Read Online Happy Birthday to Me Again (Birthday Trilogy, Book 2) by Brian Rowe - Free Book Online
Authors: Brian Rowe
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and still with a long,
very prosperous life ahead of me.
I was driving
around busy downtown Reno, alone on this Sunday while Liesel pulled a double
shift at Uncle Tony’s. I was happy to be alone since I was just six days away
from Liesel’s nineteenth birthday, and I still needed to pick out the perfect
gift.
Can’t the wedding ceremony at the end of
the month be my gift to her? Shouldn’t that count?
Liesel had woken
me up this morning by calling me and reminding me that today was our wedding
day. I screamed, jumped out of bed, and raced down the hallway before I heard
her calming voice echoing through the phone: “April Fools! April Fools! Gotcha !” It was a day I hated, because I
was always one of those gullible chums who forgot about it every year. Last
year, though, marked one of the first April Fool’s Days where a joke turned out
to be a harsh reality, with me aging older and older. So I wasn’t exactly
agreeable to the torment today.
I stepped into
the Macy’s at the Sparks Town Center just a few minutes past downtown Reno, and
flagged down a pretty cashier lady.
“So you don’t
want to give her jewelry?” she asked.
“Well, see, I
already gave her an engagement ring. Our wedding’s in just four weeks, but her
birthday’s next weekend. I don’t know what I can do to impress her when we’re
so close to getting married.”
“I have just the
thing,” she said, not just turning around but darting down an aisle and out of
my sight.
I backed up
against the glass and stared out at all the women surrounding me. I couldn’t
see a guy anywhere. I hoped they all assumed I was picking out an item for a
loved one and not for myself.
I waited for
five minutes, at least, for the employee to return, but she didn’t. I figured
she had gotten detained, either by another customer or by her bowels, but I
felt satisfied that at least she didn’t return right away with a Barney stuffed
animal, screaming at the top of her lungs, “April Fools, butt-head!”
I peered down at
the glass in front of me to see all kinds of earrings. Liesel likes earrings, doesn’t she? But won’t a pair of earrings look
like a lame gift just weeks after handing her an engagement ring? I
laughed. Not if I spend enough on a truly
gorgeous pair. She’ll be happy enough to start floating in the air again.
I looked at a
few pairs and compared prices. I started tapping my index finger against the
glass, when a terrifying reflection appeared before me.
Oh no. Please… tell me this is just an
April Fool’s joke.
“Mr. Martin? Is
that you?”
It’s not. What did I do to deserve this?
“Cameron! It is you!”
I stood up
straight and calmly turned around, thinking hard about bolting out of the store
and not looking back until I jumped into my car and raced out of the parking
lot. She wouldn’t be able to do anything
about it, now that I’ve graduated!
“Mrs. Gordon.
Hi.”
My former high
school librarian, and almost sex partner, stood before me, proud and confident,
looking more womanly than I’d ever seen her before. Always dressed so
conservative and unfriendly with make-up in my high school days, Mrs. Gordon
now looked like a true member of the opposite sex, a person, while still scary
in a beastly sort of way, who appeared to take care of herself. She wore light
pink rouge on her cheeks, heavy red lip-stick on her thin, chapped lips, and a
casual pink sweater with a pair of black jeans. The most different quality
about the woman was her cropped hair.
“I almost didn’t
recognize you with your hair-cut,” I said. “It looks good—”
“I heard you’re
getting married,” she interrupted.
I nodded. “That
I am.”
“To that girl
you floated around with at graduation.”
Again, I nodded.
“That’s right. You remember.”
“I sure do. You
impressed a lot of the crowd that night, Mr. Martin. But you didn’t impress me.
That was the oldest trick in the book. Invisible
wires . Any fool could’ve
very prosperous life ahead of me.
I was driving
around busy downtown Reno, alone on this Sunday while Liesel pulled a double
shift at Uncle Tony’s. I was happy to be alone since I was just six days away
from Liesel’s nineteenth birthday, and I still needed to pick out the perfect
gift.
Can’t the wedding ceremony at the end of
the month be my gift to her? Shouldn’t that count?
Liesel had woken
me up this morning by calling me and reminding me that today was our wedding
day. I screamed, jumped out of bed, and raced down the hallway before I heard
her calming voice echoing through the phone: “April Fools! April Fools! Gotcha !” It was a day I hated, because I
was always one of those gullible chums who forgot about it every year. Last
year, though, marked one of the first April Fool’s Days where a joke turned out
to be a harsh reality, with me aging older and older. So I wasn’t exactly
agreeable to the torment today.
I stepped into
the Macy’s at the Sparks Town Center just a few minutes past downtown Reno, and
flagged down a pretty cashier lady.
“So you don’t
want to give her jewelry?” she asked.
“Well, see, I
already gave her an engagement ring. Our wedding’s in just four weeks, but her
birthday’s next weekend. I don’t know what I can do to impress her when we’re
so close to getting married.”
“I have just the
thing,” she said, not just turning around but darting down an aisle and out of
my sight.
I backed up
against the glass and stared out at all the women surrounding me. I couldn’t
see a guy anywhere. I hoped they all assumed I was picking out an item for a
loved one and not for myself.
I waited for
five minutes, at least, for the employee to return, but she didn’t. I figured
she had gotten detained, either by another customer or by her bowels, but I
felt satisfied that at least she didn’t return right away with a Barney stuffed
animal, screaming at the top of her lungs, “April Fools, butt-head!”
I peered down at
the glass in front of me to see all kinds of earrings. Liesel likes earrings, doesn’t she? But won’t a pair of earrings look
like a lame gift just weeks after handing her an engagement ring? I
laughed. Not if I spend enough on a truly
gorgeous pair. She’ll be happy enough to start floating in the air again.
I looked at a
few pairs and compared prices. I started tapping my index finger against the
glass, when a terrifying reflection appeared before me.
Oh no. Please… tell me this is just an
April Fool’s joke.
“Mr. Martin? Is
that you?”
It’s not. What did I do to deserve this?
“Cameron! It is you!”
I stood up
straight and calmly turned around, thinking hard about bolting out of the store
and not looking back until I jumped into my car and raced out of the parking
lot. She wouldn’t be able to do anything
about it, now that I’ve graduated!
“Mrs. Gordon.
Hi.”
My former high
school librarian, and almost sex partner, stood before me, proud and confident,
looking more womanly than I’d ever seen her before. Always dressed so
conservative and unfriendly with make-up in my high school days, Mrs. Gordon
now looked like a true member of the opposite sex, a person, while still scary
in a beastly sort of way, who appeared to take care of herself. She wore light
pink rouge on her cheeks, heavy red lip-stick on her thin, chapped lips, and a
casual pink sweater with a pair of black jeans. The most different quality
about the woman was her cropped hair.
“I almost didn’t
recognize you with your hair-cut,” I said. “It looks good—”
“I heard you’re
getting married,” she interrupted.
I nodded. “That
I am.”
“To that girl
you floated around with at graduation.”
Again, I nodded.
“That’s right. You remember.”
“I sure do. You
impressed a lot of the crowd that night, Mr. Martin. But you didn’t impress me.
That was the oldest trick in the book. Invisible
wires . Any fool could’ve
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