Page 62 of I Love My Mistake
“WHAT?!” I jump up and down, losing myself in my excitement. “Wooohooooo! They loved it! Yeah, they did! Yeah, baby!” He laughs with all of his body, watching me. I stop and stare at him, stone-faced. “Hey. Not fair. You really had me going there.”
“You should have seen your face.” He grabs me, picks me up and spins me around a few times with me laughing, begging to be put down – and not meaning a breath of it. Soon I’m dizzy for so many reasons. When he lowers me to the ground, we fall into a kiss. I’m as happy for him as I’d be for one of my closest friends. I love hearing about other people’s success. It just means it’s possible.
We clasp hands and continue strolling, the day brightened more by the good news. “I walked in and there were four of them sitting around a huge conference table looking at me, detached and cold. They were polite, but that’s about it. I was a nervous wreck, but I didn’t let on. And then? When I told them my idea for the game? Their faces changed. You should have seen them! They started throwing ideas around for how to market it. Nicole, I couldn’t believe it. They thought it was great. And not one of them had heard of anything like it.” He gives my hand a strong squeeze, surprised, realizing. “Oh! I forgot! I haven’t told you about the app!”
I grin at him. “No, you haven’t. What is it?”
“Well, it’s a game to help teenagers and college kids learn about money. Investing, credit cards, buying homes, the stock market, all of the big stuff. That’s why I wanted something different for the interface, something emotional and different. Something cool that will appeal to them.”
My body reacts to the compliment, tingling with the sweet feeling of being appreciated. “So your game teaches personal finance?”
He’s very excited as he continues, “Exactly. There are no personal finance classes in high schools today – not that I’m aware of, and definitely not nationwide. Kids have no idea what to do when they get thrown into the adult world. People say parents are supposed to teach them, but most parents know nothing about finance. I mean, look at our economy! We didn’t get here because people knew what they were doing! The average citizen is afraid to even discuss money. It’s a direct result of a lack of understanding. Fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of the power money has over us. Fear of thinking we can’t do anything about it. Well, we can take back the power.”
“And your game will teach them?”
He nods, but waves his free hand back and forth. “Not how to fix our whole economy now, no. But it will teach kids what to do with their money and they’ll grow up making better decisions and in time, things could drastically change. And with the game, they’ll be able to play their friends, or anyone in the world. The way it’s designed now, the classroom is still teaching things we have no need for. But kids are hugely into technology so I thought, they’re eating up these apps! What if I used technology – through an app, to empower them… to teach them how to become successful?” He looks to me to see if I understand.
I stop walking and stare at him, flabbergasted. “Mark – seriously – that’s an amazing idea.”
He grins, his smile strikingly handsome. “You think so?” He comes in closer. The smile shifts to an intimate one… meant for only me. I nod the answer yes. He bends down, his lips close to mine, holding there for a suspenseful moment that quickens my pulse. I can feel the heat of his breath against my lips. He kisses me and everything around us disappears – the sounds, the smells, the people – all gone. Sharing this sweet, slow kiss in Central Park on a pretty fall day, without regard to anyone who might be watching, is so beautiful. I willingly give myself over to it, stretching up on my toes, my arms lightly wrapped around his strong neck, my fingers weaved into his hair, my mouth blending with his, our bodies warming against each other.
Breaking in as though from another world, a male voice interrupts. “Nicole?”
Mark and I separate, surprised. Standing five feet from us, holding the leash of a dog I didn’t know he had, is Grant. The unexpected sight of him throws me, so at first I don’t remember who he is.
“Grant! Hi. Is this your dog?” My chipper tone does nothing to cover me.
Oh no. My slip in recognition is a bad combo with his over-developed ego. He saw it. Plus, seeing mekissing this beautiful man in public, when I wouldn’t kiss him in the kitchen at a small party, rubs him a million wrong ways. Off comes that fucked-up mask of his.
His mouth says, “So, how’ve you been?” but his eyes say, slut.
Mark sees his face and my reaction and instinctively puts himself between me and Grant. I shoot a surprised glance at Mark’s back. He seems to have grown, the way he holds himself now, testosterone elongating his 6’4” posture to impossible heights as he warns Grant, “I don’t like the look on your face.”
Grant blinks, intimidated. His eyes dart from me to Mark and back again. His jaw sets. He glares at Mark, shifty-eyed. He tightens his hold on the leash. His dog sits at attention, waiting for his master’s command. It’s an extremely large and scary mutt. Exactly the size of a dog Grant would have. If people had cars in Manhattan, Grant would have a Hummer. That’s the kind of asshole he is. Fear spirals through my chest. What if he’s taught that dog to attack?This is the moment I’ve been dreading, where everything goes to shit.
Grant gets eerily still. “I don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout, man.”
Mark is steady, unwavering. “I think you do. Why don’t you move along? You and your puppy.”
That dog is no puppy. Grant twitches. He glares at Mark, then to me. My fingernails dig into my palms. I hold his stare until he looks away first. With animals like him, you have to. I hold my breath. My heartbeat is pounding… even in my hair follicles. My adrenaline is pumping so hard it hurts. I’m waiting for that dog to lunge, snarling and drooling through the air.
Grant turns and whispers to it in a barely audible voice, “Looks like we’re not wanted.” He sneaks a scary glance to Mark, and says to the staring dog. “C’mon, buddy.”
They walk away. I’m stunned! I thought he’d do more. I can’t believe he gave up so quickly. I’m too tense to be relieved, but the surprise is palpable.
Mark turns to me, about to speak. But he doesn’t get the chance to say what he was going to. Grant doesn’t give him that chance. He yells at us, loud enough for Rhode Island to hear, “I’m going. Because where you are, asshole, I’ve already been. HAVEN’T I, NICOLE?” He keeps walking. He’s a safe distance away from Mark, now and he knows it. The coward.
Mark tenses, his eyes locked on mine. Oh my God. What is he thinking? Grant just said out loud what I would never want Mark to know. He just planted an image in Mark’s head of Grant and I naked, doing things I don’t want Mark to ever picture me doing with another man. I could deny it. I could worry about what he thinks and lie to his face for the rest of our lives. Like that would ever undo what Grant just did. Fuck this! Anger blows up inside me. A switch in me flips on, fast.
I step quickly around, taking a couple steps away. Mark spins around, but not quick enough to beat me.
“HEY, GRANT!”
Grant turns, his mammoth dog stopping just ahead of him.
I slam my hands on my hips and cock my head. “Have you been here? Because I don’t remember it. Oh, wait! That two minute college-style rabbit fuck? That was you?!! Oh yeah! I wouldn’t go bragging about that. Because if that’s the best you’ve got, no wonder all you’ve got with you on this beautiful Saturday is a dog!” I look him up and down with a look that says, you’ve gotta be kidding me with your ridiculous self.
He’s shocked. He looks to Mark.