The Space In Between (9 page)

I SAT ON the couch, looking at all
the missed calls on my cell phone from my mom. Seven. It had been awhile since
I’d spoken with her, but I couldn’t listen to her sob on the telephone anymore.
I looked at the number of voicemails on my phone, which was exactly seven, too.
Rolling my eyes I prepared to listen to my mom beg me to come home.

“Hi, Anders, it's your mother. I was just calling to see how
you are doing. I haven't heard from you in a while. I wanted to see if you were
able to make it to Thanksgiving. I know you said you were busy with your
jobs…but…we would really love to have you. We’ve never had a Thanksgiving
without you…”

I placed the collar of my shirt into my mouth and bit down
on it, as if to hold back my tears. “It’s already sad enough that Derrick’s
family won’t be joining us. His mom is pretty lost. But to not have you at the
table…” Her sniffles were heard.
Geez Mom…

“We all miss you. Whenever I say I want to call you at work
your dad refuses to let me. Says it’s not that kind of job. Daddy says he loves
you and is keeping you in his prayers. I love you, too. Call me when you can. And
honey, you should really change your voicemail.”

I closed my cell phone and glanced at the coffee table in
front of me. Ladasha always left her cell phone out for me to use for one
reason and one reason only. As I lifted it, a level of shame washed over me. I
began to dial my cell phone and listened to my voicemail. The moment I heard
Derrick’s voice speak to me through the telephone, my heart skipped a few
beats.

“Hey! You have reached the voicemail of the soon-to-be Mrs.
Andie Stevens. She cannot get to the phone right now, but leave her a message
and she’ll call you back! Bye!”

I ended the call, bit my bottom lip, and dialed again. This
went on as long as I could allow it to until I picked up my cell and texted for
a beverage of sorts.

IT’S AS IF I was slowly breaking
through with Andrea. Each night we met, the closer we grew. Each night we met,
the softer her eyes became. Each night we met, our bodies stayed intertwined
for longer periods before she or I ventured home. We never spoke about the
past, and we never spoke of the future. Hell, that was good enough for me. It
turned out you could learn the most about a person by lying next to them each
night, listening to their breaths, watching what made them grow nervous or
happy or angry.

I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t slowly falling for
Andrea, but I couldn’t let her know. Because I was pretty damn certain she
would run the other way. I would be slow with my actions, slow with my
approaches, and give her the time she needed to find Order. To find me.

Yet today Kyle found the need to drop a huge damn bomb on me
when I showed up to his office. I couldn’t believe what he was telling me. Iris
had lost her mind if she thought she could blackmail me into meeting with her.
“I’m not doing it,” I promised. I wasn’t going to play her nasty games as she
tried to get me back.

“She’s been talking to the press about your dad,” he said,
staring directly at me. He wasn’t focused on one hundred other things like
always, which meant it was serious.

“He wasn’t my dad.”

“Cooper, you know what I mean. Listen, Iris has clearly lost
her fucking mind and is talking about selling the stories. And I mean
all
of
the stories.”

“She’s bullshitting. She wouldn’t do that.” She had to be.
She wasn’t evil; she was just a pregnant, cheating whore.

“Do you really want to take that chance?” Kyle pounded his
fists against one another, his brows lowered. “Hold off on the divorce papers.
Talk to her. Find out what it is she is after exactly. She wants a few pictures
of you two together, happy in front of the paparazzi.”

“That’s crazy.”

“That’s Iris. Just do it, Coop. And one day this will all
blow over.” I wanted to believe him, but the stress filling his eyes told me he
didn’t even believe it. He’d been saying that for weeks now. And nothing had
blown over. If anything, it was getting more complicated.

“ALL PACKED?” MOM asked,
strolling over to me. I was heading off to Wisconsin to spend my third summer
at my cousins and I was finishing off an important project to take with me.

“What’s this?” she questioned, picking up the book I
crafted.

“Nothin’,” I said, trying to grab it back from her. “Mom,
come on, stop.”

Her eyes started to tear up as I gagged at her
overreaction to the book. “Who is she?”

