The Hookup

Fifty seven

Hero

This mother fucker.

This stupid, worthless, no good..

"Heyyyy Marvin. What's good, man?" I watch as Dan extends his hand, almost timidly to the guy standing directly behind my girlfriend. The one I sleep with every night, share an apartment with, you know.. fuck on the daily. Yeah. Her.

Jesus H Christ.

"Not much. Just grabbing a bite," Marvin flashes a smile at our table, like he was fucking invited. I can tell you now; he wasn't. "Worked late, caught up with the guys. You know."

Yeah. I fucking know how you broke my Josephine's heart, you stupid fucki—

"Yeah, Yeah, man. We were just heading out." Dan diffuses the situation for a moment. All the while, I see Myra and Jo look at each other from the corner of my eye. Fuck. This guy, 'Marvin', or.. better yet, I like to call him 'Fuckface McGee' acts like this is a god damn reunion between old friends. Maybe once upon a time. I hope to God I'm wrong. But, none the less, looks like he needs a punch to the face. In his little pinstripe suit and hair gelled to the side. With two guys who look like yes-men flanking his sides.

I mean, Jesus Christ. The guy has blonde hair for fucks sake. I know Jo's not into him because I have brown hair. And she loves me. Fuck. Have I mentioned I've had a lot of whisky to drink?

Regardless.. I've drank whisky.. a lot of it.

"You guys should come to Warehouse Ten with us! It's apparently the place down here." Fuckface quips again. Making me bristle even more. I can't lose my cool in a fancy restaurant right now. I can't.. but I want to.

I notice Jo is on edge. I am too. For different reasons.. maybe. She's probably thinking 'oh my god. My ex boyfriend showed up and ruined everyone's night'. While I'm like 'can I just beat the shit out of him and call it a day'. But I won't. I won't embarrass her like that. And also, Dan, this mother fucker, is having a kid now apparently and I won't drag him into this. Even though I know he would have my back. One hundred percent.

See? I'm a thoughtful drunk. Right?

"Ahhh," Dan looks around the table like he might find support on this. Won't find it here, buddy. Not now. Not ever. "I don't know. It's been a long week.."

"Baby," I turn to Jo as everyone watches on. Undoubtedly waiting for our reaction. After all.. this whole fuck-nado is about us. "Let's get out of here and go home. You ready?"

I grin when she realizes I've said 'home'. Not a lie but knowing Marvin can piece two and two together makes it that much sweeter.

I'll take what I can get.

I see her visually relax. Thank God. Not just from my words. But from my touch on the back of her neck. Playing with her hair hanging off the back of the chair. I'm relaxed. For now. Because I want her to be relaxed and let her know he isn't shit. Not to me. Especially not to her. The rest of this place doesn't matter.

Also.. have I mentioned that I'm drunk?

"So ready," she says as she falls into my touch and I can't help but smile at the eyes she's giving me. She suddenly looks unbothered.. calm.. brave as she places her hand in mind and I help her stand.

Marvin moves back from behind her chair as she stands tall, hand still in mine and she begins to reach for her coat.

Before anyone can say anything, I start speaking. Maybe out of my ass, but I break the silence nonetheless. "Dan. My. It was so good to see you guys," I reach across the table to shake Dan's hand as he begins to stand. Patting him on the back extra hard. "Congrats you guys and thank you so much for inviting us. We can't wait to be the god parents."

Okay. So maybe I really wanted rub it in. Whatever "it" is. They never asked us that. But fuckface doesn't know that.. and he probably never will. Only now, Marvin has reason to believe Jo and I are couple enough to be left in charge of someone's unborn child if it ever came down to it.

As I've talked, I've retrieved my wallet from my pocket and toss everything I have onto the table. $500American cash in one hundred dollar bills to be exact. Myra's eyes widen and Dan eyes me with a smirk. He knows. With that, I place a kiss on Jo's head and take her hand in mine, leading us from the table to the exit.

As we walk out, I can't help but think one thing; If I were to blow $500, it wouldn't be on his stupid ass. But here we are. And. As long as I have Josephine in the end, it really doesn't fucking matter.