Page 12 of Alexander: Alexander's Story

“Um,” Emma hesitates to answer, “just wanted to get tacos from this little place before we leave.” She averts looking at him to look back at me.

“You should do that,” I tell her. “I need some sleep, though. Dave can take you.” As anticipated, Dave pulls forward, hopping out to open the backseat door.

“But what about you?” Emma asks. I shrug.

Giving a tight-lipped, not-quite smile, I say, “I’m gonna walk back to the hotel. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Quickly, Emma goes up on her toes, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek, making me feel like a fucking asshole.

She whispers, “Thank you. I’ll see you in the morning,” then steps away, slipping into the black sedan.

Blanks shoots me a look I don’t have the energy to decipher before joining her. When they pull away, I can finally exhale. Fuck.

Emma

He makes my skin crawl.I literally shiver at the thought. The guy with the lip foliage notices, slipping off his jacket and placing it over my shoulders.

“Oh, thanks,” I say, surprised. “I don’t even know your name.” No one spoke on our way to the wedding chapel. It was just a very somber drive. To get married.

He smirks. “It’s Caleb, but you’ll soon come to find everyone just calls me Blanks.”A little bit twangy.I hadn’t realized that until now.

“I’m Emma.”

“I know,” he says.

“Mrs. Palomino?” Dave asks. I don’t say anything, waiting, thinking maybe he’s on the phone. He seems like one of those guys who always has an earpiece in.

Blanks leans in closer and whispers, “That’d be you.”Oh. Shit.

“I’m so sorry, Dave, yeah?”

“Just need the address, ma’am.”Mrs. Palomino. Ma’am.Isthisan alternate reality? Or maybe I finally passed my purgatory test and slipped into heaven. It could have just as easily been an admin error or glitch in the matrix that landed me in this new place, though. Or maybe I finally arrived in hell, and this would all take a turn very shortly…

“Of course.” I shakily pull my phone from my clutch to search for the address, then pass the phone over to the older man when we come to a stoplight.

“Congratulations, by the way,” Blanks says as we resume driving towards our destination. He’s manspreading in the seat beside me, his knee nearly coming into contact with mine. He’s taken a foot and turned it into inches. I watch from the corner of my eye as it narrows to centimeters.

“Thanks, I think…” His tone feels off somehow, or maybe I’m speculating, reading into something that doesn’t exist.

The car ride continues quietly until we pull into the parking lot.

“Drive-thru, Mrs. Palomino?” Dave asks. The answer is obvious: this isn’t a sit-down restaurant. It’s a window.

“Yes, please.”

We pull up, and Blanks rolls down his window to order.

“What are you having, Dave?” he asks our driver first.

“Nothing for me, sir.” Blanks looks at me, rolling his eyes and shaking his head with a smile, two dimples popping through.

“What would you like,Mrs. Palomino?” he asks.Mrs. Palominorolls off his tongue sharply.

“A carnitas taco plate and a Coke. Please.” I open my clutch to pull out money, but he just rolls his eyes again and turns away from me.

A crackly voice asks for our order, and Blanks proceeds, “Three carnitas taco plates and three Cokes, please.”

We pull forward to the window, and Blanks pays, then accepts the food, passing me a bag filled with styrofoam boxes and three glass bottles of Coke.