The Last Goodbye

Adam stared at the road in front of him, both hands on the steering wheel. “Where do you want me to drop you off?” he asked Delaney, who was sitting beside him, staring out the passenger side window, neither one of them having said anything to the other one since they had left the restaurant before even getting to their dinner.

“The house is fine,” she stated, not even glancing in his direction. “My car’s still there, anyways,” she said, and Adam nodded his head, not that she could see him at the moment. Adam’s mind flashed back to the date with Delaney, which didn’t turn out at all like he thought it was going to.

Their date had begun awkwardly, as they sat in Adam’s SUV, driving to a restaurant in downtown Chicago in absolute silence. Adam knew that Delaney’s mind was still on Patrick and what had happened back at the house. He couldn’t forget her facial expression when he had revealed that Patrick had kissed Raylene. Did she like Patrick?

He glanced over at Delaney to see she was staring out the window, watching the passing buildings, appearing to be thinking deeply about something. He didn’t want to ask her what it was because part of him was afraid that she would say Patrick.

So, they continued their drive to the restaurant in silence. Delaney never moved her eyes from the window, never once looking over at Adam, something that didn’t leave Adam very happy. What felt like centuries later, Adam finally parked his SUV, getting out and meeting Delaney on the passenger’s side. He held his hand out, which she took as he directed her down the street towards the restaurant. “Where are we going?” she asked him, the first thing she had said since they had left the house.

“Here,” Adam replied, and she looked up to see they were standing in front of Brazzaz, a Brazilian steak house. They walked inside, and Adam smiled at the hostess that stood at the front of the restaurant. “Hi, I’d like a table for two,” he told her, putting on all of his charm, knowing that it was going to be hard to get a table right now, on a Saturday night, right in the middle of dinner time. Delaney watched from a few feet away as Adam and the hostess flirted, and she rolled her eyes at him.

“Right this way,” the hostess said, and Adam held out his hand for Delaney. She grasped it with her own, earning her a glare from the hostess, who obviously did not like the fact that Delaney was Adam’s date. She set them down at a table, putting a menu in front of both of them and asking them what they would like to drink. Adam ordered an expensive bottle of wine, while Delaney told her that she would just like a glass of water.

As the hostess walked away, Adam looked over curiously at Delaney. “I don’t drink,” she said simply, and Adam nodded his head.

After ordering their meals, the waitress came by and began pouring their wine into glasses. As she went to put one in front of Delaney, she slipped, causing the glass to spill, the contents going all over Delaney’s dress. Delaney’s eyes widened, as she knew the waitress had done it on purpose, and she quickly stood up, trying to pry the wet fabric from her legs.

Adam stared at her and her dress, not knowing what to do to make the situation any better. “There’s a bathroom back there,” the waitress said, pointing towards the back, and Delaney walked back there, not saying a word.

She tried to dry the wine off of her dress, but it was pointless, as the material was already ruined. Figuring there was nothing else to do, Delaney made her way back out towards the table, stopping halfway there when she saw the waitress sitting down in her vacated seat, leaning across the table, as her and Adam had a nice conversation, both of them laughing. As she continued to stare, she could see Adam openly flirting with the woman, and Delaney knew at that moment that this date was a mistake.

She walked over to the table, looking over at Adam. “Take me home,” she told him, and he looked up at her. “Now,” she added through gritted teeth, and Adam closed his eyes before nodding his head, knowing she wasn’t kidding. He quickly paid for their meal before escorting her back to the car.

Adam was pulled out of his thoughts as he realized that he had already reached the house. He put his car in park, turning the ignition off. “Thanks,” Delaney mumbled as she got out of the car, practically running to her own, which was a few feet away. As she drove off, Adam threw his head back against the headrest. How could a date turn out that badly? He put his keys back into the ignition before he realized that he had left his apartment key, which he kept separate from his car key, inside Patrick’s house. He sighed as he once again turned off the ignition, quickly hurrying inside.

Adam was praying to himself that he was going to be able to avoid Patrick, not wanting to have to tell him about the horrible date and have Patrick gloat in his face. He opened the front door and saw no one around, so he quickly ran into the living room, grabbing his keys off of the coffee table where he had left them. He turned around to leave when he heard what sounded like sobs coming down the hallway.

Furrowing his eyebrows, he dropped his keys back onto the table, making his way down the hallway. He saw Raylene walking towards him, her head down and tears falling down her face. “Raylene?” Adam called out.

