Page 128 of Awestruck at Dusk
He pulled his Ray-Bans down the bridge of his nose and greeted us. He then addressed Joel in Swedish. I couldn’t stop staring at him. His face was scruffy again—growing his beard back. He wore grey joggers, a white t-shirt, a navy-blue New York Yankees cap, and his chunky headphones around his neck.
I was a sucker for that outfit.
And the fact that he was single again almost made me start drooling, but Liam placed his hands on my shoulders and said, “We should start heading out.”
William directed his attention our way for a fraction of a second when Liam said that, but he quickly resumed his chit chat with Joel.
“Come on,” Liam said, pulling me up from the couch, as if knowing I was entranced by William. “Let’s go.” He widened his eyes at me.
“I’ll—see you guys later,” I said to them, waving an awkward hand to say goodbye.
Liam placed his arm around me and shouted as he guided me out, “I promise to bring her back before midnight!” He laughed and shut the door behind us.
I gave Liam the side-eye, but he whispered, “I know what I’m doing.”
There was a large suitcase, a carry-on bag, and a backpack right outside the apartment.
William was leaving, and it was the worst feeling in the world. It’s as if every cell in my body ached when he was gone.
I hated it.
On our way to the stadium, I was too quiet. Liam did most of the talking, and I inevitably laughed a few times, but I couldn’t help but wonder where William was going now and for how long. I needed to text Lily. I needed to know if he would leave for a day or a month. I was sure Joel mentioned something to her about it.
Lily:He’s going back to South Africa. They need to reshoot a few scenes.
Me:Do you know for how long he’ll be gone?
Lily:2 weeks. Why?
Me:You know why.
Lily:Joel just told me that Billy ended things with Rachel.
Me:I know. Liam told me.
Lily:I’m sure Tobias told him. They’re worse than us.
I laughed out loud. It was funny because it was the truth.
“Why don’t you share the joke?” Liam said, trying to pry on my phone’s screen. I shooed him away.
Me:I miss him. He won’t talk to me or acknowledge me at all.
Lily:He’ll come around. You’ll see.
I clicked out of the conversation and put my phone away. There was nothing much I could say to that. I disagreed with Lily, and I know she was only saying that to be nice. Besides, we had arrived at Flushing Meadows.
“Here’s your pass,” Liam said, placing it around my neck. “And I need to pee. Again. Stay put.” Liam rushed toward the restrooms, and I couldn’t help but laugh. His friendship had been a wonderful surprise. One I didn’t know I needed until it arrived.
“Oh, my God!” I held on to Liam’s arm and couldn’t help but cringe. Belén lost to Zoya after a grueling match that ended with a drop shot by Zoya’s hand, and she wasn’t taking it too well. She banged her racquet against the court’s surface a few times.
“Well, fuck me sideways,” Liam muttered, dragging a hand through his hair. Belén was pointing at the chair umpire as she shouted a few things to him in Spanish. Awful things I could perfectly understand, hoping the umpire wouldn’t. A man shouted her name as he approached her, and she stopped talking but gave her racquet a few more hits against the hard surface of the court. She couldn’t seem to damage it.
Liam told me more about Belén on the half-time break. Belen’s mother is former tennis pro superstar Addison Freeman and her father is Mexican former major league baseball player José “Joey” Batista. And I’d just been introduced to herattitude problemjust now.
Finally, Belén tossed her racquet on the ground and fell on her knees, letting her head fall over her hands. We could all hear the inconsolable sobs as they flooded the silent stadium.
Liam cursed under his breath. “This is going to require some serious damage control—shit. And I don’t even want to know about the fine she’s gonna get for this.” He stood up and said, “I’m going to try to talk to her. Do you mind?”
