She turns around slowly, her mouth dropping open and her eyes narrowing. She crosses her arms and hisses, "I thought you were classier than that, Jake, but I see that you can take the boy out of the ghetto, but you can’t take the ghetto–"
I can’t help it, I burst out laughing. All the anger, all the stress of the last thirty minutes just boils over into a fit of hilarity. She’s so utterly and completely clueless, there’s nothing else to do but laugh. "Did you just say ‘ghetto,’ Gwen? Holy shit, where’d you hear that? A 50 Cent song blasting out of the satellite radio in your Lexus?" It suddenly strikes me as so f**king funny, I almost double over. Instead, I lean against the wall, forcing my laughter back. I had actually forgotten she even knew I was adopted. She had never brought it up before. Probably helped her sleep better at night not to think about associating with someone who wasn’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth.
Gwen is still staring at me, narrow eyed and seething as my laughter dies.
I take a step closer to her as I say, "You have no idea why this is funny Gwen, and you never will, but let me tell you a couple things. You have no idea about me. Not one. Fucking. Thing. And you don’t know anything about her either and you never will. But here’s what you do need to know. You will never come near me again, you got that? If I see you at an event, turn and walk the other way, and if I accidentally run into you on the f**king street, pretend like you never saw me. Now, unfortunately, we’re sitting at the same table tonight, but there is no need for us to say another word to each other. If you need the f**king salt, ask someone else to pass it. When dinner is over, you will get a ride home with your daddy because, frankly, another twenty-minute car ride with you sounds intolerable. We clear?"
She stares at me for several seconds, her eyes still narrowed, before finally hissing, "You’ll regret this, Jake. Consider our friendship over."
"Thank God." I walk out of the bathroom just as an older woman is going in.
"Oh!" she exclaims.
"Sorry, wrong door," I mumble.
I walk into the men’s room and brace my hands on the counter of the sink for a minute collecting myself. Could this night have gone to any more shit? I splash some cold water on my face and as I’m grabbing a rolled up towel out of the tray on the counter, I notice the World’s Greatest Mints. I stare down at them, a smile spreading across my face. I grab one and put it in my pocket.
CHAPTER 13
I wake up the next morning and grimace at the memory of the night before. Sitting through dinner was torture. Every time the door to the kitchen swung open, my heart leaped into my throat. But I never saw Evie again. I gave the mint to her blond friend, who I was pretty sure was g*y, after watching him swish his h*ps through the room. Straight men don’t walk that way. He had looked at me dubiously when I handed him the mint for Evie, but he stuck it in his pocket anyway and walked back to the kitchen.
After dinner, I had written a check, bid on a few items up for auction, and then I had retrieved my car and headed home. I wrestled with myself over calling Evie, but I knew she probably didn’t get off work until late and that the last thing she probably wanted to deal with was me. Shit. I could barely sleep, but I had to put her first and leave this until morning, even though every instinct in me was screaming to drive over to her apartment and explain myself. I started writing her a text message but after sitting there for a good five minutes not knowing what to say that would come across in the right way, I threw my phone on my bedside table and collapsed back on my bed.
I shower and get dressed, and then head over to Evie’s apartment. I’m all worked up with the need to explain to her what the night before was about. I need to make this right if I’m going to be able to keep sane today. I ring her apartment from the front door buzzer and when there’s no answer, I take out my phone, look up the Hilton’s phone number and dial as I pace in front of her apartment. When I get through to the housekeeping manager, I tell him that I’m supposed to pick Evie Cruise up today but forgot the time she told me to be there. With no questioning whatsoever, he tells me what time she gets off work. That pisses me off slightly, even though I got the information I wanted.
Even though it’s Saturday, I have a couple morning meetings scheduled with Preston and then the head engineers. We’re up against a couple testing deadlines and so the team has agreed to sacrifice a couple weekends in order to meet them. As much as I’d like to obsess about Evie, I have to put my corporate hat on and be present for work. I owe it to all the people working extra hours for me. I finish up the first round of meetings just in time to catch Evie getting off work.
I drive quickly downtown and pull up near the bus stop that I know Evie takes, and park illegally as I wait for her to come around the corner. I don’t feel nervous, just determined. I’m going to make her understand what last night was about. There’s no other option. There is no way in hell that Gwen, of all people, is going to come in the way of what I had started to re-build with Evie. Un-fucking-thinkable.
After ten minutes or so, I see Evie appear around the corner of the hotel. Thankfully there’s no one behind me as I pull up slowly next to her as she walks down the block. She looks over at me and I lean over the seat and smile. "Want a ride little girl?" I tease, trying to coax a smile from her, too. No go. She looks over at me as if I’m a fly that just landed on her dinner. Great. That’s okay – I’m willing to work for this.