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After pouring a substantial glass, she got her phone and called her friends for a conference call.
“Is everyone available to chat for a few minutes?”
“I am,” Maggie said. “Justin’s cleaning the grill and Tina is in bed already.”
“Davie’s in bed and Dave is giving me a foot massage,” Katrina added.
“Okay, well, Dave can hear this but he mustn’t tell Chris I called.”
“I promise,” Dave called from the opposite end of the couch.
“I embarrassed Chris by swimming in my underpants, so he’s sleeping at his house tonight. On what, I have no idea but he’s a big boy and he’ll figure it out.”
“I don’t know what to say,” her friends chorused.
“There’s nothing to say. This is what happens when people aren’t committed to each other. In my time of need, he left. You may have noted that his ex-wife had his ear when her issue cropped up. I didn’t miss that.”
“I’m so sorry, Annie. You know, we don’t really know Chris that well, either,” Dave said. “You met him at the same time we did. I’m not trying to make excuses for him, but maybe all of this was just as traumatizing for him as it was for you.”
“I’m sure it was awful,” she said. “But it sounds like the way he copes with stress is to run. His ex told me that Chris’s MO is the path of least resistance. I’ve already had one relationship like that and I certainly don’t want another.”
“Oh God, I’m so sorry,” Maggie said.
“Yeah, well, I wanted my friends to know I was sleeping alone tonight. I’ll let you go back to your routine. Talk tomorrow?”
“Definitely,” Katrina said.
“Did you want to come here tonight?” Maggie asked.
“Aw, thanks but no, thank you. My kid is out cold. I’m going to drink my glass of wine and get my book out that I never finished from Thanksgiving. Love you all.”
Then a knock sounded on the door. “Great, there’s the damn door. I think he’s back. I’ll talk to you later.”
She ended the call and got up to look out the window. Chris’s car was in the driveway. She opened the door and stepped aside.
“I guess you must think I’m a jerk.”
“Well, I sort of do but that’s okay. Your timing sucks.”
“Can I come in?”
She swept her arm across, holding the door, and he stepped in.
“What do you want?”
“Can I stay here tonight? All my clothes are here. I don’t even have a toothbrush.”
“You can stay here.”
“Thank you.”
He looked at the floor and she didn’t say anything right away, waiting.
Then, she said, “Don’t ever do that to me again.”
He looked up at her, a confused look on her face. “We’re going to argue, even fight. It’s inevitable.”
“I know that, Chris. Remember, I was once married, too. I confided in you that Steve hated me pregnant. He was turned off by the belly, the whole thing. I was an embarrassment to him. So what do you do not twenty-four hours after I bare my soul to you?”
