ll like this?” He smiles anxiously, and asks.

“I think she’ll absolutely love it. It’s as gorgeous as she is.” In addition to the other things he’s got picked out, he grabs a Hermitage coffee mug for himself and several other small things, including postcards and a candle. He laughs, as he puts his wallet in his back pocket. We head back to the hotel and have a drink in the lounge, before going to dinner. Bags in tow, we find a quiet little table at the bar of the hotel. It’s richly paneled, and a quaint cozy place.
Todd orders our drinks and reaches into his bag. With a sheepish grin on his face, he hands me a little box. “Here, I got you one too. Let me put it on you.” It’s the same beautiful necklace he bought Kyra.

I put my hand across my chest and smile, “Todd, you totally didn’t have to do that. This is an expensive necklace. I saw the price tag.”

He takes a sip of his drink, and leans across the table, “I don’t care. I can afford it. Anyways you do like it, don’t you?”

I look down and admire it. “Of course. I love it. I just meant that your friendship is gift enough for me.”

“Well you and Kyra are my 2 favorite ladies in the whole world now, so I gotta keep you both happy. And your friendship means a lot to me too. I wouldn’t go to a fucking museum for just anyone, ya know.”

I clap my hands, “Yay...so you liked it?” I coyly ask.

“It was fucking awesome. Yeah I liked it. I’m gonna read that book about the homes of US Presidents. How cool would it be to take road trips, and go see them? Hell maybe I’ll even take Kyra with me. Anyways, she’s gonna be glad I did some cultural shit.”

We head back out and have a nice time on the town, and when we get back to the hotel, I find I’m anything but tired. I throw my purse on the bed, and hear my phone ring. I see on the caller ID that it’s Alan. I contemplate letting it just go to voicemail, but decide to answer. “Hello?”

“Olivia? Are you still in town?” He asks apprehensively.

“Yes. Why what’s up? Are you okay?”

His voice cracks, “No I’m not. I’m a goddamn wreck. Look can just I see you before you leave?”

Exasperated, I throw my head back, angry that I even answered his call. Why the hell is he calling me? I take a deep breath and slowly exhale. “No Alan. That’s not possible.”

Todd comes into the bedroom from the sitting area, and he mouths, ‘who’s that?’ I answer with a troubled look on my face, ‘Alan’.

“What the fuck?” He looks pissed.

I hold my hand up, and he points a finger at me and whispers, “You need to tell him to fuck off.”

Alan sighs and continues, “Olivia, I need you so bad right now. I need to talk to you. Look, there’s so much I need to say to you. I love you babe. We have history, and if you can’t come to me, I can get someone to bring me to your hotel, and I promise I won’t stay long.”

I run my fingers through my hair, “Jesus Alan, the answer’s no. I came to the funeral, to support you, and I’m going home tomorrow.”

He implores me further. “Olivia, please don’t shut me out. I’ve got to see you. I realize now how much I love you. I thought I loved Kelly, but I know now that I was a fool, and I made a huge mistake by letting you go. It’s so damn complicated, but it’s not too late for us, Liv. Couples get back together all the time.”

My face is hot with anger, “Alan, that’s bullshit and you know it. You’re caught up in the grief and emotion and believe me, you don’t still love me. You gave me up, remember? And you’re absolutely right; we
do
have history. We were married for 30 goddamn years. We have 3 wonderful children together, but we’re divorced now, thanks to you, and you need to move on.”

“Liv, I just need to talk to you. I’m a mess… I…”

I’m done and cut him off, “Alan do me a favor; get yourself some counseling. You’ll need it, and it’s not a bad thing. You need a professional to get you through this. I can’t be that person. Sorry.”

I hear him crying, and I feel pity for him. Todd looks puzzled as I talk, and I mouth the words, ‘
what do I do?’
He mouths back to me the words, ‘
fuck him’
and flips his middle finger up. He purposely calls my name out, and Alan hears the male voice.

“Is Ash there with you?”

“No. He’s not.”

“Then who was that?” Alan asks curiously.

I’m annoyed by his remark, “That’s really none of your business.”