“A friend.” I wanted her to be more though, and I was
hoping the book would help her notice me more. It was filled with pictures I
had taken of Andrea and me over the past two summers. She was the most
beautiful girl I’d ever known and I was prepared to ask her to be mine once my
plane touched down in Wisconsin that evening.

My eyes shifted to my mom and I noticed a fresh batch of
bruises on her wrists. “Mom, what happened?”

She smiled and shook her head, ignoring my question.
“She’ll love it, honey.”

My heart broke whenever I saw my Mom hurt. My voice
cracked as I tossed a marker across the floor. “I don’t see why you stay with
him…He’s an asshole!”

“Cooper Michael! Watch your tongue!”She scolded me. She
wrapped her hands around my face and kissed the top of my head. “You may want
to add a little more ribbon.”

On the plane ride, I sat next to the window, murmuring to
myself, trying to create the perfect words to ask Andrea to be mine. The old
man sitting next to me smiled and nudged my shoulder.

“Let me hear it, son,” he said, and his wife looked over
to me and grinned, nodding in agreement.

I was wary at first, but could use someone’s help. I
cleared my throat and sat up straight. “Andrea. I know we have only known each
other for two summers. But if you think about it, we have only experienced
about ten summers in our lifetime, so two summers together is actually a lot.
And, I think you’re pretty. Like pretty, pretty. So I mean, if you would like
to date me, I would like to date you. And if we held hands, I promise I would
never let go.”

The old lady looked over to me and placed her hands on
top of mine and grinned. “Perfect.”

Perfect. I was ready, I would call her my girlfriend and
I would kiss her cheek if she wanted me to. My heart was in my throat as I
headed over to Andrea’s house with Michelle. Michelle was yapping away as
always, but I couldn’t pay attention. I held the book close to my chest,
excited for what Andrea would say.

It didn’t matter. None of it mattered because by the time
I reached her house, I saw another boy making her laugh. Hugging her. Holding
her hand. I looked to my cousin and asked who he was.

“Derrick Stevens. He moved here in December.”

December. He’d claimed her during the winter all because
I was stupid and waited until the summertime..

LADASHA WALKED INTO the apartment to
find me laid out on the couch and jumped on my legs with her jacket still on.
She smelled the air and looked alarmed. “It doesn’t smell like Derrick today.”
It didn’t. I didn’t spray his cologne into the air—I forgot. I guess I was too
busy thinking about…

…Coop…

There was something about that guy that made me feel as if
someday, I could be happy again. Then I would look to my engagement ring and
hate myself a little bit more.

She didn’t question the smell any longer. Her face was grinning
ear to ear as she looked at me. “I tracked down my mom,” she said effortlessly.
I shot up from my laying position and stared at her, shocked. Ladasha never
spoke of her mom, and as far as I knew she didn’t have a mom.

“What?”

“That’s why I came to New York,” She explained, “To find my
mom. My grandma said she was over this way and after long nights of finding
people who knew her, I found her.”

Why was she not freaking out about this? How was she so
calm? There was so much I wanted to know, so many questions. I couldn’t
understand how any person could walk away from Ladasha and not look back. She
was too special.

“She was strung out. Drunk, high, God knows what else.”
Ladasha’s smiley face faded as she thought on what she’d witnessed. “She didn’t
know me. She didn’t know my name. She didn’t know my age. But she knew my face
and I knew hers.”

Ladasha’s long eyelashes blinked as the tears formed and
were prepared to fall. “And a knot formed in my gut because I am her. That’s
who I am going to be in a few years.”

“That’s not true,” I hissed at her. It wasn’t. Ladasha was a
strong woman. She was a friend. She was a sister to me. And she was nothing
like her mother.

“Isn’t it? Look at me. I’m a fucking stripper, Andrea! With
no family. No one. There’s not a lot I got going for me.”

“You got me,” I said. I wiped her falling tears and reminded
her she wasn’t alone. As long as my heart would beat, she would never be alone.

“Meow.”

I narrowed my eyes and looked at my friend, confused.
“Excuse me?”

