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Today should have been a special day, and I was going to tell her. Finally, tell her how much I love her. And I do. She’s been a bright light in my life. From the moment I met her, my heart has never felt this full. Except for now. Now, it’s missing a piece of itself. It’s missing Kat.
Tomorrow, I’ll drive by her parent’s house again. If she’s not there, I’ll stop at Vicki’s place. Kat has to give me the chance to explain, I need to make her understand that it’s not what it seems.
Tonight, I’ll stay here. I’ll wait on this couch and wait for her to come home. This way, she can’t run. I walk into her bedroom and grab a pillow and blanket. Honestly, I won’t be able to sleep, but I need to try so I can find her tomorrow if she doesn’t come home.
I lie back on the couch and pull out my phone. I send her another text pleading with her to just call me or come back. The text never goes through. I call her cell again, but it goes right to voicemail. This time, I leave a message.
“Kat, call me. I need to talk to you. Please, I’m worried about you. Please,” I hang up and scroll through my music, trying to find a good distraction.
This all could’ve been avoided if I’d gotten off work earlier. Fuck. Fucking Emma. She poisons everything she touches. The thoughts she probably put into Kat’s head ... God, that has to be eating at Kat. I pull up our song by Brett Young and place my phone on the coffee table. I flip it on, so it’ll repeat. It’s all I want to hear right now.
The best part of myself is mad at me: Kat. The best part of myself is out there somewhere. She’s my everything, and right now, I have nothing without her.
My eyes grow watery, and a tear slides down my cheek. I wipe it away and close my eyes. I picture her piercing emerald eyes. Imagine her next to me, asleep and making her cute little noises.
Another tear slides down. I can’t lose the woman I love, and I can’t live without Kat.
Chapter 20
Katrina
My neck hasa cramp in it, and I’m very uncomfortable. Looking at the dash, I notice it’s only six in the morning. This was probably a rash decision to just sleep in a Walmart parking lot. I sit up and adjust my seat, rubbing my neck. Ugh. Sleeping in my car was a stupid idea. I should have just gone to Vicki’s. I turn my phone on, and I immediately have countless messages flying in and a ton of voicemails. Most from Vicki and one from Bryce. I’m not even interested in whatever excuse he has.
My mind stops me for a moment. What if it’s not as it seems? What if she thought they were together? I shake my head. I know what I saw. She was carrying a box of his things. This Emma. She was in complete surprise that I was there. There was no faking how upset she was that I was in Bryce’s apartment. Ugh, and she’s beautiful. A blonde bombshell. I have nothing on her. Bryce and Emma? Those two belong together. They would have cute kids, and they would have the perfect life together.
I see his text messages. Nothing explaining what happened or why he was with Emma at the same time he was with me. I delete them and block his number. Just as I did that, I thought of another problem. I can’t go back to my apartment. He lives too close, being right fucking above me. I’ll have to rely on Vicki to tell me when Austin is at work, then I can grab my things and stay at her place until I can find a new apartment.
I shouldn’t have to be the one to move and suffer, but I would rather find a new place to call home than worry when and if he’s going to move out. The last thing I need is to risk running into him or her. Or worse, both of them together. I shudder at the thought.
Picking up my phone, the first person I call is Vicki. She’ll probably be mad at me, but she’ll understand once I explain.
“Where the fuck are you?” Vicki screams into the phone once she picks up.
“A Walmart parking lot,” I confess. I bite my thumbnail nervously. My chest is tightening. The realization that I slept in my car last night is getting to me.
“What the fuck are you doing there? What is going on, Kat?” she says frantically.
“I’m on my way over. I’ll explain once I get there. Sound good?”
“Well, you’ll have no choice. I won’t let you leave till you do.” Oh, Vicki is beyond pissed right now.
“Okay, I’m on my way now.” I end the call and drive over to Vicki’s place.
Once I’m inside, she grabs me by the arm and pulls me towards the couch. Her entire body is shaking when she says, “Spill,now. Do you have any idea how freaked out I’ve been? Why? Why did you just disappear, Kat? You’ve had me up all night trying to get a hold of you! What the fuck is going on?” Vicki rapid fires the questions at me. I hold up my hand to silence her.
“Bryce is cheating on me. Well, I think I’m the other woman. He apparently forgot to mention he was with some other chick who was moving in with him. They had an entire life together. I’m the side piece, the one who gets forgotten about.” My breathing picks up, and I can’t help but gasp. My heart is beating so fast, I’m scared it’ll jump right out of my chest. I close my eyes, trying to calm myself so I don’t pass out from hyperventilating.
“Wait, what? That doesn’t make sense. Why would he be cheating on you?” Her face scrunches as she mentally tries to come up with an explanation.
“I’m telling you, he is. Her name is Emma. She had his stuff and lost her mind when she saw me in his apartment. She said she was his girlfriend.” I break down, not able to hold back the tears any longer. “I had a panic attack, and I knew it was going to get worse if I stayed. She called me a slut for sleeping with her man. Emma kept calling me names, telling me I was basically a home wrecker.”
“So, you took off.” Vicki nods in understanding. She knows my past, and she knows what happened with the guys I’ve been around, so now she understands why I ran. She rubs my back and tries to comfort me now that all this makes sense to her.
“I got my breathing under control, but my chest still hurt. I went to watch the planes take off and land at the airport, hoping that would help me. Then, I just became tired, and I didn’t want to go home. I knew Bryce could find me there, at home. So, I slept at Walmart. Which sounds silly, I know, but I just didn’t want to be around anyone.” I wipe my tears, sniffling.
“Are you sure he’s cheating on you? Kat, he’s been searching for you. He’s been calling and texting me all night and into this morning.” Vicki shows me her phone as proof.
“Maybe because he feels bad about how I found out. You know I can’t trust him, Vic. If she wasn’t his girlfriend, who was she? I mean, this has all happened before. There is no way I can go through it again. I can’t be the punchline.” Rocking back and forth on her couch, I try to keep the sick feeling in my stomach down. “Maybe Austin has some insight?”