Todd takes my phone. Holding up one finger, he switches the phone on speaker. “Alan, look, the lady told you there’s no way she’s gonna see you. She doesn’t want to talk to you, and you have no right to keep harassing her.”

“Who is this?” Alan asks angrily.

“Don’t worry about it dude. Last time I checked, you fucking left her for another woman. Move on and leave her the fuck alone. She doesn’t deserve your shit.” He throws the phone on the bed and jerks his chin out, motioning me to end the call.

“Who is that, Liv? Why is the phone on speaker?” Alan demands to know.

I disconnect the call, toss the phone on the bed, and start to cry. Todd’s there to reassure me. He takes my face into his hands and looks me in the eye, with a stern look on his face, “Olivia, don’t you dare fucking cry. Don’t you dare! It kills me to see you upset. Right now I wanna go to his house, and kicking his fucking ass for calling and getting you upset. He’s a piece of shit, Olivia - he doesn’t deserve you coming here for the funeral.” He turns and kicks the wall. “Dammit! Did he even fucking thank you for coming? Did he?” He points his finger in my face, “You don’t owe him a fucking thing. Hell Kelly’s fucking father thanked you, and this asshole? Now he calls expecting you to see him, and listen to his bullshit? Hell no!” He fists his hand. “He’s playing you.
Fuck
him. He’s hurting now, so he has to heave a guilt trip on you? That’s fucking bullshit, Olivia.”

I’m holding my head in my hands, shaking, and breathing out through my mouth. Todd’s right; I don’t need this.

He takes my shoulders in his hands, “Look I’m sorry I got upset. I’m protective of you, babe. Alan’s a grown man, and he’ll fucking figure it out. Just remember he had everything figured out enough to leave you.” He winks, as he ruffles my hair.

“Olivia, we’re best friends for God’s sake. I just happen to be a fucking dude, but that doesn’t mean you can’t talk to me from your heart. I’ll listen and I’ll be there for you, just like you’ve been there for me.” He moves into my face and smiles the most amazing smile, “Just because we haven’t known each other for a bazillion years, doesn’t mean shit. No matter what, I’ll always be your biggest fan. Let’s forget about that mother fucker.”

I sigh and brush his face, “You’re right, bestie. I’m going to wash my face and put on some comfy clothes.” I go into the bathroom to change. I look at myself in the mirror, exhale, as I pull myself together. When I go into the sitting room, Todd’s sitting on the couch in boxers and an Avenue t-shirt. He looks at me with a sheepish look on his face “Sorry - I forgot to bring shorts.”

I laugh and playfully slap his arm. “I raised two boys remember…”

“You tired?”

“Not at all...are you?”

“Not really….” He looks like he wants to say something.

“What?”

“Well… a few months back you told me you’d tell me about the night you lost your virginity….do you remember?”

“Of course I remember!” I smirk.

We move to the floor, bringing big pillows with us. Todd puts on some music, and brings me a glass of wine. “You may need this, because I think tonight’s the night I need to hear that story.”

I laugh and cock my head, “You really wanna hear about it?”

He scoots over by me, “Yeah. I do. I’ve been waiting for the right time. Wait… Lemme get comfortable.” He pulls his legs up and leans back on his arms, with an eager look on his face.

I take a deep breath. My leg is nervously shaking, as I begin my story. “Okay here goes.”

I go into detail and tell him about that whole night. It brings back a lot of memories for me. From start to the finish, I tell him everything. I’ve never talked about it to anyone, and it’s kind of liberating revealing it, like a huge load has been lifted off my chest. I put my head in my hands, embarrassed, as I think back to that night. I can still feel the pain, physical and emotional. I look at him and smirk, “That’s how I lost it, Todd. Pretty romantic, huh? Nowhere near the intensity of you and Kyra. Mine was just a plain old screw.”

He looks at me with a questionable look on his face, and takes my hand, “Olivia, you can’t look at it like that. You don’t know he felt that way. Maybe he was fucking scared. Hell you know I was. Did you ever see him after you guys broke up?”

I shake my head, “Nope. Never did. He left for college, and I was left without my virginity.”

