The last thing I remembered was speaking these words and Drew’s face nuzzling deeply into my hair. If he offered up any kind of an answer, I was asleep before the words were able to hit my consciousness.
Chapter 19: Drew
Out of all the things I imagined I would find myself doing, searching for an almost eleven-year-old girl's birthday party wasn't one of them. It had been a month since Jess and I had fought in the remote LA park, and everything had only gotten better since then.
All chances of me lying to myself and saying it was just about sex were long gone. Jess had told me she was falling in love with me that night, and whether I liked it or not, I was falling in love with her, too.
The realization had been terrifying, but after it had come an odd sort of calm. That calm had made everything else easier, including my relationship with Emma. A week ago, she had given me a hand-drawn invitation to her family members’ only birthday bash. Family members’ only, as in, I was the only one not blood-related who was invited.
It probably should have scared the shit out of me, but after Jess and my LA thing, it didn't. Instead, it made me feel like a fucking superhero. So here I was, wandering around a shopping mall on a busy Sunday afternoon. The only problem was that I didn't have a clue what I was supposed to get her. It was the reason I gave myself for wandering into the fancy looking jewelry store in the middle of the mall's fanciest store. Almost immediately, an overly chipper saleswoman approached me. She wore a massive, intimidating smile on her face, and I almost turned around and left right there, except that I couldn't. Something told me I needed to stay. Something told me this was the place I needed to be.
“Well, hello there, sir!”
“Hello.”
“What might I be able to do for you on this fine Seattle afternoon?”
“I’m not sure, actually.”
"Oh, don't worry about that," she said, laughing smoothly as if I were nothing she hadn't encountered before. "If I had a nickel for every time a man walked in here and said something like that, well, let's just say I wouldn't be working here anymore."
“Right,” I laughed, still uncomfortable but beginning to feel marginally better. “I would imagine.”
“Why don’t we start with you telling me what brought you here? Whatever it is, I’m sure I can help you find what you need.”
“I’m looking for a birthday gift for my girlfriend’s daughter.”
“Perfect! And how old is the daughter?”
“She’ll be turning eleven.”
“Oh, and she is going to love you.”
“Is she?”
“Definitely. Jewelry is perfect for girls that age. It makes them feel like they’re being taken seriously. Does she have pierced ears?”
"You know what? I'll be honest with you. I don't know. Does that make me an asshole?"
“No, it makes you a man. Let’s look at some necklaces then, just to be on the safe side. You wouldn’t want to give her something she couldn’t wear, now would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t.”
“What about doing a birthstone necklace? Something simple? Elegant? We could go with a gold chain and a little sapphire pendant. That’s the birthstone for September, in case you weren’t aware.”
“I was not. And that sounds great, only do you think she’ll like it? I mean, is it the kind of thing a girl her age will want?”
"Absolutely. Believe me, it's the sort of gift she'll cherish long after she stops being a little girl."
“All right,” I said, grinning. “I’m sold.”
“Would you like to see the necklace first?”
“Nope, not really. I won’t be able to tell anything about it. Why don’t you just go ahead and wrap it up?”
“Of course! And while I tend to that, is there anything else I can do for you? Anything else you’re interested in looking at?”
“There is, actually. Do you think you could show me some engagement rings?”