Читать книгу Nowhere Yet - Edward Inc. Cozza - Страница 6

As long as Grant had known Rex, Rex had never been one to talk much with or about his emotions. It wasn’t that he didn’t have any, it was more that his family dynamic had never been warm and welcoming. They were all well-educated, but not prone to discuss emotions, good or bad. Theirs was always a methodical discussion of why people did, or did not do certain things, with only the most logical and reasonable motives being considered. Rex had always tried to compensate for that by being reckless, and always including his friends in whatever happenings he was generating. He might not tell his friends how much they meant to him, but he always had something going on that would enable him to show, in his own way, how much they meant to him. He was always more outgoing than Grant, and having Grant share in his escapades forced Grant to be more outgoing than he would have been without Rex. This interaction brought out a rapid-fire banter between the two that spilled over onto anyone else that managed to get in the swirl they always created. Some flowed along with it, and some were swept away.

“I had to beg Annie to get her to come here,” Rex said.

“I’ll bet you did.”

“That’s not all I had to do. You want to hear what else I had to do?”

“Do I have a choice?” Grant said, blowing air out of his mouth.

“I had to write her a formal letter of apology, can you believe that? Me, write an apology letter. I don’t write letters to anyone. That was a tough one. The whole list of things I had to do was crazy, even by my standards, which we know are, well, out there. I had to send her flowers for two weeks, send her a huge box of Teuscher’s truffles, the biggest box of some almond toffee I could find, and some other stuff too. Wine, Pinot Noir, I think maybe, not cheap.”

“She always liked the truffles and the toffee. I used to buy them both for her. She never gained an ounce … I still don’t believe you.”

“You keep listening, you will.”

“What else?”

“She said I had to go to church for a month, get a note from the padre each time and send it to her. She wanted a box of cigars, and I had to send a picture of me sitting on a pony,” Rex said.

“A picture of you smoking the cigars on the pony?”

“No, just sitting on the pony.”

“What else?”

“A Slip-n-Slide, a Wrist Rocket, and a Yahtzee game.”

Grant could not believe he was having this conversation. He half-wondered if it wasn’t a hallucination, an after effect of the events of earlier in the day, combined with medication.

“Anything else?”

“A bottle of Roederer Cristal, or Clicquot Grande Dame, I forget which, and some caviar. That shit’s expensive.”

Grant was starting to laugh out loud now. “What else?”

“Ice cream. Blue Bell, and Graeter’s. Goat cheese from somewhere, I forget where.”

“That’s all?”

Grant was doubled over and having trouble breathing at this point, he was laughing so hard. He was having trouble speaking, as well.

“A Kentucky ham, some really good bourbon … do I have to go on?” Rex pleaded.

“Yes….” Grant barely able to get the word out.

“I couldn’t find the case of Fizzies she asked for. I don’t think they make them anymore. Pop Rocks, or Chocodiles, I don’t think they make those either.”

“She asked you to get Pop Rocks and Chocodiles?” Grant asked, speaking louder than before.

“No, not those. I just always liked them, and since I was already on a shopping spree, I tried to find them for myself. You liked those too, as I remember.”

“Just get on with it.”

“Anyway, I think you get the overview here that there were some hurdles that needed to be cleared before she would acquiesce and even talk to me. She made me send her a goddamn hula hoop, and something called Wine Gums, which sounds more like a disease. You ever try to package a hula hoop for shipping? Do you think I deserved all that? Do you think it was really necessary for me to go through all that to get her to talk to me?” Rex asked.

“She let you off easier than I would. I’m surprised she didn’t ask you to shave your head and paint it blue.”

“It was mentioned….”

Grant was still laughing and barely able to talk. He was still not convinced that this was on the up-and-up, but for right now, at least it was starting to sound pretty funny.

“I can’t imagine why she asked for some of that stuff. It doesn’t really sound like her. She doesn’t smoke cigars, or drink, really. I do see some of it, but she—“

“Maybe all those years you two were together finally took its toll on her. She’s finally chain-smoking cigars and cannon balling the booze. She just couldn’t take it anymore.” Rex was laughing now.

“Still strange. Damn funny, but strange,” Grant was still laughing.

“The shit I do for you, and you’re still giving me grief about going silent for a few years? You are such a douche. It ain’t my fault you two broke up, so don’t keep giving me that shit.”

“You didn’t help out though, that’s for sure. Back then, I mean. Maybe this punch list now helps a little bit, but….”

“But nothing! Look, it ain’t my fault either that you gave up on law after you got out of law school and went the way you did. You had stuff on your mind and it didn’t work out, get over it, get on with it. Get over her, get on with her …. You got yourself into this mess.” Rex took a deep breath before he launched into the second part of his tirade. “Look, with all this shit, I decided to start my own thing, my own business, so I don’t have to worry about crap that somebody else is doing that could get me in trouble. Now, I get in trouble, it’s my own fault.”

“It usually is your fault,” Grant added.

“You know what I mean. Look, you seem to like working with computers, so….”

“Computers don’t intentionally screw you over.”

“Right, so that’s ok, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“I didn’t say there was.”

“No, but you have this ‘things-didn’t-work-out-like I planned’ thing about you. Hell, nobody’s stuff works out as planned. Shit happens, and you shouldn’t worry about it. When were you the happiest?’

