Spanish Lessons Pt. 01

Anyway, she turned around again and looked at me, hands on hips, with a puzzled half-smile on her face. I stood up and lifted my head.

"Hi, Carrie," I said.

Her eyes got wide, and her mouth opened n surprised "O". She covered it with her hands for just a second, and then ran and hugged me. I just held her to me as the audience cheered and few whistles rang out.

"One more?" I winked.

She acted like she didn't want to let me go, but nodded.

"Remember this one?" And I segued into I Wasn't Expecting That, by Jamie Lawson.

She laughed out loud, and started singing again, this time looking at me, instead of the audience. Afterwards, I hugged her again, and lifted her hand up high, as the audience cheered. She grinned at them, at me, and gave a shy curtsey.

I led her back to an empty table that Jason had wisely set aside for us, and her girlfriends came over and she introduced us. They asked if she was okay, and she said she was. They asked if she wanted them to stick around, and she said she thought she could catch a ride, looking at me while she said it.

I nodded, and told them I'd take good care of her. One of them smirked, and said she was sure I would.

Back at the table, she really looked at me, and I guess she realized that now, she had to look up at me. "Oh my God, Bren, when did you get so tall?" Sher eyes ran over my body. "And... big?"

I just grinned. "I worked a lot of construction, and started eating better. But look at you! You look fantastic, Carrie."

She blushed. "Thanks. Pretty much the same story for me... starting exercising and stopped eating burgers and fries... you finally got a haircut, I see."

I chuckled. "Yep. No more mop." I ran my fingers through it self-consciously.

Carrie smiled. "I liked your mop." She stuck out her lower lip, and I chuckled again.

We sat in silence for a few seconds, until I said, "Not that I'm not ecstatic to see you, but why are you here? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy you are. You have no idea how happy," I added. "Sorry. Too much? Too soon?" I smiled.

"No, that's fine, she said, looking down. "Honesty, right?"

"Best policy," I said, sincerely.

"Ok. Well... shit, I still can't believe I'm sitting here talking to you. Right, sorry, why I'm here." She took a breath. "I guess it was getting on to the end of freshman year, when we started drifting apart, and you said you weren't going to be able to come home for the summer."

She saw the sadness on my face, and hurried on. "No blame, Bren, I understand what it was like for you, I promise. Just... then, at the time, you know? I was just bummed."

I nodded. "Me too, Carrie."

"Anyway, that's when I started paying more attention to myself. It didn't matter with you, remember? You thought I was beautiful from the beginning." She said it softly, almost wonderingly.

"I remember," I smiled. "I still do."

She blushed again. "So... I started losing some weight, and my face cleared up, and suddenly there were guys interested in me. Sophomore year, guys started asking me out. At first I was pissed. Like, where were you before, you know what I mean?"

'I know exactly what you mean, sweetie."

She looked at me, smiling at the endearment, and said, "Yeah I guess you would."

"Sooo... I started dating a little, then a little more. I guess I went a little boy-crazy." She hastened to add, "I didn't sleep around, I just went out a lot. But to be honest, I got tired of it pretty quickly."

"I graduated with my Communications degree from Geneseo, and went to work for WROC."

"Oh wow, how cool is that?" I exclaimed.

"It was, actually," she smiled. "I got a job as a production assistant. I guess I worked there for about two years, and then they hired this new program director." She looked down. "We, uh, kind of hit it off."

I flinched a little, hoping she didn't notice. "What's his name?"

Carrie got a strange look on her face, and a half-smile flickered and went. "Barry..."

I gawped at her. Then I started to chuckle. Carrie was giggling too, and I couldn't help myself, maybe it was seeing her again, like this, all the emotions, but I started laughing out loud. "Carrie and Barry? Oh my gosh..."

"Shut up," she was still giggling. "It's not that funny."

My chuckles subsided slowly, and I wiped my eyes. "No, I guess not. Sorry."

We both sat back in our seats.

