Page 15 of Jesse's Girl
For the past few days, I’ve been visiting her every day during designated visiting hours—leaving me a ton of time to spin my wheels and worry. It’s why I agreed to come out tonight; my life here is so nonexistent, there wasn’t much else for me to do besides pester the hospital for yet another update only to be reassured she’s fine. Marcus was right. I need a break.
“That’s good, right?” Ada asks. “Sounds like an upgrade.”
“Yeah, it’s an improvement,” I hedge, not really wanting to get into it here. “But we don’t need to…”
“Yeah, lay off the heavy shit,” Marcus interrupts, clapping me on the back. “We’re out to have a good time.”
Ada and I share a look. She’s watching me closely, as if to see if I’m truly cool with dropping the topic.
The truth is, I’d like nothing more than to forget about all that stress… at least for tonight. I slap on a brave face.
“You still staying with Marcus?” she asks, seeming to pick up on my desire to move on.
“Yeah, on the couch.”
“Still?” Ada rounds on her brother. “Marcus, what the fuck? You couldn’t spring for an airbed or something?”
Marcus’ eyes widen at Ada’s reprimand and he shrugs, cutting a glance my way. “He says it’s fine!”
“Is that how you treat your best friend? Kind of a dick move.” She fills a glass with ice for another customer. “That couch is trash.”
“Ada, it’s all good, I swear,” I say, holding up my hands with a smile.
She shifts her gaze to me briefly, then zeroes back in on her brother, giving him a dubious scowl.
Why does it bother her?
“Yeah, see? He says it’s fine!” Marcus pleads in defense, gesturing at me. “Chill out, Ada. Christ.”
She continues, undeterred. “I mean, Mom and Dad probably have a spare mattress. You could put it on the floor for him at least.”
“Ada, it’s fine,” I say. “Honest. I’ve slept on worse.”
“Hey, thanks for that ringing endorsement, buddy,” Marcus cuts in, chucking a light punch at my shoulder.
I throw him a quick knowing glance—I have to admit, the couch is a little uncomfortable—but don’t reply. For some reason, I’m vaguely comforted that Ada came to my defense about the sleeping arrangements.
“I’d stay at my mom’s, but I can walk to the hospital from Marcus and Renee’s. It’s just easier.”
Ada studies me, though she doesn’t appear convinced. “How long are you—” she starts, but Marcus doesn’t notice and cuts her off.
“Look, you two wanna order food?” he asks me and Renee. We both nod.
“You’ll have to go find a table,” Ada says. She tilts her chin at the restaurant behind us. “No kitchen service at the bar.”
Collecting our drinks, we leave Ada to the throng of waiting customers and head over to the hostess to get a table.
I turn back to raise my blue drink her way, my pinky lifted in silent thanks for the sugar rush.
She reaches up to brush a lock of equally turquoise hair away from her face and I catch her eye. Smiling, she turns back to the customer in front of her.
I watch her a moment longer, taking a few steps backward before I turn to follow Marcus and Renee. She’s so… grown up. I mean, she is grown up now. But there’s something kind of weird about seeing her again. Good weird.
The hostess seats us across the room, with Marcus and Renee on one side of the table and me across from them. I drape an arm over the back of the empty chair beside me.
“So, tell us more about Australia,” Renee says, taking a sip of wine. Her pin-straight, bleach-blonde hair swishes over her shoulders. “Like, what kind of work were you doing on the farms?”
“Shit, pretty much everything, honestly. When I first moved there, I did this work placement program where we learned all kinds of stuff: how to ride horses, drive tractors, use chainsaws…” I trail off, searching my memory. I’d worked as much as I could then. It was the only thing that kept me from having to face the mess our family had become as my parents’ bitter divorce played out. “Got a job on a cattle ranch for a couple of years after that.”