Come with Me (Let It Be Me #2) (21 page)

He turned on the television and they watched some Comedy Central. Ben was paying more attention to Liz than to the show. He listened to her. When she felt her shake lightly to one joke, Ben instantly relaxed. She was okay. Maybe she was just really hungry.

The food arrived shortly, and Ben stood up to get his wallet.  

“You better eat,” Ben said, bringing the stack of sushi trays he got from the delivery boy to the coffee table. Liz sat up. 

“I’ll just get us some drinks,” Ben said. “What do you want? Beer? Soda?”

“I’m fine with water,” Liz said, “Thanks.”

Ben went to her refrigerator and pulled out a chilled plastic jug of water and a couple of glasses for them; he brought them back to the living area.

“Here you go,” he said, pouring water on each glass.

Sitting back down on the couch, Ben passed Liz her tray of assorted sushi. With his own tray and pair of chopsticks, he sat back on the couch and rested his legs on the coffee table. Liz followed suit.

They enjoyed some standup comedy acts while they devoured their sushi. 

Life was good. 

Chapter 27

Liz

Liz opened her apartment door and found Brian on the other side. 

“Hey girl!” Brian greeted, raising a bottle of vodka on one hand and a soda bottle on the other.

Seeing her friend again after several weeks now, Liz burst into tears. 

“Hey, hey, what’s wrong?” Brian asked, stepping into her apartment and encasing her in a hug. 

“I missed you,” Liz said into his shirt, between sobs, glad to be with her friend.

“I’m sorry about that; Dave and I had to work things out since his accident,” Brian said. Liz hasn’t seen him since that night Dave overdosed, but they’ve spoken over the phone a few times since then.

Liz continued to sob. Her emotions for the past few days have been all twisted. After finding out Ben had dinner that evening, she asked Brian and Emily to come over. Good thing they were available.

“Something else is bothering you, Liz, what’s going on?” 

Just then they heard the buzzer.

“That must be Em,” Brian said, releasing Liz to press the button to unlock the downstairs door for Emily, and left Liz’s apartment door ajar.

Liz felt immobile as Brian released her.

Brian quickly placed the bottle on her console table then turned back to Liz. 

“What is it, hun?” Brian asked, peering at her. “Is it Jack? Or is it your boss?”

A new wave of tears came as she thought of Ben. 

“Oh Liz,” Brian said, enclosing Liz in another hug.

Liz held on to him, trying to collect her thoughts; she didn’t know where to start. 

She and Brian were still in an embrace when Emily walked in.

“What’s going on?” Liz heard Emily ask with concern. 

“Let’s sit,” Brian said, guiding Liz to the couch. 

“Sorry guys,” Liz said. “A lot has just been happening for the past weeks and I just miss you.” Liz has never been much of a crier – her friends knew that – so Emily and Brian must have been quite shocked to see her that way.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around, Liz,” Emily said. 

“Don’t worry about it. I’m really happy for you,” Liz said. Philip and Emily have been seeing a lot of each other. Liz hasn’t seen Philip lately because he had to shift his volunteer schedule because of his class and tutoring schedule.

The three of them sat on the couch, with Liz flanked by her two friends. Emily took her hand, and Liz squeezed it with thanks.

“Is it Jack?” Brian asked.

Liz slowly shook her head.

“So it’s your boss,” Brian deduced. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to follow up after that night.”

“Don’t apologize,” Liz said. “Dave needed you more.”

“Wait what happened?” Emily asked. She knew about Dave, but Liz hadn’t had the chance to fill her about Ben driving her and Brian home.

Brian gave Emily a summary of what role Ben played in that night.

“Now I don’t know what happened after they dropped me off,” Brian said, finishing his story.

Liz felt Emily and Brian’s eyes on her, as they waited for her to speak.

“I spoke to him, as I promised you Bri,” Liz started, trembling a bit. “I thought that was it, but he chased after me and said he had feelings for me too, and we would work it out. And I believed him. But now I don’t know if it’s a mistake that I did.”

“What do you mean?” Emily asked.

“We’ve been seeing each other for weeks now, but he hasn’t told Alex and Kayla about it,” Liz said. 

“But you haven’t told us about it till now too,” Brian said, trying to think rationally.

