Seasons (18 page)

Okay, calm down, I think to myself. You have no proof of anything. I’m in my own head when the judge concludes the case by slamming his gavel. Thankfully, Aden was found not to be the one at fault after the testimonies were all heard. He smiles back at me, and I force a fake smile on my face and give him a thumbs up.

I meet him outside the courtroom, and he hugs me excitedly. I congratulate him and tell him I have to go so I can make my last class. I think Aden can sense my aversion to him because he gives me a strange look as I say goodbye quickly. I try to cover the hurt and confusion from showing on my face, but I can’t get away from him fast enough. I need to be away from him so I can think clearly.

*   *   *

The rest of the week, I throw myself headfirst into my schoolwork, so that I don’t have to face what is going on with Aden. We text like normal all week and I let him know I’m going to my mom’s for the weekend.

Mom and Hank asked me to come stay with Brody for the weekend so they can go on a mini getaway. I agreed, simply because I could use the weekend to decompress. Trevor has been relentless asking me about Aden, and I have been avoiding discussing him. I don’t want to tell Trevor. I know he will make me confront Aden. I’m not even sure I want to confront him. I need to sort through my feelings, and I have just the place in mind to do that.

I lug my stuff up the porch steps and walk into the house. Mom comes down the hall when she hears the weather door slam behind me. Brody comes scampering down the hall behind her.

“Hi, baby! I was just finishing packing a few things.”

“Hey, Mom. Where is Hank?” I ask as I bend down to pet Brody so he will stop jumping on me. “Hey, boy,” I say patting his head.

“He should be here any minute.”

“Gosh, Brody has gotten so big. He’s barely even a puppy anymore.”

“Yeah, they grow up fast,” Mom says as she looks at me all sappy eyed. “Let me show you all you need to know for Brody before Hank gets here.” Mom shows me where the food is and how much to give Brody.

A few minutes later, Hank pulls up. We chat about where they are going. I find out they’re staying at a bed and breakfast on the water. I wave them off a little while later with Brody at my feet.

Once they disappear down the driveway, I lean down and pat Brody’s head. “Well, it’s just you and me. What should we do? How do you feel about Lifetime Movies?” He yelps. “Good, let’s go.” I walk back inside, make some snacks, and snuggle in on the couch with the remote and Brody. I share some of my food with Brody. Poor guy only gets crunchy doggy kibble. A little treat can’t hurt him.

I fall asleep on the couch with Brody cuddled up at my feet. When I wake up, it’s dark out and Brody is no longer at my feet. I get up and turn the lamp on the end table. As my brain begins to come out of the fog from my nap, something snaps me awake immediately! A smell.

“What the hell is that smell? Brody?” I call out. “Brody, where are you, boy?” I get to the hallway and find a huge pile of dog crap. Shit! “Brody!” I’m now shouting. “Where are you? So much for my relaxing weekend. And now I’m talking to myself.” I search the house frantically for Brody and find him passed out by the front door in a pile of pillow stuffing. Double crap! I go back to the kitchen, stepping over the poop as I go grab the supplies I’ll need to clean up the hallway and foyer. I should have grabbed a gasmask, because as I’m cleaning up the present Brody left me, I’m gagging and dry heaving trying not to puke.
I’m going to kill that dog!
The only saving grace is that the hall has wood floors instead of carpet. I finally get it all cleaned up and light some candles after spraying an entire bottle of air freshener around the house to mask the poop stench in the air.

Meanwhile, Brody is still knocked out having doggy dreams in a mound of a whole bunch of pillow fluff. I clean up the remnants of the pillow he destroyed and then take him outside into the yard to go potty while I bag the remains of the dead pillow.

I fall asleep with Brody in bed with me and wake up startled every time he moves during the night afraid of a repeat of earlier.

The next day, I take him to the Commons to run and play catch. It’s a cool day, and I wrap my sweater tightly around me as I throw a tennis ball for Brody. He brings it back but keeps on running right past me. When I turn around, I see him giving the ball to Austin. “I was just coming over to say hi. How are you, Brynn. It’s been a while!” he says with his trademark cocky, panty-dropping smile.

“Hey, Austin!” For some reason, I find myself actually excited to see him. It feels comforting to see an old friend, or
friendish
type person. “How have you been?” I say accepting the quick hug he gives me.

“I’ve been good. Just home visiting the parental units for the weekend. I figured I would come to the commons for a few. I’m glad I ran into you. You’re looking good as ever. What are you up to? You’re at USM now, right?”

“Yeah, I’m finishing up my Gen Ed courses this year. I’m home this weekend watching this guy,” I gesture to Brody, “while my mom is out of town.”

“Oh, your mom is out of town? It’s too bad the crew is away at school or we could have thrown a party at your house this weekend.”

I laugh. “Not a chance!”

“Hey, do you still talk to Melanie?” he asks shy all of a sudden.

