What Happened After

Chapter 33

From here on out, because I was rushing, the rest of the story is not edited. So if you come across a mistake, let me know in the comments or whatever, but for the most part I'm sure you'll know what I meant. Anyway, thank you for reading thus far! 

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Chapter 33


          By mid-March, I had officially put in my two weeks’ notice at work and was focusing all of my attention into my schoolwork. Throughout the year it had become apparent to me that while I loved spending time with Taryn at the shop, there wasn’t anything there for me, and even though I could have used the extra cash, I didn’t want to waste any more time hanging out in a completely empty sandwich shop when I could have been doing other things. I told Antoine all of this and he told me that I had been a great employee, but he understood. One morning—my last day on the job—Taryn burst in with an anguished expression.


          “Rayn, I’ve decided you can’t go,” he stated, simply. “We’ll miss you too much.”


          “Who is ‘we’?”


          “Antoine and myself.”


          I laughed out loud. “Tare, I’ve spoken to Antoine a total of maybe three times the whole time I’ve worked here.  He couldn’t care less whether I stuck around or not.”


          “That’s probably true. Ant’s not the most friendly guy.”


          “Besides, I’ll still visit! I’ve got your number, obviously, and how many times have Anna and I come in on one of my days off?”


          He sighed. “A lot of times.”


          “Yeah, so you’ll see me as much as you want. Come here, help me finish these loaves, and then we can hang out.”


          We spent an hour together, cleaning around the shop and setting up for the day. Originally, Taryn seemed sad I was leaving, but as the day wore on, he started to just seem annoyed about it.


          Just before I left my final shift, he spoke again. “So now what are you gonna do with your time? What, you got yourself a sugar daddy now and you feel like you don’t need to work anymore?” He was joking, but I could hear the hint of annoyance in his voice. He had been happy with me when I told him about Ruesso and me, but I could tell he wasn’t completely on board with it yet—not that his opinion mattered to either of us.


          Still, I chuckled. “No, Taryn, that is not how I feel. Keep in mind that I didn’t even really want a job when I got one here—Anna offered me up and you hired me on the spot.”


          “Not the point.”


          “Ruesso is not the point either, though,” I stated. “He is not the reason I quit, I just didn’t want to do this anymore. Come on, Taryn, how long have you worked here?”


          “Since I was fifteen.”


          “That’s too long to work in an irrelevant sandwich shop.”


          “I agree with you, but I gotta pay for school somehow.”


          “I hear ya.”


          We glanced at the clock and noticed that my shift had officially ended. Taryn looked over at me and reached out for a hug, which I graciously accepted. “Don’t be a stranger, okay? Stop by when you can.”


          “I definitely will. I’ll miss seeing you every day, Taryn.”


          “Me too, kid. Bring the boyfriend, too. And Anna.” Since the kissing incident, Ruesso and Taryn had officially mended whatever relationship they had. I didn’t know what happened, but it was around the time Ruesso admitted his feelings for me that he stopped caring about me being around Taryn. Probably because he no longer felt threatened by him—I couldn’t be sure though.


          I smiled. “I will.”


          Anna, on the other hand, had been another story. The day I told Ruesso I loved him, I spent half an hour in his car with him, and when it got dark, we said our goodbyes and I went back to my room. Anna was standing in the doorway when I turned the corner onto our floor, and she rushed out to ask if I had ‘gotten my man.’


          I laughed and whispered, “I got him.”


          Anna laughed and hugged me, and then ruined the moment by declaring, “Good, because I wasn’t kidding about snapping him up if you didn’t want him. I still hold strong to my belief that he is the prettiest boy to ever live.”


          “Well you can’t have him, A!” I jokingly shouted.


          About a week and half after that day, was Ruesso’s nineteenth birthday. We spent the day in San Francisco together, just exploring the city, and he took me to his favorite restaurant for lunch. Other than that, we didn’t really do anything special. I offered to buy him anything he picked out, but he told me just me being with him was all he wanted for the day. It occurred to me at some point in the day that exactly one year before this day, he and Lauren had slept together and conceived a baby. Had we not been in the accident, Ruesso would be a father right now. I tried to imagine he and Lauren as a couple raising a baby, and I couldn’t do it. Then again, I had tried to imagine Kaleb cheating on me the day Ruesso told me he had, and I couldn’t do that either. Just because you can’t picture something happening, does not mean in the slightest that it can’t happen. Because things happen every day that nobody has an explanation for.


          At one particular store we were browsing around at, Ruesso received a phone call. “It’s my mom,” he told me. “Do you mind if I answer it?”


          “Not at all,” I said. “Go right ahead.”


