Page 35 of Please Don't Leave Me

"Okay, Sam." She smiles before turning to leave with our coats in hand.

Finally acknowledging the woman standing beside him, my dad introduces us. "Boys, this is my girlfriend, Holly." She looks no older than me.

"Hi Holly, I'm Sam." I wait for Quinn to introduce himself, but he's looking off in the distance, pretending not to be a part of this conversation. "And this is Quinn."

"I've heard a lot about you guys."

Sure she has. I doubt my dad has told her more than our names and a list of the top 10 things we've done to disappoint him.

"Where's Jacob?" Quinn asks.

Joel is clearly annoyed that Quinn is ignoring Holly, but he chooses to let it go. "He's here somewhere. Probably already raiding the bar."

Quinn takes off down the hallway, leaving me behind. "Great! I'll join him."

I start walking through the foyer with my dad and Holly, heading toward the living area.

"So, Sam, how's the kitchen renovation coming?" I'm surprised he remembers that.

"I finished that a couple of months ago. I'm onto the master suite now."

"It's taking you forever to finish that place. How do you live like that? I don't know why you didn't just let me give you my guy's number and have him handle everything. He could have had it done a year ago."

"Because I like doing it, and it's a lot cheaper if I do it myself."

"Are you hurting for money? Is that it?"

"No—" He cuts me off.

"I told you that lawn mowing business wasn't going to get you the lifestyle you grew up with. You should have taken your degree and gone to law school like I told you."

"I don't mow lawns."

"What's that now?"

Of course, he didn't hear me; he's too busy listening to the sound of his own voice. I'm genuinely surprised that anyone in his industry puts up with him. But maybe all corporate lawyers are like that.

"I said, I don't mow lawns. It's a landscaping business."

"Yeah, landscaping, that's what I said."

No, it wasn't.

I hope to god Quinn brings a drink back for me. Maybe we can both get drunk tonight. Ubering an hour to Mom’s house may be worth it.

Joel won't shutup about his new yacht that he just purchased and how it's better than some other rich man's yacht. I lost at rock paper scissors, so I'm the sober driver tonight. Quinn is already drunk off our dad's expensive scotch, which is dumb because he doesn't even like scotch. I think he's just drinking it because he knows it pisses off Joel when he "drinks it the wrong way.”

Sam

Any funny stories yet?

Lou

Nothing yet. Unless you count my grandpa falling asleep with a KitKat bar in his lap and it melting all over his pants.

Sam

Oh, that definitely counts. Was he mad when he woke up?

---