“We try to text and call as often as we can, but we’re both so busy with school. She’ll be home for winter break though. You should give her a call. Last I knew she was single.” I nudge his shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks. Maybe I will.” He perks up.

We chat for a few minutes about school and what each of us is planning to major in. Austin throws the ball for Brody a few times and then I hug him goodbye. It’s so strange how this goofball jock is now a source of comfort. Who would’ve thought?

Brody and I walk home and stop when we come to the cluster of pine trees. I haven’t been to my spot since the day Charlie broke my heart there. Feeling nostalgic, I dip between the trees and tie Brody to one of them. I hop up on my boulder and watch the stream. It doesn’t hurt as much as I thought it would to come here. I still miss Charlie. I miss what we had, and I fear that I always will. It’s different now though. I’m finally able to remember the good times we shared and smile about it rather than just remembering the abrupt end.

I don’t know what I’m going to do about Aden. I love him, but I don’t think that we have a long-term future and strangely, I’m okay with that. After an hour or so of sitting and watching the stream thinking, I get up and brush off my bottom feeling as though I may have it figured out. This is the only place I have ever been able to just turn off the noise of the world and think things through all the way. I have missed this place.

*   *   *

Mom and Hank come back a few hours later and Mom is absolutely glowing. “Good weekend?” I ask.

“You could say that,” she says nervously.

“What’s going on, Mom? You’re acting weird.”

She looks over at Hank and then back to me. “Brynn, Hank proposed last night…and I said yes!” she squeals.

I jump up and hug her. “Congratulations!” I scream and then turn to hug Hank, too. “Oh, my God! This is so exciting!” I’m so incredibly happy for them. My mom deserves a wonderful man to take care of her and now she has just that.

Mom calls to tell Brett, and then the three of us grab a celebration dinner together before I drive back to school.

Aden and I hangout a few times over the next couple of weeks, but something is different. I decided not to confront him. It felt somewhat pointless to fight for something when I think we both just know it’s over. This relationship has somehow been the opposite of Charlie and me. Instead of turning from friends to lovers, Aden and I have fizzled from hot crazy passion to being friends. We never broke up. Instead, we just seem to have this mutual understanding that we’re just friends now who occasionally get carried away and have sex. It works out perfectly for me to be able to study and work, and then have someone I can call to take care of my
needs
.

I would never cheapen what we had and say it wasn’t love just because we didn’t have some huge dramatic ending. I believe we loved each other. I also believe in the saying ‘timing is everything.’ Aden wasn’t mature enough to love just one woman yet. I, on the other hand, needed someone to remind me of what passion felt like. Aden brought my broken heart back to life. He made it beat again. Not every love lasts forever. Some love affairs are just a hot flash in the pan, but if you are lucky, you come out of it with a friend.

“I know I am but summer to your heart, and not the full four seasons of the year.”

~Edina St. Vincent Millay

Fall

The summer of my sophomore year, Mom and Hank were married in a casual ceremony in our yard. There was a barbeque with close friends and family after it. I have never seen Mom so happy in all my life. I don’t think she stopped smiling once that entire day. The look on Hank’s face when Mom walked down the aisle was so peaceful and adoring. I knew at that moment watching him that I didn’t have to worry about Mom anymore. She finally found her happily ever after.

Mom wasn’t the only one to find her happy ending that summer. Trevor is two years older than I am and he graduated that year. For months, he thought that Adam was cheating on him because he had been acting strange. It turned out that Adam was planning a proposal and was just nervous. Around the time of Trevor’s graduation, he came bounding into the store for work. He grabbed me, picked me up, and spun me around.

“Well, hello to you, too!” I giggle.

“I’m getting married!” he says as he puts me back down on the ground.

“I’m sorry,” I look at him incredulously. “You’re what now?”

“Adam proposed! He isn’t seeing someone else! He was nervous about asking me to marry him! He wants me to move back to New York with him.”

I was smiling brightly at him, but then my face falls at the last part. “You’re leaving Maine?” I ask in a whisper.

“Well, we can get married there and New York recognizes same-sex couples. He always planned to go back to New York after he graduated, and I didn’t really have any plans. I can transfer to a store there until I can find a job in my field now that I have my degree,” he rambles off excitedly.

I’m happy for them, but a part of me is heartbroken at the same time. I don’t want to lose another friend to New York. I force a smile and wrap him in a hug so he can’t see the sadness on my face. “Congratulations, Trevor! You know I love you both, and I’m so happy for you guys!”

“New York isn’t that far, B. You can come visit,” he says reading my mind. “We’re looking into buying a condo so there will be an extra room for you anytime you want to visit!”

I turn to him as I put my hands on both of his shoulders, and sigh. “Trevor, I love you. I’m seriously so happy for you two. And I will totally support the move as long as I’m invited to the wedding.”

