Zack always seemed to enjoy spending time with my parents. Of course, a dinner at the Moran house was never dull, especially when Gran was present. Tonight, we were graced with one of her stories of squirrel hunting with her father and brother when she was a teenager.
Zack and I helped my mother clean up the table and wash the dishes before dessert as Gran continued her stories in the next room. I began talking with her about my date with Austin, and I noticed Zack had a look of unease as I recounted the pizza date.
Gran was watching Jeopardy as we walked into the living room with dessert. *The day before flying at Mach 1 in 1947, he broke 2 ribs when he fell off a horse. * Zack handed Gran her piece of pie and practically jumped as she shouted, "Yeager! Oops. Sorry, Zachary, I didn't mean to startle you, hun." *Who is Chuck Yeager? – Correct. * "Yes!"
"How do you know all of this, Gran?" I asked, genuinely surprised at her expansive trivia knowledge.
"Oh, Alexandra. I've been watching Jeopardy and reading historical fiction long enough to know just about everything." Gran and I laughed as the TV broke for commercials.
Zack seemed to be lost in thought on the other side of the room. I wondered what he could be thinking about so intensely that it caused his brow to furrow ever so slightly. "Zack? Are you okay?"
"Huh? Oh. Yeah. Why?"
"You zoned out. I'm pretty sure you haven't moved in about five minutes."
"Oh… can you finish handing out the pie? I'm going to use the restroom before we sit down."
"Yeah. You sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine. I think I just ate a little too much."
"Okay." Still a little concerned, I then turned and handed pie to both of my parents and placed Zack's on the coffee table as I sat down with my own on the couch.
After some time, my pie was gone, and he hadn't returned from the hall yet. I went over and gently knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you sure you're okay? You haven't quite seemed like yourself lately."
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm just feeling a little under the weather. It must be the front moving through."
"Okay." Maybe he was getting another migraine. There's a storm front headed our way this week, and the shift in barometric pressure can sometimes mess with his sinuses.
A few moments later, Zack left the bathroom and quietly joined me on the couch as my father started to play the movie. This week's choice was the newest Spider-Man movie.
After the movie, Zack took me back to his apartment to pick up my car. "Hey, I have a commission due soon. Would you be able to help me deliver it next weekend?"
"Yeah, I work Friday night, but it should work out okay."
"Sounds like a plan. See you then?"
"Yeah. See you then."
I drove home in silence. My thoughts took up enough space, music would have only been a catalyst to my anxieties. I still can't get a read on what made Zack so uncomfortable tonight. If it had been a migraine attack, he would have said as much. He's never been that awkward around my family before.
When I arrived at my apartment I decided to shoot Sam a quick text:
[Text - Alex]: Hey girl. Just wanted to let you know I'm a little worried about Zack tonight. He said he wasn't feeling well at dinner but didn't elaborate. You and I both know that means he's trying to bear the weight of whatever it is alone.
[Text - Sam]: We've had a few tough cases lately. Domestic abuse calls and anything involving kids get to him a lot more than he lets on. It could be that he just doesn't want to burden you with it. I promise I'll keep an eye on him.
[Text - Alex]: Thank you, Sam. That means a lot. We used to talk about everything, but ever since he started working for CCPD… I don't know, he just seems distant sometimes in ways that don't make sense.
[Text - Sam]: Have you ever told him you feel that way? he might open up more if he knows you're worried.
[Text - Alex]: I hadn't thought about it that way before. Maybe I should. Thanks.
[Text - Sam]: No problem. You know I'm always down for girl talk. Now get some rest. I heard you have another hot date coming up with that actor guy.
[Text - Alex]: It's on friday, but I've got a design competition to work on the rest of the week. Still not happy with the design, and it's due friday morning.
[Text - Sam]: Well, I'm sure you'll do great. Just try to relax, you got this. 🙂
I spent most of the week working on that stupid unconventional wedding design. No matter what I did, it just didn't seem like me. It was all nice. Pretty dresses, intricate lace, overall great designs, but they weren't very reflective of the designer. And they all seemed too conventional for the theme. I took a break and decided to take some photos of a dining set I had redone for that commission I was telling Zack about. The table was a deep wood grain, almost black, and the four chairs matched with navy blue upholstery I had redone myself. I was really proud of the work I had done on these pieces, and wanted to ensure I had them documented in my portfolio.
Then it clicked. Black! What's more "unconventional" than inverting the main color of the dress itself? I spent two days perfecting my idea, adding blue accents and daring dark lace to the design. I was able to submit a draft by Friday morning's deadline, and breathed a sigh of relief. Hopefully it was good enough to be recognized in the competition, though; I really needed the continuation of my work-study scholarship if I wanted to finish my last semester of design school.
Just as I began to relish in the state of accomplishment I finally felt, I remembered something. My second date with Austin was tonight. Gosh. I haven't been on a second date in a long time. I'm excited, but also a bit nervous. Austin was taking me to the movies. My first choice would have been an action film like the new 007 feature or a Tom Cruise movie, but he insisted on a new, somewhat raunchy rom-com that had just come out. I gave in, because it was only the second date, and I didn't want to come off as argumentative.
