Page 25 of Terms + Conditions
September 2016
WE HAVEN’T TALKED IN almost two weeks. Correction:shehasn’t talked to me in two weeks. I have occasionally sent a text to check on her, but it’s been radio silence on her end since she left to head back to Savannah after Labor Day. Why haven’t we talked in two weeks? I’m glad you asked. It’s because I got jealous. That little green monster reared its ugly head and I couldn’t reign it in.
Brody Cox. Some aspiring starving artist from SCAD decided to try and make a move on Elizabeth last month while we were at a coffee shop. She had picked a spot at a table near the window while I waited for our drinks, and he took the opportunity to swoop in. After some stupid pickup line, she giggled. She fucking giggled. He had “seen her around campus” and wondered if she wanted to get coffee sometime. He handed her a scrap of paper with his phone number and winked before he left.
“It’s not a big deal, Josh,” she said, stuffing the phone number in her pocket.
“Elizabeth—”
“It’s not like I’m ever going to see him again.” She rolled her eyes and promptly walked out of the coffee shop. The heavy doorslammed behind her, catching the attention of the other shop patrons.
That was two weeks before she came home for the holiday weekend, and we spent most of it ignoring each other. She went straight to Nina’s house, sent me a text letting me know she had arrived, and turned off her phone—at least, that’s what I thought. Going radio silent while she was with Nina wasn’t completely out of the norm, especially if she wanted a little extra girl time, so I didn’t think anything of it. But when I arrived at the Villa Estate Sunday morning for a day on the lake, it was pretty obvious something wasn’t right. She spent most of the day with her face in her phone. Occasionally, a smile or a laugh that she’d try to hide would creep its way onto her face. It wasn’t until Nina chastised me later that afternoon for blowing up her phone the past two days that I realized what was going on. A pit formed in my stomach as I apologized to Nina, assured her I would never mean to interrupt their time together, and promised her I would be more mindful next time. She seemed happy enough, but I was left with the knowledge that my girlfriend was talking to someone else.
“How’s Brody?” I asked that night, walking into my condo. She would be staying at my place for the rest of the weekend, which meant she’d get the guest room to herself because there wasn’t anyone else around to find that odd. We’d go to the Davis Labor Day party tomorrow, and then she’d wake up early Tuesday to go back to Savannah for class in the afternoon.
“I don’t know—”
“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” I stopped her.
Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she settled on saying nothing.
“Are you fucking kidding me, Elizabeth? You’ve spent the last two days textinghimand I get a fucking lecture from Ninabecause she thinks it’s me? Did you even spend time with her or were you too preoccupied talking to your latest conquest?”
“Grow up, Josh,” Elizabeth hissed. The pointed end of her black nail glared at me across the kitchen island. “It’s none of your business who I talk to. We aren’t married. We aren’t together. You have no right—”
“I have a fucking piece of paper that says otherwise.”
“And I have a piece of paper that says I’m allowed to date outside of this fucking arrangement.”
Line 7, Item B.
I know.
At the time of signing the papers, it seemed like an okay idea, but now…
The thought of someone else anywhere near her makes the adrenaline course through my veins at rapid speed. My hands clenched at my sides at the thought of her sneaking him into the townhouse, taking him upstairs, and letting him touch her in the same bed we’ve shared countless times. The same I’ve only ever slept next to her in, both of us tiptoeing up to the line of something more, but never stepping over it.
“So, fuck you, Josh. Take your unfair jealousy and shove it straight up your ass.”
“Unfair? You’re my—”
“I don’t care, Josh. We are not together. We are not in love and we are not going to live happily ever after. We are only together on paper and only because we both needed a way to get what we wanted. You have no right to be upset if I’m talking to someone else, someone who is there.”
“Someone who is there?” I scoff. “Elizabeth, I—”
“Yes! Someone who isn’t going to run the second things start to get real. Someone who—”
“Who’s running, Liz? Because it sure as hell isn’t me! You’re the one talking to some other guy. I haven’t so much as lookedat another woman since this whole thing started. You’re the one running, not me.”
Her nails clicked against the countertop in a uniform rhythm and I awaited the fury behind her next words, but it never came. She plucked her purse from the island and walked to the door without a second glance. “I’m staying at Nina’s.”
The door slammed behind her, and my feet carried me to the threshold, ready to follow her, but no matter how tight I gripped the doorknob, my hand wouldn’t turn it.
When I went a week without any sort of communication, I called the only person I could discuss the situation with: my mom. I called her before school started on Monday morning, but after I knew she would be on at least her second cup of coffee. She answered the phone with surprise. “Joshua?”
“Mom—”
“Is everything okay? I’m at work and—”
