Part I - It Started On A Tuesday Night...
She harshly dropped the duffel on top of a pile of black plastic bags that were messily organized in the corner of the room.
With her brows furrowed and the corner of her mouth in a snarl, Ellie James rubbed her hands together, as if the mere touch of his clothes would make her sick.
"Ah! That's the last of it."
"Mhmm." Her best friend, Keisha, stretched on the bed and mumbled through a mouthful of chips. "Now burn them."
"I wish..." Ellie said as she stood, arms crossed, staring down at the bags. "He's coming to pick them up later today..."
Keisha stopped chewing when she heard Ellie's voice slowly fade into quiet stillness. "El"
"Huh?" Ellie responded, her voice small and distant, her mind peaking into forbidden memories.
"Don't do that."
As if caught doing something wrong, Ellie quickly turned back to look at her friend.
"What?"
Keisha discarded the chips near the lower end of the bed and sat up. "Don't second guess yourself."
"I'm not." Ellie murmured, facing ahead to look at the bags that sat piled up on her bedroom floor again. "I'm just..." Ellie stopped. Her heart fluttered when it remembered the memories of when his clothes had kept her warm in the cold. "I'm just... thinking. That's all."
She shrugged. Turning back to Keisha. "Since when is thinking a crime?"
Keisha stared at her friend for a few seconds then, with a sigh, got off the bed, and took determined steps to Ellie. Keisha went and stood in front of her, blocking her view from the bags.
"You're reflecting. Reflecting leads to memories. Memories lead to missing him. Missing him leads to you letting him lie on top of you."
"Keisha." Ellie scolded, as she folded her arms, looking away.
"What? Did I lie?" Keisha leaned closer and Ellie pulled back, with a frown. "Is that not what happened the last time you tried to 'break up' with him?"
Unfolding her arms, Ellie turned around and headed to the side table. Opening it she murmured, "That was different."
"Oh, the alcohol is not to blame here." Keisha followed Ellie. "We both know you wanted it."
Ellie grabbed a face towel and turned around. She gasped when she bumped into her friend, who stood two feet in front of her. "Keisha, for God's sake!"
Keisha crossed her arms and pursed her lips. "I hope this is how you're gonna react when his face is inches away from yours."
"I'm not going to have sex with Brian, Okay." Ellie said, pushed her friend back and stormed to the bathroom.
"Then why are you about to wash your face and reapply your makeup?"
Keisha yelled back as Ellie closed the door.
It was past eight- thirty and Ellie nervously downed her second glass of rose. Keisha had left an hour ago and she now sat alone in the small living room. Waiting for him to arrive.
She played with the bottom of the glass as she sat it on her knee. She gazed around her room, making sure that everything seemed relaxed and not too organized. There were Marketing and Business textbooks on the table, a notepad and a pen on the table, so that it wouldn't be obvious that she had been waiting for him.
Like she was now.
Thirty Minutes.
Forty Minutes.
One hour.
It was eleven-forty-five when the doorbell rang.
Her eyes fluttered open when she heard her name.
"Ellie!"
When Ellie relaxed into an upright position the glass that was in her hand fell to the floor.
"Mhmm"
"Ellie! Open up."
Seeing the broken pieces of glass all over the carpet floor, she lazily sighed and stood to clean it up.
But as the alcohol ran down her bloodstream she took a misstep and her toe pressed on a piece of glass.
"Ah! Fuck!"
Her phone rang from her bedroom but she didn't pay mind to it as blood started to stream.
"Mhmm, shit."
Few moments later she heard the sound of keys and the door was unlocked.
Brian walked in with his backpack slung in one shoulder and wearing his usual attire of black jeans with a red checked shirt.
"Fuck Ellie, I've been calling —"
He stopped when he saw the blood. She stood with her foot on its heel and her face in pain.
He dropped his bag and rushed to her side. "What happened?" He held her hand and looked down at her foot.
"I dropped a wine glass."
She winced when he tried to lift her leg to look at it.
"Ah, it hurts."
He bend down and lifted her leg gently, and she winced once again.
"You need to go to the hospital." he said, inspecting her foot back and forth.
She shook her head and tried to move away from his grasp but he held her tighter. "No, it's not that bad, honestly."
"I'm taking you to the hospital. End of discussion."
Ellie stole a glance at his face as he stood a little, put his arms behind her legs and picked her up. Although the pain was insistent and deep, the flutter that she felt in her stomach when he carried her out of her apartment was deeper.
He looked really worried, she thought.