Damn the Day I Met You

Chapter Eleven

I can’t say it was easy getting over Zach. That’s definitely an understatement. I may have fallen out of love with him, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t my first love. It didn’t mean that I didn’t care about him or want to know how he and Ana were doing. And it really didn’t mean I stopped feeling guilty or jealous.

Because all of it, all of it happened after the break-up. I was a mess, everyone would tell you so. Even Lucy couldn’t cheer me up on the worst of the days. I’ve been spending most of time with Tristan and Lucy; they seemed to be the perfect distraction of anything that had to do with Zach. Well, that’s true most of the time. Other times I would just break down in front of them and not be able to control myself. Lucy, surprisingly, was really good at making me feel better while Tristan just told me to suck it up. That’s obviously what he would think since he never liked Zach in the first place. Not that Zach was particularly fond of him either.

“She’s totally out of it.” I whisper to Tristan, stepping out of his sisters’ room. It was yet another night that I was here watching movies and goofing off with the brother and sister. Lucy had fallen asleep during Little Mermaid and I decided to take her to her room, giving Tristan a break from that for once.

Tristan smiles and pulls me back down to sit on the couch. I would protest, except I didn’t want to go back to the dorms yet. I didn’t want to chance a run in with Zach, or worse, Ana.

“No offence Katie, but you really need to grow a pair and face him. You can’t always hide out in my house.”

“Oh, I can’t? I mean, the house is clean, the food is homemade, and your sister adores me. I don’t see anyone complaining.”

He smirks and pulls me closer to his side, “I never said I was complaining. But I might not let you leave one of these days.”

I laugh and shake my head as if he’s crazy, “that’s not creepy at all, Tristan.”

“It’s good to hear you laugh,” he comments, “You don’t do it often nowadays.”

“Please, please don’t.” I beg, not wanting to talk about anything that might have to do with the break up. “I really can’t handle that right now.”

Tristan shrugs and turns to face me, “you know, I’ve learned a lot about you, but you don’t know much about me.” He says, as if leading into something else.

“You are a mysterious man, Tristan.”

“So I’ve been told. And I’m about to open up to you, so take it or leave it but keep in mind it might be your only shot.”

“I’ll take it.”

“Well then, ask away. What would you like to know?”

I think for a moment, trying to come up with the perfect question for him. “Why exactly does Lucy live with you?” I watched as his face dropped. He definitely wasn’t expecting that question to leave me house. “And with your answer I expect you to answer why it made you and Ana break up.”

I watch as Tristan takes a deep breath before answering my questions. “My mom and dad never really got along. They never got married and it was kind of known that I was a humongous mistake. But oddly enough that didn’t stop them from having a second child together. My life was bad enough being a single child. I rarely saw my dad and my mom brought a new guy home almost daily. Then Lucy came along and I thought this would make them work harder. If anything, it tore my family apart more. The last time I saw my dad, Lucy was 3. So it’s been awhile. My mom started to drink more and would be home about three times a week. I worked my butt off and saved up money to get an annulment. I moved out and took care of myself without my mom screwing with my life. But then I realized that I left my sister and I couldn’t live with myself knowing she was in danger. So I fought my mother for Lucy and won. It wasn’t too difficult to do give my mom’s state and all. Ever since, Lucy has stayed with me. She never asks questions and I have yet to explain to her everything that happened. I’m sure it will come up at some point.”

I pull back a little to look up into his eyes, “and Anna? Why doesn’t she like you?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. I can tell my side of the story, but it’s obviously not complete. Anna is definitely the traditional Italian who is all about family. She didn’t support me one bit in moving out or taking my sister with me. On top of that, her father was my mother’s attorney and well, I’m sure you can see how that would cause some drama. She felt bad for my mom and I finally broke it off. She hasn’t talked to me since.”

“Well her loss.”

I didn’t have to look up at Tristan to know he was smirking “was that a compliment?”

“Yes, and don’t expect them often.”

“Trust me, I won’t.”

“So, are you still an open book, or was that all I got?”

Tristan shifts a little, changing our position. I’m sure his legs were falling asleep since I was practically on top of them for over an hour. “Depends, what do you want to know?”

I thought for a moment, wanting to do something totally random. “What was your first impression of me?”

“If I said ‘oh god, another Jacqueline,’ would I get hurt?”

I laugh at his statement, “Sadly, I’d probably think the same. So I’ll keep the punch for another time.”

“And then when you backed into me, I mean seriously, who does that to a waiter?”

“I said sorry. Come on, you must have heard what my grandmother was doing. You would have wanted out of there just as quickly.”

He just smiles and gives a short nod in agreement. “What about you? What was your first thought of the amazing Tristan Bertina?”

“Amazing huh? Both times I ran into you I noticed your blue eyes. And of course, how much of an ass you were.”

“Two compliments in one night, I’m on a roll.”

“I never said I liked your blue eyes.”

“Well then it’s good I was talking about me being an ass.”

Another chuckle escapes my lips as I lean back into his chest. Right here and now I felt perfectly content. So many things were messed up in my life, but for the few minutes I forgot about all of that, everything seemed great.

“I’m gonna get Lucy a babysitter this weekend.”

I crane my neck to look up at him, “oh really? Is that your way to ask me to watch your sister this weekend?”

“No, that’s my way to tell you I’m taking you on a small trip this weekend. You need to get away from everything and I know the perfect place to do so.”

I couldn’t help but feel butterflies in my stomach as he spoke about taking a trip with me. Even if it was just for a weekend.

If my grandmother hated my last boyfriend, I’m sure she’d have a heart attack if she knew I was falling for a waiter. Though I might just have a heart attack myself at the new realization.