8 Weeks (3 page)

I picked up my plate and threw out my uneaten food, then went to find my phone.

When I turned it on, there were numerous missed calls and text messages from Cal, Gaby, and Sasha. I ignored Cal’s and went right to Gaby’s. She started off worried, then pissed, and her final message simply said,
Call Me Now
.

I called her.

“Hello,” Gaby said sleepily.

“Hey,” I responded. “Did I wake you?”

“Shelly? You at your dad’s?” she asked, a little more alert.

“Yeah.”

“I’m coming over,” Gaby said. Then she hung up.

“Hello?” I asked, but she was already gone.

I shouldn’t have been surprised though, the three of us had always been like that. We could count on each other no matter what.

Gaby and I had been friends since elementary school. In fact, I couldn’t remember a time in my life without her in it.

Sasha had moved into town our freshman year in high school. She’d been gorgeous, fashionable, and scared the shit out of everyone, so the majority of the school had shunned her almost immediately. Not ones to conform to the masses, Gaby and I had asked Sasha to sit with us during lunch … We’d been inseparable ever since.

I was sitting on the couch, looking out the window, so I saw Gaby’s VW Bug pull up in front of the house and got up to open the door for her.

She jogged up the path, into the house, and put her hands on my shoulders, looking me over everywhere.

“What the
fuck
is going on?” she asked finally.

I pulled her inside and shut the door, leaning against it as I answered her. When I finished telling her about Cal, her mouth was hanging wide open and she was shaking her head back and forth.

“No … No, way. Not Cal, he loves you too much.”

“Apparently not,” I said with a bitter laugh. “He was drunk and doesn’t remember, but it happened.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m doing it, Gaby. I left him.”

“But, he didn’t do it on
purpose
…” she began, then stopped when I shot her a glare.

“Don’t you dare defend him.”

“I’m not defending him, Shelly, but it’s Cal. It’s the two of you. You love each other and there’s no way that he would have consciously went out and slept with another woman. You have to know that.”

“I may know that, Gaby, but I also know that I can’t get the image of him with another woman out of my head. I can’t stop thinking that he had sex with someone other than me,” I explained as I paced the living room. “We were both each other’s first and only lovers. That’s not the case anymore, and I can’t get it out of my head.”

“Maybe with a little time you will,” Gaby said softly.

“Please, stop. I know that you love both of us, Gaby, but I need you to be on my side on this,” I pleaded.

“I’m always on your side, Shelly,” Gaby promised. “No matter what.”

Chapter 7 – Cal

“I’m going to do whatever it takes to get her back, man,” I was explaining to TJ as I finished up with an oil change on a Charger.

“Dude, I really don’t get what she’s getting all freaked out about … I mean, I get it … but, it’s not like you’re having an affair or something. It was an honest mistake,” TJ was saying as he organized his tools. He was anal about his toolboxes.

I stopped and gave him a look, “Are you being serious, TJ? It is a big deal. I fucked up majorly.”

“All I’m saying is that you didn’t plan it. It’s not like when we hopped on the plane to Vegas you said, ‘I’m getting me some strange this weekend.’ Shelly will come around.”

“I hope you’re right, because as it stands now, she won’t take any of my calls or answer any of my texts.”

I heard the clicking of heels before the yelling began.

“You mother-fucking son-of-a-bitch!”

Great, just what I needed.

I turned and said, “Hey, Sasha,” just as she rounded the corner.

Sasha was impressive even when she wasn’t seething in anger. At about five foot nine with waves of red hair and legs that were a mile long, Sasha made an impression wherever she went.

“Don’t you ‘Hey’ me, you low life. I just heard what you did to Shelly and I came straight here to kick your ass!”

“Did you talk to her?” I asked, brushing my hands on a rag as I walked toward her. I couldn’t keep the worry out of my voice. “How’s she doing?”

Sasha stopped a few feet away and tilted her head, her look puzzled.

“No, I didn’t talk to her, but Gaby has. What’s going on? Did you really cheat on her?” Some of the fight had gone out of her face, and she looked almost as sad as I felt.