          He smiled and pressed the answer button. “Hey momma,” he said into the phone, which made me smile back. “You are?” he perked up. “Matty and the twins, too?” I couldn’t hear what his mom was saying, but it was making Ruesso very happy, and in that moment I was thankful for her. “For sure, you can meet me at my dorm. I have Rayn with me though, is it okay if she comes along?” Suddenly I felt awkward, knowing that Ruesso’s family was in town and wanted to take him somewhere, and I might not be invited. I didn’t want to feel like I was butting in on their family time. I heard him laugh, and I looked up at him while still silently browsing. “Yeah, she is…I know, I can’t either…Okay, thanks, mom. We’ll see you all soon!”


          He hung up the phone with a huge smile on his face, and when he saw me looking, it dropped slightly. “Oh God, I didn’t even ask if you wanted to come—my mom and siblings came to town to surprise me for my birthday and wanted to take me to dinner. They said you’re more than welcome to come, but I answered for you. You don’t have to—“


          “Ruesso, I would love to. I’ve missed your family!”


          He relaxed again. “Tell me about it, so have I. Alright, well I told them they could meet me at my room, so do you want to head back?”


          “Yeah, let’s go.”


          We took the bus back, and it dropped us off about a block away from his building so we had to walk the rest of the way. We approached his building together, him with his arm around me and me holding his hand which was draped over my shoulder with both hands. When his brother and sisters saw us, they came running into him, hugging his legs and wishing him a happy birthday. His mom, meanwhile, came straight to me to give me a hug.


          “Thank you,” she said into my ear. “You make him so happy. I haven’t seen him this happy since last year, and I know it’s because he’s around you. You make him better, Rayn, and our family is so lucky to have you around.”


          “Thank you,” I responded, smiling. “I mean, you’re welcome.”


          Smiling once more at me, she let me go and moved in to hug Ruesso. “Happy birthday, love! Gosh, nineteen already. I’m not ready for you to be a man yet.”


          He laughed at that. “I’m not a man yet, mom. I’m not ready to leave my mom for good.”


          Letting go of him, she grabbed his cheeks to look into his eyes. She patted his cheeks a couple times before saying to the group, “Are we ready to go?”


          “Yeah!” his sisters shouted, running off toward the family car. 

          “Be careful!” their mom shouted at their backs. She jogged off after them, making sure they weren’t running into traffic, leaving me with Ruesso and Matty.


          “I missed you, Ruesso,” Matty said, smiling up at him.


          “Missed you too, buddy. Did you miss Rayn too?”


          “Oh yes, I almost missed Rayn more than you.”


           I laughed out loud, but Ruesso didn’t think it was quite as funny as me. “Oh you did, did you?” he joked hoisting Matty up onto his shoulder, tickling him. When he got Matty settled and seated onto his shoulders, he reached out to grab my hand, and we walked to the car together. Instead of taking his Bronco, we took his mom’s SUV to the restaurant, which neither of us had ever been to before.


          Dinner was great; we spent the evening talking to Ruesso’s mom about our relationship and when we officially got together, her smiling throughout the whole conversation. Whenever Ruesso would say something nice about me, she would reach over and squeeze my hand, throwing a smile my way. I squeezed hers back, thankful that this woman had been brought into my life. Ruesso truly did have an incredible family.


          When it was time for them to leave, Daisy and Holly got very sad, but when their mom reminded them that they were spending the following day in the city as well, they perked up again and were ten times more willing to let Ruesso and me go. We said our goodbyes and gave them each one last hug, before we decided it was time to head home.


          “I’ll give you a ride back to your school, Rayn.”


          “You sure?” I asked. “I can get a ride from Taryn.”


          “Now I know he would be more than willing, but I really think it’s best if I do it. It’s my job now, you know.”


          We laughed, and I agreed. He drove me home, kissing my cheek when we got to my building and I stepped out of the car. “My mom’s staying a couple blocks from my building and I think they wanted to go to the zoo or something tomorrow. You down?”


          “Yeah, of course.”


          “Cool. We’ll pick you up here tomorrow morning, I’ll text you the details later.”


          So I ended up spending the next day at the zoo with Ruesso’s family, and it was as if we had been together for years. His family accepted me with open arms, and we had the best day.


          Back to now, though: I told Anna everything—about what Rue had said to me and about what I had said back to him. About the kiss and how we were pretty much official now. At least, I thought so; most people didn’t admit that they were in love with each other and kiss, and then not begin a relationship (the next day we would define the relationship, and I would confirm that I was right—we were together).


          Anna was happy for me, Taryn was happy for me, and Ruesso’s family was happy for me. The only person that was on my mind was Lauren, and what she would think. I couldn’t help but wonder what she would say to me if I could speak with her one last time. Would she be happy that Ruesso and I were happy? Or would she be pissed that we got together when she and Ruesso were so perfect for each other? I knew I shouldn’t be fretting over it, but those were the thoughts that consumed my mind during the entire beginning of our relationship.