Читать книгу Piano in the Dark - Eric Pete - Страница 9

On the long drive back to Spring, I questioned what had just happened outside the pub. A nagging part of me wanted to remain back in midtown with the mysterious woman Ava. She intrigued me, made me feel appreciated, but I left without even as much as a phone number. Better that way, I suppose. Company like hers at such an hour could come with a price. A price beyond idle friendship. A price I was unwilling to pay, I reminded myself as I pulled into the driveway of my home. As I hit the garage door opener, I didn’t see any lights on in the house. Maybe my stalling tactics had paid off.

“Are you through avoiding me?” Dawn asked as I entered from the garage, throwing my keys on the kitchen counter. Rather than sleeping as I’d hoped, she was up watching television. The living room lights were dimmed and an empty wineglass sat on the coffee table in front of her. An episode of Mad Men was on AMC, harkening back to a simpler era, yet featuring a wife equally frustrated as she. Except I wasn’t Dawn’s Don Draper. He was successful in spite of his moral failings, things seeming to bounce in his favor, even. Don’t think he would’ve had a meltdown over a stupid bar exam. Of course, that exam would’ve been a firm commitment. A commitment to a direction I still was unsure about.

I’d never win challenging her. Not as long as I was Robin to Jacobi’s Batman. I’d always be stupid and foolish for being so comfortable in my standing. Every cell in my body said to go to our bedroom, take a shower, then go to bed. The path of least resistance and a soft pillow. But I was known for making stupid decisions. Just ask Dawn.

Instead, I sat in the wingback chair to her left, keeping some distance. Any closer and I might run the risk of being smacked. I removed my jacket and cautiously inhaled, looking to detect the sweet reminder of coconut amidst the tequila. Dawn wore a red silk nightgown over her slight, yet curvy frame. Crimson highlighting the sights along the highway that was her body. Her loveliness might’ve been rewarding if I’d brought my ass home earlier. “Something on your mind?” I asked, too frustrated by our current state to totally appreciate the view.

“Yes,” she replied. “Like why you’ve been hiding out behind that womanizer Jacobi rather than coming home.” She took the remote, pausing the nattily-clad sixties womanizers on the screen in mid-quip. The stilled television lights bathed her exposed mocha skin in an eerie Technicolor-ish glow as she swiveled to face me.

“I told you already. We had work to do. Gotta pay the bills, y’know. And I don’t feel like arguing, Dawn.”

“And from the way you act, you’d think I live for arguing. I just want to talk with my husband, but can’t if he keeps avoiding things.”

“Would it help if I apologize?” I said as I sighed. “I just want to go to bed.”

Dawn clenched her teeth, still determined in her gaze. “He’s about to make partner, isn’t he?”

“So. He deserves it. Jacobi’s put in a lot of time and hard work at the firm.”

“Hmph. On your shoulders,” she stated, waving her hands in the air. “Is that why you were out celebrating with him tonight? I know what’s going on when you don’t answer the phone, Chase. Drinking and whatever else.”

I stood up, ready for a shower more than ever. Like I said, I’d never win challenging her. “I have a long day ahead of me, babe,” I mumbled. Despite this disagreement, I loved Dawn. As I walked by, I leaned over and gently kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, girl,” I said in her ear. She reached up, placing her arm around my neck in a semi-hug.

“It should be you about to make partner, sweetheart. You know he’s only successful because you cover up for his mistakes. Then he takes credit for all your hard work. Y’know…one of these days, he’s going to stab you in the back.”

“Stop. Jacobi’s my friend, Dawn,” was all I could offer in response. Our argument was over for the night, but as sure as the day is long, we’d revisit it. As long as things stayed the way they were. Dawn wanted me to go back and finish law school and pass the bar. Questioning a man’s heart and the choices he made was always a sure way to generate conflict. You’d almost swear she was unfulfilled instead of me.

But Dawn wasn’t the only one to question me tonight. And I wasn’t thinking about Jacobi, either.

That woman had questioned my calling.

A stranger, as far as I was concerned.