"Once upon a time I was falling in love, now, I am just falling apart"

Chapter 9: Alone

As soon as Rhoda turned and saw Mary standing there, she frantically wiped the tears from her eyes. "No, don't even ask. All right? I'm fine. Nothing was said that I can't handle."

Mary stood there, silently watching her with pity. The shakiness of Rhoda's knees as stood up caught her attention. Her concern started to grow when she saw Rhoda set her hand down on the table for a minute to steady herself.

"I'm an adult. No more of this stupid crying. What ever happens I have to learn to deal with." Rhoda walked into the kitchen and stood by the sink. Mary followed her in order to make sure that she was going to be okay. Rhoda grabbed a glass from the cabinet and filled it with water. Quickly she drank it and then loudly slammed it down on the counter and turned back to Mary. "You're waiting for me to lose it aren't you? Admit it. You're waiting for me to break down completely and cry like there was no tomorrow right?" Her voice was steadily raising.

"Rhoda," she cautiously started. "I think you need to sit down. Its not a good idea to get yourself worked up like this."

"Worked up you say?" Rhoda asked. "You've seen me get worked up before Mare, this isn't worked up! I'm fine all right? Just because I've been knocked up doesn't mean that I have to overreact over every little thing!"

Carefully, Mary approached Rhoda. "You're really starting to make me nervous, now please just calm down and tell me what Joe said." She knew that she would have to do more than just beg, but it was all she could do right now.

"Calm down?" Rhoda laughed. "How could I possibly be more calm?" she practically yelled. "I mean, how could I be anything but calm! Maybe I should call Joe back and tell him that I need time to myself!" She threw her arms up. "Maybe I should ask who the hell he thinks he is to just decide that which responsibilities he can take and when!"

Mary grabbed Rhoda's wrists, and she instantly stopped. She was breathing heavy is attempts to catch her breath and calm herself down. "He told you that he couldn't be there for you because he needed more time to himself?"

She couldn't bring herself to say anything, or even nod. A quivering lower lip and watering eyes were all that resulted. It was enough to give Mary an answer. It didn't matter though, at that moment time seemed to stop. Her knees finally collapsed beneath her. Mary moved her hands from her wrists to her elbows and helped to go down more gently. As soon as Rhoda was sitting on the floor, Mary held onto her hands. The tears came like a rush of water breaking a dam. Everything that had built up was now leaving.

"He isn't all you had. You still have me, you still have your mom and Brenda. Not everyone is just leaving you here." Mary waited for a response of any kind.

Rhoda closed her eyes for a moment and then looked up and wiped them. "I'm sorry about that. I just. He just got to me. Ya know?"

Mary shook her head. "Don't be. You've been through a lot tonight."

"I knew he was gonna do that. The moment he walked out on me I knew he wasn't coming back for anything."

The two sat there in silence. Mary had no idea what to say to that. At the beginning she had been the one to try and be optimistic, she had been thinking that this was just a fight that they would get over. Just realizing how wrong she was, Mary decided to apologize. "I'm sorry."

"What for kid? Not your fault."

Mary nodded. "I, I sorta called and had Brenda see if he would come out here. She talked o him and he agreed to it. I told him to just come here and I would surprise you when we got here."

"So that's why you yelled surprise." Rhoda said. "Wait," she said slowly looking down. There was a brief moment spent in silence. It was ended as soon as her head slowly rose back up. "He didn't decide to come out here on his own?"

"Well no one made him come out here," Mary said.

"Are you kidding me? Between you and Brenda, you probably made him feel guiltier than ever. If you would have not done anything, he would still be sitting in New York wondering when I was coming back." Rhoda stood up. "I think I'm going to bed now. Tomorrow I'm getting a flight back to New York."

Mary quickly stood up as Rhoda started to walk away. "Rhoda!" she called out. "Do you think that's a good idea?"

Rhoda stopped and turned around. "Sure why not? I can go back to MY apartment and make sure that that jerk isn't able to get any of his things back. And to completely make sure of that I think I'm gonna hold a bonfire out on the balcony."

"You can stay here a couple more days if you want," Mary offered.

"Thanks kid, but I still gotta go back sometime and get used to the way that things are gonna be. I have a lot to do, you know. Tell everyone else about the baby, burn Joe's things, start getting the apartment ready."

"I know that you're mad, but you're not really gonna burn his things are you?" Mary asked.

"Listen, all night I've been going back and forth from wanting to cry to wanting to punch him. I think I would rather be mad, and if burning his things helps, I think I might as well." Rhoda turned back and started towards the bedroom.

"Can I at least come for the weekend?" Mary asked.

Rhoda, who had already gone into the room, peaked her head back out. "Actually could ya? I'm a little nervous to explain this to everyone."

"Of course."

"Thanks Mare," Rhoda said.