Page 10 of Fight For Her
A part of me wanted to explore Salt Lake City for the night. I was finally in a town where I didn’t know a soul, and I could breathe easy knowing my mama was being cared for. As I drove to my hotel, I passed bars and restaurants with windows lit up and filled with people from all walks of life.
I could go into any one of these places, sit down, enjoy a real drink that wasn’t a Coors on tap, and take in the sights—by sights I meant women.I shook my head as I remembered Red. If I couldn’t get my shit together with her, then what the hell was I thinking I’d do here?
Instead, I plodded up to my room at the Holiday Inn and ordered a burger and fries on DoorDash. I tried not to beat myself up. Yes, I was pathetic, but I also had a tough day. Fuck, tough weeks really.
I sprawled out on the double bed after eating my grease pit meal. Of course they didn’t have any king bedrooms left. My feet hung from the edges, but at least the pillows were plump and didn’t smell like old cigarettes.
That was when a thought occurred to me. I was finally out of Verdant, which meant I should have cell service.It had been so many weeks without it that other than pulling it out to look at Kendahl’s photo like a stalker, my phone had become no more than a paperweight.
My mother had a landline. I could have reached out to everyone in Palm Cove, but other than keeping my clinic updated and letting Mark know I would be away for a bit, I hadn’t had the mental energy for much else. Maybe that made me a selfish prick. I could talk to a wall, but that didn’t mean I excelled at real communication. Or so I was told many, many times by Amy before she left me.
I dug my phone out of the luggage at my feet and plugged it in. I ran my hand through my hair and noticed I was grinding my teeth so hard that my jaw ached.Why was I nervous?
Instead of staring at the screen, waiting for enough juice to power it up, I pushed myself up off the creaky bed and paced along the threadbare floral carpeting in the square box of a room.
What if I had no messages? I didn’t deserve any from Kendahl, not after the shitty way I had ended things. But maybe she had messaged me? Maybe her lackluster “okay” wasn’t all she had to say? Fuck, I was acting like an insecure teenager. I knew why. It was because she was one of a fucking kind, and she had my heart in a vice grip.
On my tenth lap from bed to bathroom and back again, a familiar chirp sounded. My shoulders slumped in relief. Someone cared and wondered if I was still alive. It chirped again… and again…. and again, so many times that I rushed over and clicked the button to silence my phone. It wasn’t that late, but I didn’t want to wake whoever was next door.
Weeks of messages popped up on my home screen with little bubbles of concern and banners of questions. I scanned them as my eyes searched for one name.
Kendahl:I thought about your message. I know you weren’t looking for anything serious. I guess what I’m saying is… it’s fine. But I don’t think we can stay friends. It would be too weird.
Kendahl:Everyone’s worried about you up and leaving. Just let us know you’re ok when you get to wherever it is.
Then a week later.
Kendahl:I know I said I didn’t want to be friends and I don’t. Mia’s worried since we haven’t heard anything from you. Maybe give her or Shawn a call. I hate to see her upset.
I closed my eyes for a moment and rubbed my palms along the worn comforter. When had they gotten so sweaty?
The next message came about a week after the above one.
Kendahl:I don’t know why you left. It’s none of my business. But can you please let someone know you’re ok? Not cool to ghost us all. Pretty shitty actually.
Kendahl:Ugh! Just… freaking call, text, Facebook. Something.
Oh boy. She was pissed. I don’t know why I found that funny, but I did. I could picture her face getting all red and her twisting her hair around her finger while she jabbed each letter of that message harder than she needed to.
That was the last text from her, and it was sent a week ago. A sinking feeling hit my gut that had nothing to do with the massive burger I just ate.Had she given up on me?
Palm Cove was two hours ahead with the time zones. Shawn would be up. He slept so little it was a miracle he functioned.I ignored the other messages, most from clients or the second physical therapist in my office. He must have been overloaded without me there since he rarely messaged me. I hoped hiring that new PT assistant was at least lightening his workload a little.
Shawn answered on the first ring. “Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing? Coby? Bro, where the hell have you been?”
I let out a small laugh at his use of the wordbro. Shawn had become, for lack of a better word, nicer since he started dating Mia. We were more like friendly acquaintances before she came along. He was detached like the thought of having a actual friend was too much to handle. Part of that was probably that I was talking to his girl’s best friend. He was almost as protective of Kendahl and Olivia as he was of Mia. But he seemed to like me enough, at least he did before I left.
I went back to pacing the length of the room, stopping briefly to look out the window at the parking lot.
“It’s me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was leaving, man. I knew Mark or…” I hesitated, not wanting to bring her up to him. “Kendahl would fill everyone in.”
In the background, I heard Mia asking Shawn who he was talking to. She squealed and from the shuffling sounds, I assumed she’d grabbed the phone from him.
“Coby Barnes, you had me worried sick.” I assumed correctly. “Not just me, all of us at the gym. All Mark said was that you couldn’t come to class, but then when you weren’t answering anyone and not at home or work…and then sending Kendahl that text, not cool. I thought you were better than that.”
I slumped against the wall. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry. I had an emergency and had to book it. The town where I’ve been had no cell service whatsoever.” I decided not to comment on the Kendahl part of her tirade or that I purposely didn’t reach out.
Her voice softened. “Is everything alright? What’s been going on?”
