“Really? You’ll be missing the party.” I swing my arm out at the crowd of bodies mingling together. Eve shrugs and gently pushes me towards the door. Outside, the deathly cold air blasts into me like a cannon ball. My teeth begin to chatter as I stuff my hands in my pockets and follow Eve to her car.
“I enjoyed talking with you Jake.”
“Uh, yeah, me too. Thanks for the ride,” I say upon reaching my destination. Eve parks the car along the curb and I peer inside Coffee Beans. Instead of working, Emily was sitting at a table by the window with Kyle, just a laughin’. Kyle smiles, reaches out and rests his hand on Emily’s knee. What is this all about?
“They sure do hang out a lot. I see them around campus together all the time,” Eve comments.
“Yeah, he’s a good friend of Emily’s. I should get going. Thanks again.”
“No problem.”
I open my door and close it. The door of the café jingles when I walk inside and Emily’s head turns towards me. The smile that was already floating on her lips rises when she sees me. Sweetness slides out of her seat and rushes over to me with a hug.
“Love, you’re cold. Want some coffee to warm you up?”
At that moment,
I want nothing more than to have Emily warm me up herself. I notice Kyle is eying us as I tell Emily that I would love a coffee. I snake my arms around her waist,and kiss her forehead, thanking her in advance.
“I’ll be right back.”
She leaves my arms empty and after she disappears behind the counter, I walk over to her vacant seat and sit down. Kyle clears his throat and looks uncomfortable. “Hey,” I offer a greeting.
“Hey.”
Kyle looks over to where Emily disappears and then back to me.
“I just want to see if she’s talked to you.” After giving him a puzzled look, he continues. “About the nightmares. She hasn’t really mentioned them to me, but I would feel a lot better knowing that she was talking to someone about them. I figured if she told anyone, it would be you.”
“Yeah, she told me last night.” I wanted to ask if he had any ideas on how to help her, but at the same time, something inside of me was reluctant to ask this guy how to help my girlfriend with the loss of our baby. In seconds, I give in because the want to help Emily was greater than the urge to not ask Kyle.
“It’s really something she has to tackle herself. At the same time though, she needs someone to be there for her to talk to. Every time I bring it up, she ignores me and either changes the subject or pretends she has something to do.”
“Well, she does talk to me. Don’t ask her about it anymore either. She thinks about it so much as it is.”
Guilt once more flows through me knowing that Emily has thought of the baby today, but I haven’t. My phone rings and, seeing Drake’s number, I answer. “Isn’t it past your bedtime?”
Drake laughs. “Yes, but I haven’t called you yet. Today was boring though. It was the same thing over again. I went to school, did work, came home and did more work, had dinner with Dad, watched TV and play video games. When are you coming home?”
I chuckle and reply, “Thanksgiving is coming up. I’ll be home then. We’ll have to play a lot of video games to make up for lost time, okay? You were able to do your homework by yourself?”
“Okay. Dad helped me some. He is taking me to get a new racing game tomorrow. It’s going to be so sweet!”
I hear Dad’s voice in the background and Drake says, “Okay Dad. Jake, I have to go to bed. Tell Emily, I said hey and I miss her and I’ll call tomorrow.”
“Alright. I will. Love you little man.”
“Love you too, Jake.”
Sweetness walks over to the table, sits my coffee down and places her behind in my lap. I reach around her for my coffee and enjoy the hot liquid rushing down my throat. It’s so warm that I can feel it literally going down my esophagus.
“Thank you Sweetness. Drake called and said he misses you and that he’ll call tomorrow.”
“That’s two days in a row that I haven’t talked to him,” Emily frowns.
I rest my hand on her lower back and Kyle steals her attention.
“I better get going. You’re about to close and I’ve got homework to do. I’ll see ya tomorrow, Em. Later, Jake.”