WITHOUT YOU

CHAPTER 3

"What do I get you?" Justin asks as he gets out of his seat belt and I think for a minute.

"French fries with no ketchup, please."

"Not a ketchup girl, huh?" He asks and I nod. "I see, anything else?"

I smile and shake my head.

"That will be enough," I lie.

There is a lot I could ask for, I mean, it's food we are talking about, but I don't want to take advantage of his generosity plus we still have the samosas that Grams packed for us.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else?" He squints his eyes at me skeptically and I nod. "Okay, what drink do you prefer?"

I don't even waste a beat.

"Diet Coke." It's my all-time favorite drink.

"Fries with no ketchup and diet coke. Will be right back," he says as he gets out of the car and he ambles towards McDonald’s.

I watch until he goes inside, then I take my phone and scroll idly as I wait for him.

A few moments later, he comes back and hands me the packaging bag as he gets in the car.

"You're gonna eat while driving?" I ask him as I take out the two packets of fries and I place them on my lap.

"Nope, you are going to feed me.”

I whip my head towards him, my mouth hanging wide open in disbelief and I shake my head.

"You are kidding right?" I ask, raising an eyebrow at him and he shrugs innocently.

"Come on, Emmy, I am driving.” He is hella serious by the way.

"You can pull by the road then, no way I am feeding you," I tell him and he breaks down laughing.

"Relax, girl, I was kidding." He says between laughter and I exhale sharply.

For a moment in there, I thought he was actually serious and I was starting to get offended.

"I thought you were serious," I say as I put his packet of fries at the center console. "How are you gonna eat while driving though?"

"I can multi-task, could you help me drizzle the ketchup?" He asks and I make a face at him.

"Please tell me that's another joke."

"Nope, I like my fries soaked in ketchup."

"Eww, how are we going to be friends?" I ask while I drizzle the ketchup on his fries and he laughs.

"You'll get used to it, I guess." I laugh alongside him as I take a fry to my mouth.

"I really can't look at your fries right now."

"You should take a bite." He tells me as he pulls into the highway and I shake my head.

I would die before I put ketchup in my mouth.

"Hard pass," I say as I turn towards him and he is busy chewing and moving his head rhythmically to a hip-hop song that's playing. "It's your turn now, tell me something about yourself. How old are you?”

“Take a wild guess.”

"Come on, I am not good at guessing," I say and take another fry to my mouth.

"Try," he grins at me.

"Okay, nineteen?"

He shakes his head.

"That's, Jay. My younger brother," he adds when he sees the confused expression on my face.

"Wow, you have a brother?" I ask and then I remember he had said something about his brother's love for cars. "I have always wanted to have siblings especially a kid brother."

"Trust me you're lucky, brothers are a pain in the ass."

"I take that you and your brother don't get along?"

"Well, Jay is...complicated." He tells me and then he takes a deep breath. "Anyway, I am twenty." He answers, totally avoiding the topic about his brother and I don't push it.

"Your brother is nineteen and you are twenty?" I ask completely shocked and he nods.

"I was eleven months when Jay was born."

"Maybe that's why you guys don't get along, sibling rivalry?"

"Jay doesn't get along with anyone." He tells me and a sad smile forms on his lips. "Can we not talk about him?" I just nod and decide to ask the question I have been dreading to ask all along.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" He chuckles.

"Curious much?"

I roll my eyes at him.

"You asked me the same, I'd say it's a fair question," I defend myself.

"It's complicated," he tells me after a long second.

"How complicated?" I ask, tucking a few stray curls behind my ear.

"Like really complicated."

"Okay," I say, nodding my head as I take a sip of my diet coke, and an awkward silence follows.

***

We have been on the road for almost two hours now, and I hope we are almost there, I honestly can't wait to see my mom. It has been 10 freaking months since I last saw her, and God knows just how much I miss her.

"I f*****g love this song." I shout when 'Walk away' by Paula DeAnda starts to play and I start to sing along.

"I saw you with your new girl just yesterday, and I feel that I must confess. Even though it kills me to have to say, I'll admit that I was impressed. Physically just short of perfection, gotta commend you on your selection. Though I know I shouldn't be concerned, in the back of my mind I can't help but question." I can feel Justin's eyes on me as I sing my lungs out, but I choose to ignore him as I do what I do best, singing, and not to brag but I have a beautiful voice.

"I can't explain this feeling, I think about it every day. And even though we've moved on, it gets so hard to walk away...Walk away...Walk away...Walk away...I'm gonna remember you...you're gonna remember me." I am all smiles as the song comes to end, it's what music does to me.

It elates me.

“A round of applause for Emily,” Jus shouts, clapping at me and I facepalm myself.

"Sorry, I got carried away."

"Damn, you have a beautiful voice and that was one hell of a performance," he says and I slowly turn towards him with a grin on my face.

"Thank you," I say in the humblest way possible.

“Wow,” he utters, eyes cast on the phone in his hand and my mouth hangs wide open when it hits me...

He was recording me?

"Oh my God, Jus, you have to delete that," he quickly shakes his head.

"Never, you have the best voice I have ever heard, Emmy. Damn.”

I get that a lot by the way.

“Thank you, but you really have to delete that recording.”

“It’s a video and no, I am not deleting anything.” He says and his eyes are glued on the phone as he plays the video.

"Come on, give me the phone," I say, trying to snatch his phone and he laughs at me, waving it to my face, and then he slides it in his pocket.

"Sorry, pretty face." He says grinning at me triumphantly and I blush away.

"Pretty face?" I ask rhetorically.

"Well, you have a pretty face," I look at him from the corner of my eyes and I catch him stealing a glance at me. "It's hard to believe that you've never had a boyfriend."

"I think I have never given anyone the chance to toy with my heart." Plus I don't think I want to get into any relationship before I get done with school and secure myself a good paying job.

"That explains it. But you should give love a chance." He tells me and I chuckle lightly. "We should start doing covers, what do you think?”

“Honestly, that has never crossed my mind.”

“You have the voice and I play instruments, Jay would join us too but he is just too stubborn.”

“He plays too?”

“Nope, he sings. Well, he used to.”

“What happened?” I ask curiously and he shrugs.

“I think he just got busy with school and all,” he tells me as he pulls outside a black wrought-iron gate, and excitement courses through me.

I am a few minutes away from seeing my mother and I am hella excited.

The sturdy gate swings open less than a minute later and a tall, huge guy waves us in.

“Afternoon, George,” Justin greets the security guy nicely and I can't help but admire him, his humility.

“Welcome back, sir,” George says and then he waves at me, and I wave back with a smile.

We drive inside and he pulls into a large parking garage that is a few kilometers away from the gate, next to a gray Porsche and then he exhales in a very exaggerated manner.

“f*****g finally,” he says as he gets out of his seat belt. "We are home," he tells me as he steps out of the car and I follow suit.