On the way to the restaurant, his phone began to ring.
“Shit, it’s work. Should I answer it?” he asked.
“You better see what they want,” I said, although I didn’t mean a word of it.
“Hello,” he said.
Kayden listened to the person on the other end before responding. “I just got here early this morning. Can’t it wait a day?” His eyes darted to mine.
“Motherfucker,” I muttered to myself turning my head to look out the window.
“But I had this weekend off before the storm,” Kayden said.
“Fine,” he said. “I’ll leave in the morning.”
He threw his phone down on the seat between his legs.
“I’m sorry, baby doll.”
“You were supposed to have the whole weekend,” I pouted.
“My boss said the storm has passed, and everyone is needed to make repairs.” He ran his palm across his face. “He said he would make it up to me.”
“It’s fucking unbelievable. You just got here.” Tears began to stream down my face.
“I don’t have a choice. He said I have to come back,” Kayden said. “At least we’ve had some time together.”
“I know, but it doesn’t make it any easier. I thought we had a couple more days together, at least. You drove so far to see me, and now you have to make the drive back already. I wanted you to have time to rest,” I said to him while trying to get the tears to stop falling.
“Today has been great. It did more for me than you’ll ever know. I promise I will be back as soon as I can. It may be three weeks, though, but first chance I get, I’ll be on a plane to you,” he said, trying to seem upbeat.
I couldn’t do anything but think about him leaving so soon. The mood had been ruined. We barely spoke at the restaurant, and he tried to soothe me with loving touches. As soon as we returned home, I wrapped myself around his body and tried to crawl inside him. I could never be close enough, and this time tomorrow, he would be back in New Orleans. He made love to me that night, and tears streaked down my cheeks the entire time.
I slept horribly that night. Every time I woke up, I cried. My night had been restless and tortured. My eyes were puffy from tears, and I tried to prolong his departure. I didn’t want to say good-bye.
When he drove away, I almost collapsed. When I knew he could no longer see me, I hunched over and sobbed. My tears fell onto the cement. To have him ripped from me in the blink of an eye was excruciating.
22
Kayden
Absence Doesn’t Make the Heart Grow Fonder
Ididn’t wantto leave her so soon. I knew in my heart I wouldn’t be able to make it back for at least thirty days, but I prayed I was wrong. It depended on the amount of destruction the city sustained during the storm. I’d driven over eighteen hours during the last couple days to see Sophia. Every moment of the drive was worth even the little time I was able to spend with her.
When I entered the city, I could see the damage. Trees were knocked down, some neighborhoods had no electricity, street signs were blown away, and debris littered the roadways.
It could have been so much worse. The city was breathing a sigh of relief. Many anticipated the storm to be so much worse, especially since it was on the exact anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. I sent pictures to Sophia of everything I saw when I returned. We tried to Skype before we went to bed, but the internet connection was too sketchy due to the storm damage.
I sent her a photo the next morning on my way to work. I snapped one of me leaving my apartment with a smile on my face. I wanted her to think I was all right, even though I was a mess inside. I wanted to make her smile when she opened her eyes this morning.
When my phone dinged, I thought Sophia was awake and responding to my photo. I was wrong. Dead wrong.
It was Lisa.
Why couldn’t she just leave me alone? There was a no-contact order in place between us. She was able to contact me all she wanted, but I wasn’t supposed to respond. I ignored the message and went into my account and blocked her from sending further messages. I read her message before deleting it from my account.
Lisa: I saw your picture of your new girlfriend on your timeline. She’s not your type.