“Oh…that wasn’t me.” Ladasha opened her jacket and revealed
a beautiful orange and brown cat resting against her chest. “I found her at my
mom’s. She looked hungry and there was no food over there. So I brought her
home with me.” She paused and looked at me with worried eyes. “That’s all right
isn’t it? I didn’t want her to go hungry…”

I laughed, took the cat into my hands, and listened to her
purr. Ladasha was considerate. She was loving. She was talented, smart, and
compassionate. She was nothing like her mother. I asked the name of the cat,
and she grinned.

“Freckles.”

Welcome home, Freckles.

I glanced at the time on my cell phone next to me and looked
to Ladasha. “So I thought you were working tonight?”

“Roger gave me the night off. Turns out the ass kinda has
feelings.”

Placing Freckles on the ground, I cleared my throat. “Oh
that’s nice.” I checked the time again and bit my bottom lip.

“Why are you acting weird?”

“What? Me? I’m not acting weird. So do you have any plans
tonight?” I quickly asked, and she looked at me as if I had three heads.

There was a knock on the door and Ladasha narrowed her eyes
on me. She turned towards the door and back to me. “You’re not wearing
Derrick’s cologne.” She whispered as she continued to sit on my legs.

“I know, I forgot—”

“No.” She cut me off quickly and sniffed the air around me.
There was another knock on the door, but Ladasha didn’t care. “You’re actually
wearing perfume.”

I laughed and shook my head.

“No. You are. And...you are not wearing Derrick’s sweats.
You’re wearing a dress. A red dress.”
Knock Knock
. I should be answering
the door but Ladasha was still holding my legs down against the couch.

“It’s no big deal,” I said as I tried to get up.
Jesus
Christ, Ladasha is strong.

“You’re wearing your sexy panties, aren’t you?” She mocked
me as my cheeks turned as red as my dress. She shot up, went over to the door,
and opened it. My heart skipped a beat when I saw Cooper standing there, camera
around his neck. Ladasha’s eyes landed on him and the camera before lightly
shoving his shoulder. “What kind of weird shit are you two into?”

I covered my face with a pillow as I erupted into laughter.
I watched as Cooper turned even redder than me and tried to explain how he took
his camera everywhere. Which was true! Ladasha just wasn’t buying it.

“I don’t think we’ve actually met each other. I only
witnessed you leaving my best friend in a sheet.” Ladasha grinned with her
tongue in her cheek. Cooper looked like a young guy who just met his girl’s
parents for the first time. I wanted him so bad when he was sexy and
aggressive, but the timid, shy guy was just as yummy.

“I’m Cooper.” He shook her hand and Ladasha held his grip
for a moment, staring into his eyes.

“I know you, don’t I?”

He grew a bit uncomfortable and I watched as his body
stiffened. “I don’t think so…”

“You’re from that reality show!
The Davidson’s Weddings
,”
she exclaimed as Cooper nodded like his biggest secret had been revealed.

Ladasha let go of his hand, walked into the kitchen, and
grabbed a couple beers. She proceeded to toss one to me and tossed one to
Cooper, who sat his down on the counter. “I hate reality shows. It takes away
from the real actors. I mean, why would I watch some reality bullshit when I
could watch Joseph Gordon-Levitt or Ryan Gosling for two hours? Reality
television is ruining real talent.” She opened her can of beer and sipped at
it. She shifted her eyes to Cooper. “I mean, no offense.”

“None taken. I completely agree with you.” Cooper’s
nervousness began to subside as he got a feel for the type of loud personality
Ladasha held inside of her small frame. I stood up from the couch and looked
over to him, still standing by the door. I mouthed an apology to him for the
sudden change of plans, and he smiled and winked at me.

“You look amazing,” he said as he approached me and
displayed his dimples.

“What? This? I just tossed it on.”

Ladasha grunted loudly at the idea of me just tossing on a
dress, and I shot her a stern look, which silenced her giggles.

“So what about your wife? Are you two not together?” Ladasha
asked. She walked over and made herself comfortable in the chair. I had a
feeling this was going to be a long night. Cooper sat on the couch and I sat
next to him. Ladasha’s question was pretty personal, and I could feel my heart
start beating faster.

“Panda?” I whispered his way.

 He grinned and shrugged. “It doesn’t count if she asks.” He
turned to Ladasha and answered the best way he knew how. “It’s complicated.”