“I wish that’s just it,” Liz said, “But I couldn’t help but hear him speak to Alex on the phone yesterday and he lied where he was. He was here with me, but he told Alex he was in the gym. And he’s now having dinner with Alex and Kayla. He texted me this morning that he will drop by here after his dinner, sine he’s flying to Michigan tomorrow with Alex to check some location for their movie. When he told me that, I felt like a mistress, a booty call. I get this sick feeling that we aren’t going anywhere.”

Voicing out her fears, Liz started crying again.

Emily spoke up after a while. “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?”

Liz sobbed as she nodded. She couldn’t deny it to her friends.

“Oh Liz,” Emily said, hugging her. 

Brian stood up. “Let’s eat and drink while we figure out what you should do, Liz.”

Brian gathered on a tray glasses, a bucket of ice, the vodka bottle and the soda bottle. Placing them on the coffee table, he left again to fetch the food Emily brought.     

Eyeing the vodka bottle, Liz put some in ice in a glass and poured some of the clear liquid on it. She drank it without adding soda.

“Liz! You haven’t even eaten!” Emily scolded.

Liz shrugged. The warm liquid that scorched her throat was already a good distraction from her thoughts and feelings. 

Brian came back with the boxes of Chinese takeout Emily brought. 

“Go eat something,” Brian said, handing Liz a box of chow mein and a pair of chopsticks.

Liz took it, but just poked the noodles with the sticks.

Emily and Brian took their own boxes and they started eating.

“Here are my two cents,” Emily chirped in, after chewing on her food. “I haven’t met Ben so I don’t know if he’s a jerk or what.”

“He seems to be a pretty nice guy,” Brian interjected.

Emily nodded. “He was wrong to have lied to Alex about where he was, but you can’t really expect him to break the news over the phone. Now about him not including you to his dinner with Alex and Kayla, that’s something else. It seems like the two of you were procrastinating about announcing to the world you’re together. It took you more than a month to tell us – not that I’m holding that against you. Maybe the two of you just got used to having your own little world. It just so happens you realized your feelings for him, making you want more from the relationship.”

Emily’s words made sense but were still difficult to hear. Liz reached for her glass to drink some more. 

“The two of you just need to sit down and talk about it,” Brian added. “You already did a great job talking to him the first time. Talk to him again and ask him pointblank if he sees a future for the two of you or this is just a fling for him.”

Liz flinched with Brian’s frank words. She could always rely on Brian to be direct to the point, but the thought of her and Ben not being on the same page hurt. 

Liz was already feeling a bit fuzzy, but she took the bottle and poured again on the glass.

“Hey take it easy, Liz,” Emily said, reaching for Liz’s arm, but Liz was quick and had already drank a mouthful.

“Drink some soda,” Emily ordered.

Liz just grabbed her takeout box and raised it to take a small bite, to try to appease Emily. She was already feeling dizzy though. She hunched back to the couch and picked on the noodles in the box.

Emily poised a shrimp with her chopsticks in front of Liz’s mouth. 

“Eat.”

Liz obediently opened her mouth and allowed Emily to feed her. Chewing on it, she knew she was acting childish, but she was thinking she was entitled to it at least for the night.

“Can you guys talk ab-bout yourselves first?” Liz said, fumbling her words a bit. “H-how’s Dave, Bri?”

Brian studied Liz for a while before answering. “He’s actually doing good. The incident was a wakeup call for him. He was a bit traumatized for a while – didn’t want to go out. He was all cranky and we fought a lot, but now he’s almost back to normal.”

“That’s good to hear, Bri,” Emily said.

Brian poured alcohol on his glass, and Liz sprung forward to reach for her glass. The sudden movement momentarily made Liz feel lightheaded, but she managed to get her glass.

“Let’s celebrate Dave’s r-recovery,” she said. “And to Brian and Dave for getting past this hurdle together.”

Liz reached for Emily’s glass for Brian to pour. Brian and Emily added soda to their glasses.   

“Come on, I haven’t seen you guys for forever!” Liz exclaimed.

Emily took it, and the three of them clinked their glasses before drinking. Liz emptied her glass minus the ice.

“You shouldn’t take any more, Liz,” Emily demanded.

“Pfft,” Liz muttered, waving her hand. “Let’s hear about you and Philip then.” She leaned back and held on to Emily’s arm, and peered up at her friend.

Even if Liz knew Emily was trying to act responsibly for Liz’s benefit, Emily automatically blushed with the mention of Philip’s name. 

