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“I’m here on a brand trip.” She pushed past me into my apartment, not even bothering to wait for an invitation. My mouth remained open in shock as I shut the door behind her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I miss you.” Her words struck me in the gut harder than a sucker punch.
“You what?”
“You heard me.” Sutton began to reach out for me, but I took a step back, putting distance between us.
“When I saw you at the ESPYS, I realized how big of a mistake I made letting you go,” Sutton continued on, like me trying to put as much distance as I could between us didn’t bother her. “You’re turning into the man I always knew you could be, and I thought maybe we could give us another shot.”
“No.”
“What?” Sutton asked, her eyebrows drawing together. It was a word she didn’t hear often, so I wondered if she remembered what it meant.
“I don’t want to be with you, Sutton.” I began to pace the room, the feelings that I had for Maggie filling back inside me. “I’m in love with someone. Someone who never wished I was a different person. She saw me for the man I am. She never brought the worst parts of me out to exploit.”
“I would never do such a thing.” Sutton gasped. She was putting on an Oscar-worthy performance just for the two of us.
“Sutton, you were only with me for my money. Don’t act like you and I both didn’t know the truth.” Sutton began to step toward me again, trying to reach for me. “How about we agree that we’re better off as acquaintances?”
“Acquaintances?” Sutton asked incredulously.
“I don’t think being friends is on the table either, Sutton.” Pride rushed through me for standing up for what I needed. In the past, I would have folded for what she wanted. Now I had the power to put my foot down and it all stemmed from the confidence that Maggie helped me remember I had.
“I’m sorry to hear that.” The act that Sutton had been putting on before dropped. “I’m sorry I took up so much of your time. I should go.”
I knew that I couldn’t let this woman walk out of my house without telling her I was grateful. Because I was. She was one of the people who helped push me to be the man I am today. She wasn’t a positive catalyst, but she was a catalyst nonetheless.
“Thank you for helping push me to be better,” I told her as I pulled her in for a hug. “I will always be grateful for that. You helped me find my home with the best person that has ever walked into my life.”
Sutton nodded her head, clearly wanting to end this conversation as quickly as she could to spare herself the embarrassment.
“The next time you’re in San Diego, feel free to reach out,” she told me as we headed out onto the street toward her car. “I promise I can still give you a good time.”
“Thanks, but no thanks,” I told her, a small laugh shared between us at her last-ditch effort. “Have a nice life.”
My patience was thinning. I had moved on, started a new life, and had a fresh start. I wasn’t about to let her taint any of this. We walked in silence toward her rental car that was parked on the side street by my building. I reached to open the driver’s door for her, ready for her to be out of my life for good. With a little more force than necessary, I shut the door behind her once she climbed in. The sound of her window rolling down filled the night around us.
“You deserve happiness, Tommy,” she told me. Anger coursed through me at her words. Who was she to tell me what I deserved? All she ever did was use me. My eyes dropped to my feet as I fought to keep myself from exploding. She didn’t deserve anything else from me, not even my anger. She would only relish the fact that she could still pull that sort of a response from me. I gave her a nod to acknowledge that I heard her before I stepped back from her car. She rolled her window back up and slowly pulled away from the curb. I watched the car until the lights disappeared around the corner. The weight on my chest I felt the second I saw her finally lifted away.
Movement grabbed my attention out of the corner of my eye, and I looked down to see Maggie, crouched behind a random car.
“Maggie?” I called, walking closer. The despair on her face was evident, and it twisted a knife in my gut. Something had happened to her, and everything in me wanted to make it better.
She stood up and looked around, clearly searching for a way to escape. But my steps were able to catch her before she could leave. She looked like a trapped animal, and I didn’t want to spook her.
“When did you get here?” I continued my line of questioning, trying to get her to tell me what was going on. My eyes shifted down to the keys dangling from her fingers and then to the car behind her.
“Did you drive here?” I was now a few paces from her and close enough to take in the smeared mascara and red eyes. “Are you okay?”
Seconds later, Olivia’s car came to a stop next to her and she rolled down the window to catch Maggie’s eye. Without giving me another look or even a response, she pulled open Olivia’s door and dove inside.
“Maggie!” I called as Olivia’s car sped away from me. There was a sinking feeling in my gut that something had happened between us, something I wasn’t aware of. I realized she and I might be on a sinking ship and I didn’t have any sort of life preserver to get us out. I knew I needed to do something or we’d be lost at sea forever, drifting apart until there was no hope left.
Maggie
Ihad stayed out in front of Tommy’s brownstone five minutes longer than I needed to, watching him talk with Sutton. I don’t know what made me stay there, but I think part of me was hoping I’d blink and Sutton would suddenly not be there anymore.
