"Hello?" Cade answered, her voice heavy with sleep.
"Hey. Sorry to wake you up." Eddie said.
He heard some movement, and Cade groaning.
"I can let you go, if you want?"
"No. No, no. Just give me a second to wake up all the way." She said, trying to untangle the covers from her legs. She reached over to grab the bottle of water that was on her night stand, seeing it was a little after 3 in the morning.
"What's going on?" She asked, setting the water back in it's place, sitting up in her bed.
"Nothing. I just couldn't sleep." He said, walking out on the balcony.
Since he had heard her voice mail, he had been up thinking about life, and what she had said about lives changing.
"Well, you've been away from your girlfriend for a couple weeks, I'd say you could find something to do." Cade said, making herself laugh, but deep down hating that Eddie had gone home to her.
"Very funny." He said, plopping down in a chair on the balcony.
"She's probably passed out. She called earlier asking if I wanted to meet her for drinks. Then we came home and I ended up on the couch."
"Why? What did you do?" Cade asked.
"Nothing, that's the problem." He said, not really believing that he was talking with her about his sex life, or lack there of, but for some reason he felt very comfortable telling her anything.
"I haven't really minded the time away from home, I was honestly hoping that it might re-ignite that spark, ya know?"
"What's going on, Eddie?" Cade asked, concerned by the sound of his voice.
"It seems like that only time we ever have sex anymore, is when she's wasted. But, maybe that's because she's wasted most of the time." He took a breath.
"I left the bar early tonight, she followed me home and jumped on top of me, she wouldn't leave me alone, even after I told her no, that I wasn't in the mood, she still wouldn't stop, so I got up and went to the couch. That was like three hours ago."
"You know, some men would be ecstatic if their spouse put out that much."
"She isn't my spouse, Cadence." He said in a serious tone.
"Ok, sorry."
"No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that." He said, taking a deep breath.
"You wanna tell me what else is going on?" She asked.
"I've just been thinking about life." He said.
"Davey pointed something out to me tonight when he was dropping me off, and it's been stuck in my head. Along with what you said."
"Ok." Cade said, letting him know she was still listening.
"Do you want to tell me what Davey said?"
"I was talking to him about what you had said, not understanding it, and he asked if I realized that I hadn't mentioned Alisha the whole time we were gone. Like not just on the ride home, but the entire time we were gone. He said that if figured out why that happened, then I would understand what you had meant."
"Ok." Cade said.
"So then when I left the room I turned my phone on and got your voice mail. Then I realized why I hadn't mentioned her the entire time." He said taking a deep breath.
"And?" She asked.
"And, it scared me. But it made me think." He said.
"I realized when I listened to your voice mail that the reason why I hadn't mentioned her, that the reason she was getting on my nerves with her every move, and quite possible that reason I didn't want to have sex with her all comes down to one thing." He took a deep breath, Cade stayed quiet, waiting.
"The reason for all of that is simple. It's because she isn't you, Cadence."
"What?" Cade gasped, not really believing her own ears.
"I need to ask you something." He said.
"Ok, I'm listening."
"When you said that my life wasn't the only one changed by the chance I took, were you talking about you?" He asked.
"Because since I first saw you I haven't been able to get you out of my mind, and I need to know."
"Yes." She answered.
"It was? Honestly?"
"Yeah, Eddie. That's what I meant."
"In what way did you mean it?" He asked.
"You know what way." Cade said, finally able to catch her breath.
"So now the question is, where do we go from here?"
"I'm going to pack some clothes and tell Alisha I need a break." Eddie said.
"A break?" Cade asked.
"Yeah. Then maybe I can come and see you, if that's ok?"
"Eddie, you're always welcome here, I always have room, but you need to think about it, and see what you want in life." Cade said.
"If you just need a break, then take one, but I can't start something with you while you're just on a break, just so you can test it out and see if I'm what you really want." Cade explained.
"You need to think and see if the reason you have feelings for me is because of me, or is it really because you are just looking for an out of your relationship."
"I understand what you are saying." Eddie said, already knowing the answer, but not quite sure how to break things off completely with Alisha.
"But you're ok if I come and stay with you for a little bit?"
"As long as you need too." Cade said.
"I'll see you some time tomorrow." Eddie said.
"Good night, Cade. Thanks for talking me through this."
"Bye Eddie."