I had to get away before I did something embarrassing, like break down.

“Not now, Sasha,” I said with my hands up, before I turned and walked to the back of the shop.

The door didn’t close all the way, so I could hear TJ say to her, “He’s having a hard time too, Sash, and he doesn’t need you coming in here and bustin’ his balls.”

I could just imagine Sasha’s face going from concerned right back to riled up. She and TJ had never been able to get along, but they both loved Shelly and me, so they usually made an attempt to.

“I didn’t ask you, of course you’re going to stick up for him, no matter what he’s done.”

“It’s not like that. You know Cal would never do anything to hurt Shelly. The two of them are like a fifty-year-old married couple. He made a mistake. She’s pissed. They’ll work it out … And they don’t need you making it harder by getting all ‘Amazon Woman’ on Cal.”

“Suck it, TJ,” Sasha said, but her voice sounded less angry.

“What’d you do, hear about it at the coffee house or something and come storming over without getting the facts? You know Cal better than that. Why don’t you cut him some slack and give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s broken up about what happened. Give him a chance to make it right.”

By Sasha’s silence, I knew he was probably pretty accurate. Sasha was well known for her temper, especially when it came to her girls.

“Shit … You’re right. You know you’d react the same way if the shoe was on the other foot. Tell Cal I’m sorry … For now. But if I go and hear the same shit from Shelly that I heard at breakfast I’ll be back.”

“We wouldn’t expect any less,” TJ said, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

I gave it a few minutes, until I was sure that I’d be able to hold my shit, then I walked outside.

“Is it safe?” I tried to lighten the mood a bit, although I felt anything but light.

“Yeah,” TJ said with a grin. “She sure is hot when she’s pissed though, huh?”

I chuckled at him. As much as they always got under each other’s skin, I was surprised they’d never hooked up. It was a long-running joke in our group.

The thought of our group being fractured now was another stab to my heart. I’d fucked up more than I thought in one night. And I couldn’t even remember why.

“I’m gonna go see Shelly,” I said suddenly. “Can you cover for me here?”

TJ opened his arms and gestured around the empty bays.

“I think I can handle it.”

“Thanks, brother.”

I hopped in my Mustang and drove down to Shelly’s dad’s house. I knew my way well, I’d spent the last two years of high school driving there as much as possible. Her dad and I had always gotten along well, but by the sound of his voice when I’d tried calling, our days of being pals were over.

I pulled up to the house and looked at it for a minute before getting out, trying to regain the courage I’d had back at the shop. Now that I was here, I was terrified that she still wouldn’t see me.

When I got to the door, I knocked softly and waited, straining to hear if there were any sounds coming from inside the house.

“You probably have to knock loud enough for her to hear you, jackass,” I muttered to myself before closing my eyes, taking a deep breath, and knocking again. Louder this time.

I braced myself when the door started to open, and held my breath as I waited to see if it was going to be Shelly or her dad at the door.

“Hey,” Shelly said softly when she’d opened the door a crack. “What are you doing here?”

I let out the breath I’d been holding and said, “We need to talk, Shelly.”

“I don’t want to talk right now, Cal.”

“Shell, how will we ever work this out if you won’t even talk to me?”

“There’s nothing to work out.”

“Nothing to work out?” I ran my hand through my hair, frustrated, and turned back toward the street so I could breathe for a minute. She looked so upset, I couldn’t stand it.

Once I was composed I turned back to her, “What do you mean, Shelly? We have a lot to work out.”

She shook her head sadly at me.

“We have nothing that
can
be worked out, Cal.”

I felt panic begin to rise in my throat, until I was in danger of choking on it.

“I don’t understand.”

“I want a divorce, Cal, and I’ll let you know when I’m ready to talk about it.”

She shut the door slowly in my face, as I stood there, stunned and speechless, with my life flashing before my eyes.

“No …” I whispered, unable to believe what she’d just said. I pounded on the door for a few minutes, desperate for her to come back and talk this out, but she never did.

Chapter 8 – Shelly

God, would I ever stop crying?

