Present Perfect(96)

“We were just messing with you,” Lisa said. She and Dalton shook hands. “Bravo to you, sir, for your exquisite portrayal of a horny pig bastard.”

“Why, thank you. And I must say you play quite a convincing skank.”

“You two are hi-lar-i-ous.” I put extra sarcasm in my voice.

It was nice having Lisa and Dalton meet. It was also weird having two of my worlds collide. It’s like they each knew a completely different aspect of me, but not all of me.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?” Lisa asked.

“I thought we would come back downtown and walk around. There’s always something going on, especially now that the tourists are starting to come around. Dalton, is that good for you?” I asked.

“Do with me what you will. I’m all yours.”

I spotted him as soon as he walked in the door. I hadn’t told Noah about Dalton and vice versa. The subject just never came up. Besides, I wasn’t with either one of them like that, but it didn’t stop me from feeling as if I had just gotten caught doing something I shouldn’t, especially since I was sitting next to Dalton.

“Tweet?”

“Noah, hey.” His eyes immediately zeroed in on Dalton. “Noah, you remember Lisa?”

“Yeah, hey. How are you?”

“Hello, The Noah. I’m good,” she answered. He smirked at her name for him.

“And this is Dalton,” I said.

“Hi. You and Lisa are together?” Noah asked.

“No, actually…”

Oh shit! Dalton loves to mess with people no matter the consequences.

Draping his arm around my shoulders, he pulled me into his chest. “…my young grasshopper and I hook up every Monday.” He followed this bit of info with a smirk aimed right at Noah. Noah looked like he was about to lift Dalton right out of his chair. “Yep, we’ve been at it for about two months, right.” He looked over at me. “Our time together wears me completely out.”

Noah started working his jaw and clenching and unclenching his fists.

“He’s talking about chemo. We have chemo together on Mondays. Dalton, tell him it’s chemo,” I begged.

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” Lisa was trying to hold in her laughter while I panicked. Noah looked like he was ready to beat Dalton to a pulp. “I’m just messing with you, dude. We have chemo together. That’s all. Unless you consider the blow job in the supply closet a relationship.”

“Tweet, can I talk to you for a minute. Outside.” Just then Noah’s name was called. It was Brooke.

She walked up to our table, not acknowledging any of us. “Our table is ready.”

“I’ll be right there.”

She looked at the faces around our table and then landed on me. “Hey Amanda, how’s the leg?”

“Still lost.”

Brooke liked to bring up my amputated leg a lot, but only when Noah was around. She wanted to appear as if she had a caring heart while at the same time reminding Noah that I was damaged goods.

She wrapped her scrawny hands around Noah’s muscular arm and said, “Come on before somebody else steals our table.”

“Go sit down. I’ll be there in a minute.” She huffed and puffed, and stomped off. “Tweet, outside.” He turned and walked away, not waiting for me.

Once outside, I found Noah running his hand through his hair a few times. “Who is that *?”

“He’s not an *. He was just joking around. He does that.”

“He likes joking around about f*cking you?” His voice was harsh and angry. I wasn’t sure where this was coming from. “Is he?”

“Is he what?”

“Fucking you?”

“Where the hell is this coming from? Dalton and I are friends. He was joking around. What’s wrong with you?”

“I don’t like guys talking about you like that. I don’t like him.”

“Well, I do like him and he’s helping get me through all this shit I’m dealing with right now. I need him.” It wasn’t my intention, but I could tell my words were like a punch in the stomach.

“You used to need me.” The hurt in his eyes crushed me.

“Noah, I always need you. It’s just... Dalton understands exactly what I’m going through. This is ridiculous. I’ve watched Brooke climb all over you every chance she gets and she loves to constantly remind me that I have a limb chopped off. Now I have someone in my life to take…”

“My place?”

“No. No one will ever take your place. Why can you have someone and I can’t?”

He leaned in so close, our noses were touching. “May I remind you, sweetheart, I never wanted someone else. That was your call.” He pushed passed me and headed back into the café.





The rest of the weekend went a lot better. Lisa and I went shopping Saturday and we met up with Dalton for dinner that night and a movie. It was great having Lisa around. I missed having her near. Even though we texted and talked every few days on the phone it wasn’t the same as being together. She packed up her car and headed to Florida to meet some friends for spring break.





It was Sunday night before Monday chemo. Dalton and I were hanging out at the apartment. We had ordered pizza and were listening to music. We had started spending the Sunday before our on weeks together. Chemo was bad enough, but the night before was a close second. That’s when the dread set in because you knew the next week was going to be hell. Dalton and I helped each other focus on other things on those particular Sundays.