Last Chance For Romance
Prologue
”Pat,” I giggled nervously, “can I open my eyes yet? You know how much I hate surprises.”
“Not yet Parker,” he told me and I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll let you know when you can.” He grabbed my hand to reassure me.
He had gotten me out of bed at 4:30am and shuffled me out of the house; I hadn’t even been allowed to change out of my pjs. He put me in the passenger seat of his car then ran around and got into the driver’s seat and started the car. He made me cover my eyes and bury my face in a sweatshirt he had in his car so that I couldn’t see where we were going.
“Pat,” I said, getting agitated and asking for probably the hundredth time, “can you at least give me a hint?”
“My answer is the same as all the other times; keep your eyes covered Park. I know you don’t like surprises but you’ve got to trust me and know that you’ll love what I’m doing.”
I feel us turning the corner and I can feel the road we’re driving become rougher. I turn to look at him and even though I can’t see him and he can’t see my glaring, I glared at him anyway. “Patrick Timothy Kane are you taking us up a mountain?!”
I can tell he’s smiling again. “Nobody says my full name like you do, honey. And no, we’re not going up a mountain. We’ll be there in five minutes so just hold tight.” True to his word, the car stopped about five minutes later and as soon as we stopped, I asked if I could look and he told me that I had to wait until he got me out of the car. He opened my door and helped me get out of the car. He held my hand and we walked a few steps until he stopped us.
I opened my eyes and saw that we were overlooking the city. The sky was still mostly dark but I could see the beginnings of what looked like a beautiful sunrise. I turned to look at Patrick and smiled, knowing that he drug me out of bed to share this with me. I threw my arms around him. “Thank you babe. I’m so glad you wanted to share this with me.”
He and I hopped up on the hood of his car. He put his arm around me and pulled me close. “I love you so much Parker.” He kissed me lightly then we settled back to watch the sun rise.
I woke with a start, completely disoriented. I took a few deep breathes and took in my surroundings. I was lying in my bed in my new apartment in Chicago. The sun was rising and the sunlight was streaming through the window which was what had woken me. “Parker, you’re not with Pat anymore. Everything was just a dream and your subconscious was trying to fuck with you and upset you,” I told myself. I kept repeating that but no matter how many times I repeated it to myself lying there, it didn’t stop a few tears from falling because I knew how things had been before all the fighting had started.
“Angie, I’ve got to tell you that you and David are so cute together. And you’ve got him trained so well.” Angie had been dating David for a few months and they were so great together. Out of all of David’s girlfriends that I had met, she was definitely my favorite. Because the four of us got along so well, we constantly did stuff together.
“Stop embarrassing me,” David said groaning, his face reddening. “And I am not trained!” Angie and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then I looked over at Pat and he joined in on our laughter. “Whatever guys. I’m going to excuse myself and go get another drink from the kitchen.”
Angie smiled and laughed as she quickly got up to follow him, weaving through the huge crowd of people that crammed into the small apartment where we were partying. Pat got up too and said that he would be right back with some drinks for us after he went to the bathroom.
As he walked away his phone vibrated signaling a text. I opened the text and my mouth dropped. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I can’t wait to see you again and You were so hot last night, fucking me against the wall were the most recent texts from some woman named Ashley. I was so hurt and upset; my vision began to blur.
“Here you go baby,” Pat set down a drink in front of me. When he noticed me with his phone he paled and swallowed quickly.
“You. Are. A. Fucking. Asshole.” I told him enunciating each word then slapping him across the face. I honestly didn’t care that we were at a party with lots of people around.
“Wait, please just let me explain,” he said quickly.
Before I could rip into him, one of the guys that lived in the apartment came over and told us that they didn’t want any drama at their party and that if we were going to fight, we had to take it outside. Once we got outside, I let him have it.
“You are such a hypocritical prick! We’ve been fighting lately because you thought I was cheating on you but here you are, fucking some other chick,” I yelled, getting in his face. “I would absolutely love to hear all your explanations about this, and how it happened, and how you’re sorry blah, blah, blah.” I was so worked up I hadn’t noticed that I had started gripping the front of his shirt tightly with both hands. When I realized it, I let go and backed up a few inches.
“Parker, I only did it because you’re never around anymore!” he shot back. “You’re always going out without me and when you are around, you’re so tired. We haven’t had sex in weeks!”
“Don’t you fucking dare try to make it out to be my fault. You know damn well that when I go out, they are work functions,” I shrieked at him. “I’m studying journalism and because my dad pulled strings, I’m interning with one of the best newspapers here in Chicago while I’m going to school. You have no fucking excuse for dicking around behind my back and you fucking know it too!”
“Oh, so you’re saying that whatshisname from work isn’t getting a little fuck from you now and then,” he sneered.
“No, he’s fucking not. But you know what, Kyle wants to. And since we’re not together anymore, Pat, Kyle’s in for a big surprise!”
I was woken again when a small body crawled in bed with me. I saw my baby girl smiling and excited for the day. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight, thanking god that one good thing had come from Patrick in the end.
“Mommy okay?” she asked, suddenly very concerned.
I smiled at her. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just had a really bad dream and it made me sad,” I lied. “But I’m all better now Ari. Are you ready to get up baby? Let’s get up and get you to Grandma so that Mommy can go to work.”
"Yay Grandma!" she yelled clapping her hands.
I only wanted what was best for my daughter. I knew that she would never get to meet her dad. It made me sad thinking that Pat would never get to meet what we had created together, but I knew my baby was better off not knowing the man I had left.
