AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I ran as quickly as I could, and grabbed a bottle of wine off the rack. I concealed it in my duffle bag, and swung it over my shoulder as Beverly returned.
“Thanks.” I blew my nose, and wiped my eyes. I said goodnight, too guilty to stay and continue looking her in the eyes.
Inside my apartment, I wheeled my luggage into the closet and shut the door. I grabbed the bottle opener from the kitchen, and climbed into bed, wine bottle in hand. I remained in my clothes because they smelled like Chase. It was insane – when I was in California, all I wanted was to be back home; now that I was home, all I wanted was to run back to California.
I drank until I could no longer feel the throbbing pain in my chest, which was most of the bottle. The only time I picked my head up was to check if Chase responded to any of my texts. He hadn’t.
Chapter Nine
The Drunk Girl Crying Thing
“Somebody, help! Get me out of here!” I screamed.
I put my ear up to the door again, straining to hear any sign of life on the other side. I balled my hands into fists and pounded on the door for a second time.
“Somebody, please! Chase! Can you hear me?”
My throat burned from screaming so loudly. I kicked the door with all of my might. Something was blocking the door, and I could not push it open. After several more failed attempts, I sat on the stairs in defeat. I could not go back up, and I could not get through down here. I was stuck.
I covered my face with my hands, and began to cry.
My phone buzzedand I opened my eyes.
“Hello?” I answered groggily.
“I’m outside. Open up, I’m freezing by buns off!”
I quickly unlocked the door, and returned to my bed under the warm covers.
Shelly stomped the snow off of her boots, and hung her jacket in the closet. “I’m so over this snow. It’s April, for God’s sake!” She made a beeline for the bed as soon as she entered my room. “You’ve been lying in this bed for two days. Enough is enough.” She ripped the covers off of me, and bounced onto the bed. “Rise and shine, bitch.”
I grumbled while I sat up.
“You’re not going to get better lying here.”
“I know.” I checked my phone for the millionth time.
“Has he called at all?”
“Nope.”
“He’s probably just busy with work.”
“I just feel so guilty for leaving him.”
Shelly eyed the empty bottle of wine, but said nothing. I was glad, because I didn’t want to admit that I stole it from Beverly. “Just because it’s his dream to be there doesn’t mean it has to be yours, too. You need to figure things out. I’m sure he feels just as guilty for bringing you there in the first place.”
“I can’t get his face out of my head. He looked crushed when he left me at the airport.” I squeezed my eyes shut to keep the tears at bay. “I feel like I ruined everything.”
“You didn’t ruin anything. Lots of people live apart from each other. This is only temporary.”
“Until when, though? I hate not knowing – I hate that there’s not an end in sight. What if he doesn’t ever want to come back? What if he doesn’t want to be with me anymore? What if… what if he finds someone else?”
“That boy loves you, Merritt. His heart belongs to you, and you will both figure everything out together. It’s just going to take some time.”
“Time. Why can’t it ever be, like, ice cream or something? How come we can’t just say, “It’s going to take some ice cream to make everything better,”? Why is it always time?”
A smile crept onto her face. “Why don’t you come out with us tonight? Brody and the guys are having a party at the house.”
