Page 21 of Stuck with the Grump

The lights overhead flickered as lightning struck close. My heart was hammering in my chest as I wiped away the lone tear that dared to fall. The power flickered again, a loud boom before the house sunk into darkness.

“Shit,” I said, getting to my feet and trying to make my way to the kitchen where the flashlights were.

“Good thing I brought the wood inside,” Clarke said as he appeared at my elbow.

“Yeah.”

“Leigh, I’m sorry I didn’t tell our publicist to bury the pictures.”

“Are you saying that because you mean it or because you think it’s what I want to hear?” I sighed as I started opening drawers, trying to find the flashlight. “You know what, I don’t think it even matters. You and I are nothing. When we leave here, we leave all this shit behind us, and we never have to speak to each other again.”

“Is that really what you want?” he asked.

“I think that’s all you’ve reduced us to in the last twenty-four hours.”

“You’re the one who came up with the sex idea.”

“The sex idea was a good idea,” I said as I pulled out a flashlight and turned it on. “The using me as a distraction instead of dealing with your shit like a grown man was what I was talking about.”

He scowled, his arms crossing over his chest. There was a tic in his jaw as he stared at me. Twice he opened his mouth as if he had something to say but it snapped shut both times.

“Look, Clarke, I have a lot going on in my life right now and I’m sure you do too. We can be civil while we’re here—for however long we’re stuck here—but that’s where it needs to end.”

Clarke shook his head, his mouth pressing into a thin line. “So what you’re saying is that I ruined this?”

I smiled sadly, the flashlight bobbing as I backed away from him. “There never was an us to ruin.”

By the time I was feeling brave enough to be around Clarke again, my stomach was growling, and I was desperate for something to eat. When I walked into the living room, my flashlight leading the way, I saw a roaring fire in the hearth and Clarke sitting on the floor with a hot dog shoved on a stick.

“Want some?” he asked, nodding at the package of raw hot dogs on the floor.

“Depends. Are there going to be pictures of me posted on the internet raw dogging it?”

The corner of Clarke’s mouth tipped up in a smile as he shrugged. “Don’t know but some asshole isn’t going to let those pictures just circulate for the sake of his career.”

“Sounds like said asshole is learning.”

“Well, after Tyson called me and chewed me out for a second time, I started removing my head from my ass and looking at things from your perspective.”

“Oh?” I sat down beside him, turning off the flashlight. “And what did not wearing your ass as a hat teach you?”

“That I am usually wrong about the right course of action. That’s why your brother ran the show when we were younger and I just made the money.”

“Well, that seems like an important lesson. Hand me a bun.”

Clarke passed over the bag of buns and waited until I had one open before dropping the hot dog inside. I had barely finished eating when my phone started ringing. My heart dropped to my stomach when I saw my mother’s name.

“Hi, Mom,” I said, my voice barely more than a whisper. Though I wanted to be positive, a sinking feeling clung to me. “How did the appointment go?”

She sniffled, her breathing slow. “Well, it’s cancer.”

Tears sprung to my eyes as I got up and walked away from Clarke. With the phone pressed to my ear, I took deep breaths and stared out at the lake.

“How bad is it?”

“Stage three breast cancer,” she said, her voice breaking.

In that moment, my world started crashing down around me. My knees were shaking as I struggled to keep myself standing. I could feel the hot tracks the tears were leaving on my cheeks as they rolled down my face.

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