“Yeah, totally, just the tiniest of a predicament here—I grabbed a shower and I was planning on heading down to Ted’s but—”
“I would be honored to join you for lunch!” He sounds excited as he cuts me off.
“Oh, I mean, that’d be nice…but it’s not really why I called.”
I can hear him groan on the other end of the line.
“I didn’t mean to invite myself, you can say no if you were planning on enjoying a lunch on your own,” he course-corrects.
“No, really it’s fine. I’d love to grab lunch with you. But I hopped in the shower before I even thought about the fact that all my stuff is still at the cabin. I’m not sure I’m ready to face Gerald right now, but I can’t leave the room naked.”
There’s a gulp and it sounds like something hits the ground and shatters.
“Are you okay, Andri?”
“Oh yeah, sorry, just bumped a corner and lost my coffee mug—I can one hundred percent go get your things though. Give me like ten minutes.” He doesn’t wait for me to respond, and the phone clicks before the dial tone plays.
I can only imagine how Gerald is going to react when Andri comes to collect my stuff, and honestly, I’m glad I won’t be there to see it.
After twenty or so minutes of me sitting on the bedside, wrapped in a towel, I hear the rap of knuckles against the door. I click off the TV and peer out the peephole, even though I know full well and good who it is. When a blue smile fills the lens, I crack the door open and stick my face out.
“You’re a lifesaver, I hope it wasn’t a big deal!” I reach an arm out to grab my suitcase from him.
“Not a problem at all—for me anyway,” he chuffs. “I tried to grab everything that I thought might be yours, I might have missed one or two things, but Jerkald wasn’t too keen on mebeing in there.” He smiles at his new nickname for my ex-fiance. I can’t say it’s not a fitting one.
“You really do keep saving my ass, don’t you?” I say with one hand on my suitcase and one holding the towel tightly to my chest.
He just stares, a proud smile creeping across his lips.
“Well, let’s avoid a repeat of me flashing you. Wait here, and I’ll throw something on.” I close the door quickly but see his face drop a little all the same. He’s probably embarrassed that I even brought up that encounter…but if we’re gonna be seeing a lot more of each other, better to be upfront about it, I suppose. I am staying in his hotel, after all.
I flip over the top of my luggage and take stock. There’s a good chunk of my nicer clothing missing, and no hair tools to speak of. But what sticks out most of all is what’s there. The diamond ring that Jerkald gave me sits in its open clamshell box. It seems as though it’s been deliberately placed.
I can’t imagine that Andri would do that, but I don’t know why on earth Gerald would either. He can’t possibly want to work things out after he told me that he’s been cheating on me since the start of his relationship—could he?
Some fucked-up part of my brain that craves the security Gerald can give me fights what my heart knows is right.
I can’t keep this damn rock, and I don’t want it—or him—in my life any longer. But I deserve a day or two without having to deal with that asshole. So, I click the red velvet box shut and tuck it into one of the zippered pockets that line the interior of my bag. I’ll mail it back to him tomorrow and be rid of this weighty stone once and for all.
I grab a pair of baby blue sweats, the nicest thing left in my bag and throw them on. Taking my one and only hair tie from my wrist, I throw my damp hair up into what I’m sure looks likea rat’s nest atop my head. Add some fuzzy socks, my snow boots, and I’m as good as it’s gonna get given the circumstances.
I grab my cards and phone out of my evening bag and open the door. Despite me taking what must have been at least ten minutes, Andri is still standing in the exact same spot waiting for me.
“Hey! We match,” he beams pointing at the palm of his hand. And he’s right, the outfit I picked out is the same color as his blue skin. It must really tickle him to see, because that grin is back.
“Hmph,” I muse. “Must be a subconscious thing, we might be spending too much time together.”
“No, I don’t think that’s it,” he says a little weirdly before offering me his hand.
Something about that damn soft fur-covered limb, and the kindness Andri has shown me, has my heart skipping a beat. As soon as my hand touches him, he whisks me up off the ground, and my feet dangle as he holds me once again like the bride I won’t be.
“Hey—I can walk!”
“Sure you can, but you shouldn’t—you’re healing.”
My protests aren’t going to get me far with this snowman today, I see.
“I don’t want to be a bother, though.” I push my glasses up my nose, my frames having been jostled by the lift.
