on me, he slows his pace and gathers himself instantly into that other person, the one who can charm his way into your life then destroy it.
“What’s going on, Ellie?” he asks, placing his hands in his pockets, completely unaffected by the fact that he’s standing half-naked out on the street.
Sam’s grip loosens in surprise and I wiggle free of him, putting distance between myself and my past as well as present mistakes.
“What’re you doing here?” Sam demands of Tim.
“Me?” Tim asks, bringing his hand to his chest in mock confusion. “I live here. What’re you doing here, friend?”
“I am not your friend,” warns Sam. “Ellie, why are you here with him?”
I’m cold, even though it’s easily ninety degrees outside. I raise my chin and look fully at Sam. There’s something about him that doesn’t look right. He seems surprised and hurt, but he’s the one that’s betrayed me. I want to hurt him, hurt him the way he’s hurt me. “We had some unfinished business.”
Sam clenches his fists, the muscles of his arms tensing and bulging beneath his t-shirt. His brow is knitted together and he looks dangerous. I feel sick to my stomach, like I’m on a rollercoaster. All I want is to get in my car and leave them both behind me.
“That’s right,” Tim cuts in. “She and I have a lot of unresolved business that we need to put to bed, so to say.”
I feel disgusted and dizzy. Sam never takes his eyes off me, ignoring Tim’s taunts. “So this is your choice, is it?” he asks.
I want to scream at him some more, bang my fists on his chest and ask him how could he make me believe in him and then hurt me like this. Not even Tim was this much of a bastard. “Yes, it is,” I lie.
Sam nods his head and breaks eye contact with me. Jason, who’s been standing on alert, ready to fight, during the exchange, moves around the car, gets into the driver’s seat and starts the engine. I watch as Sam moves toward the passenger side door then pauses. He looks back at me and again I’m confused by what I see in his eyes. He looks…defeated.
“I hope you’ll be happy with your choice.”
I can’t say anything in response because I have no words left for him. Sam gets into the truck and they pull away from the curb, leaving Tim and me standing at an angle from one another on the sidewalk.
“You’re making the right decision,” Tim says, walking toward me. “You and me, we’re great together. Ellie, I’ve been thinking, and I think we need to stop dicking around here. I think we should get married.”
For the fourth time in less than two hours, I’m well and truly shocked. All my life I’ve dreamed of meeting Mr. Right, of getting engaged and having a big, fairytale wedding, but this reality is as far from that daydream as it could possibly be. Here I am, standing in the middle of a sidewalk, wearing jeans so tight they appear to be painted on me, facing my shirtless ex-boyfriend whose mistress is upstairs in my old home, wearing my silk robe, and before he’s ever even uttered the words ‘I love you,’ he’s asking me to stop dicking around and marry him. I reach back and with all of the strength left in my worn-out body, I punch Tim full in the nose.
He’s caught completely off guard and falls to the ground from the impact of the blow. “What the fuck!” he shouts, getting onto his knees and holding a hand to his bloodied face. “You’re insane!”
“Actually, Tim, I think that’s the sanest thing I’ve done in a very long time.”
I may be on my own, once again thrown into the abyss of a broken heart, but damn if I’m not going down swinging this time. “Oh, and by the way,” I call over my shoulder, “my answer is no.”
Where do you go when you have no home and a badly broken heart? A bar, of course. The darkness of The Cavern is a welcome respite from the bright and cheery sunshine outside, which is really just pissing me off. The knuckles on my right hand are sore and swollen. Tim’s head was every bit as hard as I thought it would be, but the discomfort I feel now is really a small price to pay for the release I felt when my fist connected with his nose.