5 ALICE
I take a deep breath and gather the papers into a neat stack. “Thank you. I’m sorry this has been such a bad day for you, but at least you’ll never have to worry about me showing up on your doorstep again,” I tell him as I slide the papers into my purse.
I stand, pull my jacket on, and hook my arm through my purse. I walk to the door and stop before turning the knob. I turn back to glance at him, wondering if he’ll say something, anything, but all he does is look up at me. His eyes are cold as he lifts the bottle of whiskey to his lips.
“I guess this is goodbye then, huh?”
He doesn’t move an inch.
“I would hug you, but you look like you might bite my head off, so I guess I’ll skip that.”
He still doesn’t reply. I’m annoyed, and I turn the knob and pull the door open with a growl.
That’s when I see it. Snow. A ton of fucking snow.
There is so much snow that I can’t even see my car.
It’s completely buried. There’s no way I’m getting out of this house dressed the way I am.
There is no way I’m getting that car out of the drive even if I did make it out.
Behind me, all I hear is his low chuckle. Anger builds behind my eyes and causes my blood to boil. I turn to face him. “You did this on purpose, didn’t you?”
He’s too busy laughing to answer.
“You knew this storm was coming. That’s why you were out there chopping wood, wasn’t it?”
He’s having to hold his stomach from laughing so hard. The more he laughs, the angrier I get. I toss my purse onto the couch. “I can’t believe this. I should’ve known you were up to something. Why else would you insist I stay for dinner?”
His laughing is dying down now, and he stands, towering over me. “You’re more than welcome to have your side of the bed back,” he offers.
I scoff. “Like I’d sleep next to you. I can’t believe you did this. I have a life outside of this town, you know? I have people relying on me to come back and work, to pay them to work. I might be able to afford a vacation, but they can’t. Not only are you fucking with my life,
but you’re also messing with good, hardworking people you don’t even know.”
He rolls his eyes. “Something tells me you’ll make up for it,” he says, shaking his head and walking toward the bedroom. “Welcome home, Alice,” he says once he’s already out of eyeshot. I hear the soft clicking of his door shutting, and I kick the side of the couch with the toe of my heel.
I can’t believe he did this to me. I turn back to the screen door and look out over the yard.
Doomed. I’m doomed. A storm like this will take weeks to melt, not days.
I’m stuck here. No work. No cell phone. Nothing.
All I can do is wait for the snow to melt enough that I can get out of here.
That and try to keep my wits about me. I’m sure Cole doesn’t believe I love him, but deep down, that’s all I feel.
No other relationships ever worked out because I was still in love with him.
I just couldn’t give up my life’s dream to be with him—the same as he couldn’t give up his for me.
I don’t know his reasoning behind this mean trick, but I will find out eventually.
Shaking my head, I close the front door and lock it before turning back to the house that used to be mine.
I’m still blown away that nothing has changed.
I walk over to the bookcase across the room and see all my old books.
This was one of the hardest things to leave behind, but I knew they’d only hold me back.
I didn’t have room for them, and books get heavy when you’re moving all over the place.
I bend down and read over the titles. I’m surprised to find that they are all still in the order I had them in.
Each shelf is a different genre—paranormal, fantasy, romance, and then a lot of nonfiction, detailing everything from true crime to fashion to autobiographies.
My little decorations are even still on the shelves.
Framed photos of me and old friends, of Cole and me together.
There are backstage passes to a concert we went to about twelve years ago, our graduation tassels, the Mardi Gras beads from the party the bar and grill threw all those years back, and a million other things.
A part of me wonders if he kept all these things because he was hoping I came back or if his OCD just didn’t want the change in environment.
Annoyed and needing to tell someone that I won’t be back anytime soon, I pull my cell out of my purse, and I start walking through the living room and kitchen, trying to find a signal even though it’s pretty futile at this point.
I do everything and anything I can to get a signal.
I hold the phone in the air, and I climb on top of chairs, cabinets, but nothing.
Then I figure why not use the landline? Sure, it’s going to be long-distance because I know he only pays for the cheapest plan possible since his whole life is here, but who cares?
He traps me here, so this is what he gets.