Her head snapped up, and she quickly wiped away the tears, not wanting Adam to see her crying. “Hey, Adam,” she said, trying to put a smile on her face.

“What’s wrong?” he asked urgently, but she simply shook her head, obviously not wanting to talk to him. That wasn’t going to cut it with Adam, though. “Raylene, what’s wrong?” he asked more forcefully. She began quickly walking into the living room, and at first Adam thought he had upset her even more, but then she sat on the couch, looking behind her to see if Adam was following her. He sat down beside her, looking at her, wondering if she was going to tell him what had happened.

“Please don’t get angry,” she began quietly.

Adam furrowed his eyebrows. “Why would I get angry?” he questioned. “What happened?” he asked, almost urgently. Raylene told him exactly what had happened between her and Patrick, from finding him in the kitchen with an empty bottle of vodka to him calling her a tease and telling her to get out of his room. Adam’s eyes widened. “I’m sorry,” he told her, and she could tell that he was giving her a sincere apology, though she didn’t know why he was the one saying it to her.

“What?” she asked. “Why? Why are you apologizing to me? You did nothing wrong,” she told him, her tears beginning to slow down.

“You don’t deserve what Kaner did to you,” Adam told her, reaching up and wiping away the few stray tears that were trickling down her cheeks.

“I’m just being stupid,” Raylene told him. “I mean, he was drunk, and I shouldn’t have even put myself in that situation in the first place,” she said.

Adam stopped wiping at her tears, his hand resting on her cheek as he stared at her. “You’re not actually defending him, are you?” he questioned, and Raylene didn’t really know what to say. “Raylene, I don’t give a fuck if Kaner was drunk or not. He shouldn’t have done it in the first place. He’s just in a pissy mood because I took Delaney out on a date,” he told her.

Raylene grabbed Adam’s hand, moving it away from her face, continuing to stare at him in shock. “Wait, what?” she asked, not understanding his previous statement. “Why would he care if you took Delaney out on a date?” she questioned, and then everything suddenly became clear to her. “He likes her, doesn’t he?” she asked softly, and Adam could tell that part of her was saddened by this news. He slowly nodded his head, answering her question. “So, that’s why he was drinking,” she spoke, more to herself than to Adam.

“Don’t defend him,” Adam told her. “Like I told you, you don’t deserve what he did,” he repeated.

“Adam,” Raylene began.

“You don’t,” he insisted, looking her directly in her eyes to make sure she knew he was being sincere. “You don’t,” he repeated. “Now, why don’t you go on up to your room before people start wondering where you’re at?” he suggested.

“And, where are you going to go?” she inquired.

“I’m going to pay Pat a little visit,” he told her, standing up.

Raylene grabbed a hold of his arm, pulling on it a little bit, and Adam turned his head to see what she wanted. “Remember, he’s drunk. Don’t be too hard on him.”

“You’re too good of a person to be on this show,” Adam said with a smile.

“Please?” she begged.

“Go to bed,” he told her, as if she were a child. Raylene shook her head but did as requested, making her way to the staircase that led up to her room while Adam went to the other staircase that led to the other side of the house, taking the stairs two at a time up to Patrick’s room. He threw Patrick’s door open, seeing him passed out on his bed. He walked over to him, throwing his pillow at his head, practically yelling, “Get the fuck up!”

Patrick groaned, slowly opening his eyes, only to shut them again, not liking the light that was pouring into his eyes. “Quiet,” he told Adam, who only got even angrier at Patrick.

“Get the fuck up!” he yelled even louder, and Patrick slowly sat up.

“What do you want?” he asked, as he stood up, looking up at Adam. “And, can you shut up? I have a headache,” he said, still half-drunk.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Adam questioned, and Patrick looked at him, wondering what he was talking about. “You get pissed off because I take Delaney out, so you drink yourself into a stupor and then put your hands all over Raylene? And, then when she says no, you yell at her and call her names? What are you? A horny sixteen year old kid who’s pissed off he’s not getting laid?”

“Shut up,” Patrick said defensively.

“You need to apologize to her,” Adam told him.

“Oh, like you’ve never wanted a girl just for sex,” Patrick muttered. “Raylene’s just too much of a prude to give in.”

Adam didn’t waste any time in bringing his hand back and punching Patrick right in the stomach, causing the younger man to tumble over onto the bed. “Fuck!” Patrick choked out.

“Sleep it off,” Adam told him. “And, in the morning apologize,” he told him, walking out of the room and slamming the door behind him, leaving Patrick lying on the bed, clutching his stomach.