Page 60 of Georgia: Britain's Story: Part 1
“Uh, good, just driving. What’s up?” Yeah, I don’t normally call just to shoot the shit on a Friday morning.
“I heard that you might be paying me a visit this weekend?”
“There goes the surprise,” he says and laughs.
“I actually have something planned for this weekend already. I was going to wait to tell you, but I’m going to propose.”
“No shit?” He sounds astonished.Me too, man.
“Yeah.”
“To Bambi?”
“Well, that’s the thing, Bambi is just a nickname. I’ve been needing to tell you this, but-”
“You’re gay?”What?
“No, man. Uh, no. Bambi’s real name is Britain…Palomino-Scott.” He goes dead silent. I give him a couple seconds. “Matt, you there?”
“Is this a fucking joke?” He sounds stunned, and fucking pissed.
“No. It’s not a joke. I’m planning to ask Britain to marry me…this weekend.”
He scoffs, “Are youfuckingkidding me?”
“No, I’m not.”
“So she came back and you not only didn’t tell me, you started dating her and now you want to marry her? That’s, uh, yep, pretty fucked up.”
“I didn’t know I was going to fall in love with her, okay? She happened to be my tenant, and I asked her to dinner, and it just happened. I didn’t plan it, okay? It just happened.”
“You’re in love withher?” He laughs. “That’s fucking rich, man. You’re like my fucking brother. You know how many years it took me to stop being angry with you over whatyoumade me do?!” he shouts through the line.
“I do love her. I’m sorry, man, I can’t help it.”
“You’ve taken her away from me twice now. You fucking robbed me of the life I wanted, AGAIN!”
“Listen, I didn’t make you break up with her. I gave you an option, and you chose what you chose, okay? I was in just as tight a spot as you were. We all had decisions to make and you chose to hurt her. You could have done it differently. Or not done it at all!”
“She doesn’t know you made me do it. Did you tell her…what you did? What your part in all of it was?”She doesn’t know?
“You never told herwhyyou broke up with her?”How could she not know?
“Nope.” There’s satisfaction in his tone. Fuck, I thought she knew. I thought that’s why she was so pissed at me when she got here. No, no, no,no. “You fucking wrecked her life, my life, and she doesn’t know it was you. Wonder what she’ll think when she finds out? I mean, if she finds out, right? It’s not like you’re gonna tell her. Pretty hard to incorporate something like that into a marriage proposal, huh?”This is my worst fucking nightmare.
He’s not done, though. “You know, I can really sympathize with your situation. Finding someone you want more than anything in the world, but having an outsider force your hand for their own motives. See the parallels?” His tone bites. I had no clue he still felt this strongly towards her.
“Yeah, I fucking see it, alright? I’m sorry, I fucked up back then. I know it. I’ve spent a lot of fucking years trying to make up for it. Trying to do right by you, and your family. Working myself to death to keep everyone and everything above water. Britain is the one thing I’ve done that’s for me. She’s the one good thing I’ve ever had in my life.”
“Same, man. Britain was the one good thing I had in my life, too.”
“Matt, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah,” he laughs ironically. “Me too, man. Listen, don’t fucking call me again, okay? I can’t, can’t even fucking think about this with out wanting to slam my fist into your face.”
“Yeah…got it.” I don’t even finish my last word before he ends the call. That couldn’t have gone worse. I know I should be worried about what this means for work, or for Matt and me, but I can’t. I only care about Britain right now, andFUCK!The thought that I have to tell her what I did is making me sick. I don’t know if she’ll forgive me.Fuck.
TWENTY-TWO
