Promise Me (12 page)

"I'd be more than happy to," he answers with a hint of flirtation in his voice as he leans back in his chair. He takes another sip of beer before he asks, "And what have you been doing for the last ten years?"

"Kind of like you, I left right after graduation and went away to college in Miami."

"Is it really as hot as they say it is down there?" He asks.

I have to laugh a little at his question before I answer. "Let me put it to you this way, when I boarded my plane a few days ago, it was a pleasant 95 degrees in the shade."

He laughs at my answer before he says, "I take it you loved it enough that you decided to stay there after college."

"Yeah," I say with a smile, "I do kind of love it, heat and humidity included."

"I've never been there… now I have a reason to visit." We both let that hang in the air between us until he prompts me to tell him what I do for a living.

"Well, right after college I was lucky enough to get accepted into an art internship program in Italy. I stayed there just shy of a couple of years and then, even luckier still, got my foot in the door at an art gallery down in South Beach. I've been there for a few years now and I was recently promoted to Gallery Assistant and…,"

"And what," he says pulling the beer bottle and inch from his waiting full lips that I can't seem to tear my eyes away from.

"Oh, nothing really," I muster trying to recover from being caught staring again. "I was just going to say that I love working there."

Wanting to know more about him, I ask, "So, do you still live in Philadelphia?"

"I do." He hesitates and looks down at my toes that are peeking out of my shoes then grins before bringing his eyes back to mine. "I own a restaurant there."

He owns a restaurant? I'm processing this information in my head and all I can come up with is not only how incredibly sexy that is but it's super impressive too. Now I have a million more questions to ask him at the same time I detect that the DJ is saying something about slowing things up. The music goes from upbeat Top 40 variety to the opening bars of Lady Antebellum's "
Just a Kiss
."

Tyler stands up slowly then holds out his hand to me and says, "Dance with me." It's not a question. My eyes dart from his face to his outstretched hand and back up again. Whatever questions I had are forgotten since the look of longing in his eyes is all the push I need to make me put my hand lightly in his again, stand up, and let him lead me onto the dance floor.

He wraps his right arm around my waist possessively as my left hand rests atop his shoulder. He takes his free hand to pull my other hand in it so it's resting on his upper chest and begins to lead me into a slow seductive sway to the music. His thumb makes lazy circles on the exposed skin on my back and I smile at the intimacy of the gesture. When he smiles back this time I feel more at ease and relax into him completely. My forehead rests just below his jaw line and I feel his lips just barely making contact with it. I close my eyes as we continue to move together, mentally savoring every second of this moment: His strong arms around me. His delicious cologne that I can easily overdose on. His ability to make me feel comforted. All of it.

When the song begins its descent, I pull my head back an inch to look up at him again and he tilts his head to kiss me softly on my cheek. Before he pulls away he lightly drags his lips to my ear and says, "I don't want to let you go just yet."

I quiver at his words and want him so badly to drag his lips back so that they're finally touching mine. I can feel his heart racing under my palm that is still on his chest letting me know that he's having the exact thoughts as me when the DJ decides to switch back to an up tempo beat.

"Well, don't you two look cozy?"

Hell no! This crazy Stepford wannabe is not going to ruin this night for me. I try to step back from Tyler's embrace but he keeps one arm on the small of my back. I see that he has a smirk on his face when he turns his head to look at Lisa.

"Sabrina, who would have thought you'd go slumming tonight," she says and waves her hand that is holding a drink in his direction, spilling some on the dance floor in the process. Fantastic. Two drunks for the price of one. This can only get worse when I feel Tyler's body tense up against mine and other people on the dance floor start to stare at the scene unfolding before them.

"Lisa, don't you have anything better to do than harass me and embarrass yourself," I say in a matter of fact tone which catches her completely off guard. She mumbles something about me always thinking I was better than her before she puts on her fake smile again and asks if she can speak to me in private.

"I don't have anything else to say to you," I calmly say then drop my hand from Tyler's chest and leave the dance floor making my way back to our table.

He's following close behind but doesn't say anything when we both sit down again. I can feel his anger radiating off of him at what just happened. I turn my head to look at him and see that his jaw is clenched. I manage to smile at the memory it invokes when I had tried to decipher what it had meant that night years ago and knowing the cause of it right now. I reach out my right hand to touch his jaw, but chicken out at the last second and pull it back to my lap instead.

"I'm sorry," I say to him.

"Why are you sorry?"

I should be honest with him, rather, I feel like I can be completely honest with him and he wouldn't judge me. It's a hunch I've had about him from that very first night and the little time I've spent with him here, now, which I know doesn't seem rational but it makes total sense to me. I take a deep breath, exhale, and let the chips fall where they may.

"I'm pretty sure we were having a moment there and she ruined it." I turn my face down towards the floor afraid of what he could be thinking, hoping I wasn't wrong about him.

He doesn't say anything for what feels like a lifetime. From the corner of my eye, I see his hand come into view to grab hold of my chin and turn it back slowly towards him. "Hey, look at me," he says and I finally bring my eyes to his.

"If you think for one second that I would let anything or anyone ruin my time with you after all these years, you're crazy," he pauses and then adds, "And for the record, it was definitely a moment."

