Page 4 of The Homewrecker's Fate

“What could have possibly come up on a Friday night?" I asked. I didn’t maintain my focus on my boyfriend though, instead, my eyes drifted to Cliff who was unusually fidgety in his seat and throwing weird looks to Bridge.

“Why do you have to question everything?” Rich snapped which forced my attention back to him. I slid my chair back and stood.

“Do you think you can give me a ride home?” I asked Bridgette and Cliff.

“Sure, no problem,” Bridgette said as she too stood, ready to leave.

“Jesus!” Rich huffed. “I’m sorry. Sit. Stay. Eat. I can’t…” He seemed so flustered that I wasn’t sure how to take what was happening. “I have to go pack and leave. Stay, have the dinner you planned. I’ll call when I get in.”

Rich left no room to argue as he turned and took off for the front of the restaurant leaving me standing there gawking after him. I glanced back down at the table after he was no longer in view and noticed that he left behind the gift I had waiting for him. As embarrassing as it was, there was no holding back the tears that fell.

“I don’t even know what just happened.” The shock in Bridgette’s tone only caused a sob to break free. “I’m so sorry, come on, let’s get you out of here, Avi.”

My friend helped me outside as her man settled the bill for our drinks before meeting us at the car. I could tell by the look on his face, when he attempted to silently communicate with Bridgette, that he knew exactly what was going on with Rich, but also that he wouldn’t tell me.

“He didn’t even take the gift I got him,” I complained through my tears as I held the box in my lap on the way back to my place. The wrapping paper had been ripped when Rich sat on it for that brief moment in time before bailing on his own surprise birthday dinner.

“It’s probably for the best.”

“Cliff!” Bridgette’s shocked gasp stunned me for a moment before his words sank in.

This had been the end of us. The end of me and Rich and I didn’t know why or understand any of it. It took a while of being lost in my own pity party to realize that Cliff hadn’t taken me straight home.

“What are we doing over here?” I finally asked him when I glanced up and realized that we were nowhere near my place. The guilty eyes that met mine in the rearview mirror told me everything I needed to know. “You’re giving him time to clear out his things, aren’t you?”

“Avi,” he started to say, the sad tone of his voice doing nothing but grating on my already frayed nerves. The tears fell hot and fast down my face once again.

“I don’t understand.” The words were whispered from my lips, but Cliff spoke in response anyway.

“Sometimes, it’s nothing for you to understand. Just remember that this isn’t on you – not at all. It’s on him.”

“Then why are you helping him?” I argued, my voice sounding strained with the emotions I’d been going through.

“Believe it or not, I’m not helping him, Avi. I’m helping you.”

“That’s not what this feels like.”

“Going back, while he’s there clearing out his shit, is not what you need to see right now.”

“He’s really doing it?” I questioned, even though I already knew the truth. Only a curt nod answered my question. “I don’t understand why.”

“I don’t think you want to know.”

His response startled me and when our eyes met, there was a deeper sadness that settled in his. He knew more than he was willing to tell. My mind went back to my earlier conversation with Bridgette, when I confided in her that I thought the man I loved had started seeing someone else. My stomach clenched and then rolled.

“Pull over!” The demand was swift and urgent enough that Cliff didn’t mess around, he pulled over just in time for me to throw the door open and heave out the little bit of liquid that had been on my stomach. I never wanted to be one of those women who fell apart over a man. I swore to myself that it would never happen to me. For that reason, it stung that much more when I found myself puking into the gutter because my emotions were in such turmoil. Sadly, it felt like the only way to purge some of the pain.

When I finally managed to pull myself together, Cliff handed back a napkin to wipe my mouth with. “It’ll get better, Avi.”

“Why is he doing this?”

“He’s a selfish bastard.” His response was swift and angry, but he didn’t offer any further details. I couldn’t fault Cliff for not breaking whatever confidence he had with Rich. It wasn’t his place and I felt bad pushing for information because no one wanted to be put in the position of being the man in the middle of a couple as they split up. I respected that, even though I wanted to do whatever was necessary to get the man to fess up. It wasn’t really his place, though. It had been Rich’s place to tell me what was going on in our own relationship and instead, he chose the coward’s way out.

I refused to let Bridgette or Cliff come into my place with me when they finally took me back home. Instead, I walked in, locked the door behind me, and then took a deep breath to fortify myself for what I would see. The one thing that I didn’t see was the key to my place left behind anywhere. He had apparently taken that with him. I didn’t know why, and frankly was pissed about it, because that meant I would have to change the locks. There was no way he was keeping a key to my place after the way he had just treated me.

“I didn’t even get to tell him happy birthday,” I said out loud to the empty room as I threw the gift I had gotten for his birthday onto the table. The extra pair of running shoes he brought to keep here were gone, no longer lying beside the front door. I locked up and took the time to change the alarm code on the panel. Even if he did use his key again before I changed the locks, it would trip the alarm that he would no longer be able to turn off.

It would serve him right to have to deal with the police after leaving me at the restaurant. I moved to my bedroom and noticed immediately that the closet door was left ajar. His side of the closet had been cleared out – not that there had been much in there. He had hung two suits, a pair of jeans, and a casual sweater. In the drawer by the window, there used to be a few t-shirts, socks, and boxer briefs. The drawer stood empty when I pulled it open. All of his hygiene items had been left behind in my bathroom, as if he forgot to check in there before he took off.

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