2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

March

Are you sure we really need to go out tonight? I kind of wanted to stay in and just be with you.” I turned to look at Rich, who insisted on driving us to the restaurant. He had been complaining like this since we left, and it was starting to make me angry.

“All we ever do is stay in when you’re here. I feel like the only places I’ve ever actually seen you are at work and at my place.”

“You know why.” His clipped tone hit my last nerve again. He continued to ping the damn thing until all I wanted to do was yank the steering wheel from his hands, crash us into the guardrail, and have it out with him in a good, old fashion screaming match. He had been doing his level best to ruin the night since I told him we had plans. My surprise for his birthday was about to be flushed down the toilet, and all because he didn’t want to leave the house again.

“I understand that we don’t get a lot of time together, but we haven’t been out on a proper date since we first started dating. Maybe, I just want to go out once in a while and show off my hunky boyfriend.”

I didn’t miss the slight cringe before he covered it up and glanced my way with a too-wide smile that never reached his eyes. “Fine, but did we really need to spend more time with people from work?”

“Come on, you love Bridgette and Cliff. Stop being a grump and let’s have a wonderful night.”

After we got to the restaurant, Rich’s phone started ringing. He took a quick glimpse and smiled. “Why don’t you go on in and I’ll be there in a few minutes. I have to take this.”

“I can wait,” I offered.

He quickly shook his head. “Go ahead. Order me a Gin and Tonic and I’ll be along shortly.” His smile turned glacial when his cell stopped ringing in his hands. I heaved out a sigh and then left the car to go meet Bridge and Cliff inside. They had texted just before we pulled up that they already had a seat in the quiet section near the back bar. I bypassed the hostess station and marched straight back, wondering – and not for the first time – if Rich had started seeing another woman back home, since it was clear that I didn’t want to give up my life to transfer there.

My heart skipped a beat at the thought. Our relationship was still less than a year old, but that didn’t matter. I’d given the man my heart months ago.

“Hey, Avi! You look beautiful tonight.” Cliff stood and greeted me with a kiss on my cheek.

“Thank you,” I returned while giving him a quick side hug.

“You really do look amazing in that dress.” It was a black slip dress that hugged my breasts and draped like a waterfall of silk down to mid-thigh. I paired it with a white gold chain that held an orchid charm. Each petal of the orchid’s flower was an Amethyst with two emeralds hugging it to represent the leaves of the plant. It had been a gorgeous birthday present from Rich last month and one I cherished. That reminded me.

“Did you bring it?”

“Of course, I brought it.” Bridgette reached into her overly large handbag and pulled out the wrapped gift I had slipped her while we were at work yesterday. I knew there would be no way to conceal the gift with what I planned to wear tonight. I smoothed my dress down and took a seat while placing the gift in the chair next to mine where Rich would be sitting whenever he decided our date night was more important than his phone call.

We had to tell the waitress one more time to give us a few minutes when Rich still hadn’t shown up. “Do you want me to go check on him?” Cliff finally asked.

“I think maybe you better. He didn’t know I was bringing him out tonight for a birthday celebration. He was a little reluctant to come because going out means sharing our time with others.” Cliff only nodded and stood to leave the table as Bridgette reached over and took my hand.

“Are you okay?” She asked, keeping her voice low.

“Please, don’t ask me that. I don’t want to become a blubbering mess here at the table.”

“Aw, sweetie, I know the two of you are strained because of the whole, ‘who should transfer thing’ but it will be all right. It’s so obvious that the man loves you. He can never take his eyes off of you at work.”

“I think maybe he’s seeing someone else,” I admitted quickly before I could stop the words from falling out of my mouth.

“What? No way! That man adores you! He asked you to move in with him for God’s sake.”

“I know, but I turned him down because my mom is here, and I don’t think it would be a smart move for my career. What if he’s fed up with the fact that I won’t sacrifice those things for him?”

“Why should it be you who sacrifices?” She asked.

“I don’t know. He won’t budge on the subject though, even knowing my situation. I think maybe he’s started seeing someone there. Lately, he gets more phone calls and texts that he has to answer, and I know they’re not work related.”

“Try not to jump to conclusions, sweetie. I’m sure it’s nothing.”

A simple nod of my head was the only answer I had for her. What else could I say? The man I loved had been pulling away over the past few weeks. I felt it. That coupled with the influx of calls and texts worried me.

A few minutes later, Rich and Cliff turned back up. Cliff had lost his usual jovial demeanor and Rich seemed ready to bolt. He barely sat in his seat, ignoring the package there, and then leaned in to offer a quick peck against my cheek before he stood up again. “Sorry, something came up back at home. I’m going to have to leave tonight to get back and handle it.”

“What could have possibly come up on a Friday night?" I asked. I didn’t maintain my focus on my boyfriend though, instead, my eyes drifted to Cliff who was unusually fidgety in his seat and throwing weird looks to Bridge.

“Why do you have to question everything?” Rich snapped which forced my attention back to him. I slid my chair back and stood.

“Do you think you can give me a ride home?” I asked Bridgette and Cliff.

“Sure, no problem,” Bridgette said as she too stood, ready to leave.

“Jesus!” Rich huffed. “I’m sorry. Sit. Stay. Eat. I can’t…” He seemed so flustered that I wasn’t sure how to take what was happening. “I have to go pack and leave. Stay, have the dinner you planned. I’ll call when I get in.”

