Page 197 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
She scoffed.
“Just drop it, Cayden,” she said. “I have a lot on my plate right now and the last thing I need is to defend myself to you.”
She walked past me, leaving me angry and confused. What had just happened? I walked toward the refrigerator and grabbed my leftovers from last night.
“Hey, bro,” Maurice walked into the breakroom. “What’s wrong with Tiffany? I just passed her in the hallway and it looked like she was about to cry.”
I turned around and shrugged my shoulder.
“No clue, man,” I said.
“Girls, nothing but trouble,” Maurice shook his head. For once, I agreed with him.
I avoided Tiffany for the rest of the day. It wasn’t hard to do, as I assumed she was trying to avoid me as well. I was still angry at how she had spoken to me in the breakroom. I hadn’t done anything wrong. I didn’t deserve to be talked to that way.
I left work feeling frustrated, angry, and hurt. I didn’t want to go to my mom’s to pick up Austin. She knew that Tiffany had come over last night and I was sure she was going to ask questions. That was the last thing that I wanted to talk about. Instead, I picked up my phone and dialed Allen.
“Hey, Cayden Lewis!” Allen greeted me as he picked up the phone.
“Where are you?” I asked him, although I already knew the answer. If he wasn’t lifeguarding, sleeping, or hooking up with girls, he was at the bar.
“I’m at my bar, man,” he said. “Do you want to come by?”
“I was hoping that you would say that,” I said. “I’ll be down there in a few minutes.”
After a quick drive, I walked into the bar and found Allen sitting at the bar with a drink.
“Surprised to see you on a Tuesday,” Allen said. “I already ordered you a beer.” He slid the beer down the bar to me.
“Thanks, man,” I said, lifting the beer bottle to my lips. It tasted good, but I needed something stronger. I was letting my fight with Tiffany get to me.
“What brings you here?” Allen asked. I shrugged. I wasn’t going to tell him the truth. He wouldn’t understand.
“Just had a break from work and the little man,” I lied.
“That’s cool,” Allen said. “So, what’s going on? How’s work?”
“It’s good,” I said. “Same old shit, different day. How’s your work?”
Allen smiled.
“Fucking fantastic as always,” he said. “I actually met this chick today on the beach. She’s only here for the night, so we’re going to hook up tonight. Those are the best kind of girls to meet. No expectations, no commitment, just a night of fun. She is fucking hot, too. She looked like she just walked out of a porn movie. She had these huge tits that were just begging to come out of her bikini top. If I wasn’t working, I would have taken her right there on the beach.”
Sex on the beach. His comments remind me of Tiffany. Our sex that night was amazing, and I loved the fact that we were doing something forbidden. I suddenly felt frustrated. I was here to get my mind off of Tiffany, not think about her even more.
“That’s cool,” I replied, although I didn’t think it was cool. It would have been cool if we were in our early twenties, but not now.
“Yeah, man,” Allen said, giving me a high-five. “It’s actually awesome that you are here. I was going to text you about the New Years’ Eve party here. You should come, man. It’s going to be off the hook.”
New Years’ Eve was the last thing on my mind. I wanted to get through work, Christmas, and whatever was going on with Tiffany. I hadn’t celebrated New Years’ Eve in years and didn’t feel like starting now, but Allen continued to talk about the party.
“Last year it was amazing,” he said. “I hooked up with two girls in the same night. This year’s goal is to hook up with two girls at the same time. Wouldn’t that be awesome, Cayden Lewis?”
I nodded, but only to shut him up. I couldn’t understand how he was thirty and still had no intentions of settling down. He was my best friend, but I was starting to get irritated that he wouldn’t grow up. I did not want to spend New Years’ Eve surrounded by strange women. I wanted to spend New Years’ Eve with Tiffany, but that was starting to look like it would not happen.
“Yeah, sounds awesome,” I lied. I finished my beer and set the empty bottle on the bar.
“Get this man another beer,” Allen told the bartender. Before she could get me another beer, I waved her off.