I punch the number into the phone and wait as it rings. It rings and rings and rings, but Liz finally picks up. “Hello?”
“Liz? It’s Alice.”
“Oh, hey. What’s up, and what number is this? I almost didn’t answer.”
“I’m glad you did. I had to come home to take care of some things, and I got trapped by a snowstorm. I can’t get the car out of the drive, so I’m not going to be back for a while.”
“Oh, no. How long?”
“I don’t know. I’m on a mountain, and the roads are too dangerous to drive on. It often takes a week or more to get a plow up them. Save this number and call me if anything comes up. I have no signal on my cell.”
“Okay, so you want me to cancel your appointments tomorrow?”
“Yes, cancel the whole week. I’ll call you at the end of the week and let you know how it’s looking.”
“Okay, no problem. Anything else?”
“Yeah. If you wouldn’t mind, just set your phone down and leave me on the line.”
“You don’t want me to hang up?”
“No.”
“Well, I was just getting ready to go to bed. So you’ll hear nothing.”
“Perfect.”
“That’s a weird request, but okay,” she says. “Good night. I’m setting the phone down now.”
“Thanks, night,” I reply, listening for her to set the phone down. I hear the thump of it being set onto the table, followed by footsteps walking away. Then nothing. I smile as I put the phone on the table instead of the receiver, thinking about his reaction to this phone bill.
Now that the house is quiet, I almost feel like I can relax if it wasn’t for the amount of anger that’s still in my chest.
I kick off my shoes and then wiggle out of my pants into my panties—there’s no way I can sleep in these skintight jeans.
Plus, if I’m stuck here, I will torture Cole every chance I get.
I remove my coat and hang it up with my purse.
I fold my jeans and set them on the arm of the couch.
Then I remove my bra and hang it with the rest of my stuff.
There’s already a blanket on the back of the sofa and a pillow on each end.
I turn on the TV then make my bed. Tomorrow I’ll make Cole go out and get my bag out of the car, so I at least have clean clothes.
I lie down and pull the blanket over me as I flip through the channels on the TV.
It’s been a long time since I’ve watched TV.
Usually, back home, I work late into the night.
By the time I’m done working, it’s so late, and I’m so tired that I go right to sleep.
I know I haven’t watched TV in the past few years since business has picked up, so I have no idea where to start when it comes to settling on something.
As I’m channel surfing, I see a few news reports and a couple of sports events.
There are newer shows that I know nothing about, but then I find an old episode of I Love Lucy.
I smile as I stop on that, knowing I’ll like it.
I set the remote on the coffee table and pull the blanket up to my chest, getting comfortable.
The show holds my attention for several minutes, but the moment a commercial comes on, my eyes move around the room, taking it all in. Memories begin to resurface.
The front door bangs off the wall as he carries me through it, his mouth on mine. He kicks it closed with absolutely no care of being quiet. He presses my back up against it while his mouth gives to mine and his callused hands tour my body, pulling away clothing as they go.
My entire body feels like it’s been set on fire.
I’m not, but goose bumps are prickling my skin.
My nipples are hard with excitement, and he’s grazing his thumbs back and forth across them.
His hot lips leave mine, and they start kissing their way down my neck to the swell of my breast, and then he sucks one hard nipple into his hot mouth.
I let out a moan as my fingers lace into his dark hair, tugging at the root.
He teases me until I feel like I could explode.
Finally, he sets me on my feet, dropping to his knees before me.
His mouth continues to torture me as his hands get busy, freeing me from my jeans.
The moment they’re off and I’m bare for him, he picks my leg up and drapes it over his shoulder.
His mouth moves to the junction between my legs.
My eyes flutter closed as I breathe a sigh of relief.
The music on the show yanks me out of my memory, and my body is covered with sweat.
My lungs are working double time, and my heart is racing.
I shake my head, wanting that memory gone and for my body to calm down.
That was a long time ago, and I can’t be thinking of things like that right now.
It will only confuse my body and make things even harder the longer I’m stuck here.
If there is one thing I need to keep in my head, it’s that I’m not allowed to fall back into my old routine.
Things aren’t fixed with us. We no longer have a future.
I don’t care if I have to chant that in my head repeatedly.