"So, where is Barry?" Another chuckle escaped me. But it quickly died when I saw her face.

"Still in Rochester. We dated for a little over a year, then we got engaged. Then I found out what a bastard he was."

"Hang on," I said. I turned in my seat and waved my hand at Jason, held up two fingers, and pointed at the table. He nodded.

"Sorry, this sounds like a conversation that we need a drink for."

A moment later, Jason was at the table with two glasses of WhistlePig Rye. Whiskey from Vermont in a Texas bar might seem unusual, but Jason stocked it just for me. A little something from close to home.

"Thanks, Jason. Meet my friend Carrie, from back home. Carrie, this miscreant is my friend Jason. He owns this dive."

He ignored me. "Pleasure," he said to Carrie, and she smiled at him. Then he flipped me off and headed back to the bar.

Carrie took a small swallow, and gasped. "Whew! That's going to be an acquired taste, Bren."

I smiled and sipped. "I've missed that, you know. 'Bren.' You're the only one who ever called me that."

She looked down, a small smile playing across her lips. Then she took another swallow, and continued. "Anyway, I guess it was about six months til the wedding, when he forgot his phone one day. So cliché, right? I looked at it and the dumb shit didn't even bother to delete his texts. With TWO of my friends." She shook her head and took another drink. I waved at Jason again. He came over, quietly set down the bottle and headed off.

"When I confronted him, he hit me."

I growled, "Son of a bitch. I think I can make it to Rochester in two days, and when I get there I'm gonna beat that motherfucker's ass." I actually started to get out of the booth.

She reached over and grabbed my hand. "Bren, stop! You're not driving to Rochester."

"Why not? Nobody lays a hand on you. Imma teach him the error of his ways."

She giggled, and I raised an eyebrow.

"I already did."

I raised the other eyebrow.

"Yep. Kicked him right in the balls, and kept on kicking him until my neighbor heard the commotion and pulled me off him. I broke two of his ribs and ruptured one of his testicles," she said proudly.

I goggled at her. "Holy crap, Carrie!"

She giggled, and then grew serious again. "So... after that I just didn't feel like I could stay in Rochester any more. I was pissed at my friends, and didn't know which ones I could trust, if any. And then Barry back-stabbed me at the station. They said if I resigned, they'd give me a recommendation. Otherwise they'd fire me. I guess I could have fought it, but I'd already made up my mind to leave, so why bother."

She finished her drink, and I poured another finger. I think I had a convert.

She nodded her thanks, and swirled the liquor around in the glass. Finally she said, "The only person - well, other than mom and maybe Josh - that I trust, is you, Bren. I know I have no right to expect anything, but I thought... well, I had to leave, and so why not go to the place where I knew I had at least one friend?"

"That... means... you live here now?"

She nodded.

I felt a goofy grin forming on my face. "That's the best news I've had in a long time, Carrie. A very long time."

Her cheeks turned a little pink, but it could have been from the whiskey. "Thank you for offering to beat him up, I know you would have done it."

I waved it away. "How long have you been down here?"

"About four months. I got a job at KXAN, and found an apartment. I kept telling myself that I wanted to get my feet under me, and then I'd try to find you. But honestly, I think I was nervous. I mean, I'd almost gotten married, what if you had met someone? I was scared, Bren. It's been eight years."

I cleared my throat. "I guess everything works out for a reason. If you'd come down six months ago, I would have been. Married, I mean."

Her eyes widened, and I reached over to take her hand. "It's all over, I promise. Way over. Burned to the ground."

"Wow, that sounds like a story."

I nodded, and proceeded to give her chapter and verse of my life with Sofía. After I finished, she just said, "Jeez, what a selfish bitch!"

"Pretty much."

We sat in silence for a few moments.

"In hindsight, I don't know that I ever really loved her, at least not like I did - do - you."

"You still love me?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Carrie, do you remember what I said before I got on that bus?"

"You said that you loved me infinity," she whispered.

"And that I always will."

And I took her hand.

The End