listen too hard since the dickhead had gotten a super loud muffler installed.
She thought the purpose of mufflers were to make the car quieter, not the other way around. But of course, as he’d said, she was just a woman, so what did she know?
Finally, after what seemed like a long while, she heard a door slam again and then the car start.
She heard the engine revving and him shifting for a good couple of blocks before the sound faded into oblivion. Only then did she dare come out of hiding, shaking and exhausted.
Forty-five minutes later the doorbell rang again.
Like a spy—or more like someone trying to avoid their ex—she crept to the window and peeked out.
Her shoulders sagged with a combination of relief and emotional exhaustion when she saw it was Shelly this time. She’d finally arrived.
Flustered, she yanked open the door, about to launch into the harrowing tale, when her friend held up a sticky note.
“Why is there a Post-It stuck on your front door?”
She recognized the scrawl on the tiny paper. He’d left her a note. On a Post-It.
That figured. He’d broken up with her by text message. Why wouldn’t he continue to torture her via sticky note?
“Come in and I’ll explain.” Alicia eyed the single bottle in her friend’s hand and decided it probably wouldn’t be enough, but it would be a good start.
Opening and pouring the wine was the first order of business. Even more important than digging into the sushi delivery that arrived just minutes after Shelly.
Only after a big gulp of the wine could she start explaining what had happened. “Greg showed up at my door. I didn’t answer, of course. I hid. So I guess that’s why he left the note.”
Shelly glanced down at the small piece of paper, innocently resting in the center of the table as if it hadn’t totally ruined Alicia’s day.
All it said was CALL ME printed in all-caps followed by his name.
“And you still don’t know what he wants?” Shelly asked.
“No.”
“Aren’t you curious?”
“No,” She said with more force.
She didn’t know what he wanted. What she did know was that she didn’t want anything to do with him.
“All right.” Her friend nodded. “So, then I guess we eat, and drink, and forget all about him . . . and maybe talk about your Navy SEAL.” She raised her eyebrows in question.
“No.” She had the feeling of being thrown from the pan into the fire. From a conversation about a man she didn’t even want to think about, to a conversation about another man she didn’t want to talk about.
“Fine.” Shelly’s tone told Alicia her friend was letting it go for now, but not forever. At least she’d have a reprieve to enjoy her sushi and white wine.
Half an hour later there was nothing but a lump of wasabi and empty take-out containers left of dinner. And, the empty bottle of wine sitting on the table next to two half-full glasses.
Shelly grabbed her glass and carried it to the living room, setting it down on the coffee table in front of the sofa. Alicia did the same.
“So what are we watching?” Shelly asked.
“You pick a movie.” She was finally feeling settled enough from the earlier upheaval to sit and enjoy the night.
She had seen—and loved—every movie in her collection. Many times. It was only fair to let her guest choose the entertainment.
Shelly padded in her socks across the living room floor to the DVDs. She glanced over her shoulder at Alicia on the sofa. “You know, you might be the only person I know who still owns, and actually watches, DVDs instead of just streaming.”
She lifted one shoulder. “My mother dumped boxes of them on Jen when she became a minimalist and moved to Florida after my dad died. When Jen told me she was going to get rid of it all, I took them.”
It just didn’t feel right to toss or even donate what had been such a big part of their childhood. She couldn’t count how many hours their family had sat together in front of the TV, eating popcorn and watching one of her mother or father’s favorite movies.
Not to mention that right after the break-up she’d spent a good number of hours sobbing in front of these movies.
They were like old friends now, together for the good times and the bad.
She couldn’t get rid of them, even if she did have to go and buy a new DVD player when her parents’ old one crapped