"American Hangover"

Chapter Eight

“Are you crazy? Ties are for business meetings while bows are for occasions. Remove the tie and maybe we’ll have something close to decent.” Kiral said to Zhi. He’d been going through tuxedos for hours now and they had yet to find something that fit right or looked right. If something fit right it had a weird design. If it was a nice looking tuxedo there was a part to it that didn’t fit their body shapes correctly. Kiral sighed and began to loose hope.

“Maybe we should give up on this.” Zhi said taking a seat next to Kiral on the couch in front of the changing rooms still wearing the tuxedo.

“I hate shopping so bad. Although, I do believe guys should be able to handle buying their own tuxedos. It shouldn’t be this hard.” Kiral replied using his hand to add exaggeration to this place being such a hassle.

“I don’t get how women could shop for hours. Why do they like it?” Zhi said with a shrug as leaned back in his chair.

“Lydia doesn’t. She hates shopping with a passion.”

“Well doesn’t that make you Mr.lucky. A girl who doesn’t shop and watches baseball. Great package.” Zhi said with thumbs up.

“Not so fast… She doesn’t like meat.” Kiral frowned.

“Ouch” Zhi said with a hiss of pain.

“yeah, good thing though she isn’t freaky about it like other non meat people. She doesn’t care who eats meat she’d just rather not herself.” Kiral explained.

Zhi looked at him and thought for a minute. “What’s Lydia’s middle name?” he asked.

“Esther”

“Why is that her middle name?”

“Her grand mother”

“Favorite number?”

“Seven”

“Birthday?”

“October seventh”

Zhi looked at him and then said “her opinion on politics?”

“She doesn’t much care.” Kiral simply answered.

“Wow, man you’re hooked. You know more then the average man with a new girlfriend would.” Zhi said.

“What?” Kiral asked confused.

“Guys don’t get to know girls they don’t plan to stick with. It our law man. I mean, what’s the point? We’re going to leave her eventually anyway. You’re taking this to a serious level aren’t you?” Zhi laughed and patted his shoulders. “Might as well propose now because it’s bound to happen and then you’ll be whipped.”

Kiral jumped up from his seat and said “I’m not going to sit here while you rob me of all my testosterone.” Kiral looked ahead of him and there they were.

“I’m not robbing you of any-“ Zhi was interrupted by Kiral who shushed him.

“Those are them. Those are our Tuxedos.” Zhi looked back and nodded his head.

“Those are them.”

A half hour later they were in Zhi’s car and Kiral had his phone to his ear. Lydia answered hello and he said “We did it. You thought guys couldn’t go shopping and pick something good but guess what? We did it. We’ll be on our way to show you guys.”

“Hold that thought. I’m not at home I’m doing something so I wont be there. Chrissy is there so go anyway and show me later ok?” she said softly.

“Ok, what are you doing? Everything ok?” he asked concerned about the soft tone she took with him.

“Yes, everything is fine. I just have a few errands to run.” She said.

“Alright, I’ll see you later?” he asked.

“yeah…”

“Ok…”

There was a pause and Kiral was about to hang up when Lydia said “Kiral, we need to talk later on ok?”

“ok..” Kiral nodded his head as fear hit his heart. He hung up and looked at Zhi.

“You look a little pale. Everything alright??” Zhi said.

“She said we need to talk…” Kiral said his heart pounding disappointment in his voice.

“Yikes, so maybe you shouldn’t propose just yet… and possibly you might want to return that tuxedo.” Zhi said shaking his head.

*******************************


Lydia sat the bench across from the one she was supposed to be sitting in. She was supposed to meet Ahmet in that bench yet she couldn’t work up the nerve to actually sit in it. Instead she sat in the bench right across from it. There wasn’t even a long distance between the two benches she just really didn’t want to sit at the bench and admit that she was agreeing to seeing him.

Lydia walked toward her car with a smile on her face. Class was over and she was good to end her day with some Kiral. When Lydia arrived to her car her mood changed when she found a note on her windshield. She grabbed the note and looked around. She scanned crowds and cars. No one was around watching her. She opened the letter and read it. It revealed that Ahmet wanted to meat her at their bench. She shook her head and got into her car. She settled the note and her things onto the passenger’s side then settled herself into the driver’s side. She started her car and exited her parking spot.

Half hour later she was sitting with Jolene at Jolene’s kitchen. The note was on the counter between the two and they both stared down at it. Silence crept up Lydia’s spine and her stomach turned.

“I say we burn it.” Jolene suggested.

“I say I’m curious about what it could be about.” Lydia argued.

“Well I encourage you not to go near that place.” Jolene said.

“Well I think he deserves one last word.”

“He deserves nothing.” Jolene said.

“What does it matter if I see him?” Lydia asked.

“He’s being seen and making contact with you.” Jo said her jaw set.

“He’s not some kind of disease and you don’t have to put me through quarantine. I’m not some kind of drug addict you need to keep away from crack or else I’ll break. I can resist Ahmet.” Lydia told her grabbing the note.

