going to be your server tonight. Whatever you guys want. It’s on the house. Have fun. I got a few things to take care of and then I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
With that, Chase takes off into the sea of dancing people. Nick makes a beeline for the dance floor, already hitting on every pretty girl he sees. You spot a couple of your friends dancing and join them.
After a few songs, you go ahead and make your way back to your seat, hoping to see Chase. He still hasn’t made it back yet but you wait, secretly hoping he’ll make his way back to you. While you sit there, you decide to get a drink. You spot Natalie and wave her over.
“What can I get ya?”
“Can I get a whiskey sour?”
“Sure thing.”
She brings you your drink, and you sit there enjoying your drink and listening to the music. Your friends come and sit with you a while before they take off for the night.
As the night comes to a close, you’ve only caught a glimpse or two of Chase around the club. Nick finally manages to make it back to his seat, and he is beyond drunk. He throws himself down and puts his arm around you and says, “Hey you. You want to know something? You’re my favorite sister… Shhhhh, don’t tell anyone… It’s a secret.”
You can’t help but begin to laugh at Nick and how drunk he is.
“Nick, I’m your only sister. The secret’s out.”
Nick laughs as he falls over into the seat next to him and passes out shortly after. You shake your head, wondering what in the world is wrong with him.
I guess it could be worse. He could be puking everywhere.
You finally see Chase make his way back up the stairs now that everyone has left. He heads over to you, and you feel a wave of excitement come over you.
It’s about time. Holy crap, Alex. Pull it together. Just breathe.’
Chase takes a seat across from you and lets out a low chuckle when he sees Nick passed out in the booth beside you. He turns his head to you still smiling.
“Well, I see Nick enjoyed himself. Did you have a good time?”
“Yeah, we didn’t get to see much of you, though.”
“Sorry about that. Every time I was on my way back over, something always came up.”
“It’s okay. You looked pretty busy, but that’s a good thing. Right?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a few things to finish up before I head out, but I can call you a cab, and I’ll take care of Nick when I get done?”
You give him a smoldering look.
“Chase, you haven’t even had a chance to celebrate your big night. We need to at least have a drink?”
“Well, I do have a bottle of champagne upstairs in my office that I was saving. I almost forgot about it.”
With that, you hop to your feet and gesture for him to lead the way for you.
“Well, what are we still doing here? Lead the way boss man.”
Chapter Six
The two of you make your way upstairs to Chase’s office, leaving your brother passed out on the sofa. Once you make it, Chase goes to get the bottle of champagne and a couple of glasses, and you begin checking everything out.
You make your way down the long bookshelf against the wall, looking at all the books and art pieces he has placed on it, and right in the center, you notice a very familiar picture frame on display.
It’s one of the matching picture frames you made for him when you were kids, and it still has the picture of the two of you that you put in it. Your heart begins doing flips, and a knot starts to form in the pit of your stomach at the thought of him holding on to it after all these years. You hold it up and turn to him.
“I can’t believe you still have this thing,” you say, surprised.
Chase laughs and asks, “Why?”
“Because I made these for us in, like, the first grade.”
Your heart fills up with warmth that he’s kept it all this time just like you have. Yours has its own special place on your desk with a necklace he got you a couple of years later. He comes over to you with a look of pure happiness. He takes the picture frame from your hand and looks at it like he’s looking at a lost piece of art.
As you stand there watching him, you can’t help but think, It’s just popsicle sticks, crazy glue, and shells we found down by the river that summer. The nicest thing about it is where it says “best friends” on the top, and I love you on the bottom and that’s only because my mom helped me write it. Well, and the picture, even though it’s faded.
He takes a moment before he answers you and lets out a breath, then says, “I could never get rid of this.”
He stands there staring at it as if it were lined in gold. You look at him like he’s lost his mind, and he speaks again.
“This came from my best friend when I needed it most. I didn’t handle it well when my dad left me and my mom, and you and Nick stayed by my side and when you gave me this… I remembered how lucky I was and that whatever was going on with my parents wasn’t my fault. That I have people who care about me.”
You remember back to that summer. You and Nick had made a promise to give Chase the best summer ever. His father had run out on him and his mom once again, and she fell into a drunken binge. She loved the man straight to insanity, and he didn’t care. He was always putting them down and having affairs behind his mother’s back.
Chase takes a short breath and says, “It’s my most valuable possession.”
He finally looks up from the picture, and you see a look in his eyes that you’ve never seen before. It’s a vulnerability in him that he has become very good at hiding. Then he lets out a low chuckle and puts the picture frame back where it was and says, “How about we open that bottle?”
You nod and follow him over to his desk. He opens the bottle and pours you both a glass. You raise your glass to make a toast.
“To the H2O. To you, Chase, you did it.”
Chase raises his glass and adds, “To friends. Without you guys, I couldn’t have done it.”
You both drink up, take a seat, and reminisce on memories you have from your childhood. Before you realize, the bottle of champagne is almost all gone. Chase pours you both one last glass. You walk over to the windows behind Chase’s desk and take in the view of the park and the cityscape behind it.
“Have you ever seen anything so beautiful?”
Chase walks up behind you, looking over your shoulder.
“This is what sold me on the building. Being able to look out at that after a long night. I couldn’t think of anything better.”
You
