She remembered storming toward one of the exits of their house, claiming she hated him and everything he ever was. She didn't realize how much it must've hurt until she heard him say it back.
"I hate you, too, Sam." Her breath hitched in her throat, and she struggled to maintain consciousness. She stopped, trying to recuperate her emotional stability. Here she was, about to walk out on a life that she valued, and he didn't try to stop her? To tell her he was filled with regret? To tell her he'd always love her? To tell her that no matter how many quarrels they ever got in, he still and always will stay with her? Instead, he tells her he hates her back? She blinked twice, trying to tell herself this was a nightmare.
"Freddie, I…" She thought about acting contrite. She thought about running into his hands, and asphyxiating him with her remarkable fragrance to make him hungry for her. But that wasn't who she was. It wasn't in her character to open up and be passionate, but it was in his. Yet, he didn't say anything. Not one word. She turned back around and faced towards him. "We're through. We're done. This," she gesticulated amid the distance of the two of them. "Is more than I can handle. This relationship is worthless and full of bogus sensation…and more prominently, this relationship has reached an end. I'm filing for a divorce first thing tomorrow morning."
Her eyes were filled with anger, and his eyes were filled with…nothing. If she was giving up on him, why should he even try?
X
Freddie Benson walked into the coffee shop on Fifth Ave, stalking straight over to an empty booth. He immediately pushed the 'order' buzzer, letting the waitresses know he was ready to be served. He already knew what it was he wanted to get; considering he came here every single day and got the same exact thing. He was a consistent customer, and he was pretty sure nothing would change that.
He noticed a pretty woman with jet black hair approaching him. Her brown eyes bore into his and her lips curved into a smile. She had the prettiest lips, thin, but full. Her ears lifted when she smiled, and her figure was straight; no curves anywhere. He nodded to her, as if saying hello, but kept his gaze focused on nothing in particular. Sure, she was pretty, but he could blatantly tell she wasn't his type. He preferred a blonde with blue eyes, and a curvy frame.
"Sir?" The woman with black hair asked, her nose scrunching with confusion. "Sir, are you there?"
He obviously went out of it for a moment. It was strange what thinking about her did to him. It made him blind to the natural world and his nearby surroundings. He completely zoned out.
"Uh, yeah, sorry about that," he apologized, looking at her more clearly now. It wasn't until then that he noticed she would be the waitress for him. She wore a brown apron, and a notepad and pen were in her hands. "I'll get a small hazelnut coffee with a blueberry muffin, please."
She quickly wrote down what came out of his mouth, and gave him another short smile before waltzing off to the back kitchen.
It was crazy, really. How his life went from bad to worse in a matter of seconds. He blinked, trying to erase every irrational thought from his mind. This wasn't a good time to be thinking about her. He bit his lip and he could faintly taste her bacon flavored chap stick on his lips. When he breathed in, all he could smell was her strawberry shampoo on his shirt; she had insisted it was fine to wash clothes with shampoo and conditioner. He, of course, didn't approve, but it was quite obvious that in their relationship, she wore the man pants.
(Flashback)
"Sam, will you run to the store for me?" He had asked her that night. "We ran out of washing powder, and I really need to wash my laundry."
"And why can't you do it? Have you lost your arms and legs or something?" She threw at him, and he frowned. It's like she had been purposely trying to start an argument.
"It's just that I have some huge changes to make on the new PearTop 3 I've been busy on for work, and there's no way I'll be able to go to the store right now and do my work."
"Aw," She fake pouted. "Well, when you say it like that…no."
Freddie sighed and ran a hand through his unkempt hair. "Sam, please?"
She rolled her eyes and got up off the couch, rushing into their master bathroom. Freddie waited curiously downstairs, not seeing why she headed up there anyway. He waited for a good fifteen seconds before he noticed his blonde wife racing down the stairs and tossing a bottle in his hand on her way pass him.
"There," she said. "That should do the trick."
Freddie eyed the bottle, and with slight amusement, replied, "This is strawberry scented shampoo."
"Wow, I'm so glad you can read," she rolled her eyes at her husband, and then got up and took the bottle herself. "Well, looks like this is a job a man just can't do."
And with those words, she threw Freddie's laundry in the washing machine and loaded the machine with strawberry shampoo.
(End of Flashback)
"Excuse me, Sir." The woman tapped his shoulder, awakening him from his daydream with her touch. "Here's your coffee and muffin."
He took it, gratefully, and gave her a five dollar bill, telling her to keep the change.
