Finding Solace (26 page)

 
We went back
to Colt’s apartment and it felt so strange to be there. He still had all the
locks and now there was a lock on the closet door. What has he gotten himself
into? I sat down on the couch that held so many memories for me. He sat on the
other end. I knew we had a lot to talk about. But I had to ask one question
before we got into all that.

 
"Did
you ever tell Mike about Liz and the baby?"

 
"Yeah,
the next day he called me. I met him for lunch and told him. At first he was
denying ever having been with her. Then he said there was one time but he swore
he wore a condom."

 
"So he
thinks she is lying?"

 
"Absolutely."

 
"How
can he find out?"

 
"Wait
until the baby’s born and have a paternity test done."

 
"How
can he stand the wait? I would be going nuts."

 
"He
really believes she is crazy. So with that frame of mind, he probably doesn't
think much about it at all."

 
"Wow"

 
"So
Sadie, we need to talk. Seriously talk. Not let our emotions take control, have
incredible sex and forget the conversation kind of talk, but a real one."

 
"Then
let’s talk." I knew that was cheating, but I didn’t want to be the one to
start. I laid it all out there in the alley an hour ago.

 
"First
I need you to know I hated this last month. Hate isn't really even a strong
enough word to use. It hurt, would be better. I will never tell you a lie when
it comes to us. I care about
you,
I truly do, but not
enough to not live the life I feel I need. I made myself a promise on what I
would do with the two years I got back from life, and I want to live them.
Having the opportunity to come back to college is like getting my junior and
senior year back. I know making mistakes is part of living, so are experiences,
and regret. I have experienced so much with you already, and I want more of
them. I hope there aren’t many mistakes and I pray there is no regret, but who
knows what will happen. Seeing you come in that gym tonight and finding out
why, it meant everything to me. I can't promise you a pot of gold at the end of
this rainbow, Sadie, but the rainbow is just as beautiful all the same."

 
"I
couldn't have said any of that better
myself
. I don't
know how I am going to feel six months from now, but I know I want now
back."

 
"Thank
God! I was so scared you were going to decide you couldn't do this after
all."

 
"I told
you earlier and I meant every word. I can handle this. Now can we consider this
done so we can move on to the incredible sex you were talking about earlier? It
has been a month."

 
"You
don't have to ask me twice. But Sadie, don't grade me on my first performance.
It has been a month for me too,
ya
know?" What?
Really?
He hasn't been with anyone else? Wow!

 
"Fine,
but round two better
measure
up or we need to have
this whole discussion again." I got up and he slapped my ass, following me
into his bedroom. It was even a great round one that night.

CHAPTER
27

 
Work
went back to being enjoyable. I went back to being enjoyable. All my friends
seemed to appreciate my change in attitude as well. Tonight we were going to go
to dinner with Shawn and Ashlee and then meet up with Dave, Jason, Heather and
Angie at ‘51’. How it fell into a couple’s thing, is beyond me. Well
truthfully, Bryan, Mike and Tony were either working or had other plans. Colt
was going to pick me up but called and said practice was running late so he had
to just shower there and would meet me at the restaurant. That allowed me to
get in one more
client
and then I could leave straight
from work. Shawn and Ashlee were already at the fondue place called The Melting
Dish when I got there. I went ahead and sat down with them versus waiting in
the parking lot for Colt. Ashlee and I had never had fondue and Shawn thought
that was crazy because he loved it so much. We went ahead and ordered drinks.
Thirty minutes later Colt still wasn’t there. I had texted him several times
and each time he responded immediately with “I’m almost there."

 
Because it
worked the way it did, Shawn went ahead and ordered. If that’s what you call
it. You cook your own food! And it is expensive! How can cooking your own food
be fun? Colt finally showed, but I was mad and drunk by then. He missed the
appetizers and got there just in time for the meat. He kissed me and told me he
was so sorry and that he had got stuck in traffic. I didn't want the whole
evening to be ruined so I gave in.

 
Strangely
enough they give you a time per meat type menu. Angie and I apparently can’t
tell time because we burnt ours. The guys thought that was hilarious, so we
made them cook ours for us. It ended up being good. The cheese part was
fantastic. The time came for the chocolate and I was so excited. Strawberries,
rice crispy treats, you name it, and I dipped it. Colt kept dropping his and
Shawn, Angie and I couldn't stop laughing. He began to pout so I gave in and
did his for him. In the end, it did make for a fun night. Then it was time for
some ‘51’! I loved this bar. Drinking for free did not hurt either. When we
hooked up with the gang, Megan and Jeff were there too. The owners brought in
another assistant manager, which opened up time for both Shawn and Colt to have
a life outside of work a little easier. Mike was even there. I walked over to
him and gave him a hug.

 
"I
thought you weren't going to make it tonight. I'm glad you did."

 
"
Me
too, how was dinner?"

 
"Weird, but good.
Have you tried it?"

 
"No.
I've heard you have to cook your own food. Who wants to do that and pay for
it?"

 
"My
sentiments exactly, you and I are too much alike."

 
"Great
minds think alike, little one."

 
"I
completely agree with that statement, so I guess I belong in that group,"
Colt added. I didn't even know he had come up behind me.

 
"You’re
a dork."

 
"And I
agree with that statement," said Mike.