“We’re good,” she said.

Liz looked at Brian and he was also looking at Emily expectantly. 

“Well, that’s all you have to say?” Brian asked.

Liz watched Emily, knowing Emily was thinking. Emily looked at Liz, and Liz spotted a sign of guilt.

“Hey, don’t worry about me,” Liz said. “I wanna hear about you. You know I’m happy for you. Really. Philip is a great guy.”

“He is,” Emily agreed. 

“So?” Liz prodded. She bent her head forward when she felt woozy. The vodka was starting to get to her. She closed her eyes shortly to get her bearings.

“Oh he’s amazing, Liz,” Emily gushed. “He’s intelligent, kind, generous. He takes care of me.”

Liz nodded her head once. She knew she told Emily not to mind her, but hearing Emily describe Philip reminded Liz of the things she loved about Ben.

Love. 

She felt like crying, but she promised Emily she was fine. Liz also knew that for the few times she got drunk, she ended up crying more than the usual. 

“That’s great, Em,” Liz managed to say. She meant it. 

But it was still difficult to be totally happy for her friends when she was feeling so down. 

Just then Liz heard her phone ringing. She remembered she left it on the dining table. She sat up quickly and ignored the fuzzy surroundings, as she forced herself to stand up. She wobbled as she did. Both Brian and Emily stood up beside her to hold on to her.

“Slow down, Liz,” Brian said. “I’ll get your phone for you.”

Emily guided Liz to sit back down while Brian fetched for her phone. By the time he handed her the phone, it has stopped ringing. Liz looked at her phone to see there was a missed call from Ben. She felt a mixture of disappointment and relief.

She also saw on her phone that it was past ten o’ clock. Ben’s dinner with Alex and Kayla might be over or was about to end soon.

The reminder that Ben lied to Alex brought a new wave of sadness to Liz.

She felt the tears spilling down her cheeks.

“You don’t have to face him if you aren’t ready yet, Liz,” Emily said, draping her arm over Liz’s shoulders and leaned her head against Liz’s.

“But h-he’s leaving t-tomorrow,” Liz mumbled. 

“Leaving?” Brian asked.

“H-he and Alex are ch-checking some location for their movie. He’ll be gone for a week,” Liz slurred. The room was starting to spin and Liz bent to rest her head on Emily’s shoulder.

Her phone started to ring again, and Liz couldn’t resist answering it.

“Hi,” she said softly.

“Liz, were you sleeping?” Ben asked.

Hearing Ben’s voice made her sad. She was unable to hold her sniff.

“Liz? Are you okay?” he asked. Liz felt the worry in his voice.

Liz was unable to answer. 

“Liz, you’re starting to scare me.”

“I’m j-just not feeling well,” Liz said, chickening out.

“I’ll go over.”

“You don’t have to. Emily and Brian are here.”

He was quiet for several beats. “Liz. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She started crying. Her brain was spinning. “I don’t want to be your fuck buddy anymore,” she sputtered out. She saw Brian and Emily look at her in shock.

“Liz, no.” 

“Goodbye,” Liz said, then quickly ended the call. She deliberated turning off her phone, but she was a glutton for punishment.

She cried into Emily’s shoulder.

“Maybe it’s good he’s leaving for a few days,” Emily said after a while. “Maybe you both need to take time out from what you have going on, so you both can think clearly about what you want.”

“Emily’s right,” Brian concurred.

“I’ll sleep here tonight,” Emily said.

“It’s okay, I’m fine,” Liz said, breathing deeply, to try to stop herself from crying. Her head was still swimming from the amount of vodka she took.

“The hell you’re not,” Emily said.

Liz suddenly felt groggy, closing her eyes. 

Chapter 28

Ben

“You look like shit,” was the first thing Alex said the following morning. 

Well Ben felt like shit. He didn’t bother responding to Alex as he secured his seatbelt at the passenger’s seat of Alex’s Lincoln.

It was seven in the morning and Alex and Kayla picked Ben up from his apartment for their Michigan trip. 

“Hey, what’s up, man?” Alex asked from the backseat. 

“Don’t want to talk about it now,” Ben mumbled.

Thankfully, Alex did back out. Kayla just kept quiet.

He closed his eyes and leaned back as Alex’s driver Roy started driving to the airport. The events from last night started replaying in his mind as he tried to piece everything together.