Rich left no room to argue as he turned and took off for the front of the restaurant leaving me standing there gawking after him. I glanced back down at the table after he was no longer in view and noticed that he left behind the gift I had waiting for him. As embarrassing as it was, there was no holding back the tears that fell.

“I don’t even know what just happened.” The shock in Bridgette’s tone only caused a sob to break free. “I’m so sorry, come on, let’s get you out of here, Avi.”

My friend helped me outside as her man settled the bill for our drinks before meeting us at the car. I could tell by the look on his face, when he attempted to silently communicate with Bridgette, that he knew exactly what was going on with Rich, but also that he wouldn’t tell me.

“He didn’t even take the gift I got him,” I complained through my tears as I held the box in my lap on the way back to my place. The wrapping paper had been ripped when Rich sat on it for that brief moment in time before bailing on his own surprise birthday dinner.

“It’s probably for the best.”

“Cliff!” Bridgette’s shocked gasp stunned me for a moment before his words sank in.

This had been the end of us. The end of me and Rich and I didn’t know why or understand any of it. It took a while of being lost in my own pity party to realize that Cliff hadn’t taken me straight home.

“What are we doing over here?” I finally asked him when I glanced up and realized that we were nowhere near my place. The guilty eyes that met mine in the rearview mirror told me everything I needed to know. “You’re giving him time to clear out his things, aren’t you?”

“Avi,” he started to say, the sad tone of his voice doing nothing but grating on my already frayed nerves. The tears fell hot and fast down my face once again.

“I don’t understand.” The words were whispered from my lips, but Cliff spoke in response anyway.

“Sometimes, it’s nothing for you to understand. Just remember that this isn’t on you – not at all. It’s on him.”

“Then why are you helping him?” I argued, my voice sounding strained with the emotions I’d been going through.

“Believe it or not, I’m not helping him, Avi. I’m helping you.”

“That’s not what this feels like.”

“Going back, while he’s there clearing out his shit, is not what you need to see right now.”

“He’s really doing it?” I questioned, even though I already knew the truth. Only a curt nod answered my question. “I don’t understand why.”

“I don’t think you want to know.”

His response startled me and when our eyes met, there was a deeper sadness that settled in his. He knew more than he was willing to tell. My mind went back to my earlier conversation with Bridgette, when I confided in her that I thought the man I loved had started seeing someone else. My stomach clenched and then rolled.

“Pull over!” The demand was swift and urgent enough that Cliff didn’t mess around, he pulled over just in time for me to throw the door open and heave out the little bit of liquid that had been on my stomach. I never wanted to be one of those women who fell apart over a man. I swore to myself that it would never happen to me. For that reason, it stung that much more when I found myself puking into the gutter because my emotions were in such turmoil. Sadly, it felt like the only way to purge some of the pain.

When I finally managed to pull myself together, Cliff handed back a napkin to wipe my mouth with. “It’ll get better, Avi.”

“Why is he doing this?”

“He’s a selfish bastard.” His response was swift and angry, but he didn’t offer any further details. I couldn’t fault Cliff for not breaking whatever confidence he had with Rich. It wasn’t his place and I felt bad pushing for information because no one wanted to be put in the position of being the man in the middle of a couple as they split up. I respected that, even though I wanted to do whatever was necessary to get the man to fess up. It wasn’t really his place, though. It had been Rich’s place to tell me what was going on in our own relationship and instead, he chose the coward’s way out.

Irefused to let Bridgette or Cliff come into my place with me when they finally took me back home. Instead, I walked in, locked the door behind me, and then took a deep breath to fortify myself for what I would see. The one thing that I didn’t see was the key to my place left behind anywhere. He had apparently taken that with him. I didn’t know why, and frankly was pissed about it, because that meant I would have to change the locks. There was no way he was keeping a key to my place after the way he had just treated me.

“I didn’t even get to tell him happy birthday,” I said out loud to the empty room as I threw the gift I had gotten for his birthday onto the table. The extra pair of running shoes he brought to keep here were gone, no longer lying beside the front door. I locked up and took the time to change the alarm code on the panel. Even if he did use his key again before I changed the locks, it would trip the alarm that he would no longer be able to turn off.

It would serve him right to have to deal with the police after leaving me at the restaurant. I moved to my bedroom and noticed immediately that the closet door was left ajar. His side of the closet had been cleared out – not that there had been much in there. He had hung two suits, a pair of jeans, and a casual sweater. In the drawer by the window, there used to be a few t-shirts, socks, and boxer briefs. The drawer stood empty when I pulled it open. All of his hygiene items had been left behind in my bathroom, as if he forgot to check in there before he took off.

I went back out to the kitchen, grabbed the trash can, and made my way back to scoop all of his man-scented products into the garbage. His toothbrush and comb joined the rest. Just like that, there was no trace of him anywhere in my home. At least, I thought I had purged the last of it. It wasn’t until I laid down on the bed and the scent of him wafted up around me that I realized there was still a little bit of him left. He’d been staying here all week, so the sheets carried his scent and helped to scar his memory on my heart.

With the last dregs of my energy, I stripped the bed, threw an extra blanket down on the bare mattress, and then climbed under the quilt I kept in my chair. I’d make the bed tomorrow after I washed everything.