I burst through the door of my apartment, my face flushed, my breathing erratic. I needed the calm of my own space in order to sort out my spinning thoughts.
“Whoa! Where’s the fire?” Brooks asked, coming from the kitchen.
I frowned. “What are you doing here?” I didn’t mean to sound rude. But I couldn’t deal with Brooks. Not now. Not with uneasy questions about Maxx on my mind.
Renee appeared behind him, a bag of carrot sticks and a jar of dip in her hands. She took one look at my face and knew something was up.
“Okay, well, can we rain-check on the movie, Brooks? I can tell Aubrey isn’t really up to it. You look exhausted, sweetie,” Renee cooed, dropping the carrots and dip on the coffee table and crossing the room to where I was standing, feeling completely overwhelmed.
Brooks peered at me in his analytical way. “What happened, Aubrey?” he asked, thankfully keeping his distance. I knew I couldn’t handle any physical contact from him right now.
“Nothing, I’m fine. Just extremely tired. I’m not really in the mood for company right now, Brooks. No offense,” I said, grimacing.
Brooks looked as though he wanted to argue with me, but he grabbed his car keys, and with a strained smile, walked out the door with a promise to call me later.
“Okay, the testosterone is gone, now tell me what the hell happened to make you look as though you have seen a ghost,” Renee demanded, taking me by the arm and leading me to the couch.
I covered my face with my hands. “It’s so freaking stupid,” Igroaned, feeling silly for my over-the-top reaction. “I ran into some people from the support group,” I began.
“That had to have been awkward,” Renee deduced, and I nodded.
“Yeah, it wasn’t what you would describe as...comfortable,” I admitted, biting my bottom lip. “Then Kristie came out and pretty much chewed me a new one for ‘interacting’ with the group members,” I said, rolling my eyes. I was happy to feel anger replacing embarrassment.
“That’s ridiculous! It’s not like you were hanging out with them or anything,” Renee reasoned, and I threw my hands in the air in exasperation.
“I know,” I said quietly.
Renee sighed. “But that’s not why you look like that. What else happened?” she asked.
I ran my hands through my long blond hair, pulling slightly until I felt a sharp tug at my scalp. Somehow the bite of pain cleared my head.
“I think Maxx went to rehab,” I said finally after a period of silence.
Renee didn’t say anything. She dropped her eyes to her hands, which were folded in her lap.
“He hasn’t been back to the support group since being in the hospital,” I continued in a whisper.
“So...” Renee began.
“And he hasn’t been home in weeks,” I said in a rush, not making eye contact with my friend.
Renee frowned. “And you would know that how?”
“Because I went to his apartment,” I told her quietly, my face suddenly hot.
I sounded like a stalker.
Or worse... an absolute idiot.
Renee cleared her throat and thankfully chose not to address my mortified confession.
“So you think that because he’s not in group and hasn’t been home that he’s in rehab? There are other possibilities, you know, Aubrey. Possibilities that are just as likely and not so pink and rosy,” Renee pointed out.
“Yeah, I know. But it was something Kristie said. Something about Maxx’streatmentnot being any of my business.”
“And she’s right,” Renee replied gently.
“No! Don’t you get it! If it’s not my business, then that means he’sintreatment! He’s doing the very thing I wanted him to!” My voice rose, and frustrated tears stung my eyes.
