Fall From Grace(38)

Tucker drunkenly poked the screen of my phone five times to get it off speaker. Everyone in the restaurant waited to see what would happen next.  He looked around wildly; his knuckles were white from squeezing my phone so hard.  “You are embarrassing me!” he snapped.

I looked him dead in the eyes.  “Give me my phone or I’ll give you something to really be embarrassed about.”

He immediately slid the phone across the table.  I put it to my ear.

“Hello?”

“Grace, are you okay?” Shane’s voice asked.

“What’s going on, Shane?”

“We need Tucker.  Alex needs a lawyer.  He’s in Manhattan Central Booking.”

“Oh no, what happened.  Oh, forget it, you can tell me later.  But, I don’t think it’s a good idea that Tucker drives, and you might need to call his father if you want a lawyer who isn’t drunk.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Shane mumbled.  “Where are you? I’ll come and get you,” he whispered.

“We’re eating sushi,” I explained as if that told him where to pick me up.

“Ew.”

“Tell me about it,” I laughed.

“So where would you be eating this sushi, exactly?” he asked.

“Just meet us at The Time Warner Center in Columbus Circle.  Wait, how are you going to get us?”  The phone clicked off.

I looked up at Tucker, irritation stirring in his eyes.  “That was Shane.  We have to pay the bill and go.  He’ll be here to pick us up in a minute.”

“No f*cking way.  What the f*ck is he picking us up for?  This date isn’t over.  I’m not done with you!”  The irritation was now replaced with anger in his eyes.

Done with me?  I was going to have to kick this boy’s ass to teach him how to treat a woman!  “Alex is in Manhattan Central Booking.  He needs a lawyer.”

His anger evaporated and his shoulders sunk low.  “Shouldn’t have drunk so much.”  He looked at me with sad eyes.  “I’m sorry; this was such a great date.”

I walked to get my coat, laughing all the way.  I tried to pay for half of the meal, but he wouldn’t allow me, telling me he had already prepaid for half of it and I wasn’t working, so I should be broke and coming to him for a job soon.

The cold air from standing outside sobered him up enough to call his father who agreed to meet with him and Alex.  I stood on the street shivering, wondering what trouble Alex could have gotten into with two broken arms.

The squeal of the Jeep’s wheels as Shane rounded the corner woke me from my thoughts.  He pulled up onto the sidewalk like a lunatic and jumped out of the car.  Without saying a word, he opened the passenger side door, pulled the front seat forward and shoved Tucker in the car.  He then took my hand, helped me into the front seat, and closed the door for me.

Shane climbed back into the driver’s seat and took off towards Centre Street, downtown.  I stared at him while he drove. It’s completely ridiculous that someone should look so perfect or that he be allowed to drive my Jeep.

“What happened?” I asked to get my mind off of looking at him.

“Alex was out with that chick whose boyfriend jumped him.  The boyfriend had roughed her up after the incident with Alex, and well, I think Alex went to the guy’s house and I guess he stood up to him.”

Tucker snapped into action in the backseat asking questions and making phone calls.  I leaned my head against the cold window and sighed.  On a scale of one to ten, I’d have rate the date a 0.