Claudette
"Claudette MacKay?" Zoe asked a pretty young woman with long dark hair and dark eyes.
"That'd be me," smiled the woman, standing to follow Zoe to the exam room.
"Cute shorts!" exclaimed Zoe.
"Great shoes," said Claudette.
Zoe asked "Who does your highlights?"
Raising her hand to her hair, Claudette smiled as she said "Hanna. Over in Daphne."
"C'mon in. Take a seat." Zoe said. "You're from Daphne?"
"Yes, ma'am. I know there're doctors in Daphne, but you delivered my Cousin Edna's baby. Do you remember Edna?" explained Claudette.
"Yes!" exclaimed Zoe. "That was my first week in Bluebell. She moved to Georgia, right? How's she doing."
Claudette eased up onto the exam table and Zoe took her blood pressure, pulse, and temperature. "She's doing real good, now she's away from her momma. Got a respectable job managing the dairy department at the Piggly Wiggly! And that little girl of hers is as bright as sunshine."
Zoe smiled at the happy news "I'm, glad to hear they're doing so well. Please tell her I say Hello the next time you talk to her."
"I sure will, Dr. Hart." Claudette said.
"So, Claudette, what brings you in today?" asked Zoe.
"Well," she drawled. "I'm recently engaged," Claudette beamed, holding out her hand to show off her pretty engagement ring. "And I want to look perfect for the wedding. So, I started exercising, like, a lot! But, now, my back is real painful."
"Oh, let's take a look." Zoe proceeded with the examination. When done, Claudette hopped down from the exam table and lost her balance. "Whoa," she said grabbing onto the exam table.
"You ok?" Zoe asked concerned.
"I'm woozy," Claudette replied, holding her head in her hand.
Zoe directed her to a chair as she asked "Are you dieting a lot, too? Maybe skipping meals?"
"Yes." Claudette admitted sheepishly.
Checking her watch, Zoe said "well, its lunch time and I don't have another patient for an hour. Why don't we get a bite to eat? You can tell me all about Hanna's hair salon and I can tell you about proper dieting techniques."
Zoe and Claudette walked to the Rammer Jammer chatting animatedly the whole way. A number of townspeople did a double take when they noticed how alike the two woman looked. At the bar, Wanda greeted them by asking "Why, Dr. Hart, is this your sister?"
In unison, Zoe and Claudette replied, "No." Zoe continued "I don't have a sister. Wanda, this is a new patient of mine, Claudette."
"Y'all look so much alike. It's uncanny." Wanda continued, "You even dress alike and I've never seen anyone dress like Dr. Hart."
The two women turned to look each other up and down, then smiled and shrugged.
Over grilled chicken sandwiches, the two women talked about shopping, and hair, and dieting. Then, Claudette told Zoe about her fiancé and the rough patch they went through that winter.
"For weeks, we argued over every little thing! Then, one night, after a particularly bad shouting match, he got drunk and strayed. I was so angry, I went out and did the same thing, but it only made me feel worse. We got in a huge fight and broke up. I thought it was for good, but, then a friend of ours tricked us into meeting and we talked. Turns out, he was afraid he was losing me. See, I've been taking night classes and well, he thought I was gonna get bored and leave him. Men can be so silly! So, I told him. I said 'I am in love with you and no accounting course is gonna change that!' Then he told me that he loved me too, and a few weeks later, I was engaged."
"Wow." Zoe said shaking her head in disbelief. "You forgave him? You trust him, again?" As Claudette nodded her head yes, Zoe continued, incredulous, "How? How do you trust him?"
"He was hurting as much as I was. I could see it. All our friends and family could see it." Zoe's mind drifted to Wade and the pain she often caught in his eyes, especially, most recently, when he realized she was spending so much time with him after is injury out of guilt and not because she had forgiven him.
Claudette continued, "After we talked, I just know he would never do that to me again. Just like I know I would never have revenge sex ever again."
"Well, I'm happy for you." Zoe replied. "I just don't think I can - could - get passed something like that."
The two ladies finished their lunch and were making their way to the exit side by side when they bumped into Wade.
"Hi." Zoe said redicently.
Wade just stood there, looking back and forth between the two women, before uttering a short, nervous laugh.
"Oh, my gosh! Wade Kinsella!" Claudette squealed and hugged Wade.
"Hey there, Claudette," he responded apprehensively.
"I guess you two already know each other." Zoe replied, wondering why she was surprised. He'd slept with nearly every woman in southern Alabama.
Claudette disengaged herself from Wade and whispered near Zoe's ear, "Revenge sex guy." She turned back to Wade and continued chatting, not realizing that Zoe nearly turned to stone, her color ashen. Wade hadn't heard what Claudette whispered, but he knew from the stunned expression frozen on Zoe's face that she knew. This was the girl he cheated with.
With the trace of composure Zoe still possessed, she feigned a call from the office and rushed out of the Rammer Jammer. She raced back to the safety and seclusion of her carriage house where she called Brick and arranged for him to see her remaining two patients, telling him she wasn't feeling well. Then and only then, did she allow the tears to flow.
