Just Like Her

Chapter 3

Emma

By the time Trisha came and found me, Tom and I were the only ones left on the patio, the cool evening breeze having shuffled everyone else inside. 

Tom had gallantly offered me his jacket when the wind had first started to pick up, and so when she finally stumbled through the open doorway she found me clutching his lapel firmly closed around my chest, laughing so uncontrollably I nearly knocked over the array of empty glasses that littered our table.

"Emma?"

I glanced up, wiping away a stray tear. "Trisha—hi!"

"Hi..." she said, her eyes roaming between me and Tom and eventually settling on the glasses. Her eyes flickered back to me. "Ready to go?"

"What time is it?" I asked as I glanced down at my wrist where my watch usually was. I'd taken it off while getting ready earlier that evening, and in my alcohol-induced fog must have forgotten.

"Nearly quarter to two."

My eyes widened and darted to Tom, who looked equally as surprised. "I didn't realize—"

"I called us a ride," she said as she hung in the doorway. "They'll be downstairs any minute."

I grimaced as I shoved my feet back into the tight constraints of the heels. I stood slowly, doing my best not to wobble. Tom stood too, eyeing me warily as I shrugged off his jacket and handed it to him.

"I'll walk you down," he offered as he handed me my purse.

I stepped forward to take it and—on a drunken whim—kissed him on the cheek. "Thanks, but we'll manage."

I turned toward Trisha, but gasped silently as he caught my wrist in his fingers—it was like every nerve in my arm was firing all at once. I had to fight not to pull away from his touch.

"I didn't get your number," he said quietly.

I glanced up and immediately felt myself drowning in a sea of green. "You... didn't ask for it."

"That's what he's doing now," Trisha interjected from the doorway. She glanced down at her phone. "Our ride's here."

I smiled up at him as I gently tugged my wrist free. "Look for me at Flannigan's."

I could feel him watching me as I walked over to Trisha and followed her downstairs. I might have looked back if I wasn't concentrating so hard on walking properly. I hadn't noticed the time pass-by nor the drinks add up as I had sat there with Tom. 

While I'd been aware that I was being much more loquacious than usual, I hadn't felt drunk until the moment I stood from my seat and even more so when I started to force my limbs to move. By the time Trisha and I reached our car, I thought I might collapse, and when we reached our apartment, I did just that.

I fell onto the warn couch with a thud and immediately kicked off my shoes.

"Here," Trisha murmured from behind me as a large glass of water appeared next to my head. "Drink this."

I took it and did what she said. She refilled the glass and when she handed it to me again she also passed me two aspirin.

"You saw him, too, right?" I asked after I'd swallowed the pills with a gulp of water.

"Yup," she nodded as she plopped herself on the opposite end of the couch and pushed her feet into my lap. "Sure did."

"So he's real," I mumbled more to myself though Trisha responded with a snort.