 
"Now
you’re both dorks.” I walked away from both of them and over to Heather. She
and Megan were talking about Megan getting engaged. I normally think getting
married is for crazy people but she and Jeff are a little older than us. It
works for them. What wasn’t working for me was Heather, my girl, talking about
her and Jason getting married someday. There is no way. We are twenty one years
old, not twenty five. Way too young to even be thinking about that. I decided I
needed to change the subject.

 
"Hey ladies, anybody up for drinks and dancing?
I miss
my girls." Heather looked sympathetic, which is exactly the reaction I was
looking for.

 
"Sadie,
you lead the way."

 
Way too many
shots later, Ashlee, Heather and I were trashed. Megan had bailed long before
then. Lemon drops were lined up and I wanted them served the way you shoot
tequila, not mixed. Heather said she would puke if I made her do any more
shots. I risked her puking. On the count of three, we slammed the vodka then
sucked the lemon. The guys slowed down, seeing as we were getting out of
control. "Clarity" by Zed started playing and I lost it. I pulled
both of the girls on the bar and we danced like mad women. This was another
song I could devote to Colt.
The lyrics, “
If our love is tragedy why are you my remedy
" sounds so
fitting in my head.
I closed my eyes to take in the music and just let
my body move. It moved itself right off the bar. Yep, I fell off the bar!
‘Clunk’ went my head against a chair. Everyone ran over to see if I was okay.
Colt picked me up and held me like a baby.

 
"Sadie,
honey,
are
you okay?"

 
"Colt,
put me down. Is it not enough that I just fell off of the damn bar, but
everyone is still staring at me because you’re cradling me like an infant?”

 
"Well,
now that I know you’re alright, I can tell you how much that reminded me of the
first time I met you. You tripped then, too. You are not the most gracious
drunk, you know?"

 
"Oh, I
know. But I am the most fun."

 
I jumped out
of his arms and got back up on the bar. Ashlee was pouring a shot down Shawn’s
throat. Heather was trying to do the snake. I busted up laughing. Thank God, we
know management or we would have been kicked out a long time ago. I noticed
some commotion going on in the back corner of the bar. Then I saw it was Mike.
I got down, grabbed Colt and drug him with me to the back where I saw them.
There Mike was trying to walk away from a very pregnant Liz. It wasn’t hard to miss
her say, "You stupid son of a bitch. I hate you."

 
"If you
hate me, then why would you want to make up the fact that it’s mine? That would
mean
your
lucky ass gets me in your life forever.
That doesn't make much sense to me."

 
"Two
months, Mike. You have that long to wise up. "

 
"I
won't hold my breath."

 
I kept
looking back and forth trying to follow their conversation but my head was
feeling dizzy. It was like a tennis match. She called him every name you can
think of and told him she was going to take every dime he made from the fights
for the rest of his life. Mike tried to stay calm, but he was losing it when
she started hitting him. I wanted to stop her, but what could I do? I stayed
back and just observed the train wreck, until she threw a drink in his face.
Hell no, she didn't. I walked over and slapped her. I can’t believe I did it.
She looked at me like I just committed the biggest sin. I think I might have. I
just slapped a pregnant girl. It all happened so fast. She lunged for me. I
raised my hand to slap her again, while Colt grabbed me and picked me up. He
carried me away and set me down when he knew I wasn't going anywhere.

 
"What
was that, Rocky?"

 
"Rocky?
Colt, what did I just do? I struck a pregnant girl. I'm going to hell."

 
"Sadie,
you hit a bitch, pregnant or not. You didn't threaten the baby in anyway and
she threw a damn drink in Mike's face."

 
"That's
right, she did. What a bitch."

 
"Let’s
go get you another drink, Rocky."

 
"You’re
not really going to keep calling me that, are you?"

 
"Sadie,
hold up!" Mike was calling me from behind. When he caught up, he said,
"Thank you. One of the shittiest parts of being a
dude,
is that you can't hit a woman. That girl has deserved to be bitch slapped for
months. You are the best."

 
"You’re
welcome."

 
We walked
back over to the group and everyone was talking about the pregnant girl in the
bar. No one had a clue until Colt piped up and said, "You mean the one
Sadie slapped?" Great, I am forever going to be known as the girl who hits
pregnant people. What is wrong with me?

 
It was that
time again. Birthday time! Heather and I chose to celebrate them together this
year, being we are only a couple weeks apart. There was a place in town that
has demolition ball. It was the coolest thing. You ride in bumper cars with
lacrosse sticks, shooting at basketball hoops. So in other words, it is like a
basketball game while you drive and use a small ball with hooked sticks. Not
sound fun to you? Then you’re nuts. The place even has a full bar. We rented it
for the night and all of our friends were going to be there.

 
Heather and
I were finishing up getting ready when she dropped a bomb on me. "I think
Jason might propose tonight!" What? I heard about the ring in the
beginning, but for it really to be happening, this couldn’t be real.

 
"Wow,
really? That is great!"

 
"I know,
right? He's been acting weird lately and I just have a feeling tonight might be
the night."

 
I didn’t
want to crush her spirits but if my boyfriend proposed at demolition ball I
would be devastated.

 
"This
could be a huge night for you, Heather! I can't wait to see what happens."

 
"I
won't let it take away from the fact it’s your birthday too. I promise."