Perfect Alli: June 1, 2013

Alli:  June 1, 2013

I drove to Thor’s apartment last night. He had offered to pick me up at my parent’s, but there was no way I wanted them to know where I was going. I couldn’t believe it when my GPS took me right past the house that the girls and I rent during the school year. He lives only eight blocks from it. I parked on the street in front of the brick building. I wasn’t sure what to expect for the evening. He never really said what our plans were, just to come over around 6:30.

Thor met me near the entrance. His eyes perused my form and he smiled, saying, “You look great.” His hand found the small of my back and as we walked up the stairs he began warning me about his obnoxious brother Grayson whom I would be meeting as soon as we reached the apartment. “Ignore everything he says. Actually, you should just ignore him completely. Pretend he’s not there.” His voice rang with a nervous nerdiness that did not match his confident looks, and I wondered which personality was real, the nerd or the flirt.

When we entered the apartment I could feel ten pairs of eyes scan my body, assessing me and I worried that my blouse and maxi-skirt were too see-through. Thor led me around the room, introducing me to the guests and I immediately forgot their names. As we approached the last cluster of guests, three guys and one woman, I could tell right away that the guys were his brothers. They all had the same dark hair and dark eyes but varied in their other features.

Grayson, not the tallest, but easily the best looking of all the men in the room stepped forward and said, “Welcome to our apartment, Allison. Did my little brother offer you a drink yet?” He turned. Behind him a decorative ice tub bathed bottles of beer and wine, while others sat opened on the counter. We’ve got Chardonnay, Merlot, Malbec or Moscato for wine and for beer we have Summit Pale Ale, Fat Tire or Leinenkugel’s. It’s just the regular Leinie’s, not the Summer Shandy or Honey Weiss.” His dark brown eyes eagerly awaited my answer, as if I had a clue what he had just said.

I wasn’t used to grown-up parties. My parents don’t drink, so I haven’t had a lot of experience choosing wine or beer and I've only been twenty-one since February. I turned to Thor for some help. “A white wine?” I said, but it came out as a question. I had never tasted a good red and I wasn’t sure which one was white.

“The Chardonnay,” Thor said, saving me. We chatted with his brothers for several minutes until the brother who was literally a chef and was making dinner shooed us out of the kitchen.

The apartment had real furniture, not the disposable kind found in student housing and I liked the contemporary style of it. Thor and I settled on the couch, with our drinks, and his arm wrapped around my shoulders. I would have felt very comfortable there, very sophisticated, if it hadn’t been for the nasty sideways glances I was getting from the female party guests. The women at the party seemed annoyed by my presence and I started to get the feeling that they were all friends with Thor’s ex.

“Allison, Ted says you’re planning on going to medical school. Where do you want to go?” asked Paul, the brother who was doing his residency in Boston.

“I’ve looked at John Hopkins, Ann Arbor, and Seattle, but I would really like to just stay here at the U of M.” We talked about medical school for a good twenty minutes until a loud crash and cursing bellowed from the kitchen and Paul excused himself to help the chef.

Thor leaned in and whispered, “They are very impressed with you. I’m glad I didn’t have to face them alone tonight. Thanks for coming.” His hot breath in my ear sent a shiver down my spine and I turned with a smile. “We can skip out after dinner. They’ll be here for hours and won’t even notice we’re missing,” his eyes dark and playful. I nodded.

As the evening progressed, the group emptied all the wine and I finished one of the best meals that I had ever eaten. Unfortunately, there was a lot that I didn’t’ know about Thor’s breakup and I was the only one out of the loop. My embarrassment started when I remembered that Thor had four brothers and only three were present. Of course, I asked, “Where’s your other brother? There’s five of you, right?”

“Oh my God. You didn’t tell her. Maybe you should tell Alli why our dear brother Harry isn’t here,” stated Grayson.

Thor shot him a death glare. “Just…don’t.” Several curses followed and he added, “The effer died. Let’s leave it at that.” Only he didn’t say effer.

“Tell us how you really feel, Ted,” blared one of my haters in a shrill voice.

“Ted, you should bring your new girlfriend on that little vacation you have coming up. Wouldn’t that be perfect?” said Paul.

“Alli and I are leaving now. Hope you all rot in hell. Come on.” Thor motioned toward the door.

“Don’t go. We’re just joking around,” pleaded Grayson.

We left and Thor apologized for his family. We walked six blocks, without much conversation, to an ice cream shop. I figured Thor needed to recover from his family’s reaction to my question. I was sure his brother hadn’t really died but was dead to Thor. I didn’t have to fret long about it, because after he bought me an ice cream cone, he explained it all to me.

He had stopped by Nora’s apartment unexpectedly one morning and found his brother’s car in the lot. He knew right away something was going on between them, but he had to see it for himself. Now he wished he had just walked away. The visual of his fiancée and brother going at it in the shower made him want to gouge his eyes out. She had admitted to cheating with Harry off and on for six months. She said it didn’t mean anything, that she still wanted to get married, that she would never see Harry again. Even as she pleaded with him, he knew it was something he couldn’t get past. “It would be like having sex with my brother,” he said. He canceled the wedding that morning, but the honeymoon was nonrefundable.
 
“You should come with me. I’ve already paid for the trip. Otherwise I’ll just be sitting at home. I’m not going by myself.”

I stared at my dripping ice cream. I was really too full to eat it. I couldn’t take a trip with him. I didn’t even know him. “Um.” I rose off the bench, where we were sitting, and threw my cone in the trash. When I returned to the bench, his hand covered mine.

“You are the only person, I’ve told, who doesn’t look at me like I’m a dying puppy. Everyone acts as if I’m one step from suicide. But I’m not. I’m just mad as hell. What if I hadn’t found out? What if we’d gotten married? I’m much better off this way. I can move on.” He squeezed my hand. “Next week is going to suck whether I’m here or on a beach in Mexico. I’d love you to come. Just think about it. Maybe your friends can cover for you with your parents. They wouldn’t even have to know.”

I met his eyes, unsure what to say. I’m not the kind of girl who runs off with a stranger to a foreign country. I already told him that my job didn’t start for two weeks, so I couldn’t use it as an excuse. I didn’t need an excuse, though. I could have just said no. I felt the word forming on my tongue. But when he smoothed my hand against his hard abdomen and a cocky smile spread across his face, I knew I could come up with a lie to tell my parents. I’d gotten good at misleading them over the years. The truth was, I wanted to go. I liked Thor. And I needed some life experience before medical school consumed me. I pressed my lips together still debating, then took a deep breath and asked, “When do we leave?”
Copyright 2014 Susan Schussler