I nod when he lets go of my chin and can tell that he is visibly more relaxed. He asks if I'm alright and if I'd like another drink, to which I say yes. I watch him walk away and find myself grinning at the trail of ogling eyes from every female as he passes them. I'm still staring off in his direction when the chair he had been occupying a short while ago scrapes against the hardwood floor.

I don't need to look to know who it is. She's relentless, this one. I sigh and turn my head back slowly to see Lisa sitting in Tyler's seat. Drink in her hand, check. Phony smile plastered on her face, check.

"Jesus Christ, Lisa, what didn't you understand when I said I had nothing else to say to you."

She crosses her legs and leans back in the chair as if she's planning on staying for a spell and visit with an old friend. Somehow forgetting that this old friend is the one she stabbed in the back and doesn't want anything to do with her. The phony smile smoothes over to reveal sadness in her demeanor while she contemplates what to say next. Before she can say whatever she's thinking of I see a new wine glass being placed in front of me on the table.

"Get up and walk away... now," Tyler says from behind me in a slightly menacing tone.

Now, if I was her, and someone spoke to me like that I'd like to think I can take the hint. But she doesn't move. Instead she keeps her eyes on me and asks one more time, "Sabrina, I really would like to talk you, in private."

I don't know if it's the inflection of sadness in her voice or if I just don't want this scene to play out any further in front of every other fellow 2001 Skippack High School graduate.

"Fine," I bite out.

I reluctantly stand up and as I'm about to pick up my wine glass to bring with me Tyler says, "You don't owe her anything, Sabrina."

"I'll be fine," I say to him and tuck my hair behind my ear.

He grins knowingly and looks over my shoulder at Lisa. "Are you sure?"

I nod, hoping I'm right then turn on my heel and see Lisa impatiently waiting for me a few steps away. When I reach her, I gesture with my free hand towards the front door of the ballroom and say, "By all means, lead the way."

I follow Lisa down the long corridor that leads to the front door of the building, passing quite a few people on the way. She's having trouble walking in a straight line, making a spectacle of herself in the process. When we get outside, she turns right and heads towards the far end of the building, away from any possible onlookers that may be lurking around at the moment. Realizing that we are more than well enough away, I stop.
"This is as far as I go."

She turns around and just stares at me for a minute. I take the opportunity to casually sip my wine. This seems to bother her since I can tell she has a look of disdain on her face. Now, I'm just plain pissed off. This girl, woman, whore, whatever the hell she is, has the nerve to be upset with me? I mean, really, she has got to be joking!

"Say what you have to say, so I can go back inside and try to enjoy the rest of my evening," I say as nicely as possible to her in the hopes that she'll finally get on with it.

"To who? Tyler?" She laughs as his name escapes her lips, "Really, you couldn't do any better than that, Sabrina?"

I choke on a small giggle at her attempt at an insult, but inside my head I'm thinking back to all those times when we would sit on my bed like lovesick teenagers and fantasize about him. She used to go on and on about him, so to hear her say this is kind of humorous since I know it's eating her up to see him here with me. Not that I planned it, but she certainly doesn't need to know that.

"You don't show your face for ten years, and then all of a sudden you show up here when I told you to stay away," she says with pure hatred in her voice. She takes a second to run her hands through her hair that looks completely disheveled at this point before she continues, "You always thought you were better than me, better than everyone, better than this town. You just couldn't wait to get out of here!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Lisa?"

She smiles at me then says, "You know Chris always wanted me not you, the
perfect
Sabrina Chandler. He just never had the balls to tell you. That's why we had to sneak around for so long."

She keeps going but not before her smile morphs into a devious grin, "You have no idea how happy I was that you found out the way you did. I bet you cried like a little bitch."

I've heard enough. My blood is boiling and if I let her speak one more second I cannot be held liable for my actions. I take a step towards her and she takes a step back. I'm not a menacing figure at 5'5", about 5'9" in the heels, but I must look that way to her right now from the flash of fear or is that doubt in her eyes?

"First off, your beloved Chris just told me a few hours ago that he's never loved you, that he still loves me," I say to her and let it in sink in before I go on. "Not that I give a shit, but just thought you'd like to know."

"That's a lie," she says quickly.

I can tell by her tone that she knows this to be true. Hell, anyone within a three mile radius can pick up on the vibe that there is something seriously wrong in that relationship.

"Secondly, who the hell do you think you are to tell me where I can and can't go?" I ask her but don't intend to let her answer. "And what kind of person are you that you would trick a guy into staying with you by getting pregnant?" She gasps out loud not expecting me to have known that piece of information. Her eyes are beginning to water, but I don't care, I keep right on going.

"That's right," I say to her and take a step even closer so that we are inches away from each other, "your husband told me all about that one. Bravo, you must be so proud of yourself."

Ten years of pent up hatred finally out of my system. I thought the weight lifted off of me after telling my parents the truth last night was invigorating, but this… this is so much better. In the back of my mind I think that maybe I should have taken it easy on her, but I instantly throw the idea away. Instead, I think of all these years that she has taken away from me. All these years that I've been lying to my parents. All these years that I couldn't come home to face her, or Chris for that matter. They are nothing to me. If anything, I'm mad at myself for having let it get this far. I
am
better than her. God knows, I would never stoop to her level to do any of the things she has done to me, herself, or Chris.