“Hi April, nice to meet you, would you excuse Matt and me for a second,” I said.
I grabbed Matt by the arm and led him away from the other two. I was doing my best to hide my frustration.
“Matt, you just had to butt in at the worst time,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Oh, come on now. It’s a party. You can’t expect to sit in a corner the whole time,” he replied obviously drunk.
“Listen, I’m going to get out of here. Maybe you can have me meet April some other time, and we can go out for lunch or something. I’m going to take off with Jeff,” I said.
Before I could walk away, Matt grabbed me by the arm and pulled me back.
“Okay, do what you want, but be careful around Jeff. I think he might have some other motive for trying to get close to you,” Matt said.
“I think I’m going to make this decision for myself this time,” I said while pulling his hand off my arm.
“That’s fine, just remember what I said,” he added as I walked back to Jeff.
“Come on, Jeff. Let’s get out of here,” I said taking him by the hand and leading him toward the exit.
“Lovely to meet you, April,” I said with a smile as I continued to walk off.
Jeff stumbled along behind me, seemingly surprised by my haste.
“Let’s see where you wanted to take me,” I said.
4.
His car rumbled down the road. Thankfully he hadn’t had more than half a beer the entire night, so he was practically sober. I didn’t know where we were going, but it certainly was taking a while to get there.
We didn’t have much to talk about in the car at first. I was still a little annoyed at Matt jumping in like that. I would’ve thought that if he saw me talking quietly in the corner with someone that he would have given me some space.
I also didn’t know what to talk about.
“If you’re mad at Matt, you shouldn’t be. He’s a good guy, and he means well. How long have you known him?” Jeff asked.
“Too long,” I said.
“At least, you have a good friend. I’ve only known him a year or so now, and I can tell that he’s one of the good ones,” He said.
“I know he’s a good friend, but even good friends can be frustrating at times,” I said.
“Point taken,” he replied.
We were back to silence again. I tried to reconcile my thoughts as best I could. I could feel myself nearing my wits end, and not because of Matt in the slightest. It was like the culmination of everything that I’d been told not to do was driving me in a car towards a destination I didn’t know. I was scared and excited all at once, and mostly I wanted to know what I wanted.
“It’s a ways, I know. But, the views of the city are spectacular,” he said.
“I can’t wait to see it,” I said monotonously.
We pulled off the main road and drove through a heavily forested area. Were it not for the tire marks in the grass I doubt I’d have had any idea where we were headed.
I couldn’t fight my insecurity any longer.
“Pull over,” I said.
The car came to an immediate halt, and I leapt from the passenger door only to throw up behind a nearby tree.
“Are you okay? Did you drink too much?” he asked.
I held out a hand to quiet him and keep him away. I needed some space so I could breathe.
I looked around at the nearly pitch black forest. I was more than a little frightened. Then I looked up. Through the line of trees, I could see little pinpricks of light occupying the night sky. I was in awe of how small I felt.
I turned back to Jeff, who was leaning against the front of the car waiting for me. He perked up and walked over.
“Feeling a little better?” he asked.
I nodded and stood up, my head still swimming.
“We’re actually here, already,” he said.
I raised an eyebrow, confused with his statement. He just gestured to the other side of the car and beckoned for me to join him. I tip-toed my way around in the grass until I finally could see what he meant.
We must have been about half a mile above the city, on the overlooking hills. I hadn’t seen anything so spectacular. It mirrored the night’s sky; the lights twinkled in the streets and cars zoomed around in the early evening.
“I like to come up here when I have to think. I don’t know why I find it so relaxing to look down on everything,” Jeff said.
“I can see why you like it,” I said.
We sat on the hood of his car, just watching and taking it all in. I felt my anxiety that had built up during the car ride, start to fade away.
I leaned over and gave Jeff a kiss on the cheek.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“I thought it was a good time,” I replied with a smile.