We got a large bucket of popcorn to share and medium-sized sodas. What he doesn't know is that I got Sprite simply to go with the strawberry Twizzlers that I have hidden in my inside jacket pocket. We find a quiet corner of the theater; thankfully, the crowd has died down in the second week of the movie being in theaters.
"Have you seen this actress's work before?" Austin asked as we got to our seats.
"Um… I think she was in a musical or drama of some kind. Pitch Perfection, or something? I've seen so many it can get hard to keep them straight. Musicals aren't my favorite, but my friend Sam is really into them, so she is always talking me into watching them with her for a 'girls' night'."
"I haven't seen her work, but a friend of mine recommended the movie because he's worked with her in the past."
"You know, sometimes I totally forget that you're an actor."
"With you, I forget sometimes too." He seemed sincere, but he could also just be saying exactly what a girl wants to hear. Almost like he was trying to be smooth, but there was this air of arrogance beneath his words.
We watched the trailers in silence, occasionally laughing at the comedic lines. The lights dimmed as the last-minute stragglers snuck into the theater. Austin chuckled as I pulled out the bag of Twizzlers. "Hey, they're a lot cheaper at the grocery store." That just made him laugh more.
We were seated towards the back and were mostly alone. At some point, I noticed that Austin had finished the popcorn. He pulled out a small bottle of hand sanitizer to get rid of the butter and salt that I was sure the popcorn left behind. He offered it to me, and I politely declined. I motioned to my purse and pulled out a small bag of wipes. He nodded with a small smile. I continued to sip on my Sprite with a couple of Twizzlers. I offered some to him at one point early on in the movie, but he whispered back that he didn't care for candy made with carnauba wax, and I giggled. For one, he knew what carnauba wax was; for another, Twizzlers, Swedish Fish, and other carnauba wax-based candies were on my top ten list of guilty pleasures.
After the movie, we walked back to his car.
"So what did you think?" Austin asked as he unlocked the doors.
"Actually, I kind of liked it. I could have done without the practical nudity of both the leads, but the plot was fairly solid." I paused to settle into the passenger seat as he slid behind the wheel. "The leading lady did a pretty good job too. I just don't understand why so many people willingly sit through two and a half hours of something that is 70 percent predictable if you've ever watched another rom-com." I noticed that Austin was watching me intently as I responded. He genuinely wanted to know how I felt about the movie that he had picked.
"They're not all that predictable. Hallmark movies can be, but the larger productions aren't so bad." He almost seemed a little offended that I didn't like rom-coms, and I looked down a bit, internally admitting that it was a generalization before responding.
"I don't know. I guess I just don't like how the characters always get together in the beginning of the movie, and then some silly avoidable misunderstanding separates them for all of like ten minutes, and they get back together like it never happened."
"Huh, I guess that is a common theme to the genre."
A few minutes later, he glanced over at me. "Hey, you know, I found this spot the other day that has a cool overlook of the city. Would you want to go and admire the view and the stars if we can see them away from all of the light pollution?"
"Sure."
It sounded like he was talking about the place everyone in my high school went to on late-night dates, you know, to fool around. I knew that there were a few streetlamps close by, and the police typically drove by every hour or so now that they knew it was a popular spot for jocks to take advantage of naive girls. Because of that, I didn't think anything of it at first.
Then I realized that the place he was referring to was not the same one I was thinking of. I wasn't familiar with the path we were taking at all.
"Here we are."
It was dark, and he turned off the car, making it pitch black except for the city lights twinkling off in the distance.
I was beginning to feel uncomfortable.
"The stars are beautiful from here." I managed to say. Hopefully he can't see how nervous I am right now.
"It sure is a wonderful view." I sensed that he wasn't referring to the city or the sky. I could feel his eyes scanning my body in the dark, and my heartbeat quickened.
"Hey, I have something going on tomorrow, and I should probably get some sleep. Could you take me home now?"
"Come on, sweetheart. We just got here."
My body started screaming to escape as he slid a hand across the inside of my thigh and kissed me forcefully. I instinctively moved as far away from him as I could within the confines of his compact sports car.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Austin!?"
"Kissing you. I thought that was obvious."
"You didn't ask, and I didn't want to. Please, just take me home."
He stared at me for a moment, and I could feel the frustration building in his expression.
"Alexandra, after the movie, and the way you look at me, you can't seriously expect me to believe you don't want this too."
"I said no! Take me home right now."
For a moment, he just stared at me again. Then his expression hardened.
"Fine. Hard way it is."
He reached down and released the lever on the right side of my seat, and it fell back. My heart jumped as I realized what he was doing.
"Okay, but you asked for it."
I punched him square in the face, just like Zack taught me. He yowled in pain as I quickly grabbed his keys and scrambled out of the car, locking the doors behind me so he couldn't chase me. I ran like the wind to the nearest building.
Fortunately for me, we were close to a neighboring town, and I found myself in a quaint little speakeasy.
"Looks like you've had a rough night, miss. What can I get you?"
"Sex on the beach, please. Extra vodka."
"Comin' right up."