The Last Goodbye

Adam turned around when he saw Patrick’s jaw drop at whatever he was looking at behind him. He immediately realized what had caused Patrick to become temporarily speechless when he saw Delaney walking towards them, wearing a bright red dress that fit her body perfectly. “Damn, who’s the lucky guy that gets to take you out looking like that?” Adam questioned, looking her up and down.

“I thought that would be you,” Delaney replied, and Patrick whipped his head around to look at Adam.

“What?” he practically yelled, wondering if he had heard her correctly.

“I thought we had a date tonight,” Delaney said to Adam, ignoring Patrick.

“What?” Patrick repeated.

Adam couldn’t help but smile at Delaney. He would have thought for sure that after their conversation earlier that day during Patrick’s date with the girls that Delaney never would have wanted to go out with him tonight, but he was obviously wrong. “Yeah, we do,” he told her.

“What?” Patrick continued.

“Well, I’m ready whenever you are,” Delaney told him, and Adam put his hand on the small of her back, guiding her towards the doorway.

“Hold on a minute!” Patrick yelled, and both Delaney and Adam stopped, turning around towards him. “You’re going out with him?” he questioned, looking directly at Delaney, who slowly nodded her head while biting her bottom lip. “But, you said that you wouldn’t date anyone that you worked with. And, now you’re dating Bur? How the hell does that make any sense?” he asked, obviously angry that she was going out on a date with Adam.

“Pat,” Delaney began, but then she stopped, realizing that no explanation she could give him would make any sense.

“What?” he asked, waiting on her to finish.

“Drop it, Kaner,” Adam told him. “She wants to go out with me and not you,” he said. “You shouldn’t be that surprised. Just go upstairs and find Raylene. You seem to be hitting things off with her,” he said, and Patrick shot him a glare. “What? You have. I mean, you kissed her, right?” he asked.

“You kissed Raylene?” Delaney asked, not having heard about it before. She didn’t know exactly how she was feeling, but if she had to describe it, it seemed to be a mix of jealousy and shock, and she wasn’t liking that feeling one bit.

“You’re going out with Bur!” he exclaimed, ignoring her question. “What happened to ‘I don’t go out with people that I work with’?” he mimicked. “That’s such bullshit!” he yelled, storming off, not even waiting to hear what she had to say.

Delaney shut her eyes, taking a deep breath. Adam put his hand on her back, causing her to jump slightly. “You okay?” he asked quietly. Delaney simply nodded in reply, still keeping her eyes shut. “We don’t have to go out if you don’t want to,” he told her.

Delaney opened her eyes, looking over at Adam. “What?” she asked. “Where’s the Adam Burish that I know? The one that has been asking me out since he met me? What happened to him?” she asked with a smirk.

“Oh, you want him back, do you?” Adam asked.

“Let’s go,” she told him, grabbing his hand, leading him out of the house, trying her best to forget about Patrick.

***

Patrick stomped his feet as he walked away from Adam and Delaney, acting like a five year old who was mad at his mother. He heard the front door shut, and he knew Adam and Delaney were officially out on their date. He still couldn’t believe that Delaney had actually agreed to go out with Adam. She had told him on countless occasions that the only reason she wouldn’t date him was because she refused to date anyone she worked with, regardless of whether she had feelings for him or not. So, what had changed her mind? How had Adam convinced her to go out with him?

He walked into the kitchen, yanking on the refrigerator door handle, getting ready to grab a bottle of water before heading upstairs to his room to wallow in his own self-pity. He was distracted, however, when he saw the bottle of vodka sitting on the bottom shelf. A couple of shots had been drank out of it, obviously from one of the girls, since Patrick himself hadn’t drank while he had been here, scared that Adam’s earlier predictions of Patrick passing out on the couch would come true. But, now, it seemed there was no reason to say no.

He snatched the bottle out of the refrigerator and headed over to the table, not even bothering to grab a glass. He figured he could drink right out of the bottle. He wasn’t even sure what he was trying to accomplish at the moment. No matter how much he drank, Delaney was still going to be out on a date with Adam.

Why was he even so upset about this? Hadn’t he already told himself that he was going to forget about Delaney and focus on the girls in the house that wanted him? But, then Adam had to go behind his back and ask her out on a date. Well, not really behind his back, seeing as Adam had been asking her out since the first day they met. So, why did Patrick feel so betrayed by the two of them? Hadn’t Patrick been the one to betray Adam by going behind his back and kissing Delaney even though he knew Adam liked her?