But the tears did not come.
Her mind was fixated on the fact that Wade cheated on her with a girl who looked just like her! "Why?" she thought. She'd seen the parade of women at the gatehouse. They were all tall and beautiful and oozed sexuality, like Joelle and Tansy. None of them were like her. Zoe paced for what seemed like an hour but was really only about ten minutes, until she heard Wade's car in the driveway.
After debating with herself for another couple of minutes, Zoe marched over to Wade's and burst right in without knocking.
"What the hell, Wade!" Zoe yelled angrily before turning her back and wailing "Oh my God! Put some pants on!"
"Well, excuse me. You're the one who didn't knock!" There was a brief pause and a rustle of clothes before Wade said "you can turn around now."
Zoe slowly glanced behind her to ensure he was decent before she faced him. "So," she prompted him, agitated.
"So, I'm goin' for a run" he said.
"Not until we talk about this." Zoe started to yell again.
"You already know!" Wade exclaimed. "Yes, Claudette was the girl I cheated with."
Wade took a deep breath and continued in a quiet, pleading voice. "Zoe, please. Nothing good can come from this conversation. I am so sorry. I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I made the worst decision in my life. I'm sorry you had to meet her. I'm sorry you found out it was her the way you did. I'm sorry for all of it. If I could change it, I would."
"She looks exactly like me." Zoe said quietly.
Wade was taken aback by her statement. "What?"
"You cheated on me with a girl who looks like me, dresses like me."
Wade just stood there, his mouth trying to form words, but nothing came out.
"Why? What does that mean, Wade?"
He had no response. He hadn't even realized their resemblance until Zoe mentioned it. Sure, they had the same coloring and they were both petite, but, the similarities stopped there. Claudette was a nice girl with a sweet smile, but she was no Zoe Hart who could fill an empty room with just her presence.
"For weeks I've tortured myself, imagining you with some blond bombshell with legs for days – imagining you with someone who is everything I'm not. Only to discover …" Zoe let the words trail off. She sat on the sofa and held her head in her hands.
Wade sat on the arm of the sofa, waiting patiently. What could he do or say to help her heal? He knew that his actions reinforced her feelings of betrayal and abandonment by her parents, making her question her self-worth, making her feel unwanted, unloved, undesirable. How could he convince her that those feelings were the farthest thing from the truth, especially where he was concerned?
"Did you tell her? After I left the Rammer Jammer, I mean. Did you tell her that we were," Zoe couldn't say the word "dating" and so just pointed between the two of them, "until you two," again she gestured instead of speaking the words.
"No. I," Wade paused to collect his thoughts. "I thought it would be embarrassing for you and for her. So, no, I didn't say anything."
Nodding her head, Zoe concurred "I'm glad you didn't say anything. It would've only made her feel bad."
Zoe stood and paced, clearly agitated. "Damn it, Wade!" she said still moving back and forth across the room. "I feel like I just took a giant leap backwards. My heart feels like it weighs a hundred pounds and I feel like there's a huge hole in me."
"I know." Wade said remorsefully.
Zoe whipped around to look at Wade. Angrily she retorted, "You know!? What do you know about how I'm feeling!?"
Wade defended himself. "I meant, I feel like that too. Like there's an elephant on my shoulders and I can't stand up right, can't breathe right. And there's this void inside me that nothing can fill."
"But you did this!" Zoe exclaimed. "It's all you're fault."
"Yes, I know it's all my own doing, but, Zoe, I hurt myself, too." Wade admitted.
Zoe took a seat on the sofa, head in her hands again. "You want to be forgiven so that you can feel better."
"No, Zoe! That's not true." Wade jumped up from the arm of the sofa. "I want you to feel better. I want you to be happy and full of sass and fire like you were when you first came here. I want to be back together with you."
"Back together!?" Zoe echoed, incredulous. "The whole town will think I'm an idiot, a doormat!"
Wade's first thought was to ask her if she planned to make all her decisions just to please the townsfolk, but he decided to not derail the conversation. Instead, he wanted her to focus on her feelings, on her feelings for him. He knew she still cared for him.
Calmly, Wade said, "I know I did something horrible. I know that you may never forgive me. I know it seems obvious that breaking up and moving on is the right thing to do in this situation." Wade crouched in front of Zoe as he continued. "But, Zoe, we broke up over two months ago. We were an official couple for only two months. You haven't healed and moved on. I haven't healed and moved on. Maybe there's a reason for that. Maybe, just maybe, we're supposed to work through this together." His words were almost a whisper by the time he finished.
His eyes were pleading with hers. Hers reflected the intense debate going on inside.
Wade urged, "Please just think about it. Don't make a decision right now. Just consider that in our case, where nothing ever fit the usual mold, maybe the right answer isn't the obvious one."
Zoe saw how hopeful and sincere he was, but her head was spinning and starting to ache. She stood and walked to the door. Wade followed her, anxiously awaiting a response. As Zoe opened the door, she turned and nodded. "I'll think about it," she acquiesced. She saw Wade's face relaxed a bit. He nodded goodbye and she turned and left.