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"Bailey, I don't think you should leave. Let me at least take you home. You've had a lot of wine," Jim said, standing up and grabbing my arm.
I stopped and turned to look at him when I heard his phone ring. He held his finger up and pulled his phone from his pocket and checked the screen.
I was finished and I let out a loud huff. "Yeah, I've had a lot of wine. I'll make sure a cab takes me home. You obviously have more important things to take care of, since even in the middle of a breakup you can't leave that fucking phone alone."
I pulled from his grasp and rushed out of the restaurant, fighting tears all the way.
The ringingof the phone woke me from a dead sleep. I lifted my head and a sharp pain passed through my temples. I held my hand up to my eyes, rubbing them with my fists, and blinked hard as I looked around the bright room. I could barely remember how I had gotten home. I looked down at myself. My expensive brand new dress was wrapped up around my waist. My God, I had even fallen asleep with my clothes on. A loud ring went off again, and I reached over my head to grab the phone.
"Hello," I said groggily.
"Hello, my engaged twin."
"Engaged twin?" I questioned, rubbing my eyes.
"You weren't the only one who committed to forever last night. Ryan asked me to marry him last night too!" a cheerful Cara sang into the phone. "The wedding will be in the fall, and I want you to be my maid of honour. Of course, I'll return the favour!" she squealed. I could hear Ryan say something in the background.
I felt my stomach turn. It was those words that brought me back to why I was such a mess this morning. As if the breakup with Jim wasn't enough, now I would have to face watching Cara and Ryan get married.
"Congratulations." I sniffled, trying hard to be happy for my best friend. I knew I wasn't kidding anyone. I sounded like shit, and happiness and excitement were the furthest from my voice.
"Bailey?"
"Yeah?" I said through a tight throat, trying to stifle the heavy sobs I could feel building.
"What is it? What happened."
I let out a deep breath and wiped the tears from my eyes. "Jim and I broke up last night. He met someone else."
"That dirty rat bastard. Where is he? I will kill him. Don't try and hide him from me either, Bailey. I will find him and make sure he never uses his dick for anything ever again."
Even though I felt awful, I couldn't help but laugh at how protective Cara had always been. "It’s okay, you don't need to go all psycho. It just wasn't meant to be. It comes as some sort of a shock, though, after thinking that I would be having an entirely different conversation with you."
"I'm sure. So what are you going to do now?"
"Honestly, I don't really know. Find work, I guess. Figure out where life is going to take me now."
The line went quiet for a couple of minutes, and I could hear Cara whispering on the other end. I knew immediately she was telling Ryan everything.
"Don't tell Ryan everything!" I exclaimed.
"I'm not. Listen, I have an idea," Cara sang.
"You do? Dare I even ask?"
"I was just thinking you could always come home. I could really use help planning the wedding, and you could get a job here. I'm sure your mom would be so happy to have you home."
A wave of panic came over me as I thought about returning to Sunnyville. I hadn't been back since the day I left five years ago. I liked my new life. Or I did up until now.
"What do you say? It will be like old times. We can shop, visit our old stomping grounds. Come on."
"I don't know, Cara. I'm not sure I'm ready to return." If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that I wasn't ready to revisit my past.
"It's because of Jackson, isn't it?"
"Listen, it’s not about Jackson. It's about me. It's about the fact I haven't been back since the funeral. It's about my brother and the fact that they still haven't found the guy responsible for taking his life that night."
"Sure..."
