Champagne Toast (40 page)

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Authors: Melissa Brown

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Well, there

s your answer.  You need to go.

 

Chapter 26

 

Kate

 

December 14, 2012

 

Another Friday night at Molly

s.  Another night fighting off advances from drunken frat boys.  Another night of serving drink after drink after drink.  The only thing that

s different about tonight is my nerves.
My art show is in less than 24 hours and my nerve endings are blazing inside my skin.
I

m terrified, excited and a little overwhelmed to be showing my piece.

I gave out a total of five fliers for the exhibition.  Vince, Bree, Jason, my parents (who I doubt even noticed it in their mailbox) and Evan.  Although
,
if I had known how that night of Patrick

s wedding would end, I wouldn

t have bothered.  He left me.
Again

My brain has been useless ever since.  Bree keeps begging me to talk to her about it, but I just can

t.  I feel like such a fool for letting him in again, for thinking that things could be different between us.  I should

ve known he

d just walk away from me.  I

ve never been good enough for him.

Jason, who

s sitting at the end of the bar, laptop and beer in tow, has been one of my biggest cheerleaders.  Being a novelist, an independent one at that, he gets what it

s like to put yourself out there through your art.  He understands how important this show is to me.  Every time he walks through the door of Molly

s, I think to myself, why can

t I just love this man?  This man with the crazy t-shirts and hipster glasses.  This man who

s funny and supportive and artistic?  But, I can

t.  And he

s okay with that.  Thank God.  I

m not sure what I

d do without him.  Learning to be friends with a man has been interesting.  But, I wouldn

t trade it for anything.


I

m really enjoying your lates
t t-shirt.”
I nod to him and the Super Grover t-shirt underneath his navy and white-striped button down.


It

s one of my favorites, so you

d better not be making fun of me,

he warns playfully.  If there

s one thing I

ve learned about Jason, it

s not to mess with him and his crazy shirts.  I

ve also learned that each one of those t-shirts has a story, another insight into who he is.  But, I still like to give him crap.  That

s just me.


Not making fun of you at all,

I reassure him with a smile, sliding another draft beer his way.


So, tell me,

Jason says before taking a sip of his fresh beer,

are you getting anxious about tomorrow?


No,

I say, rolling my eyes.


Right,

he says, suspiciously.  He

s learning plenty about me, too.  He knows my defense mechanisms and that I

m softer than I seem.  He

s a patient and kind person and I love that he accepts me for who I am.


Okay, fine, I

m a
little
nervous,

I concede.


That

s totally normal,

he says, opening his laptop.


Do you get nervous each time you publish a book?

I ask.


Absolutely,

he says without a thought.


How is your latest coming along?

I say, pretending to peek at the screen.  Jason hates when anyone looks at his works in progress.  It

s one of the few quirks he has in his otherwise normal personality.  He pulls the laptop out of my view and smiles.


It

s fine, but I

ve hit another roadblock with my dumbass main character,

he huffs.


You make it sound like he has a mind of his own,

I scoff.


Sometimes he does, believe it or not.  I don

t always tell my characters what to do; sometimes it

s the other way around
.” 

My gut instinct is to make fun of him for saying that, but then I remember sitting on the floor of my bedroom, piecing together all of my photos for the exhibition.  There were times that afternoon whe
n
I felt like I was on autopilot, like my hands were creating all on their own. I get it.


Well, I hope he pulls his head out of his ass so you can keep writing
.” 
I smile, taking his empty glass away.


Thanks
.” 
He nods before looking behind me with a curious look in his eyes.


Well, if you aren

t a sight for sore eyes,

I hear a familiar voice calling from the other end of the bar.  The hair on my arms stand up
,
as goosebumps grow on my skin. 
He can

t be here.  Not now.  Not today. 
I turn to glare at the person I loathe the most in the world.  Shawn.

He walks over to the bar, looking smug and satisfied with himself. The last two years haven

t been kind to him.  He looks like he

s aged about six or seven.  His hair is thinning near his hairline and he has crows

feet starting near his eyes.  He looks tired and worn and possibly tipsy.


What are you doing here?

I glower, wanting to tear him apart limb from limb.


I was in the area and thought to myself, there

s no way that Kate is actually still working at this dump.
But, my curiosity got the best of me.  And here you are.


Good to see you

re still the asshole I remember,

I say, looking at Jason out of the corner of my eye.  His laptop is closed and he

s listening to everything being said.  It feels good to have someone in my corner.  I

m not sure where this is going to lead.


Whatever, I

ll take a Heineken.


Didn

t you see the sign above the bar?


What?

he snips.  I roll my eyes, pointing towards the board.


Molly

s reserves the right to refuse service to anyone at any time,

I read from the chalkboard sign Vince installed after my last interaction with Shawn.  How ironic.


Seriously?

he asks bitterly, rolling his little weasel eyes.  How did I ever date this loser?


Yep, consider yourself refused.  You know where the door is,

I snap, walking down to Jason.  His brow is furrowed.  He

s worried.


You okay?

he asks, staring Shawn down with angry eyes.  It

s kind of funny to see the normally laidback Jason go into full defense mode over me.  I feel like he

s having a

big brother
’ moment
.


Yeah, I

m fine,

I sigh, gripping the bar tightly.

He

s just a douchebag who keeps popping into my life at the worst times.  I have enough on my mind right now without seeing him again.


Well, he hasn

t left yet, just so ya know.  He

s lurking by the end of the bar,

Jason replies.
I turn to see Shawn standing at the end of the bar, tapping his fingers on the bar, looking pissed.  I walk towards him, with my hands on my hips.


You need to go, Shawn,

I say matter-of-factly, staring him down.


Hey, you said you could refuse service, not that I couldn

t be here
.” 
His face is so smug.  I don

t know how I ever dated this man.  He is the epitome of the word
loser
.  I walk around the bar until I

m face to face with him.
His breath smells like garlic, which makes my stomach turn.  I

ve had enough.


Get out,

I raise my voice.


Listen, I have every right to be here, I

m not going anywhere
.” 
Shawn crosses his arms in front of his chest, raising an eyebrow.  He

s so goddamn smug.


I

ll get Vince, I mean it,

I threaten.


That dumbass doesn

t scare me.  And neither do you,

Shawn says, taking another step towards me, his beady eyes glowering at me.


You seem to get off on making others miserable,

I say, my eyes narrowing.


No, just
you
.  Can

t get myself to stay away
.” 
The corner of his mouth turns up in a lopsided smirk.


Find a way,

I say, seething.  My heart is starting to pound furiously in my chest.

Shawn looks up at the ceiling in a dramatic way,

No, I don

t think I want to.


Listen, Shit-for-brains, you ruined my life!  I never want to look at your miserable face ever again.  Get the hell out of this bar.
Now!

  Shawn laughs, and the piercing sound of his laughter makes me boil over with rage. 

I slap him across the face.  Hard.  A stinging sensation shoots through my palm and fingertips.  He looks at me, shocked, like he didn

t think I had it in me. 
I guess I

m full of surprises.


You fucking bitch!

Shawn yells, putting a hand to his cheek before moving towards me like he

s going to hit me back.


Hey, hey!

I hear Jason yell, jumping in between us.  Vince is not far behind.


You have exactly three seconds to get the hell out of my bar before I call the cops,

Vince yells, grabbing Shawn

s arm.  He

s fuming and narrows his eyes at Shawn. 

You walk through those doors again, and I will personally beat your ass down.  Kate

s a member of my family, and you don

t mess with my family!


Whatever, I

m outta here,

Shawn says, prying Vince

s hand off of his arm, knocking him with his shoulder as he walks away.

Have a nice life.

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