My eyes opened sharply at five, and thank god for that. Definitely glad we were going to Church today so I could thank the big man; otherwise, I would have been caught down here, in the basement, on this small bed, with Alex. I softly got up, slowly sliding my body off.
I grabbed my clothes once I was off the bed, dashed up the steps, and woke Noel, who was snuggled up on the couch with Charlie. "Get up. No, Dad's going to be up soon!" She groaned and snuggled back into the blanket she and Charlie were sharing.
"Noel Burns, if you don't get up this instance...." I yelled, still trying to keep my voice low.
"I am getting up. You sleep, thief." She yelled, yanking the blanket off herself.
"Shut up, come on!"
I heard Noel trail behind me as we headed to our adjacent rooms.
"Don't wake me until the sun is in the middle of the sky." She warned as she opened the door to her room.
"I won't need to. Mom will get us up in an hour or so for Church." I smile an evil smile at her.
"I know you didnt get any sleep last night either. We could hear you both. So I'd wipe that smile off my face if I were you!" Noel advised, and my face complied.
"Got to bed," Was all I could yell. Now Noel was the one with the evil smile as she disappeared behind her bedroom door.
I did the same, and my phone rang when my head hit the pillow. "Hello, why are you up?"
"I missed you. You know most girls would kiss goodbye after taking advantage of a man all night long...." He joked.
"I didn't want to wake you! I know you slept late." When I woke up for a few seconds at around three, Alex had not fallen asleep. He was working on his phone, trying not to move much, probably to make sure it didn't wake me.
"I am fine. I hate that you had to leave. Wish you could have stayed with me."
"Me too!" I smiled. "Tonight, maybe we can? You did your time last night. Tonight we get a hotel room!" I suggested. "I'll talk to my father."
"I don't think I can stay tonight. I have to go to the city after dinner today, babe. I have a meeting with Shawn." He hesitantly informed me.
"Your dad's lawyer? Is everything okay?"
"I will ask Shawn about my options on selling my Stocks in my dad's company." He nonchalantly said. "We will also discuss how I can return his money for his investments in LongD."
"What? Why?" I asked, snapping up from my pillow.
"Nothing is final yet. It's just something I want to discuss with him. Shawn's a friend, and he's offered to have an off-the-record conversation. "
"Yeah, but why are you having this conversation? It seems like you are trying to cut your family out of your life." I accused him.
"It's not that–I just don't want them to use me as a clutch. I just don't–I am trying to understand my options if I sell LongD." He stuttered.
"What?" Now I was off my bed, my feet hitting the floor so violently that my ankles wobbled. "Why are you selling LongD?"
"No. I am just thinking about it. I am thinking of taking a smaller role at LongD. I don't want to be stuck working all the time. Plus, I can take my money, assuming it makes any, and invest in a different company." So he explained, but I wasn't buying it. I feared that yesterday's events rattled around in his brain, urging him to run away from his family.
"Okay, well, don't decide anything from one meeting."
"Okay, let's change the topic."
"Let's get up in an hour or so to prepare for church," I complied.
"Do I really have to go?" He groaned. "I found Church to be–my mother used to force us every Sunday to go."
"You are not being forced—Just lovingly encouraged. If you go, my mother will be happy, which will make me happy!" I said, pacing up and down my room out of habit. "Or we can both fake sick and have a day out in Jersey!" I suggested.
"What is there to do here?" He questioned.
"Everything we have in the city but less crowded and slightly friendlier. Plus we have good Diner food. We are all going to Luigi's after the Church service. It's an ancient diner and a place we've gone to since Sugar and I was five. I think there is a picture of her and me from her 7th birthday party too!"
"Really?" Alex said, and I could hear the smile from either end of the phone. "Well, that sold me. Let's go to Church, but more so because I want to be allowed to come to Luigi's!"
"Oh no, don't get excited! There are a billion pictures on Luigi's picture wall. You'll never find me!"
"Want to bet?" He challenged.
"Okay, let's make it interesting. Fifty bucks go to whoever is right!" I offered.
"Money I have. I want something else!"
"Oh god, what?" I exclaimed.
"How about if I find your picture, you move up your timeline, and we get engaged sooner."
"Sooner? How soon?" I curiously asked.
"By this Christmas?" He casually said.
"What? Are you crazy?" I yelled so loud Noel heard me.
She knocked on the wall our rooms share and yelled, "Go to bed!"
"Fine, but if I win, you can't bring up the engagement until I have a proper job–actually, if I don't bring it up, you can't talk about it!" I whispered quickly.
"You're on Burns!" He said and then proceeded to hang up on me. I took the phone off my ears and stared at it in disbelief. The gall of this man, I thought, hanging up on a woman he loved. But I couldn't ponder the thought for long because he called back. So I answered though I let the phone vibrate in my hands for a few extra seconds.
"Yes?" I slowly said.
"Nothing just wanted to ensure you knew I hung up for dramatic purposes." He spoke clearly, like he was giving a presentation to the board.
"Go to bed, you nutcase!" I yelled.
"You too!" Both Noel and Alex said, almost in unison.
****
"I am giving you way too long to look!" I said as Alex carefully scanned every photo on Luigi's famous (at least to us locals) picture wall. Church was uneventful, and most of us napped as the good lord's name was being taken—shame on us. The only exciting thing happened when Alex realized that the woman my mom and Lucy had spent the whole sermon giggling with was Amy–A.K.A thier nemesis.
Now we were all gathered on one of the most extensive tables in the diner towards the back, right underneath the picture wall. The wall encompassed pictures of many different types of people, all looking cheerful and all with big plates of food in front of them. I was scanning the wall with Alex because even I had forgotten where our toothy picture hung.
