Over Just Like That?

Chase dropped in the chair and sat across from me. I leaned back barely making eye contact at first. When I flicked my eyes at him out of curiosity, I could see there was regret in his dark brown irises. The rain made his black jacket appear slicked in oil, similarly to his hair.

I observed him more fully trying to get a read on his state of mind. He was dressed in a gray sweater, red tie underneath that was loosened, and black pants. The white dress shirt, which was almost always buttoned straight to the top was open a few notches. I recognized this to be his panic-mode.

As small as it was, Chase had little "tells" that I had figured out over the years. The number of buttons he had open usually coincided with how nervous, angry, or drunk he was. As more were released, the worse off he was. From what I could see, there were three unbuttoned.

Preparing myself for one of his alpha tirade speeches, I sat back.

"Janessa," he began, sounding calm but then dove straight into it. "I made a mistake." His voice sounded weak. Not like the Chase I had known and not at all how I saw this conversation starting out.

"It has only been a couple of days and you're already changing your mind?" I asked. My voice rose with tension, causing the pitch to increasingly elevate each word.

"Yes. These past two days have been hell to me."

"Are you serious?" I asked, furrowing my brow in genuine confusion.

"I am."

We looked into one another's eyes for a few seconds before I asked, "And you're here to what? Get me to come back with you?"

"Yes. I was wrong." He clasped his hands, his two index fingers steepled against his mouth.

"Unbelievable," I said in utter frustration, throwing my hands up. I briefly averted my eyes from his needing a momentary respite from this interaction. When I turned back our eyes locked once more. As my lips parted I said, "I can't do it." I watched Chase's face go through a myriad of intense emotions causing the muscles in his face to twitch and curve in ways he always fought desperately to hide.

"Why not?" he finally asked, trying to unclench his jaw. Chase didn't like the fact that I was telling him no. He didn't hear that word often. Not from stock holders, business partners, or me.

"Because you've permanently broken my trust. I don't think I'll feel safe around you again."

"How can you say that? How can things be over just like that?"

"Because you'll believe the words of others instead of mine. So much that it broke up our marriage." I leaned in closer to him, placing my elbow on the table and pointing to him, the same way he did those fateful two days before. "What happens when these people come to you again with more lies about me? Will you choose their side again? And where does it end? Are there only certain people who you'll listen to and not others or was I always at the bottom of your heel while everyone else got to enjoy looking down at me?"

"None of that is true!" he whispered fiercely. "How can you think I'd be that way?"

"I don't know what is going on inside your mind, Chase. If you can flip a switch as easily as you did two days ago, then this is just the other end of that."

"Our marriage wasn't built in a day."

"Exactly, but it can be undone in a few simple minutes. You proved that."

"You begged for me after our one-night stand. You told me to give our marriage a chance for three months. I was ready to get it annulled but you promised to be good to me. Do you remember that?"

"Yes, I do. I thought you were worth it then. But can't you see that this situation is nothing like that?"

I stood up not bothering to hear the answer.

"Janessa," he called. "Wait! Please."

I continued out the door. The bell sounded once for me and repeated, making it one extended beep as he came after me. Not looking back, I walked across the street and there was Luca zigzagging in the same pattern. When he noticed me and then Chase, he broke his pattern and went straight up the sidewalk out of sight.

Even though I hadn't expected Luca to be there, once he was gone, I felt afraid of Chase coming after me. It wasn't the kind of fear where I believed I was in danger. It was fear of him disturbing my fragile new life. Although, it was novel, I was beginning to like things this way.

As I dashed to the apartment, I could hear Chase rushing after me, his dress shoes hitting the pavement then the cement sidewalk. The heels were alternating between clopping and water-logged splashes from walking in the collected puddles. I continued to speed around the block.

My hands were uncoordinated as I tried to find the keys to my building, but I managed to unlock the door and flew inside. I slammed it shut, locking the bolt just as he grabbed the curved flecked brass door handle. His voice sounded desperate as continued to call my name. He wasn't used to not getting his way.

Try as he may, his strength made no difference. The door was stout and thick. It was older and built reliably. I felt safe inside and I knew in my heart he could never touch me here.

"You're not a robot. Whoever told you that is crazy!" he shouted. I covered my mouth. I had forgotten I sent the text to him. A part of me considered speaking with him about it but I thought better of it. If he had anything authentic to say about that topic, wouldn't he have led with it?