“You’re kidding, right? You’re my skank of honor!”

“Well, if that’s the case, let’s get this planning underway!” I’m sad Trevor will be further away, but it’s pretty exciting he’s going to a big city and getting married.

“Calm down, nothing huge. Just family and close friends.”

“Boo, hiss! It’s okay, I’ll do the planning with Adam,” I tease.

“Yeah, yeah.” He laughs.

*   *   *

By the end of summer, Trevor and Adam bought a flat in Manhattan and moved to New York. First semester of junior year was flying by. I loaded up on the max amount of courses so that I could finish my undergrad in less than four years. I kept my part-time job at the clothing store for a while. The district manager offered me Trevor’s job, but with school, I just couldn’t do a full-time gig. The new manager hired to replace Trevor when I turned down the job was a total sleaze. He was old enough to be my father, but that didn’t stop him from hitting on me or
accidentally
brushing up against me constantly. So, after about a month, I searched and found a new job.

When I had started at the clothing store, I was only nineteen. Having just turned twenty-one, I could now work at one of the local bars. I didn’t know the first thing about tending bar so I took a job I was offered as a cocktail waitress. They said they would train me on the floor, and if I did well, they would train me for the bar, too. A month later, I was doing double duty between cocktail waitressing and bartending.

Working at the bar, I met many new and interesting people. I worked the night shifts since I had school during the day. It was a small place. There were usually one or two bartenders and a server or two at night. There was also a bouncer on duty every night. It was usually a beefy dude named Eddy.

I come into work and set up as usual. I run to the back to a storage closet for bar towels and when I return, I notice Eddy talking to another guy in a bar t-shirt. The guy that he’s talking to has his back to me, but I can see he is bald and very tall with tattoos covering both of his massive arms.

I nudge Jenny, the other bartender I was working with that night. “Hey, who is Eddy talking to?”

“Oh, that’s the new guy, Mitch. Eddy was switched to graveyard at his fulltime job. He’s training Mitch before he leaves,” she responds before taking the towels out of my hand to fold.

I know those tattoos. I feel like I have seen him somewhere before. I go to the side station and cut up the fruit I’ll need for the night and fill the beverage napkins. I’m carrying a case of beer to a cooler to stock when I hear a husky voice behind me. “Here, let me get that for you.” Two huge tattooed arms reach over and take the case of beer out of my arms. I look up into familiar green eyes. Mitch smiles at me and then carries the beer to the cooler.

I follow him and help put the beer in the cooler. “Thanks, you didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s part of the job description. Besides, it’s slow right now, and I feel silly just standing at the front with Eddy.” He finishes putting the last beer in the cooler and then looks in my eyes. “I’m Mitch, by the way.” He offers a hand to shake.

“Brynn.” I smile taking his hand, only he doesn’t shake my hand, but raises it to his lips and kisses the back of it. For some reason, this makes me blush. Mitch is tall and sexy. He looks mean with his bald head and tattoos, but he has the most amazing green eyes, and when he talks, his voice is smooth as velvet.

“I remember you. From the clothing store.”

“Right, I thought you looked familiar.”

“Are you still working over there?” he asks, leaning back against the bar top and crossing his arms.

“Nope, new management wasn’t the greatest,” I shrug, “so here I am.”

A slow smile spreads across his face lighting it up from ear to ear. I think I actually melt into a swooning puddle of girl-goo on the floor. “Lucky for me.”

I snap back to my sassy self. “Oh, yeah? Why is that?”

“Because now I get to spend evenings at my new part time job with a great view.” He winks before uncrossing his arms and walking back out from behind the bar. I watch him go noticing he has a perfect ass!

“Hun, can I get a bottle of lite?” I’m brought back to reality when Leah, one of the cocktail waitresses, orders a beer from the service bar.

“Yeah, coming right up.” I go back to work smiling the entire night.

All night, I keep getting the feeling that someone is watching me and looking up to catch Mitch just before he looks away. A few times, he would make a goofy face at me instead of just pretending he wasn’t looking. Once, while he was stocking beer for us, he even snapped my rear end with a bar towel when I walked by him, which I’ll have to remember to get him back for. I’m not really sure what to make of him. He seems sweet, but he’s massive and just a whole lot of man. Clearly, he also has a goofy side.

It’s just Jen, Eddy, Mitch, and me when the bar closes. The boys stock all the beer and put up all the chairs while Jen and me finish cleaning and counting down the drawer. After locking the doors, I pour a round of end of shift shots for us all. I hop up on the bar with my feet dangling down the side and count out my tips while I wait for the men to finish switching out the empty kegs.

“It was a good night tonight,” Jenny says.

“Yeah, it was a really good night.”

“I need to unwind. After we close, let’s hit up the Ranch.”

“Oh, geez.” I laugh. “It’s going to be one of those nights.”

