Weekends Required (Danvers #1)(22)
“Oh no babe, Billy got these tickets especially for you.”
“Um… My mother is expecting me any moment at her house for dinner; we will talk about this later,” replied Claire as she slowly made her way around him and towards her apartment.
Billy looked down at his watch and said in obvious confusion, “It’s only after three, why would you have dinner this early?”
Claire tried to stick as close to the truth as possible, “she has a medical condition and has to eat several times per day, so we’re eating earlier today.”
Luckily, this seemed to occupy Billy’s thought process enough for her to make her way around him and close to her apartment door. With a wave, Claire said, “I’ll talk to you later," and practically ran into her front door wincing at how loud the door slammed in her haste to escape. Claire wondered how much longer she would be able to live with this daily aggravation before she either hurt his feelings or just gave up and moved.
After a weekend of looking at and drooling over the hot body of Jason, being pursued by Billy was a real reality check. It’s like having to settle for sirloin after having the prime rib. You can’t win 'em all girl, for every hot guy you’re looking for five creepy weird guys are looking for you.
Claire walked to the bedroom and sat her suitcase on the floor. The light was blinking on her answering machine, and she pondered not even bothering to check the messages. Hadn’t she had enough bad news this weekend? Curiosity got the better of her though and she pushed the button and was informed she had one new message.
“Claire, it’s me, Suzy, I um… oh Claire, Jeff and I broke up!” Hearing what was plainly a sob Claire walked closer to the machine as if she could see Suzy. “He has been cheating on me; the bastard has been cheating on me with his dentist, can you freaking believe that?!” Now openly sobbing, “I… I’m ok; I just didn’t have anyone to tell, shit!” When the beep signaled the end of the recording, Claire stood rooted to her spot, completely stunned.
Suzy and Jeff had been together since high school and had been engaged for the last three years. Sure, everyone joked about them taking their sweet time to get married but there was never a doubt in her mind that they’d spend their lives together. Jeff was the exact opposite of Suzy, very quiet and serious to her loud and outgoing personality.
To Claire, he seemed to dote on Suzy, and she seemed to breathe life into him. She felt so guilty that she’d not been there for Suzy and, come to think of it, she’d not told Suzy she would be out of town either. Great, my friend in need thinks I bailed on her this weekend! Score: crappy weekend - 3, Claire - 0.
Claire picked up the phone and walked into the living room and settled herself on the couch to call Suzy. A low quiet voice answered the phone, “Hello?”
“Suz, it’s me, Claire. I’m so sorry, I just got your message; I was out of town. What in the world is going on?” Suzy started to cry; raw, seemingly uncontrollable sobs were coming so fast it was as if a dam had collapsed. “Suz, hold on, I’m coming over there right now,” said Claire in an urgent voice.
“No,” Suzy managed to get out between sobs; Beth is here.”
Beth was Suzy’s younger sister who lived across town and worked as a school teacher. Claire knew they were extremely close and immediately felt better knowing Beth would slay dragons to protect her sister.
“Can you talk Suz?”
Suzy took a couple of shuddering deep breaths, trying to get herself back under control and Claire held the phone in silence, giving Suzy the time she needed to compose herself. “I… I was just so shocked, Claire,” began Suzy weakly. “I thought we were happy. We hadn’t been fighting, the sex was still good, and he didn’t have any of the usual signs. He wasn’t late coming home, didn’t switch brands of underwear and hell, he didn’t even start gelling his hair,” finished Suzy in disbelief.
She had no idea what hair gel had to do with infidelity, probably something from Suzy’s bible, Cosmopolitan. “Suz, how do you know he’s involved with someone else? Maybe he just needs some time alone?”
“I saw text messages on his phone and not the 'reminding him of his appointment' type, the ‘I want to stick my tongue down your throat’ type. The funny thing is I was not suspicious at all. I grabbed his phone thinking it was mine since they look alike; I was scrolling through the phone looking for a number that Beth had texted me earlier. At first, I was just confused as to what all the text messages were and who Melissa was. I opened the first one, still thinking that someone had the wrong number and had sent me all those messages by mistake. I read through probably fifty messages and each one seemed to unfold a life and a part of Jeff that I didn’t know existed.
"I was so shocked, the messages and his replies were so out of character for the Jeff I’d known all those years. When he walked back in and saw me holding the phone, he didn’t even bother to make excuses. It was almost as if he was relieved that I’d found out. I swear Claire; it was the most surreal moment of my life, and you know that’s saying something."
Claire was glad to hear the smile she could detect in Suzy’s voice and her attempt at humor when she finished her sentence. “Did he move out, Suz?” asked Claire.
“Yeah, the rat bastard was packed and out the door within the hour. I think he must have had the suitcase half packed already and waiting for the opportunity,” Suzy wearily finished.