KATE
“Just stay where you are, Michael,” I say. It’s beyond clear to me that he is drunk, more drunk than I’ve ever seen him.
“Can I wish on the dandy-lions?” He asks. I can picture the way his pouty bottom lip is sticking out.
“No,” I tell him, trying to hide the tears that are trembling in my voice.
“Why not?” He asks.
“They’re not real,” I sigh.
“Wishes aren’t real either,” Michael mumbles. I pull the phone away from my face and let out a muffled sob, the heartbreak finally sinking in through my medicine-clouded mind.
“If wishes were real…” Michael mumbles, trailing off. “You would be… real…”
I hang up the phone, pulling my knees to my chest and letting myself cry for a moment. I could go get him, and I want to. But I know I can’t. I also can’t just leave him there.
My fingers are dialing the next number before I can talk myself out of it, because I don’t see another option.
“Hello?” Luke says into the phone. It’s only eleven p.m., and he sounds clear enough that I don’t think I woke him up.
“Luke,” I sigh, a single note of hysteria creeping into my voice.
“What’s wrong?” He asks, immediately alert.
“It’s Michael, he’s… I don’t know. He left today.”
“Where did he go?”
“He… left. Like for good.”
“Oh…” Luke mumbles, awkwardly mumbling an apology.
“It’s okay. Well… it’s not, but… it’s nothing. I was wondering if… um. Well Michael just called and I think… I know he’s drunk. He needs me to go get him, but I—"
“I’ll go,” Luke cuts me off. “Where is he?”
“Thank you,” I half breathe, half moan. “Do you know Hemingway’s bar, down a few blocks from building?”
“Yeah?”
“If you pass it, there’s a few streets on the right and then there’s like an alleyway with a mural painted on a green brick wall.”
“The one with the snow?” Luke asks. I can hear his keys jingling; he’s already leaving.
“Yeah. They’re dandelions, actually.” I don’t know why it’s so important to me to keep making that distinction.
“I know where that is,” Luke says.
“Michaels’s there. Well, he says he’s there, and I told him to stay there. But he’s…” I let out a breathy sigh. “He’s really drunk.”
“Damn,” Luke swears under his breath. “Okay. It’s okay, I’m on it. I’ll call you when we’re back at my place.”
“You don’t have to take him there, you can just… you can just take him home.”
“And let him come to you, drunk? I don’t think so. I think it’s best for both of you if I just take him with me, until he sobers up at least.”
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Kate?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you okay?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.”
“Let me know if you need anything, okay?” He says gently.
