Wait For Me

Chapter 10

"Honey." Richard call to Abby from across the table. "Would you like to make a toast?"

"Yes, I would." She picks up her wine cup filled with red liquid and so does everyone at the table. I look down at the two wine cups placed to the side of my plate. I take the cup filled with water and decide to ignore the red liquor in the other cup.

My hands tremble a little, shaking the water inside the cup. I want for Abby to start, but as I turn to look at her, her gaze is steady on me and I know she has something to say to me.

"Tiffany, sweetie." She says in her sweet voice. "I know that you don't enjoy the taste of alcohol but can you at least drink some for the toast?"

I look at her gentle but hard features, knowing that it's not a question she's asking. "I can't. Sorry."

"Tiffany, I would like for you to-,"

"Mom." Ron says, sternly. "She doesn't want to, so stop."

Abby stays silent for a moment, staring at Ron in disbelief. "Very well then. Why don't we eat?"

Richard says the toast instead of Abby, since she's not in the good mood she was before. She doesn't like being told what to do, she's like a child, wants everyone to do what she wants but doesn't like being told what to do.

I didn't really listen to what Richard was saying, I know that most of his words consist of the friendship he has with my parents. Instead, I pay more attention to Ron. He's not listening to what his dad is saying, i know because he has that look on his face saying that he's thinking about something. I never liked it when he did that, he would always leave, even though he's right here, and would keep us waiting and you never know what his mood would be after. But I know what he's thinking about, the words he spoke to his mom into stop trying to get me to drink the wine, gives me the answer.

He knows he's the reason why I despise alcohol and I know that he feels guilty.

***

"Thanks for having us." My mom says to Abby.

"It's nothing." Abby shrugs. "You should come by some more. I could really use some company around here."

"Can I stay with you tonight?" I say to my dad, walking away from my om and Abby.

"Sure." He says. "Just ask your mom, first."

I nod at him and wait for my mom to finish her conversation with Abby. I didn't enjoy dinner that much, I didn't listen to most of the conversations, and I hardly touched my food. My mind was set on one thing only. What happen now?

Ron is back, he's here. I've been waiting for him to come back for years and he's finally come back and I am more confused than ever. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if I should bring the whole thing up or if I should wait for him to bring the whole thing. What is the 'whole thing' anyways? Were we even together? We were, just that no one knew with the exception of April. What we had was real. At least for me it was. Was it for him? If what we had was real, he would have come much sooner or he already would have brought it up, but he hasn't. He's probably waiting for the right moment, but it feels that with every second that is passing and he hasn't said anything, the thing that we were is slowly fading. And I don't want it to fade. I want it to be there again, alive and real for anyone to see. That is what I wanted before, even though we both knew that it wasn't going to be that way, and I still want it that way now. Does he? I hope he does? Maybe I should be the one to bring it up and get it over with. Besides, I have nothing to lose in trying. Only him.

My mom leaves after giving me permission to leave with my dad. I wait outside for him to come out, knowing my dad he'll probably be there for half an hour talking to Richard. I didn't talk to Ron. I couldn't do it.

"What are you doing out here?" April comes out through the door and sit beside me on the steps.

"Didn't felt like being in there." I shrug. It felt suffocated being in there.

"I understand." She says. "It can get a little heated in there."

I smile at her, not sure what to tell her.

"What happened?"

"What happened with what?" I frown.

"With Ron. When you went for him."

"Oh." I say. Nothing really happened and that kind of disappointed me. "Nothing special."

"Do you want to continue what you two left off years ago?"

"It would be nice." I shrug, sounding unsure. I don't want to come out too strong in saying that I want to be with him badly, maybe he doesn't want to. "Do you think he wants to?"

"I think that you should ask him." She says, speaking the words soft and slow, letting me soak them in. "Come inside. It's cold out here."

"I will in just a minute." i nod at her and she goes back inside. I hug myself, mostly because of the cold, but because I'm uncertain of what to do. I really want to tell him, but I also don't want to get my hopes up for just a denial. But then again, I've been living on hope for him to come back and he's finally here. It's a start, I guess.

I hear the door open again and I figured it my dad until I turn around.

"Can I?" He gestures to the space beside me on the step. I nod at him and he sits beside me. I think this is the closest that we were since he's comes back. We sit in silence shoulder to shoulder, looking at the never ending sky.. "Remember how we used to stay out late at night looking up at the sky?"

His words surprise me, but they also give me a warm feeling of the old distant memory. "I do remember."

Ron would come to my house late at night when my mom would be asleep, we would go outside and just lay on the grass and look up at the sky. Sometimes there will be million of stars twinkling up there or sometimes there will be nothing but pitch blackness. Either ways, the sky looked beautiful laying beside him.

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something." I turn to look at him, my full attention on what he's going to say. "I made a terr-,"

"Ready to go, Tiff?" My dad comes out the door making me stand up from my spot as if I was caught doing something bad.

"Yes." I say, hiding the annoyingness of him walking in right when Ron was going to say. Why did he have to come out right at that moment? Now I will probably never know what Ron wanted to tell me.

"Let's go." My dad walks past me and I start to turn and follow. "Bye, Ron."

"Bye, Ed." He stands and turns to me. "Bye, Tiff."

"What's up with you?" My dad says as we drive away. "You seem awfully quiet."

"I'm just tired." I say. I actually am tired, exhausted. I hated waiting on Ron to come back, but it was worth it. He's back. Now, I have to wait more for him to tell me what he need to tell me. Who know if he will.

"Yeah." My dad continues. "It's been a long night, but at least you're happy that they're back?"

"I am." I am happy that Ron is back. And April and the rest.

"Abby should have stayed back there and shouldn't have come back." He jokes. My dad never got along with Abby, but he had to learn to get along with her for my mom and he still does try.

I always liked the Conroy's. They were their own self. Abby was the control freak, she like to be in control of everything and didn't want anyone questioning her or denying her. Richard is very manageable, he was always so sure and accomplished of things. April is always in the better spirit and always encouraging other to be too, she illuminated a room with her good energy, she would make anyone feel proud of themselves with her presence. Ron, he's the serious one, the calmed one, always remained to himself, very polite, a little reckless but never disrespectful or bad doings. He was everything to me and he still is.

I remember when I looked him for the first time and the first thing that called my attention were his eyes. Those hazel eyes drew me to them like no other thing ever has and that's when I knew that I couldn't just see him as a friend. I liked him too much. We would hang out, which I hated because I knew that I was leading myself into liking him even more. I would have never imagined being his girlfriend till he told me to be. I think I've never smiled that much that day.