When he banged on the door, I watched out of the puckered rectangular windows. Still facing him, I slowly backed up but in doing so, I bumped into small decorative table against a wall where a vase was perched upon in the foyer. I watched as it smashed to the old hardwood floor. Among the pieces of blue and white decorative pottery was a key.

The key was tiny and silver-colored like the ones with fake handcuffs I'd gotten as a kid. I bent to pick it up. Outside I heard a few words and then some shouting. Despite my limited vantage point, I could see Chase being manhandled by two tall, muscular men.

The interaction graduated to a scuffle, some shouted expletives, then the sound of dress shoes skidding against cement. I thought I heard someone falling to the ground. Chase's voice sounded far away when he repeated what he'd said to me before. I watched the two wobbly forms heading down the stairs out of range.

I was still panting when the men returned, peeping into the dimpled glass. I could see them holding their faces cupped against their eyes trying to get a better look. Then I heard light knocking.

"Hello?" The pronunciation of the "H" sounded unique, like it came from deeper in the throat than what I was used to in U.S. English. I liked how it sounded. I walked to the door and carefully opened it.

"Are you the friend of Jafir?" The taller one who had asked the question was looking down at me. I nodded and smiled, already feeling better at the mention of my friend. "I am Brutus, and this is Dima. We have your furniture."

"Oh, great!" I said. Though it was difficult to see around the beefy men, I found a small hole when Brutus put his hands on his hips. I scanned the section of street and sidewalk. Chase was nowhere in sight. "Please, come in," I said to them. "Do you want to get an idea of the layout?"

"Yes," Dima pointed. "That is exactly what we must do." I noticed how much they appeared like one another with their identically shaved heads, muscular bodies, and crystal-blue eyes.

I unlocked the door and showed them in. The men eagerly entered, each taking a room in an organized, no-nonsense manner. I could hear Dima in the bedroom with a tape measure. He called to Brutus.

Brutus abruptly halted what he was doing with his notepad and strode to Dima. I walked over to see what they were inspecting. It wasn't a big apartment to begin with and having two more people made it seem smaller. The men noticed my presence and waved me in.

"We're measuring to see where your bed should be," Dima said, pointing with a pencil for Brutus to take notes. Brutus went from penciled notes to his phone, referring to something I couldn't see.

"Yes, and the bed you have picked is perfect!" Brutus exclaimed giving me a gesture of "okay" with his index finger and thumb. I smiled in gratitude as I wondered what would have happened if the measurements hadn't come out right.

Promptly the two left as if they'd gotten a special signal I couldn't hear. I giggled about that. They were interested in their jobs, that's for sure. It was nice to be around people so positive.

Shortly after they'd left Brutus and Dima hauled all my furniture up the stairs like they had done it a hundred times before ... which I realized was most likely their actual experience. Once everything was inside, they even helped me set it up which was a good thing since the couch was unnaturally heavy. I don't know how they navigated so well, but their skill was amazing.

"Would you like some wine? It's all I have," I offered once things were all arranged.

"Oh, no thank you, Janessa," Brutus said.

"Yes, we have somewhere else we have to be," Dima added.

"The first place for me is the shower!" Brutus said.

I pulled out my purse scrounging for some money to give them. I needed to go to the ATM for more cash.

"I only have a little bit I can give you right now, but--"

"Please," Brutus said holding a hand at least double the size of mine in my face. "What is it you would say? Ah ha! I've got it! Your money is no good here!"

"Yes! That's it!" Dima exclaimed. They both broke into deep belly laughter, closing their eyes. I didn't find it quite as funny as they did but their chortles were infectious, and I couldn't help but giggle.

They gave me a nice wave and then left the apartment. As I was closing the door, I could hear them speaking again but wasn't sure what they were saying. Then Brutus got into a boxing stance. Dima waved his hand at Brutus and rolled his eyes.

Scanning my apartment, I excitedly skipped around enjoying the new setup. After checking everything out three more times I was suddenly aware of how tired I was. I clasped my hands together and walked toward the fireplace. Hope filled me as I imagined relaxing in front of the cozy fire.

When I clicked the button to turn it on, it burned brightly and lit up my face as I beamed. I flopped down on my new couch feeling satisfied. After flipping on the TV, I scanned a few channels while resting my head on one of the dark brown couch pillows.

***

The ringing of my phone jangled my nerves, jarring me into wakefulness. I didn't realize I had fallen asleep. Groggily, I shuffled toward the sound. My half-open eyes could see the number. I didn't recognize it.

I hoped it wasn't Chase trying to sneakily interject himself back into my life.