“Not yet Parker,” he told me and I could hear the smile in his voice. “I’ll let you know when you can.” He grabbed my hand to reassure me.
He had gotten me out of bed at 4:30am and shuffled me out of the house; I hadn’t even been allowed to change out of my pjs. He put me in the passenger seat of his car then ran around and got into the driver’s seat and started the car. He made me cover my eyes and bury my face in a sweatshirt he had in his car so that I couldn’t see where we were going.
“Pat,” I said, getting agitated and asking for probably the hundredth time, “can you at least give me a hint?”
“My answer is the same as all the other times; keep your eyes covered Park. I know you don’t like surprises but you’ve got to trust me and know that you’ll love what I’m doing.”
I feel us turning the corner and I can feel the road we’re driving become rougher. I turn to look at him and even though I can’t see him and he can’t see my glaring, I glared at him anyway. “Patrick Timothy Kane are you taking us up a mountain?!”
I can tell he’s smiling again. “Nobody says my full name like you do, honey. And no, we’re not going up a mountain. We’ll be there in five minutes so just hold tight.” True to his word, the car stopped about five minutes later and as soon as we stopped, I asked if I could look and he told me that I had to wait until he got me out of the car. He opened my door and helped me get out of the car. He held my hand and we walked a few steps until he stopped us.
I opened my eyes and saw that we were overlooking the city. The sky was still mostly dark but I could see the beginnings of what looked like a beautiful sunrise. I turned to look at Patrick and smiled, knowing that he drug me out of bed to share this with me. I threw my arms around him. “Thank you babe. I’m so glad you wanted to share this with me.”
He and I hopped up on the hood of his car. He put his arm around me and pulled me close. “I love you so much Parker.” He kissed me lightly then we settled back to watch the sun rise.
I woke with a start, completely disoriented. I took a few deep breathes and took in my surroundings. I was lying in my bed in my new apartment in Chicago. The sun was rising and the sunlight was streaming through the window which was what had woken me. “Parker, you’re not with Pat anymore. Everything was just a dream and your subconscious was trying to fuck with you and upset you,” I told myself. I kept repeating that but no matter how many times I repeated it to myself lying there, it didn’t stop a few tears from falling because I knew how things had been before all the fighting had started.
“Angie, I’ve got to tell you that you and David are so cute together. And you’ve got him trained so well.” Angie had been dating David for a few months and they were so great together. Out of all of David’s girlfriends that I had met, she was definitely my favorite. Because the four of us got along so well, we constantly did stuff together.
“Stop embarrassing me,” David said groaning, his face reddening. “And I am not trained!” Angie and I looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then I looked over at Pat and he joined in on our laughter. “Whatever guys. I’m going to excuse myself and go get another drink from the kitchen.”
Angie smiled and laughed as she quickly got up to follow him, weaving through the huge crowd of people that crammed into the small apartment where we were partying. Pat got up too and said that he would be right back with some drinks for us after he went to the bathroom.
As he walked away his phone vibrated signaling a text. I opened the text and my mouth dropped. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. I can’t wait to see you again and You were so hot last night, fucking me against the wall were the most recent texts from some woman named Ashley. I was so hurt and upset; my vision began to blur.
“Here you go baby,” Pat set down a drink in front of me. When he noticed me with his phone he paled and swallowed quickly.
“You. Are. A. Fucking. Asshole.” I told him enunciating each word then slapping him across the face. I honestly didn’t care that we were at a party with lots of people around.
“Wait, please just let me explain,” he said quickly.
Before I could rip into him, one of the guys that lived in the apartment came over and told us that they didn’t want any drama at their party and that if we were going to fight, we had to take it outside. Once we got outside, I let him have it.
“You are such a hypocritical prick! We’ve been fighting lately because you thought I was cheating on you but here you are, fucking some other chick,” I yelled, getting in his face. “I would absolutely love to hear all your explanations about this, and how it happened, and how you’re sorry blah, blah, blah.” I was so worked up I hadn’t noticed that I had started gripping the front of his shirt tightly with both hands. When I realized it, I let go and backed up a few inches.
“Parker, I only did it because you’re never around anymore!” he shot back. “You’re always going out without me and when you are around, you’re so tired. We haven’t had sex in weeks!”
“Don’t you fucking dare try to make it out to be my fault. You know damn well that when I go out, they are work functions,” I shrieked at him. “I’m studying journalism and because my dad pulled strings, I’m interning with one of the best newspapers here in Chicago while I’m going to school. You have no fucking excuse for dicking around behind my back and you fucking know it too!”
“Oh, so you’re saying that whatshisname from work isn’t getting a little fuck from you now and then,” he sneered.
“No, he’s fucking not. But you know what, Kyle wants to. And since we’re not together anymore, Pat, Kyle’s in for a big surprise!”
I was woken again when a small body crawled in bed with me. I saw my baby girl smiling and excited for the day. I pulled her into my arms and held her tight, thanking god that one good thing had come from Patrick in the end.
“Mommy okay?” she asked, suddenly very concerned.
I smiled at her. “Yeah, I’m okay. I just had a really bad dream and it made me sad,” I lied. “But I’m all better now Ari. Are you ready to get up baby? Let’s get up and get you to Grandma so that Mommy can go to work.”
"Yay Grandma!" she yelled clapping her hands.
I only wanted what was best for my daughter. I knew that she would never get to meet her dad. It made me sad thinking that Pat would never get to meet what we had created together, but I knew my baby was better off not knowing the man I had left.
6/17/13