Elle
If there was one thing I hated, it was lineups, and the one at the grocery store had taken areallylong time. I would never understand people who felt the need to coupon. I liked saving money as much as the next person, but come on! The woman in front of me had taken up forty-five minutes of theonlycashier’s time.
My arms were loaded with groceries, and I was exhausted. I’d come off a long shift where my partner, Alex, and I were called to the scene of a six car accident on the highway. The cause had been a young teen texting while driving. Because of that person’s actions, two people were dead, and four were seriously injured.
Sometimes, I cursed my profession of choice. I loved helping people, and for every one we lost, we saved five more. But losing them…that was hard. Iknewthat we did everything we could, but I still felt the agony of having the elderly man slip away in my arms on the way to the hospital.
Days like today definitely sucked, especially when they were capped off with the Coupon Queen of Barrie.
Truthfully, I knew my irritation had very little to do with the couponing and everything to do with the day I’d had.
Muttering darkly to myself, I fished the key out of my purse and then unlocked the apartment door. I pushed it open, before kicking it shut behind me. “I’m home!” I called cheerlessly on the off chance that my roommate was back from her weekend getaway with her boyfriend. Walking into the kitchen to set down my groceries, I heard a commotion coming from the living room and glanced over quickly, only to witness the coffee table topple and a bare ass dive behind the couch.
“Oh God, ew!” I shouted, covering my eyes with my hands and spinning around so that I wouldn’t have to watch my best friend and roommate’s boyfriend, Brock, scramble for his clothing. “In our fucking living room, Tessa? I sit on that couch!” I wailed, horrified. Tessa exploded into a fit of giggles, and I smiled against my will.
“Sorry about that Elle. Don’t worry though, we didn’t get very far.” Brock said sheepishly, the sound of a zipper following his sentence.
“Dude,” I shivered in disgust. “You got far enough, your bare ass was on it! Now I have to steam clean the damn couch before I can go near it. Didn’t you two get enough of each other this weekend?” I grumbled, bending over to pick up the groceries I’d accidentally dropped to the floor in my haste to cover my sensitive eyes. Luckily, the Mr. Noodles packets and microwavable dinners weren’t any worse for wear.
“Oh come on,” Tessa rolled her eyes, tugging her t-shirt back on over her head. “You’ve done far worse on this couch than that.”
“And that’s my cue to leave,” Brock said. He leaned forward, his lips brushing tenderly against Tessa’s lips.
The way he looked at her made my heart ache. Brock was so much like…
No,I told myself, forcing my thoughts from going there. I heard Tessa and Brock moving towards the door. I watched them out of the corner of my eye as I put away my pathetic, post-grad grocery store purchases.
“I’ll see you this weekend?” Brock asked, his hand gently cupping her chin.
“Yeah, of course. I’ll be there on Saturday…I’ll make the arrangements for dinner. See if…everyone can be there?” Tessa trailed off.
I instantly knew who she was referring to. My shoulders stiffened as if she’d actually spoken his name. Tessa was very careful not to utter that particular Miller’s name around me, but I still knew when she was referring to him, almost instinctively.
“Okay, I’ll call you later tonight, beautiful. I love you,” Brock muttered. He had his arms around her, and he was kissing her tenderly, as if he was about to go off to war—not just home to Parry Sound where he lived.
Those two were so crazy in love, it made me want to both vomit and cry. Especially because Brock reminded me of someone else…someone that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t forget.
And I wastrying. It’s not like I’d been celibate since Braden Miller took my heart and smashed it to bits. Far from it, I wasn’t going to wither away and become some sad excuse for a spinster, like my mother (not that she was sad, but still). I’d had other romances since Braden, if I could even call them that. Those flings had fizzled out before they even really had a chance to grow into something more because they couldn’t uphold the magic of that first love.
It was impossible to forget Braden’s electric blue eyes and that arrogant smile. He’d made it extremely challenging to give myself completely to another.
It didn’t help that his older brother dated my best friend, and often came over to see her.
Brock never mentioned Braden when he was around. I think he sensed that a part of me still ached for someone that had long since walked out of my life, someone that I should be over by now.
In the past four years, I’d become a fantastic actress. I even fooled myself at times.
“Okay, see you soon,” Tessa grinned, slapping his ass when he went to open the door. He shook his head at her, a bemused smile on his lips. She closed the door behind him, turning and pressing her back against it with a dreamy sigh.
I swallowed hard, feeling tears prickle behind my eyelids. I stomped off to my bedroom, unbuttoning my uniform as I went.
“Elle, are you okay?” Tessa’s voice followed me down the narrow hallway. I held a hand up to her, signalling her to give me a minute. I striped out of my work clothes, tossing them into my hamper, then disappeared into the bathroom. I turned on the shower, taking deep breaths to try and regain control of my emotions.
I showered quickly, refusing to allow myself the opportunity to cry. I was stronger than this, and I’d promised myself years ago that Braden Miller deservedno moreof my tears.
But the elderly man from today…he deserved a few, as did his wife of fifty years, and the young girl who’d been too foolish to wait until she got home to text her friend.
By the time I rejoined Tessa in the kitchen, I’d collected myself. Tears no longer threatened to spill and even though there was the ever present ache in my chest, I was able to toss on a winning smile that would fool anybody.