"We never agreed on time. I can look all day if I want!" Alex argued.
"And that's how you want to spend the day? Looking at pictures of strangers devouring food?" I questioned.
"No, but a man's gotta do what a man gotta do." He said without moving his eyes away.
"Ugh, fine, the food is here. Join when you want!" I said, giving up and returning to my seat a few feet away.
"What's he doing?" Sugar asked when I joined them.
"Looking for our picture from your seventh birthday party," I said.
"Oh, that's not there," Noel interjected from across the table. "I took that picture from here years ago when I moved out for college.
"Noel, you can't just remove Luigi's pictures. They are Luigi's pictures." Sugar scolded.
"Oh, but you two looked so cute, and I was going to miss you both, so I grabbed it." She shrugged.
"Where is it?" I asked.
"I carry it in my wallet. Want to see it?"
I glanced over at Alex, who was busy scanning the wall, unaware of this new information. So I quickly nodded.
Noel handed Sugar and me a Polaroid shot of us smiling wide with our forks of pancakes up in the air. Both of us had the exact two front teeth missing. Luckily the picture was not on the wall. Alex would have spotted me from a mile away. Besides the two teeth missing and, of course, the natural maturity that the face holds at 30, I was glad to see I hadn't changed all that much. I still smiled this wide, and my eyes shined when it was unquestionably happy. Even my hands, softly gripping the fork, held the same curled mannerisms. Sugar looked about the same, her smile devilish and playful, just like now. It took me back to when we had all the time in the world to kill.
Sugar smiled at me, and I returned it.
"See, just like the picture," Noel exclaimed, her phone vertically healed up. She turned it towards us, and we saw almost the same picture reflected us in nearly the same seats, albeit a few decades later. Sugar, Noel, and I laughed. Life can change so much, but you can always find happiness when you have people you love. Nothing more I was thankful for at this moment.
Until "found it!" The polaroid got snatched up from our hand. "Waited till you all had your moment. But I win," Alex said, taking a seat next to me, and he gloured at the picture. "Would have found it in a heartbeat. Your nose still scrunches this way when you smile," he simply said.
"No! You didn't find it. I found it!" I argued.
"But the bet wasn't if you would find it. It was who was right and since I did spot the picture, albeit in your hand, I win! Not my fault you were waving the photo around!" He took a few bites of his pancakes and nodded in approval.
"Fine, you win," I said, defeated.
"So, Christmas?"
"You can ask, but I might say no!"
"Are you really going to say no future, Mrs.Tribecc?" He jokingly whispered.
"Alex, you realize Christmas is a month away. That would make two months of us dating. Plus, you'll need to plan a proposal."
"Done!"
"You'll need a ring!" I exclaimed so loud that Sugar and Noel looked at me like I had three heads. I smiled weakly at them, and thankfully they returned to their original conversation.
"Done."
"You have a ring?"
"Yes, I told you I am serious about this. I have been since the day we started dating. I want to marry you." I exhaled so loudly that the few straggling pieces of my hair that had escaped my ponytail flew up. "Give me a good reason not to ask you, and I won't." he quietly added.
"We haven't dated long enough!"
"I've known you for eight years. A full eight years. Spent almost 24/7 with you in those years. We know each other more than most people who decide to get married." He argued.
"Alex, what's the rush?" I pleaded.
"I answered this yesterday," he curtly said. "But if you don't want to marry me, then...."
"I do," I interjected. "I am just scared."
"Of what?" Of getting hurt. Of not being sure of his motivation for this. Of him changing his mind. Of not being good enough to be his wife. Of so many other little doubts that crop up now and then in my brain. "Don't you trust me?"
Did I? Yes, I think I did. I nodded an unsure yes. He kissed my cheeks lightly. "Do you trust me?"
"With my life," He said without a doubt. That will have to be good enough.
"Okay! Christmas it is."
"Well, not exactly on Christmas. I want to surprise you," he added.
I genuinely laughed. As we ate, my mind wandered. My heart leaped with excitement that I didn't know I could feel at the thought of Alex on his knees for me. A proposal from Alex would be adorable to see, I thought, and it certainly would make me happy to know exactly how he felt about me and visions of him confessing his dying love to me, the same visions I've carried with me for eight years played on in my brain.
Then it all came crashing down as a text flashed on my phone. Char, it's Glenn. Please, please call me. I need to talk to someone! Please.
The next few moves I made were automatic. First, I tapped Alex and told him I needed to step out. "Have a call with a potential position!"
"On Thanksgiving?" He questioned. I smiled and nodded.
Next, I grabbed my phone and dashed out into the cold, without my jacket, wearing the chill, hoping it would erase the fear I felt excavating from beneath the numbness my body created. I dialed quickly with my shaking hands, hoping this wasn't like the last time. Ironically, I was also at a Diner with Alex that day.
"Hello," I shakily said.
"Hey, thanks for picking up," Glenn's voice came clean and clear.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yes, I just need to talk to Alex. Can I please talk to him? I know he is with you."
"Glenn. He's asked me not to get involved. I am going to do as he wishes." I responded.
"I need to say something to him. I need to apologize for yesterday. Need to explain myself." He pleaded.
"Glenn–I am sorry. I can't do that. He was a mess yesterday because of you. I am not going to do this again to him. This time I will have to put my foot down and say no to you." I firmly said.
"Okay, I understand." Glenn shakily added. "Thanks, Char, for taking care of him!" Then he hung up.
I looked through the window as Alex laughed at something Noel said and decided this weekend. I would give him a break from his family's drama. Selfishly, I just wanted him to enjoy time with my family and not ruin my holidays. Monday, I would tell him and urge him to talk to Glenn and explain that family means everything, but today, I would enjoy watching my future husband laugh with my family.