“I’m sure you can but why take the chance?” Jolene asked.

“Because I have a couple things to say to HIM!” Lydia responded. “I want him to know he flat left me and I’ll never forgive him. I want him to know I love Kiral and that’s that.”

“You what??” Jolene said with excitement.

Lydia gasped and laid a hand on her lips. “I love Kiral…” she repeated. Jolene smiled and nodded her head.

“This is the only reason I approve of this meeting. Only because you love Kiral.” Jolene said with more of a smile and a head nod.

“Alright, alright.” Lydia said stuffing the note in her pocket. “Then I guess I’m off.”

“I guess some things don’t change. You still day dream the same.” Ahmet said now sitting in the bench that was meant for her to be sitting in.

“Yeah, well some things do change.” Lydia replied licking her dry lips.

“I’m sorry Lydia...” he said. Silence sank in.

“It would probably better if we ended it there. You’re sorry and I moved on. Can we end it here?” she asked.

“I don’t want to end it.” He said reaching for her hand. She pulled her hand away from his.

“I don’t care what you want anymore.” Lydia said. “I really don’t know why I ever did.” Ahmet didn’t say anything and Lydia took the time to take in Ahmet’s appearance. His wrist was wrapped up in bandage and his face was bruised. Lydia smiled at the sight of his injuries and thought about Kiral.

“Don’t talk like you don’t have feelings for me.” He said.

“I don’t. Why don’t you just go back to where you came from? You were there for a year go spend a lifetime there.” She said.

“It was hell there… you’d take the comment back if you knew anything about it.” He said.

“Why? You belong in hell.” Lydia smiled.

“Dammit Lydia! Why are you making this all so hard?!” he yelled.

“Well you didn’t exactly make everything easy for me now did you? Just leave.” She said.

“I might…” he muttered.

Lydia stood up and looked down at him. “Good, and remember… don’t come back.”

*********************************



Chrissy’s arms were wrapped around Zhi’s waist. “When I saw those tuxedos I knew they were perfect.” Zhi said to her.

“Sounds like you did what I did with my bridal dress.” Chrissy said back to him. His arms were wrapped around her small frame also and his chin rested at the top of her head. Together they stood outside of Zhi’s apartment. Chrissy sighed satisfied with where she was.

“I love you.” Zhi said.

“I don’t want to leave” Chrissy replied hugging him tighter. “I feel so greedy because no matter how much time I get to spend with you none of it is ever enough and I just want more.”

“Then don’t leave…” he said. Chrissy pulled away from him and sighed.

“Zhi you know I can’t stay here over night. We can’t Zhi. Not yet.” Chrissy said.

“No, no, I know. You can stay over with out actually…” Zhi said. There was a pause and then Zhi said “Move in with me Chrissy.”

Chrissy looked up at him and hope sparkled in her eyes. They had yet to speak about living arrangements and neither of them knew how the other felt about the topic. Chrissy nodded her head “The minute we’re married.” She said hugging him close to her body once again.

“And what about tonight?” Zhi asked.

“I don’t know about that Zhi…” she said looking out into the hall.

Zhi grabbed Chrissy’s face by the chin and raised her gaze to his eyes. “Trust me Chrissy.” He said to her using a finger to stroke her cheek. The stroking added reassurance to her decision. She trusted him.

********************************

Kiral sat at the front steps in front of his home. He sat with his elbows on his knees and his head resting in both his hands. At first glance he reminded you of a child who was bored or waiting on a friend. He sat there and watched the cars pass hoping one of them would pull into his drive way and Lydia would come out. He wanted them to have their talk already.

Just then his wishes came true and a car rolled into his drive way. In the driver’s side was Lydia with a smile on her face. The smile gave Kiral a bit of comfort but he was still worried. Lydia put her car in park and removed her seatbelt. She opened her car door and closed it after stepping out. She looked at him and smiled.

Lydia walked to the porch and sat on the stairs. She moved closer to him and he wrapped his arm around her. Her head rested on his shoulder and his head rested on her head. Together they stayed like that and took in the peaceful scene. Kiral sighed and sat up letting go of Lydia. “So you wanted to talk?” he said.

“Yeah… I did… I do.” She said her head nodding.

“Ok, get on with it then.” He said. The past hour he lived in so much fear that Lydia was going to break off the relationship. With that man around so much lately he questioned how he would affect Lydia.

“Well first off you should know I went to see Ahmet but you have to know I went to tell him to disappear. He won’t be coming back. This I am sure of.” Lydia said nodding her head. In his head Kiral jumped for joy. “Then I wanted to say that the first time I said I loved you… I didn’t really mean it.” A frown hit Kiral’s face and his heart filled with disappointment. “But the second time I said it… I meant so much of it.”

Kiral’s eyes flashed with excitement. “I meant it… but Lydia… you have never really said it to me since then.”

“I love you.” She said to him with a smile.

“I love you too”