The scent of hazelnut now filled his nose, and again, his mind wandered to his 'wife'. The two of them would always come here before work and order the same thing as each other. Today was Hazelnut and Blueberry Friday; hence the food he had ordered. His tongue dipped into the coffee and he suddenly laughed, remembering how he and Sam used to see who could hold their tongues in there for the longest. She always won, which didn't annoy him. In fact, he liked it that way.
Before he could dig into his muffin, his phone rang. Exasperated, he answered it, not caring what name was on the caller ID. He knew for sure it wasn't Sam, so what'd he have to worry about?
"Freddie!" Carly's voice rang through the other end and Freddie sighed, knowing a good lecture was coming his way.
He decided to play it casual. "Hey Carls, what's up?"
"What's up? You and Sam are divorcing and all you have to say is what's up?"
"Look, I have to go, alright?" He said, not really feeling in such a mood to associate with people. "Bye."
He clicked off the phone just as he heard livid screams enter from the other line. Of course she told Carly and must've made it seem like it was his entire fault. He then proceeded to kick the inside of the booth, the impact causing the coffee to tip over and spill on his muffin.
That's just peachy.
X
"Hey," Gibby said, as he spotted his best friend walking into the Pear Store building. "You're 15 minutes late."
"Yeah, thanks, Mr. Clock," Freddie snapped, storming into his office.
"What's got you on the jank?"
"Nothing," he mumbled.
"Look," Gibby started, sitting down a clipboard and straightening his duck tie. "I know about you and Sam."
"How?" Freddie asked, sinking back in his chair. "Did she tell you, too?"
"Actually, I was upstairs looking for that old sim card you claimed you had, remember? Oh, and…you might not want to go in your closet for a while."
Freddie sighed. He wasn't in the mood for jokes or funny business. "I'll be fine, just…go away. Please."
X
She quietly entered her and her husband's home, racing up to the master bedroom, and sitting on the bed, criss cross apple sauce. She looked over at the clock on the nightstand, and saw it was only 5:30. She had approximately two hours until he got home from work. Sam sighed, looking around the room. It was filled with happy pictures of the two together. She remembered the old days…when she could insult Freddie and he didn't get so offended. Or she could do something wrong and he could just laugh at it. It had been a long time since she noticed how fidgety he was becoming. Maybe it was because he was becoming more of an adult, but the reason Sam liked to think—he was too tired to keep putting up with Sam's craziness.
It wasn't like she didn't see the day coming; she always knew that at some point during their relationship that things would gradually begin to change. She bit the inside of her lip, remembering their fight. Honestly, she was trying to forget, but everything that happened seemed to become clearer and clearer as hours passed.
(Flashback)
"Puckett!" Freddie called up the stairs, vociferously. "Where's my hatchet that I let you borrow? I'm trying to fix this cabinet with the loose nut."
Sam ran down the stairs quickly, looking in the sofa immediately. "Here, I accidentally left it there when I was watching Man vs. Food last night."
Freddie nodded and took the hatchet from her, turning away, but then quickly turning back. "Is that my Nug Nug T-Shirt?"
Sam shrugged. "Yeah, you said you didn't wear it anymore, so I took it and now it's my new eating placemat."
"What? Sam, just because I said I didn't wear it anymore, doesn't mean I don't want it."
"Well, why would you want something you don't wear anymore?" She asked, indifferently.
"That's not the point—"
"Then what is?"
"The point is," Freddie started. "Is that you shouldn't take my things without permission."
"Dude, it's a shirt!"
"And that gives you the right to use it as a food placemat? Look at it! It has grease stains all over it!"
Sam rolled her eyes. "You're such a weenie."
"That's it, Sam," Freddie shouted. "I'm tired of you disrespecting me. You've been doing it for as long as I can remember and I have yet to stop you."
"So, just deal with it."
"Do you think it's fun bullying people?" He then scoffed. "I wouldn't expect anything less."
Sam glared at her husband. "What about you? Whether you see it or not, you're e just as bad as me. Always whining…bleh, Sam did this, Sam did that, bleh."
The two began sputtering out insults amongst each other until Sam made the room go silent by yelling, "I hate you!"
"I hate you, too, Sam."
(End of Flashback)
She had to get out of that room; there's something about being in there that made her feel weird. So many great memories that probably now, they're going to forget. They're going to forget everything they ever did together. They're going to forget how that one time Freddie lured Sam into pottery making class with him. They're going to forget how they snuggled close together at night. They'll forget everything mostly. The one thing they won't forget—how much of an open wound they left on one another.
AN-NEW STORY, I know. Yes, it's a multi-chap. Also, I know I haven't updated This Is Love in like 2 to 3 days, but…I've been super busy, and I was so ready to finish chapter one of this story. Anyway, I hope you read and review, and are willing to wait for the next chapter of this story :)