“You have fun when we go and you know it!”

“Fine, as long as you don’t make me dance on the blocks this time.” I laugh.

“Oh, so you’re one of those girls?” a deep voice asks out of nowhere.

I blush turning bright red. “Only when I hang out with this skank.” I elbow Jenny.

“Heading to the Ranch. You boys in?” Jenny asks.

Picking up our shots, the boys both simultaneously agree. “What is this? Not some fruity girly shot is it?” Mitch asks.

I shrug. “Take a whiff,” I challenge.

Mitch puts his nose over the glass and then looks at me with a smile. “A whiskey girl, eh? All right, let’s do this!”

“Cheers!” the group sounds before downing our shots.

We all get in our separate cars and head for the next bar. The four of us meet up in the parking lot before heading into the bar. We slide past without a cover because we get bar courtesy coming from work still in our black Dickey’s Bar t-shirts. “Evening, Millie. You’re looking lovely as ever.” Eddy turns the charm on the cashier at the front.

“Get in there, charmer. Save it for one of the drunk girls you actually have a chance with,” she retorts.

“Ouch, you wound me!”

“Come on, Casanova. Let’s go celebrate your last week,” I say smiling at Millie and pulling Eddy by the arm into the bar. Mitch and Jenny follow behind us and we all sidle up to the bar. “So why didn’t I know you’re leaving Dickey’s?” I shout to Eddy over the music that is much louder here than it was at the front entrance.

“It may only be temporary. Had a shift change at the day job so I can’t do the hours at Dickey’s.”

“What are you guys drinking?” Mitch asks after getting the attention of a bartender.

Eddy leans in ordering the drinks, already knowing what Jenny and I drink. We take our drinks and head toward the dance floor. The four of us close down the bar and then hit a late night diner for some grub. After having an absolute blast with them, I crawl into my bed just as the birds are starting to chirp outside my window.

*   *   *

The next few weeks Jenny, Mitch, I, and sometimes one of the various cocktail servers grab after work drinks. We all work well together, and it’s more like a fun hangout than an actual job. Mitch has turned out to be an even better bouncer than Eddy. He always has things stocked before I ever have to ask, and he’s always on the top of situations that arise on the floor. Plus, he’s really fun to flirt with.

One night, Jenny and I are left shorthanded when the servers both call out sick on the same night. I take the floor leaving her to tend the bar. It’s a Friday night in a college town, so we’re packed and everyone is getting a little rowdy. I cringe when I see yet another group of obnoxious guys walk in.

I grab a stack of beverage napkins, plaster a false smile on my face, and say hello. “Hi, gentlemen, what can I get for you tonight?” I ask trying to rush them along because I have a ton of other customers to wait on.

“Your number?” One of the guys in the back with a blue Mohawk speaks up.

I look over at him and smile my sweetest smile before saying, “Honey, you don’t want my number. Trust me you couldn’t handle me. Now what can I get you to drink?”

The group erupts in laughter. I take their order and return with my hands full of pitchers and a tray of shots a few moments later. I place the pitchers on the table and am about to hand out the shots when the guy who asked for my number walks up behind me. He gets so close, he rubs his crotch up against my behind and sniffs my hair before he says, “Damn, baby, you’re a dime.” I put all the shots on the table as fast as I can so I can flee.

When I turn around, a pissed looking Mitch has the guy by the back of his neck with one of his arms bent behind his back. “If you like this arm attached to you, I suggest you apologize to this beautiful girl.” He’s fuming. “And I suggest you mean it.”

“Come on, man, look at those tiny shorts she has on!”

Mitch pushes his arm further up making the kid cry out in pain. “Apologize,” he continues in a deadly calm voice.

“I’m sorry,” Mohawk boy chokes out.

“And if you touch her again…just don’t. Trust me you don’t want to know the rest of that sentence,” Mitch says releasing his hold on the offender.

I drop my now empty tray to my side and take off toward the bar. I slip under the bar hatch and walk over to the whiskey. I pour a shot and down it before slamming my glass on the bar. The liquid warms me on the way down, doing nothing to squelch the flame burning inside me. I stand there seething for a minute before I pour and slam another shot. “You all right?” Jenny asks from beside me.

“Yeah, I just need a minute. Can you get another round for Ed and Mary ready, please? I’ll grab it in a sec.”

“Sure thing, baby cakes.” She scampers off getting my order ready.

I collect myself, plastering another fake smile on my face before I grab my order from the server station. “Thank you, Jenny!”

When the last customer leaves and we lock the doors, I collapse in one side of a booth. I’m wrecked and staring at the side of the red leather booth when I hear someone plop down across from me.

“Long night, huh?” Mitch asks.

“Humph” is all I can manage. After another moment of sulking, I sit up. “Thanks for earlier, but I had it handled.”

“Humph.” He responds. “He had his crotch IN your ass.”