I’m so excited as I drive home from school. I haven’t even bothered texting Nikki to let her know I’m getting close to the house, as I want to surprise her when I walk through the door. I want to race into whatever room she’s in, snatch her into my arms, and plant my lips on hers.
This is the life I want to lead from now on. Wherever I work doesn’t matter, whatever I’m doing doesn’t matter, as long as I have her to come home to.
I park quietly and basically sneak up to the front door like a secret agent. I try my key, but for some reason it’s unlocked, even though I told her to keep it locked while I was away. I’ll have to remind her about that later.
I let myself in just as quietly and leave it cracked behind me to keep the noise down, then start checking the rooms.
She’s not in the kitchen or the living room, and she’s not out back on the patio either, so I take the stairs one at a time and creep toward the bedroom. With any luck, she’ll have her back toward me, and I’ll be able to put my plan into action.
I see the door is cracked at the end of the hall, and I sneak quickly down to it and position myself for my next move. I hear the TV playing something, but I can’t quite tell what it is. My guess is Nikki is in bed, so I’ll just leap in and join her.
A smile spreads over my face as I picture myself stripping whatever clothes she has on from her body and having my way with her. What a perfect end to my day and start to our evening together.
I begin the countdown in my head.
3…2…1…
“Hey, gorgeous!” I cry out, leaping into action.
I leap onto the bed, and as I thought, there is someone lying there, but it’s not Nikki. And when I see who it is, my heart nearly explodes.
“Hey, baby,” Cheryl replies, gazing up from beneath me, wrapped in a set of sexy black lingerie, making lustful eyes at me. “Long time no see.”
I immediately leap off and away from her, stunned by what I’m seeing. Is this really happening? I look around, searching the room for Nikki.
“What the fuck?” I blurt out. “Cheryl? How did you? Where is Nikki? Nikki!?”
I race into the bathroom. I know there’s absolutely no chance she’s in there, but I check anyway and find the room empty.
“She’s not here, babe.” When I come back to the bedroom, I find Cheryl kneeling on the bed, both arms forward and together, accentuating her breasts. “It’s just you and me. Alone. Like it should be.”
“Like it should be?” I scoff. “Don’t be absurd. You left me! You ran off with my goddamn lawyer.”
“I made a mistake,” she replies in that soothing, motherly voice that I always hated that she would use when she was patronizing me and trying to win an argument at the same time. “You know I did, babe–”
“Don’t call me babe,” I say firmly. “I am not your babe anymore.”
“Why are you so mad?” she asks, slinking closer to me. “Aren’t you happy to see me? Don’t pretend you don’t still have feelings for me, Russ.”
“Oh, I have feelings all right,” I reply. “Just not the ones you’re thinking of.”
It’s then that I notice Cheryl’s left hand, and it’s like a volcano begins to churn its magma inside my chest. There, seated on her ring finger, is the engagement ring I gave her and have been asking her to return ever since she walked out on me.
“Russell, come on–”
“You’re still wearing it?” I point. “Seriously, Cheryl? Still?”
Cheryl glances down at the ring, smiles, then looks back up at me. “I just couldn’t bring myself to take it off, babe.”
“I told you not to call me babe…”
“You know how much I loved it when you gave it to me,” she continues as if she didn’t even hear me. “I just couldn’t…”
The anger inside me, the white-hot magma ready to erupt, begins to swell as images flicker through my mind of Cheryl wearing the ring that I bought her while my old lawyer Barry fucks her in every position imaginable. The two of them probably laughed about it too.
I want to put my fist through the wall. I want to break something and watch it shatter, but what would be the point of that? All it would do is destroy something of mine and cost me money. No, that would be a waste. And Cheryl must know that her coming here today isn’t going to get me back, so what was the point anyway? All she wants is to get a reaction out of me. She’s spiteful that way; she always was.
Nikki.
“He left you, didn’t he?” I ask, feeling a smirk come over my face. “Barry?”
Cheryl was always good at keeping a straight face, but she wasn’t expecting this, and it shows. A slight twitch from the corners of her lips and something in her eyes gives it away.
Yup. He did.
“No.” She shakes her head. “Barry and I are fine.”
“Uh huh.” I nod, chuckling. “I bet you are.”
I turn away and head back toward the door, but Cheryl isn’t about to let me leave without a fight. I feel her arms around my neck as she jumps onto me from behind, and her legs as she wraps them around my waist.
She tries her best to kiss me on the neck, but I twist away as she moans in my ear, “Come on, babe. Don’t you miss me? Don’t you remember the great old times we had?”
“Sure I remember,” I reply, grabbing her wrists and prying them off me. She slinks off me to the floor, and I turn around and look down at her. So many emotions flow through me. I never thought I’d see her again, yet here she is. “How could I forget, Cheryl?”
“Then why are you doing this to me!?”
“Doing what to you?” I blurt out. “You left me! Do you not remember that? And with my lawyer of all people!”
“I made a mistake! I’m sorry, Russell! Can’t you just forgive me? I’m a different person now!”
“A different person?” I scoff. “Where’s Nikki then?”
“Who?” she asks, but her eyes completely betray her. “Nikki who?”
“You know exactly who I’m talking about, Cheryl. Don’t try to make a fool of me.” I need to get out of here now. If I’m this upset, I can’t even imagine how Nikki is feeling, or what Cheryl said to her. “The girl who was here when you got here. The one who’s not here now.”
“Russell, I don’t know you mean–”
“Out.” I raise my arm and point in the direction of the front door. “Now. Don’t make me call the police on you.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“Try me,” I reply, showing her with my eyes that I am deadly serious. We may not have been together in a while, but she still knows how to read my expressions, and I see hers change when she realizes that I’m not kidding around. “I want you out of my house now, Cheryl. And if you have any self-respect, you’ll give me that ring back too.”
We stare each other down like something out of an old Western for what feels like minutes but is probably only several seconds before Cheryl gets to her feet and walks back into my bedroom. She emerges a few moments later fully dressed, and walks past me without saying a word.
I follow her downstairs to the front door, waiting to see what she’ll do. She stops, her back to me, and reaches for the ring on her finger. But then she stops, whirls, and glares at me with tears in her eyes.
“Fuck you!” she screeches. “I’m fucking keeping it!”
And before I can respond, she tears the door open and sprints out.
I go after her, but I don’t chase her. I’m not going to make a scene for the entire neighborhood, especially one that makes it look like I’m running after a woman who is racing out of my house at full speed.
I just stand on my steps and watch as she races up to her car, which is parked up the street, gets in, and speeds away, giving me the finger as she passes.
I’m still raging inside, but I also breathe a deep sigh of relief as I watch her turn off my street. Right now, I couldn’t care less about the ring. All I want is for her to be gone and out of my life, and more importantly, Nikki’s.
I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone and immediately dial Nikki as I head for my car. It instantly goes to voicemail, which is a terrible sign. She and Cheryl definitely had a run-in at the house, and whatever Cheryl said to her was not good. I have to fix this, and fast, before things spiral out of control and ruin everything.
