Picture Perfect

“I’ve had enough of you! Why couldn’t it have been you?!”

That’s the last thing he said to me, before he hit me. It wasn’t the hit that hurt, I was totally used to it. It was what he said to me that hurt.

He didn’t apologize; why would he? I got him beer after beer when he asked. Finally he fell asleep, which was great. I was happy that he had fallen asleep. I had a giant headache, and I wanted to go to sleep before he woke up and yelled at me some more, for no reason whatsoever.

I had just climbed into bed when the phone rang. I picked it up swiftly. It was Melanie. We hadn’t seen each other for a while, and it seemed that she wanted to check up on me.

“We have to hang out tomorrow, Emily, okay?” It was more of a command than a question. I reluctantly agreed, maybe just to get off the phone. I wanted to get some rest. I had to get out of the house in a hurry tomorrow, especially if I didn’t want my father to see.

- - - - -

I woke up around seven the next morning. I grabbed some clothing, ran to the bathroom, and took a shower. When I was done the morning ritual, it was eight. I decided I’d better hurry before dad woke up. I checked the sofa; he wasn’t there. Mom probably woke him up when she got home from work last night, and she’d probably already left. We’re a single income house, and Mom’s always working, probably just so she can get away from Dad. If I could, I’d do the same.

Mel told me to meet her at Casey’s — the best new clothing store out there. Why the hell would I want to come here? I’d never be caught dead in this store. Melanie was already there, and she seemed to be talking to someone. A man. Mel was talking to a man.

As soon as Melanie saw me, she waved me over. I walked as slowly as I could to her. The man turned around to greet me. I recognized the man from somewhere, but I couldn’t place him. I hated when that happened….Doesn’t everyone?

“Emily, this is Bobby Ryans. I met him last week.”

“We’re kind of….dating,” he added.

“Oh,” I said, trying to sound enthusiastic for her, “that’s wonderful.”

Mel seemed to pick up on my slightly sour tone. She misunderstood, completely. “Sorry for not introducing you sooner. I just wanted to see how serious it was before you met him. Nobody met him.”

“That’s fine, Melanie, really,” I told her. “And Bobby, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine, Emily.”

“Don’t worry, Ems. You’re the first to meet him. Hell, not even Will—“ she stopped, thinking, or knowing, that saying her brother’s name might push me over the metaphoric edge of my sanity. I hadn’t seen Liam since the last time, still. I hadn’t even heard from him, and didn’t know if he’d told Melanie anything about us. What bothered me the most was that after that day, not once had he contacted me. What had I done?

There was an awkward silence at that moment. Bobby decided to break it, by saying something that would potentially change everything. “Do I know you from somewhere? You have a strange resemblance to my Uncle Bruce.”

We looked at each other for a moment, then Melanie piped up, “Hey, isn’t your father’s name Bruce?”