Chapter
23
Kevin
drove Mariah home in silence. When he got to her house, they saw Brian and the
rest of the guys sitting on her doorstep.
"What
are they doing here?" asked Mariah, looking at Kevin.
"Well,
I called them. I thought you might need some friends around." said Kevin.
Mariah
gave Kevin a grateful look. "Did you tell them?"
"No,"
replied Kevin. "I thought you might like to do that."
Mariah
nodded, then slowly, she got out of the car. Brian walked up to her. They stood
looking at each other for little while, then Brian enveloped her in his arms
gently. Mariah began to cry on his shoulder.
"Shh...it's
okay. What's wrong?" asked Brian.
"Why
don't we get her inside the house first?" said Howie. "I think it's
been a long day for her." Everyone nodded and they went into the house.
When they got in there they sat around the kitchen table. Mariah began to
explain what happened and why she was crying.
"It's
my father's birthday today," she began. "Kevin was kind enough to
drive me there." She paused a little bit. "He's 46 today." The
guys sat silent, not knowing what to say. Mariah looked around the table and
wiped her eyes. "Look at me, crying like a baby, and being rude too. Do
you guys want anything to drink?" She got up and went over to the sink.
"Uh,
Mariah, we're fine, just come back and sit down. It's okay." said AJ.
Mariah
turned around to face them. "Well, I'm fine. It's okay. I just need to
forget about it for a little while. It happens every year. I'm actually kind of
hungry." She smiled at all of them. The guys looked a little relieved that
she wasn't in a state of depression or something.
Nick
got up. "Well, then why don't we all go out and eat?" he suggested.
They
all agreed and headed out the door. They headed to a little diner where they
could enjoy the food and talk. Things went fine, Mariah almost forgot what day
it was during dinner. Until Brian was driving her home.
While
Brian was driving, he was very quiet, like something bothered him.
"What's
wrong?" asked Mariah.
"Nothing,"
said Brian, and gave Mariah a small smile. "I'm fine. Are you okay?"
Mariah
sighed. "Yeah, same old same old. This happens every year. It's not like
this hasn't happened before. At least this year I have some friends with me to
help me through it." She gave Brian a grateful smile. Brian smiled back at
her, then his smile faded.
"Something
is wrong," said Mariah. "What is it?"
He
hesitated a little bit, then said, "Why didn't you tell me today was your
father's birthday? I would've come with you."
"That's
what's bothering you?" asked Mariah a little surprised.
"Well,
yeah," said Brian. "I thought you would've told me something like
that. I would've gone with you, helped you through it. The fact that you told
Kevin--"
"Wait
a minute," interrupted Mariah. "I didn't tell Kevin. He caught me
coming out of the house and asked where I was going. So I said if he really
wanted to know, he could drive me there, and he did."
"Oh,"
said Brian quietly. "I see."
"Brian,
I hope I didn't hurt your feelings or something," apologized Mariah.
"No,"
replied Brian. "I'm just being selfish. I'm sorry I brought that up. Just
forget I said anything."
"It's
okay," said Mariah.
The
rest of the ride was quiet except for the radio playing quietly. When they
arrived at her house, Mariah looked over at Brian.
"Listen,
I know I should've probably told you something. I'm sorry if I hurt your
feelings. You know I--" Mariah stopped short.
Brian
looked over at her and into her eyes. "You..."
"I--I--"
stammered Mariah. "I've got to go."
"Oh,"
said Brian. "Okay, well, how about we have dinner together tomorrow. Spend
some time together."
Mariah
smiled. "Sure, I'd like that."
"Great,
I'll call you later."
"Okay,
good night."
"Good
night."
Mariah
got out of her car, turned and waved and went into her house. When she was inside,
she closed the door and leaned on it heavily. She had almost done it again. She
sighed and went up to bed.
Brian
looked at her house and saw the hall lights turn out, and then her bedroom
window lit up a minute later.
'Was
she going to say what I think she was going to say?' thought Brian. He felt
disappointed that she hadn't said it. 'We need to talk about that,' he thought.
He drove home thinking what he could do to convince her that he did love her in
return. Once he got home, he still didn't know what to do.
'I'll
think of something,' he thought, then he fell asleep dreaming.
***