“Complicated? Like Nicholas Sparks complicated?” she
questioned. My gosh. Dasha was on tonight. Question after question.

“I can’t say. I’ve never read his books or seen his movies,”
he confessed. Was I surprised a twenty-five-year-old male hadn’t taken to
reading Nicholas Sparks novels or watching his movies? Not really. But Ladasha
was shocked. Her mouth dropped to the floor and she shot up, disappearing into
her room.

While she was gone, I turned to him and he pulled me into
the curve of his body. I fit perfectly and it felt good to be near him. “I’m
so, so sorry. I thought she would be at work, and she had a really hard day so
I can’t really ask her to leave, and I totally understand if you want to call
Panda and hit it out of here and—” I rambled on and on until my words were
silenced with his kiss.

“I don’t mind.”

Oh my gosh
…I was so glad he didn’t mind. Ladasha
reentered with a collection of movies in her hands. I quickly removed myself
from Cooper’s hold and smiled as my best friend wiggled her way to sit right in
between Cooper and me.

“Okay. We can start easy with it. We’ll start with
A Walk
to Remember
. Then lead into
The Notebook
.”

A double feature night was happening with the three of us.
Cooper wrapped his arm across the back of the couch and chills ran through me
as he lightly caressed my arm without Ladasha noticing. His eyes were glued to
the television. And I couldn’t be certain, but I was pretty sure he was tearing
up during a couple of scenes.

Halfway during
The Notebook
, Freckles entered the
room and walked across the television set. Cooper shrieked as if he had seen a
ghost. “Holy shit! You have a cat!?” he shouted with his green eyes widened.

“We got her today. Isn’t she sweet?” Ladasha grinned as she
picked up our new housemate.

“I—I’m not really a cat person,” he stuttered.

“You’re afraid of cats?” I asked. He cleared his throat and
said no. Ladasha brought Freckles near him and Cooper dramatically went flying
over the back of the couch. “Holy crap,” I giggled. “You’re afraid of cats.”

Cooper frowned. “I had a bad experience once. Remember my
cousin Michelle’s cat? Oscar?”

“Yeah.”

“Remember when it went missing one summer night?”

Yeah. I remembered. Eric, Michelle, and I spent weeks
hanging up flyers in search of that cat.

“Yeah. I kind of took my uncle’s car and drove him to a
different city after he attacked me in the kitchen.”

I cracked up laughing. “Bullcrap.” The look on Cooper’s face
was priceless; he appeared as if Freckles was a lion ready to kill him. He
lifted his shirt and to show Ladasha and me the marks from his fight with Oscar
the feline.

I narrowed my eyes to zoom in on the marks Cooper was
certain were there, but I didn’t see anything. He glanced at his side and
pointed. “Come on, I know you see that!” Higher his shirt went.

Ladasha raised an eyebrow as she looked at Cooper’s abs and
murmured, “Meow.”

Cooper let out a small chuckle and lowered his shirt as he
mumbled to himself. “It must be the lighting in this room.”

Right. The ‘lighting’ is to blame for his invisible scars.
How come I didn’t think of that?

Ladasha’s eyes met with mine and she gave in to a fake yawn
with Freckles in her arms, “I’m so tired. I hope you two don’t mind me dipping
out on the movie…” She winked at me and walked into her room. “It was nice
meeting you, Cooper.”

“You too, Ladasha.” He grinned.

Door slammed. Ladasha was gone.

“Afraid of cats?” I smirked as Cooper came over to me and
sat on the coffee table directly across from me. Whenever he came near me, I
could feel my insides become twisted. He made me so nervous in the best
possible ways.

“You don’t understand. Oscar liked you. You were pretty.”

“
Were
pretty? Past tense?”

He leaned in and took my hands into his. He kissed my palms.
“You know what I mean.”

I shook my head and stood up. “I’m going to go take a shower
and head to bed. Sorry this night fell apart.” Walking to the bathroom, I could
feel his eyes glued to my body. I knew he thought I was more than pretty.

When I peeked back at him, I could see him running his hands
over his face. “All right well, I’ll talk to you later.” He walked to the front
door and opened it, but quickly closed it once he heard me whisper.

“Join me.”