But, Patrick could have sworn that Delaney actually liked him. She had felt something in that kiss, just like he had. So, why was she going out with Adam right now instead of Patrick? Patrick tried to get those thoughts out of his mind as he took a big swig of the alcohol, letting it roll down his throat. The effects not settling in fast enough, he continued to drink it as fast as he could, even chugging it at times, only leaving him coughing when he swallowed it.

What felt like minutes later, Patrick was trying to get the last few drops out of the bottle, turning it all the way upside down and holding it over his opened mouth. “Come on!” he whined when the drops wouldn’t come down the sides of the bottle, and he started shaking it, hitting himself in the head with the bottle in the process. “Fuck!” he cried out.

Raylene walked towards the kitchen, having heard what sounded like Patrick talking, but she didn’t hear anyone else’s voice, so she had no idea who was in there with him. She peered around the corner, and saw only Patrick inside, rubbing his forehead. “You okay?” she asked, stepping inside.

“Perrrrrfect,” he slurred, and Raylene could tell that he was drunk, as if the empty vodka bottle in front of him wasn’t evidence enough.

“Why don’t we get you upstairs to bed?” Raylene suggested, knowing it was best for him. Hopefully, he could just sleep it off and just have a nasty hangover in the morning.

“Are you coming with me?” Patrick asked.

“I’m going to help you up there,” Raylene nodded her head, misinterpreting his question. “Come on,” she said, attempting to help him stand up, though she should have known that she couldn’t help him much, seeing as she was barely over five feet. Sure, Patrick wasn’t the biggest person on the planet, but compared to Raylene he was huge.

What felt like an eternity later for Raylene, she had finally managed to get Patrick up the stairs, having had to stop at every step because he wanted to just plop down on the stair and not go any further. Patrick sat down on the bed, and he opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, but then he promptly shut it. He repeated this process four more times before Raylene broke the silence. “Do you want to talk?” she asked him.

“Yeah,” Patrick nodded his head, and Raylene waited on him to continue. Patrick thought about it for a moment, trying to determine if he wanted to tell Raylene what was going on with his situation with Delaney and Adam. He was just about to tell her the truth before he changed his mind. “Tell me about your past relationships,” he suddenly said.

“What?” Raylene asked, furrowing her eyebrows, wondering where that had come from.

“Your past relationships,” he repeated. “Past boyfriends.”

“You don’t want to hear about that,” she told him with a nervous laugh.

“Yeah, I do,” he insisted. “Tell me,” he said, moving over on the bed and patting his recently vacated space.

Raylene hesitantly sat down next to him. “You want to know the truth?” she asked, and Patrick eagerly nodded his head up and down. “I’ve never had a boyfriend before,” she admitted, shamefully dropping her head, staring at the floor, scared for Patrick’s reaction to her confession. When she didn’t hear a sound coming from him, she slowly looked up at him. “You think I’m stupid, don’t you?” she asked quietly. “Or crazy.”

“No,” Patrick told her, and she glanced over at him, wondering if she had heard him correctly. “I think the guys that let you pass by are crazy,” he said, and it didn’t even seem like he was drunk right now, something that Raylene constantly had to keep reminding herself. “In fact, it makes me like you more,” he said, his eyes staring right into hers. She gave him a small smile before he continued. “You’re better than all the other girls here,” he said, leaning in towards her.

Raylene let every thought float out of her head, even the ones that kept reminding her that he was completely trashed right now. When his lips connected with hers, she could feel something she’d never felt before, and she didn’t want that feeling to go away. She turned on the bed so that her body was now fully facing Patrick, never disconnecting her lips from his.

His hands instinctively went to her back, and he lifted her shirt, his fingers roaming all over his skin as their two tongues wrestled for dominance. As his fingers from one hand began unclasping her bra and his other hand attempted to lift her shirt higher, Raylene suddenly snapped back into reality, quickly pulling away from him.

Patrick stared at her wide-eyed, wondering what had just happened. “We can’t do this,” Raylene said, shaking her head, as she suddenly realized she had just had a make-out session with Patrick Kane.

“Come on, Raylene, of course we can. We’re two adults,” he told her, fumbling over his words as the alcohol affected his brain.

“No, we can’t,” Raylene repeated. “You’re drunk, and I’m…I’m just not this girl,” she said, realizing she was not acting like herself at all.

“You’re a fucking tease,” Patrick spat. “Get the fuck out of my room,” he yelled, and Raylene’s eyes widened in surprise at how fast his attitude had changed. “Fucking whore…tease…” he continued calling her names.

Raylene instantly walked out of the bedroom, shutting the door behind her, making sure that he wasn’t able to see the tears that were now falling down her cheeks, as she could still hear all the horrible things he was calling her as she walked down the hallway.