“Ever looked him up on Facebook?”

“Oh heavens no!” I exclaim.

With a devilish look in his eye he says, “Get your laptop. Let’s see if we can find him. Aren’t you even curious what he looks like now?”

I’m mortified, “Are you friggin crazy? No I’m not curious. That was ages ago. For all I know, he may be dead.”

“Well, I’m curious. What’s his name? I’m gonna look him up.”

I put my hand on my hip, and point my finger at him. “No Todd, you are positively not. This is absolutely crazy, and what if he’s on Facebook and sees someone creeping him?”

He laughs, “Not a chance. Come on, Olivia. It’s either that or strip poker”

“You’re crazy, Todd O’Malley. Has anyone ever told you that?”

He throws his hands up and smiles, “All the fucking time, Olivia. Come on, ya chicken.”

Todd has a Facebook account, so he logs in under his name and starts searching. Shit! He finds him, and we are able to look at his profile and some of his pictures. He’s actually pretty nice looking still. When we dated, he was a surfer type, with longer blonde curly hair, which my parents hated. Todd looks surprised, “Dude is pretty fucking preserved, huh? He’s actually not bad looking. I expected him to be bald and fat. And look - his status is single.”

“He lives in Austin. Isn’t that pretty close to Houston?” Todd asks.

“Yeah. It’s about 2 hours away.”

He looks through the pictures on the Facebook page. “Looks like he did pretty well in life; check out this boat he’s in.” He points to a picture of a huge boat that he’s standing on with a couple of young guys, who I assume must be his kids.

I shake my head in disbelief, “I can’t believe we’re doing this. It’s crazy. I haven’t thought about this man in years.”

He logs off and closes the laptop. “So, enough Facebook stalking. Let’s get some shut eye, and we head back home tomorrow. Tomorrow you’ll see your honey, and I’ll see mine, and everything will be roses. Probably bigger roses with you, though. Don’t forget I’ve seen
your
roses’ haha!”

I roll my eyes, and flip him off, “Todd, I still can’t believe you walked in on him that day. Talk about embarrassing. That cracked me up!”

“Embarrassing? Talk about a low shot to my manhood. Jesus, that guy’s fucking hung like a mule, Olivia. I mean seriously! Sorry, but I’m just sayin.” He laughs, shaking his head and goes into the bathroom to get ready for bed.

When he’s finished in the bathroom, I go in to get ready for bed and slip into my bed.

From the couch in the sitting area, I hear him on the phone with Kyra. He’s laughing and telling her how much he misses her. “Babe, I fucking miss the hell out of you. I can’t wait to see you. I can’t even go one day without missing you.” They talk for several more minutes, and I hear his footsteps walking around the sitting area. “Alrighty babe, I gotta get some sleep, and you do too. I love you Ky, more than you even know.”

When he gets off the phone, he calls out to me.

“Olivia? You still awake?”

“Yeah, fixing to doze off. I have a wakeup call set for us.”

“Cool. Sleep well, babe. Sweet dreams!”

“You too, Todd. Thanks for being here for me. It means more than you know.”

He laughs, “Okay, whatever. Back atcha. Night.”

I toss and turn all night. I’m restless and can’t seem to sleep. I turn on the radio, hoping the music will help me go to sleep, but it doesn’t. I turn on the TV and try to watch, hoping it will make me fall asleep. No such luck. I look at the clock every hour. The illuminated numbers tell me I haven’t been asleep. I get out a book, and even try reading. Nothing works. I finally doze off and am awakened by a really bad dream. I’m sweating profusely, and my heart is beating fast. Alan is standing over me, swinging his fists at me, screaming at me. “You did this to them, you fucking bitch! Why did you do it, Olivia? I loved them. I hate you, Olivia. I hate your guts.” He chases me with a knife, screaming and cursing at me. I’m running for my life. Kelly’s parents are in the picture pointing and wickedly laughing at me. They don’t have faces, but I know it’s them. I guess I scream out, because the next thing I know, Todd is standing over me, nudging my arm. “Olivia, wake up babe. You’re having a bad dream.”