“I don’t know.”

“Bullshit, you know the answer to that question.”

“Computers are easier to deal with than people. I did the law thing … I don’t know. I was with a firm, like you, and found the thought of just being another number was not … not—not something. I don’t know what it was, but I know what it wasn’t, and it sure wasn’t right for me. Computer work is steady. I work for some high profile companies. Only problem is, I keep thinking about getting out of the contractor racket and getting somewhere permanent, but every time someone wants me on staff permanently, it doesn’t work out for some reason or another. Things are always good, just don’t last as long as I would like,” Grant said, looking out towards the exit to the bar.

“Sort of like all the meaningful events in your life, eh, chief? Look, I want you to at least think a little more about still doing your own thing, but maybe doing it with me and….”

“And what?”

“Just think about it, that’s all I’m asking. Think about getting off the corporate teat, strike out on your own. You could do it with me.” Rex said.

“Strike out?”

“Poor word choice. Go off on your own. Not have to put up with a bunch of douche bags around the water cooler talking about how busy they are.”

“I’ll think about it.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, and don’t make me swear, unless by swear, you mean to say fuck you.”

Rex laughed. “I miss those days, chief. Those days when you used to say shit like that all the time.”

Grant seemed to drift away in thought and paused. “You know what I’ve been thinking about? I’ve been wondering if this is it. The best times were then, and now they’re done, is that it? Years, gone, just like that, flying by. Are there more coming? I don’t have a clue.”

“Well, you got the last part right,” Rex said.

“How’s that?”

“You don’t have a fucking clue.”

Isobelle tried not to look too interested in what the men were saying, but she was having a hard time keeping her eyes off of Grant. She had gone back down to the other end of the bar, busying herself cleaning the bar, arranging the liquors, and polishing glasses.

“So just have some fun with me and take the pressure off. You can still do the things you want to do, only now you’ve got somebody who cares about you to look after you. ’Cause boy, you sure as hell need someone looking after you. Look around, enjoy your life, enjoy Southern California, and pay attention to the good looking women around you. You could also do worse than meeting an attractive bartender. What’s her name? Isarita? I mean, you’ve only been with me for a few minutes and look how things are perking up already!,” Rex said with a grin, waving at Isobelle. She began heading back their way.

“Her name is Isobelle, you mor….” Grant’s voice trailed off, his head turning as he noticed two very beautiful women walking into the bar. They were about the same build, not tall, and they looked like they could be sisters. He didn’t recognize one of them, the shorter of the two, but he certainly knew the other one. They were both blonde, very tan, both extremely fit. He recognized the taller one instantly by the confident glow she carried with her everywhere she went. She could peer into his soul, even from across the room, and every time he saw her, she made him feel like he had just won the lottery. There was a certain composure about her that made her seem like she was on a higher plane, but was always willing to step down onto the same one he was on, which always baffled him. It was not conceit, it was not ego. She was still the enchanting woman he remembered, maybe not drop-dead gorgeous to anyone but him, but Grant, after all this time, still thought that Annie was just that. The tennis she played in college, and probably still played, had given her a bronzing, a sculpting that would probably never go away. About five-foot-six, her sparkling blonde hair tied back, just like always.. Grant barely noticed the other woman. He was watching Annie, the woman he had been waiting to see for five and a half years. His insides started to turn.

The two women approached the bar where he and Rex were waiting. Though he was sitting down, Grant’s legs suddenly felt extremely weak, to go with his uneasy stomach, and the desert outside seemed to have abruptly moved into his mouth. He was having trouble breathing. He hoped it was the pain medicine. Both men rose to their feet, though Rex jumped up eagerly, not experiencing the same flood of emotion, nor car wreck fallout, that Grant was currently feeling.

“Well, look at this! Must have been the Yahtzee game that was the kicker to get you here!” Rex said, beaming.

“That was my idea,” said the shorter of the two women. “I’m Kat,” she said, extending her hand.

“Hello Kat, I’m Rex, and this—”

Kat cut him off. “This must be Grant. I’ve heard a lot about you. Hello, Grant,” Kat said. She stuck her arm out to shake Grant’s hand as well.

“Hello,” Grant said, briefly shifting his gaze from Annie to Kat.

“Talkative sonofagun, isn’t he? Have you heard a lot about me, Kat? Annie, how are you?”

Both men wanted to hug Annie, for different reasons, but they both thought privately that was probably not a good idea.

“Good, I’m good,” Annie said.

“Of course I’ve heard of you,” Kat’s eyes, now narrow, turning back to Rex.

“What is it with that look? Second time today I’ve gotten that.”

“Probably only two because it’s still early in the day,” Kat said with a charming smile.

“Hello, Grant,” Annie said.

“Hello, Annie. Good … good to see you. You look great,” Grant replied. It was even more of a struggle for him to get words out of his mouth than usual.

“It’s good to see you. You look great.”

“Skinny. I say he is skinnnnn-eeee! Too skinny. Makes me look bad.”

“Is that a difficult thing to do?” Kat cocked her head to one side.

“So, you have heard of me! Well, I don’t know what you heard, but I’m a changed man.”

“What did you change into?” Kat turned her head to the other side.

“Hey, I like her!” Rex backhanded Grant on the shoulder.

“Oh, what luck for me,” she rolled her eyes.