It’s harder to ignore the faint smell of fruity perfume that follows his trail.
Mango—again.
“It was good. Busy … I just got held up. I gotta shower.”
Short, quick and vague. The standard response.
I nod, chewing my lip before asking, “D-do you, uh, want company?” Something that months ago wouldn’t have even been a question, but has become foreign to us.
“Nah, Audrey, you’re already in bed. I won’t be long,” he replies robotically, already moving towards the bathroom and shutting the door on me.
Somehow it feels like he’s shutting the door on us.
Two: Audrey
Lonely - Noah Cyrus
Idon’t sleep well to begin with, but in the last few months it’s gotten worse—tossing and turning while my brain fights with itself. When Paul came back from his shower, the smell of mangos still lingered, and as the sound of his snores filled our room, I shed silent tears.
I can’t creep through his phone or read his texts. That would be me admitting that I think he’s cheating. That makes me the girlfriend with trust issues.
It gives him something else to criticize me for.
When I roll into work, after two hours of sleep with a large espresso in my hand, my best friend Selena frowns.
“What’s wrong?” She grabs my arm, assessing me from head to toe. “What happened? Why do you look so sad?”
Shaking my head, I move towards my desk. I don’t want to cry any more than I already have this morning.
I hate crying.
Selena rolls her shoulders backwards, her amber eyes pleading with me. “Audrey, come on. This isn’t the bright-eyed greeting you normally give. If something’swrong, let me help you. You’re my work wife, remember?” She tosses a wink in my direction, as if that’ll help break through my icy heart.
I sit at my desk chair, waking my computer screen before closing my eyes. “It’s Paul … I just … I don’t know what to do right now.”
I’ve confided in Selena countless times over the years, but I usually try to paint him in a good light or play down the severity of his actions. My mom raised me not to air my dirty laundry in public. It’s probably why I’ve pulled away from my family the last few months, not wanting to let something slip or ruin their view of Paul.
Unwilling to admit how lonely I am out loud.
Tears prick my eyes, but I fight them back as Selena gives me a sad smile. “Men are pigs, I’m so glad I married Fiona.”
I want to laugh, but my heart feels too heavy. I take a long sip of my drink, before running my hand through my chestnut hair. “I think he’s cheating on me.”
Selena doesn’t look shocked by my words, she’s suggested he might be cheating a few times over the months, but I’ve always shrugged it off or made excuses for him. No matter how positive I’ve been about our relationship, it’s like she’s always been able to see through the cracks.
“He smelled like perfume last night … It’s the fifth time this month,” I whisper, staring at our company logo dancing across my computer screen.
I will not fucking cry again.
I feel her slump into the chair beside me. “Fuck. Dude, he better not be cheating. What would your dad say? Shit … what would yourbrotherdo?”
He’d probably kill him.
Connor’s one year older than me and has always been my best friend. We have the standard brother-sister relationship; annoying each other to no end, hating each other, and trying to get each other in trouble. But, he is loyal to a fault and has been my 2:00 a.m. phone call, and my biggest cheerleader since the day I was born—the same way that I’ve been his.
It took him a long time to warm up to Paul, especially when I followed him to Chicago for college, but I tried to always make Connor see the best in him.
Maybe becauseIwas always trying to see the best in Paul.
