Avoiding the Memory of You

Three

Ransom

  As soon as I saw the door close behind the woman with chestnut hair, the pen slipped through my fingers. 

  I was a jackass.

  Basically the epitome of who I was trying to let go of. Thinking that getting away from the influence of my destructive family would fix me with ease was apparently a mistake. Not even forty-eight hours in and I'm already coming across as a dick.

  The truth is, I'd have loved to give the woman ...wait. What did she say her name was? Gwen?

  I would've liked to give her my name. I just wasn't sure what name to actually give her. Do I give her the name that I go by with family and close friends? Or the name that I give that fits my high profile. 

  Hell. If I'm reinventing myself, I could probably even given a completely fake name. What's the likelihood I'd even see this woman after tonight? If I was the guy my family believes me to be, I wouldn't see her again even if she gave me the night of my life. 

  But they don't know...

  I turn off the playlist from my phone and drop the airpods into the pocket of my satchel.  What was it Walt called it? A man bag. That's right. While my cousin referred to it as a purse. Dad asked why I even bothered carrying anything around with me at all that wasn't small enough to fit in my wallet.

  "You've got a black card, a cell phone and car keys. What else do you need to carry around with you?"

  "Hopefully condoms," Walt chimed in. "Nobody needs this fool procreating."

  That was the day I came close to decking my uncle. If it hadn't been for my grandfather calling me into his office to try and save me, I would have.  

  I knew I was never going to get anywhere with my family, even with Harlan's help. He may hold the purse strings, but he let them believe they had a say in things.

  I wouldn't be surprised if by the time I finished this little trip down south they tried to find him mentally incompetent and turn everything over into his children's hands. They would rip each other to shreds for the last Thrombey dime.

  "Everything okay?" the waitress asks, noticing I had only taken one bite off of the steak.

  "Just lost my appetite, I guess. Can I get a box and the check?"

  She reaches to the area behind my booth, pulling out a Styrofoam box from a cabinet. "Here ya go. Have a nice night."

  I clear my throat, not enjoying the fact that I'm going to have to repeat myself.  "The check?" I say a little loudly to make sure she hears me.

  "Oh, it's already been taken care of."  The woman, who I now remember introduced herself as Lucy when she sat me at this booth, saunters back over with a small upturn to her lip.  "Gwen paid for it."

  An annoyed sigh falls from my lips as I drop my head. "Don't worry, she's just a sweetheart like that."

  Damn it. That's a fifty-five dollar steak sitting in front of me. I pull a hundred from my wallet and pass it over to Lucy. Her eyes look like saucers as she stares at me. "Take it as a tip or put it on a tab for when she comes in next. I don't really care, but no one ever pays for my food."

  Her hand actually shakes as she takes the bill from my fingers. "She already tipped twenty-five percent on the bills. I wouldn't feel right taking it for myself, although my granddaughter does need new tennis shoes for her leg braces."  

  Watching her closely I can see that she's warring with both options. So I do something that would shock every single member of my family and pull out another hundred dollar bill. "Put that one on a tab for Gwen, and take this one to help your granddaughter."