Luke’s going with me to drop me off. He waits for me to get in first. I don’t. I stand there, like a fool, wanting him to ask me to stay longer.
Waiting for him to say something, anything.
He looks at me, confused. “Are you getting in or what?”
I take my bag from his shoulder. “I am, but you’re not. Goodbye, Luke.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” He throws his hands in the air, utterly confused by my actions. “Why have you been acting like this all day? You’re being crazy.”
“Crazy? You’re calling me crazy?” I shout.
“We had an awesome few days but all day you’ve been cold and snappy. And now you don’t want me coming with you. What else would you call it?”
I shake my head. “It’s just time for me to go. Goodbye.”
I get into the car. By myself. And he lets me.
Asshole.
But deep down, I know he’s not. I’m the one acting out. The driver pulls from the curb, carrying me home.
Alone.
Tears stream down my face. I whisper to myself as I wipe them away, “What have I done?”
I arrive at my tiny apartment. Throw down my bag. Throw myself face down on the mattress and cry harder than I’ve ever cried before. Mr. Stuffings shows concern, rubbing his cheeks against my face. He settles in beside me and I lie there, devastated, my pillow damp with my tears.
Rolling through the last few days, I think of how happy I was with Luke. How at home I felt at his house. Looking around my room, depression and loneliness adds to my sadness. “Ugh—what was I thinking.” I flip over, disturbing Mr. Stuffings in the process, getting an angry growl from him.
Staring up at the ceiling, I wonder why I got hurt feelings over my departure; I was only supposed to stay until the danger was over. “I’m so confused!” I cry out, throwing an arm over my face. There’s nothing I can do but call Charlotte.
She picks up on the first ring. “What’s wrong?”
“What do you mean, what’s wrong,” I sniff, wiping away my tears. “Can’t I call you for no reason at all?”
Charlotte says, “Fact one; you never call me this late at night unless there’s a problem. Fact two; your voice has that weird high-pitched sound it gets when you’ve been crying.”
“Fact three, I think I accidently broke up with Luke,” I wail into the phone.
She gives a dramatic gasp. “Oh, no! What happened!”
“I’m not even sure. I had to stay at his house for a few days due to weird mafia crap and then today when it was time to leave, he just started throwing my things in a bag like it didn’t even matter that I was leaving—like he wasn’t even going to miss me.” I start to sob.
“Calm down, calm down, honey. Tell me what happened then?” she says, the voice of reason.
I try to take a deep breath. “So, then... I went a little crazy. I turned into my mother, snapping at him and complaining and I don’t even know. And then I just left in this big huff, basically breaking up with him.”
“No...” she gasps.
“Y-yes,” I sob out.
I can picture her shaking her head at me, her blonde curls bobbing. “You can fix this. Just call him and tell him you went a little crazy because you like him so much.”
“Oh, yeah, sure, that will make me look like less than a psycho then I already do. What do I doooooo?” I cry.
She says, “Listen. Just calm down. Get some sleep. And let’s make a plan in the morning.”
She’s right—there’s nothing I can do about it tonight. “I will. Thanks, Charlotte.”
“Anytime, friend. Now get some sleep!” We hang up and I toss the phone to the side.
A few moments later, there’s a ding from my phone. I pick it up, thinking it’s from Charlotte.
It’s a text from Luke.
Sleep tight, baby girl
I read the words and a whole new waterfall of tears comes streaming down and making Mr. Stuffings slink off under my bed. Even my cat doesn’t want to be around me. I cry myself asleep, alone.
Chapter Eleven
Luke
Things were going so well between me and Tori; her leaving in her storm cloud blindsided me. The truth is, of all the women I’ve dated, she’s the only one who knows the real me. The first woman I’ve ever shared my true self with.
Bared my soul to.
The only woman I’ve ever called my baby girl.
And now, she’s gone.
Leaving a Tori-sized hole