Chapter 13 Wesley
WESLEY
Iwas driving home from the store on Sunday afternoon while Caitlin was brunching with some work friends, and I was glad that she hadn’t asked me to come along.
I just wanted to hang out on my sofa and decompress before the work week.
The company I worked for was starting a new project that we’d recently run a bid on, and the next few weeks would be intense.
My engineering degree paved the way for me to have the skills to do it all, and I secured a job as a land surveyor with one of the top companies in Chapel Hill.
My degree also got me a nice salary, but unfortunately, it also meant that I was on site for long hours—especially at the beginning—providing insight right off the bat with data collections and analysis of the parcel to provide accurate spatial data.
The start of projects was always a form of organized chaos for the first few days, and I wanted to reset as much as possible beforehand.
Before my last project started, Rosie had surprised me with a weekend in.
She downloaded all the Die Hard films and old Adam Sandler movies, got all my favorite snacks and food, and we spent the weekend on my living room floor, having a slumber party like we were teenagers.
It was one of my favorite weekends, and my irritation that she had been a ghost lately was turning into simmering anger.
I made the decision to turn left at the stoplight instead of right, and headed to Rosie’s.
It was Sunday. Usually, she spent Sundays like I did—well, usually with me.
And there was nothing like an unannounced drop in so we could talk it out.
I wasn’t crazy; there was something weird going on with her.
More specifically, it felt like there was something weird going on with Rosie and me, and I was putting an end to it.
The rest of the drive was quick, and I continued to roll around everything in my mind.
Yes, it was a busy time of the year for her.
And yes, I had neglected to tell her I was in a relationship, and I didn’t love the way I was outed by our friends.
But I wanted to tell her in person, and she had been busy.
Rosie had said she was happy for me. She congratulated me, she smiled, and everything had been fine.
So why did I feel like crawling out of my skin?
Why did it feel like everything and nothing was right at the same time?
I huffed in frustration. I knew I needed to calm down before I saw her, but my demand for answers outweighed me taking five minutes, and I stomped up to her door and knocked—no answer. But her car was there, so I knocked again, and I heard Rosie on the other side before I saw her.
“Lionel, please behave. We talked about this.”
“I’ll come get you as soon as I see who’s here, okay?”
The door swung open, and there she stood. I felt myself exhale a long breath. Rosie.
“Rosie.”
“Oh. Uh, hi,” she said as she looked around nervously, like she was embarrassed that I was there. Like I shouldn’t be there. And damn, if that didn’t piss me off.
“Bad time?” I ground out, and I saw the way her face tipped up in shock at the roughness in my voice. “We need to talk.”
She looked around, almost as if she was trying to find a reason why I couldn’t come in. When she came up empty, she stepped away from the door, but I didn’t miss the way her steps were slow and hesitant as she gave me enough room to enter.
I walked into her kitchen, which had the most light, and I took her living room in.
Wooden boards, nails, and half the tools I’d gotten her were all sprawled around the living room.
Is someone else here? Is that why she didn’t want me to come in?
I heard her footsteps approach behind me, and I turned toward her.
“What’s all this?”
“Oh, it’s… Well, it’s for Lionel.”
“Lionel?”
“Yeah. He needs more space, so we are building…”
“We?” I repeated back to her. Her and Lionel are building an addition to her house?
“Well, I mean, really, more me. He usually just gets in the way and distracts me.” She laughed. I heard a loud banging from the other room, and I instantly knew it was Lionel. He was there, and I saw red as it creeped in and clouded my vision.
“You mean to tell me you’re also seeing someone?” I seethed. Rosie had me thinking she was keeping me at arm’s length because I had a girlfriend, but in reality, she was doing the same thing. I wondered if he didn’t want her spending time with me.
“What?” Her mouth hung open in question.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“Lionel, give it a rest! One minute!” she yelled, and there was such a familiarity about the way she addressed him that I wondered how long she’d been seeing him.
“You’re a hypocrite.” The words flew from my mouth before I could stop them, but I didn’t care. She was one.
She gaped at me, not saying anything.
“You’ve been off for weeks, and it all leads back to me not telling you about Caitlin. You’ve completely shut me out, and here you are, doing the exact same thing.”
“I don’t understand what’s happening here.” She looked so confused, but I was over it. Over her attitude. Over it all.
“You’ve answered one text out of about twenty.
You’ve completely ignored me every single time I try to get you to spend time with me and get to know the girl I’m falling for—the girl who all but lives with me.
I thought it was something I had done, only to find out that you’re dating someone and completely shutting out your friends for this person.
You’re a hypocrite Rosie.” I started to march to the front door.
How dare she? I came here to try to make things right.
I paused for a moment when I realized that she wasn’t coming after me. She wasn’t even trying to argue with me. Rosie was just letting me go. I couldn’t help but look back, her expression one I’d never seen before. But I didn’t have the chance to dwell on it. I needed to get out of there.
I needed to get away from her.