The Man He Chose

Chapter 20

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Title's POV

The birthday party was in full swing and Cooheart had not made his appearance yet.

I had called him close to thirty times. I stopped at twenty seven.

I left twenty seven messages.

I texted the same number of times.

I could no longer focus.

I stopped trying to entertain the guests. They could help themselves to the food and drinks but I wasn't going to bring out the birthday cake until Cooheart had arrived.

Finally in desperation I approached my mom who was sitting between two of her best friends exchanging the latest gossip about a former classmate who had married a millionaire business man but who was facing charges of massive tax evasion and could face jail time.

"What is it, son?" she asked me when she saw me approaching them.

"Mom, I'm gonna go to Cooheart's house, he needs a ride," I lied about Coo needing a ride but it was true that I was going to his house. To check what was holding him up.

"Okay, son, drive safe," my mom said and turned her attention back to her gossipy friends.

I grabbed my car key and got into my car.

I eased my car out of the driveway and almost crashed into Cooheart's car that was trying to make its way into my driveway.

I made my car squeal when I stepped hard on my brakes.

I turned off the engine and jumped out of my car. I couldn't drive my car out of my driveway anyway because Coo's car was blocking it.

Cooheart had stopped his car and was getting out of it.

I rushed up to him.

"Help me carry my birthday present to your mom," he said, already opening up the trunk of his car.

"Wait, before we do that, lemme just ..."

I hugged him tight, so tight that he started to complain that he couldn't breathe.

I let him go, saying, "You gave me such a fright. I thought you were not coming to the party. What took you so long and why were you ignoring my calls and texts and voicemails?"

He did not reply.

He started to bring out a large box with several holes around it. It had a giant red bow taped to the top of it.

As I bent to help carry the box I suddenly heard a barking sound.

I almost dropped the box.

My eyes widened as I stared at Cooheart.

"You're not serious!!!" I exclaimed. In happiness. "My mom's gonna be over the moon ohmygahd!"

My mom had just recently lost her pet dog Cocoa. Cocoa had been diagnosed by the vet with a rare viral disease and not long after the diagnosis Cocoa passed away.

My mom was inconsolable for many months.

It was only recently that she was starting to be more like herself.

I gave Cooheart a tight hug once more, saying, "I can't begin to tell you how touched I am by this thoughtful gift. My mom will be forever grateful to you. And so am I."

"Let's go bring this sweetheart to your mom," Cooheart said, breaking away from my embrace.

We went in carrying the box between the two of us.

My mom stood up and left her friends to meet us when she saw Cooheart approaching.

"Happy birthday to you..." Cooheart started to sing but was suddenly interrupted by the loud barking of the dog from inside the box.

My mom squealed in happiness.

Coo and I set the box down and watched as my mom removed the red bow and opened the box.

She pulled out a black and white puppy that had already started licking her arms.

"It's an Irish setter," Cooheart said to my mom.

My mom gave him a big hug.

"Come have something to eat and to drink," she said.

"I'm afraid I can't stay," Cooheart said. "I just came to bring you your present."

"Why can't you stay?" my mom asked, looking disappointed.

"There's something urgent waiting for me to take care of," Cooheart tried to explain. "But I will come back as soon as I've taken care of it."

"Okay, I will wait for you to return," my mom said, "and really, thank you so very much for this sweetheart. I will have to think of a cute name for it."

"Why can't you stay?" I asked as I escorted Cooheart back to his car.

"I need to go back to the mall where I bought the dog," he replied.

"Why?" I needed to know. I was not going to let him go without a proper explanation.

He remained silent and then just before getting into his car, he looked at me, and said,

"I think Santa is cheating on me."