After I left Cal standing at my dad’s front door, I climbed into the shower and let the water run over me as I cried my heart out.

I couldn’t see any way to forgive Cal and stay married to him. I just couldn’t. And, as much as it seemed impossible to do, I knew that I was going to have to pick myself up and figure out what my life looked like without him in it.

After a few more days of moping around, I finally agreed to meet the girls for lunch.

Sasha was in real estate, and Gaby worked at a bakery nearby the restaurant we were meeting at, so lunch was usually the best time to get together. We wouldn’t have a ton of time, but a little time with the girls was better than none at all.

I took some time to make myself look presentable. I’d lost a few pounds over the last couple weeks, and I had to put my makeup on a little heavier to cover the circles under my eyes.

When I got to the restaurant, Gaby was already there, drinking what I’d bet was a diet coke and talking to a waiter. He was tall, dark, and really good-looking and she blushed slightly when she saw me walking toward the table.

“Hey, Gabs,” I said as I leaned down to kiss her cheek. “What was that about?”

“Oh, nothing,” Gaby said with a wave of her hand. “He was just asking me out for coffee.”

“Oooh, really?” I said, happy to be talking about something normal. Every guy who came in to contact with Gaby asked her out. But, she usually said the same thing. “So, what’d you say?”

“No, thanks, but maybe another time,” she responded with a smile.

“I wish you’d say yes one of these days,” I admitted.

“I will,” Gaby replied. “When it feels right.”

Gaby seemed to be able to read men better than anyone I’d ever met. She was like the man-whisperer. She always seemed to know if a guy was good for her or not, and she was always very choosy about who she dated. She’d had two boyfriends since I’d known her, and they’d both been relationships that lasted over two years.

Gaby did not do casual relationships, much to every man within a sixty-mile radius’s disappointment.

I heard the heels before the whirlwind hit, and I knew Sasha had made it.

Sasha, on the other hand,
loved
casual relationships.

Sasha loved to buy expensive things and pamper herself consistently, and was very focused on her career. She didn’t want a man in her life who thought he would get to have a say in what she did and how she did it, so she always kept them at arm’s length. She used them for sex and arm candy, and that was about it.

My friends and I were all completely different, but we loved each other unconditionally. We were lucky that it had always been that way. There had been people that tried to come between us, male and female, but no one was ever able to break that bond.

One of the things I’d loved about Cal was that he’d always gotten it. My friendship with my girls … because he had the same thing with his friends.

Shit … Cal.

I felt the sadness creeping in again, until Sasha grabbed my chin, looked me in the eye, and said, “Nuh-uh, girlfriend. Chin up.”

I smiled shakily at her, and tried to nod. But it was difficult, since she was still holding my chin. She chuckled and released me.

“How are you?” Sasha whispered.

I sighed deeply and said, “Crushed.”

“Oh, baby, I’m so sorry.”

Sasha pulled me tightly to her and I held on as if I were afraid to let go. She smelled of perfume and hair product, and I found it very soothing.

“Do you want me to put a hit out on him?” Sasha asked seriously.

I chuckled and replied, “Not today.”

Gaby leaned across the table and asked, “Have you talked to him?”

I shook my head.

“I haven’t been able to. I can’t look at him right now. He stopped by the other day, and I saw him long enough to tell him I want a divorce, then I ran back inside.”

Gaby gasped at my statement.

“Are you sure that’s what you want, Shelly? Don’t you want to talk it over with him first, maybe think about it for a while?”

I shook my head and felt tears forming.

“I don’t think it’ll make a difference. He betrayed me in a way that I never believed was possible.” They each took one of my hands in theirs as I spoke. “I think I need a clean break, and I need to start figuring out what to do with my life.”

“Let us know what you need,” Sasha said.

I turned to Sasha and said, “I want to sell the house.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, neither of us will be able to afford it on our own, and I need to start fresh. I’d like to rent something for now, an apartment or condo or something.”

“Okay, but you will have to discuss this with Cal and come to an agreement. The house is in both of your names.”