Page 1 of Just One More Shot

Elise

I can’t fathom how much I hate Mondays. Which is why, after two hours at work, I am going to fake being sick and pick up some food to take to Nick. I’m in the mood for some tacos, so I’m stopping by Taco Loca. It’s not a big deal, seeing as I am the boss and owner of the bookstore, Between the Shelves. I have a manager, Hallon, that I trust with my life, so I know everything will be okay.

Nick and I have been together for five years. We have an apartment together near the beach in Isle of Palms. It is a small beach town in South Carolina, that brings a lot of tourists every year. My childhood best friend, Caleigh, lives on the top floor of the same complex. She moved in by herself a couple months after we did.

Nick has been acting super weird lately and I can’t quite put my finger on why. We have had a pretty good relationship besides the fact that we argue about the dumbest shit. Every relationship is like that though, isn’t it? He works from home for an insurance company. That's why I thought it would be nice to bring him lunch, he gets so into his work that he forgets to eat sometimes.

As I’m walking out of Taco Loca and opening my car door, my phone starts to ring. I pick it up and smile. “Hey bestie! How’s the training going?” Caleigh is a personal trainer for the gym down the street from our apartment complex.

“Oh, you know, same old shit different day. I might stop by later and grab a couple of books. Can you put some aside for me?”, she asks.

As I take a turn onto my street I say, “Eh, sorry I left early. You can call up there and ask Hallon to put them aside for you. Just add them to your tab.” I pause for a moment, “Oh! She also mentioned making some blueberry muffins for us to try. So, make sure you take your ass up there as soon as possible.”

She sighs and I swear I can hear her eyes rolling through the phone. “Ugh, okay. I definitely want to try some. She makes the best treats. What are you and Nick doing tonight? Want to do dinner?” she says as I pull into my parking spot.

I get out of the car and make my way up the steps. Pulling my key out, I reach up to unlock the door and push it open, “Uh yeah, sure, what do -” I stop mid-sentence because I hear a noise that sounds an awful like moaning.

“Hello, earth to Elise! Are you there?” Caleigh exaggerates through the phone.

“Um, Cal, I am going to have to call you back.” I say as I feel my blood pressure rise and my heart sink into my stomach.

“Oh, yes! Nick, right there,” The moaning continues. I hang up on Caleigh before she responds. “Oh goddd. Right there!”

I run towards our bedroom door, almost knocking a hole in the wall. “What in the fucking hell, NICK!”, I scream.

On MY bed is a blonde on all fours with Nick slamming into her from behind. His head snaps up, mouth forming an O. “Holy shit, Elise. I can explain.” he says in a panic, as he jumps off the bed scrambling for his pants. The blonde looks like a deer in headlights, her eyes huge like saucers.

As I am grabbing her clothes off of the floor I snap, “No need to explain shit to me, Nick. GET THE FUCK OUT of my apartment. NOW!” I am pretty sure our neighbors are going to call the cops. But, at this point I really don’t give a fuck. How could he do this to me? I am faithful and loving. I own my own business and I would like to think I am beautiful. I am the whole damn package. So, why the hell would he do this? I thought he loved me.

As my thoughts continue to twirl around in my head, I throw her clothes out the front door. I am so mad and upset, I could spit fire. I power walk back into the room. The blonde is trying to cover herself up with my sheets. I almost black out.

I grab her by her ponytail and start dragging her through the apartment to the front door as Nick is yelling “Elise! She didn’t do anything wrong! I didn’t tell her I had a girlfriend.”

I spin around so fast, with her hair still in my hands, “Are you fucking kidding me right now?! Any person with common sense that comes in this apartment can tell a girl decorated it!”, He’s got to be joking right now.

With that I shove her out of the apartment, butt ass naked and lock the door behind me. She's just going to have to get dressed in the hall and hope nobody sees her and calls the cops.

“Baby. Elise. Please, just hear me out. She was nothing, I swear.", He throws out that sorry ass excuse. I ignore him, head to the bedroom and open the window.

“What are you doing?” He has the nerve to ask me. I continue to ignore him. I start grabbing his clothes and shoes, throwing them out the window. “Elise! What the fuck! Stop that!” I continue to throw his shit out.

“Well, maybe you should have kept your dick to yourself. You can go downstairs and grab your stuff. It will be easier to pack your car. Make sure you leave your house key on the counter on the way out.”

“Baby, please don’t do this. We can fix this.” He starts to cry now, how pathetic.

“There is no fixing this, Nick. If you wanted other pussy, you should have broken it off with me. Get the fuck out. I want nothing more to do with you.” I start to cry now. I know, I should have waited until he left, but this fucking hurts. So, I am going to hurt him. I grab his new XBOX and throw it out the window as well. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats on someone. Cue Taylor Swift, ‘We are Never Getting Back Together’.

Caleigh

One Month Later

Here we go again. It’s a Friday night and I can hear Taylor Swift blaring from Elise’s room. When she broke up with Nick a month ago, she didn’t want to stay in her apartment anymore, which I completely understand. I wouldn’t want to sleep in the same place I caught my supposed boyfriend railing some girl in.

After she completely destroyed most of his shit by throwing it out the window from the second story, she called me and wanted to do more damage. So, being the bestest friend ever, I happily obliged, and we took his remaining stuff, along with the mattress and sheets, and burned it in the back of my dad’s property. He lives out in the middle of nowhere, so it was easy to accomplish. Hell, he even sat in his lawn chair and downed some beers while we went wild with it.

She ended her lease, and moved into my spare bedroom. Which was a win-win for both of us. Fewer bills to pay since we split everything now. She was paying for the apartment alone when she was living with Nick. Yes, he had a good job. Yes, he could afford it, but did he pay? No. The only thing he paid for was groceries and the water bill. That should have been a red flag right there. I tried to tell her multiple times that she should make him do more, but she was stubborn and didn’t want to listen.

Now, every other night, she’s blaring songs about men while crying. I was understanding for the first week, but now I am over it. She needs to toughen up and go have some fun. I know of a party going on tonight at a client’s beach house down the road. She is going with me, even if I have to drag her out of bed, bathe and dress her myself.

---