I took a sip of my water as the suspence intensified. Jared and Shannon were both apparently captivated by my choice of going to Haiti.
"Well to start off I don't want pity. I don't want to hear you're sorry. Got it?" I poke, looking both dead in the eyes.
The brothers nod, waiting for it.
"I heard about this local crisis volunteer team going there and were wanting more participants. They were down 100 heads. I didn't think much of it at the time because I didn't think there was a chance in hell I was going. I had my life going perfectly: a loving fiancé, a stable home, plentiful income, caring friends. What else could I want, you know?" I look up from my fidgiting hands, tying a straw wrapper around my finger. "Then, a few days before my wedding, I came home early from work. When I walked in the house wrecked and my fiancé in bed with a few girls. Later I found out that the girls were escorts, and he used the money for our honeymoon to pay them." I closed my eyes and tried to stop the image from popping up. As I attempt to hide being upset, I feel Jared's hand on mine. He pats his thumb on my hand and grips tightly.
"He said he would fix it, repay me, and make drastic changes. The whole relationship had been him trying to change, so I don't know why I finally stopped him. I told him we were through, gave him the bird and stormed off. Every fiber in my body begged to go back and give him a piece of my mind, but I hadn't wanted a fight. I stayed with a friend who helped me get back a few things. Thats when I started thinking about the volunteer team. I could help get back a sense of normality or security that the families didn't have or had lost. It felt a little fitting. A week later and I was on a plane to Haiti with the other volunteers."
I looked up at the brothers, both looked back with sorrowful frowns. I could tell all they wanted to do is apologize and be sorry for me, but my warning was still imprinted in their minds. Jared shook his head and retracted his hand. "Dawson you're really brave for doing that."
"And Strong also." Shannon added.
"It's life. It's a shitty rollercoaster with ups and downs. But it's in the past now, thats all that matters."
They nod, Jared takes a sip of his water.
Cutting the tension, the waitress walked up with each of our orders in hand. She handed them out accordingly and walked away without another word. Shannon's face went from sad to estatic once his waffle arrived.
"Man, look at it!" he squealed.
Jared rolled his eyes and shoved a piece of watermelon in his mouth. Shannon and Jared look at me with chipmunk mouths.
I let out a chuckle before pouring syrup over and around my pancakes. As I cut a piece off I glance at Jared out of the corner of my eye, "Your turn Jared."
He looks at me, finishing his bite of fruit, "My turn for what?"
"Why did you go to Haiti."
"Pictures." He smiles, "I had always wanted to make a book, and with the Echelon behind me, I thought the proceeds could go towards funding families and reconstruction."
"Well I'm glad that we are going to be able to help the families." I grin.
We finish up our food and wait for the waitress to bring our check. Shannon was tapping his fingers on the table and Jared was humming a song.
"So Shannon, explain to me why you didn't go to Haiti." I smirk, folding my hands and leaning into the table.
Shannon looks at me wide-eyed and then smiles like he has the best answer in the world, "Because he went." he throws his napkin at Jared who swats it away, bouncing away on the table.
Just as it rolls off the precipice, the waitress walks up with our check. She looks down, disapprovingly at Shannon's chocolate stained tissue, then back up at us. Her disappointment made the boys turn childlike, sitting straight and shutting up like in a school house. The waitress slaps the check on the table and walks away, leaving the brothers tense.
I glance over at them and they have a terrified look plastered on their faces. I chuckle a little bit before pulling out my wallet from my purse. Jared saa this and before I could open it, he yanks it from my hand and sits on it.
"Hey! Gimme my wallet!" I playfully punch his arm.
"You don't need to do that, Dawson. Let us get it." Shannon says, placing two twenty dollar bills on the table. Jared puts down a five and taps on my shoulder signalling me to get up. I obey and stand up, crossing my arms. He smiles and hands me my wallet. In the same motion he turns me around and follows me out the door.
∞ ∞ ∞
I drop my purse on my apartment floor, glad to be home after month of traveling. However, tomorrow I couldn't rest. Jared had invited me back to his office to do more sorting. I was sort of excited and . . . happy be invited me back. It was always great hanging out with him.
I walked further into my place, the same untouched living room held a sleeping creature, my 7 year old pug.
"Evana," I call her, "thank you for manning the fort while I was gone."
I kneal down, letting her lean on and lick me. Her exciting paws scraped against my jeans and her slobber flew everywhere.
Standing up, I went to my room. The alarm clock on the nightstand squinted at me disappointed: 11:35 p.m.
I prep for bed and get ready for another day of sorting pictures.
