“So you came over to break up with me?”
No, I came over to fuck. But clearly that plan was a complete bust.
“I just want to be honest. I’ve been stuck on one person before, and I ended up with hurt feelings and lost time. You deserve better than that. Better than me.”
“Edison, I get you’re scared but I’m not asking for a white wedding and picket fence just yet. I just want you.”
Scrubbing my beard, I declared, “You’ll get over it. Trust me in a year from now you’ll be thanking me.”
“So that’s it?”
“I’m afraid so. I’ll probably wake up tomorrow and regret having this conversation, but I think this is where I exit.”
“Edison—”
I stood to leave. “This is all me. You’re perfect. I’m just stuck on stupid.”
“You don’t have to leave.”
“I’ve overstayed my welcome. Thank you for the company.”
Willa walked me to the door. The expression on her face was one of shock. Not going to lie, I was surprised too. I didn’t come here intending to end things with her. Despite my best efforts, the person I was trying to forget had a way of worming her way into my brain. Obviously, I didn’t break up with Willa because Fancy was back in town. That would be stupid seeing how I didn’t know if she’d be here for a month or a week. And knowing my luck, I probably wouldn’t see her before she left.
Willa and I had run our course. I’d been avoiding her for a reason, but Willa hadn’t read the writing on the wall. Maybe because I was practically writing that shit in invisible ink. It was for the best. Neither of us was getting what we needed from the other. She wanted a commitment, and I wanted her to be someone else.
It wasFriday night in Hume and despite my protest, I was headed to The Tipsy Owl, a local bar with Oz. The Tipsy Owl was one of four bars in Hume. First you had The Crooked Dog where the older residents of town went to let their hair down with traditional country music and the coldest brews in town. The Drunken Zombie was just that, a place you went when you wanted to disappear. If you frequented that bar you were looking for discretion, which was in short supply in a small town like this. Then you had The Bar, it was hip and edgy. Well as hip and edgy as you could get when you’re hours away from the nearest major city.
The Tipsy Owl was the spot the young people in town went. It was the place where I had my first legal bottle of beer. The music was loud, a fusion of country, hip hop, and R&B. And the bartender had a heavy hand. At least he did when I was still a resident. If it was Friday night in Hume, you were liable to turn up at Tipsy.
I’d planned to watch sappy movies while feasting on a smorgasbord of sweet and savory treats. I wasn’t looking to make a scene. Coming home was more about hiding out, notshowing out for me. Sure, I missed my high school friends and I planned on visiting them real soon, but I’d only been home for a few days. I needed some time to decompress. But Oz wasn’t having any of that. When he pulled up to the house and I greeted him in pajamas and a hair scarf, I thought he was going to bust a capillary.
So now we were speeding down the road with the sounds of XYZ Baby playing in the background. My phone dinged, alerting me of an incoming text message. Reaching into my purse, just big enough for my cell, lip gloss, and the key to the front door, I retrieved the phone. It was a text message from Chap. I’d been in Hume for several days and it had been radio silence from him the entire time.
If I’d broken my girlfriend’s heart, my fingertips would be bloody from the constant messages I’d be sending. Maybe he was glad I was gone. It gave him a chance to cheat in peace without the nuisance of a nosy girlfriend mucking up his game. The thought made me heated all over again. Was the lady on the bus a one time oopsie? And had he been sneaking around while I was working hard?
Chap: Fancy baby, I know you’re thinking the worst of me right now.
Fancy: I don’t have to think I saw with my own two eyes.
Chap: That wasn’t what it looked like.
Fancy: Oh really cause it looked like you were fucking another woman to me.
Chap: …
Fancy: You’re a liar and a cheat.
Chap: Come home.
Fancy: I’ve already been home.
Chap: Is that why our place looks like it’s been ransacked?
Fancy: Lose my number Chap.
Chap: I can’t do that. Because I love you too much. My mother didn’t raise a quitter and I plan on making things square.
Fancy: For us to be square I’d have to sleep with a random dude and have you walk in on us while he had me spread open like a buffet. THAT WOULD MAKE US EVEN. THAT WOULD BE SQUARE.
