Heartbreaker (11 page)

FouRTeeN

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“It was awful.”

I’m sitting on my bed telling Gerry about my meeting with Cam.

“He hates me.”

Gerry folds her arms. “Bales, can you really blame him. I mean he was a complete mess when you left.”

No, I can’t blame him, and yes I get it, but …

“It still sucks. I don’t know if I’ll be able to work with him.”

“Your Dad's counting on you. He helped Cam get back on his feet, and now he wants to help you. I think Cam gets that, and that’s why he’s okay with it.”

Frustratingly she does make sense. Damn her. I shrug. “I guess.”

“Trust me, it’ll get less awkward. Who knows you might even go back to being friends. I mean you always were in each other’s pockets, even before you started dating.”

I shake my head. “That won’t ever happen. I'll never stop loving him
, and yeah I want him to be happy, but I can’t be friends with him, not when he’s with someone else.”

Gerry nods. She gets it. She looks at me and gives me a small smi
le. “Fair enough. I still can’t believe he’s hooked up with Jennifer Jaimeson. She’s such a bitch.”

“Yeah, I know." I sigh
and twist my lips. "Must be the cookies.”

Gerry lets out a big belly laugh, and I can't help but join in. Soon we're rolling around laughing so hard my stomach aches. It feels so good.

I finally stop and Gerry sits up again, both of us wiping the tears from our eyes.

“So, I know you’re here for me and my sorry life, but what about you. What’s the gist physicist?”

Gerry grins, and it’s a grin I haven’t seen for a long time. In fact the last time I saw that grin was when Russ Wilson asked her out. They ended up having a love affair for a few weeks, and Gerry had that silly grin on her face every day until it ended.

“Nothing. Nothing new.”

“Rubbish. Who is it?”

“No-one. I’m all about work these days, forever the professional business woman.”

“Yeah, right. You love working in that shop, like you love the dentist.”

Gerry screws up her nose. She hates even the mere mention of the word dentist. She’s lucky she’s got perfect teeth and hasn’t had to visit often. She bats her eyelids in a mocking gesture. “I do love it. I love getting up early and listening to whining customers all day, oh and answering stupid prank calls, writing out invoices, and checking stores. It’s a full on blast!”

I shake my head. “You’re diverting. Now I know something’s up.”

She doesn’t respond, just picks at the loose threads on my quilted bedcover. I give her a shove and she shoves me back.

“Spill,” I command.

She folds her arms and glares at me. “This is supposed to be about you, remember. I’m not doing my job properly if the therapy turns tables.”

“Gerry, you do know this is pretend, right.” I smile and she punches my shoulder again.

“You’re such a pain in the ass.”

Then it clicks. The only other person who calls me that, and gets away with it, is Bennett.

I clap my hands together. “Oh, so great. So, so, great.”

“Great? What’s great you, big lunatic?” She immediately clamps her hand over her mouth, and then slowly lowers it, saying, “Now I’m really going to get fired.” She grins at my frown. “Calling you a lunatic, must be against all kinds of Dr Phil laws.

I laugh. “You are so busted, right now. Bennett. It’s Bennett isn’t it? Bennett. Bennett. Bennett.”

Gerry tries to hold it in, but she’s cracking. I keep saying his name until she slaps me. “Alright. Now shut up. I’ll tell you when therapy's over. But you first.”

I pout and fold my arms. Talking about her and Bennett is so much more interesting and fun. But she has that death stare, like she won’t give in, and she’s so much better at it than me.

I lean back against the wall and let out a breath. “Okay, let’s get it over with. At least I have incentive tonight.”

Gerry grins and I begin …

Eight months ago ...

My absolute favorite part of the day is coming home and pushing that button. What a luxury. I never thought of myself as a TV addict, until I didn’t have the option not to be one. It’s like a gaping hole in my existence has been filled. Like a friend waiting for me to walk through the door. Sad, I know. But that’s what living alone does. Some people revel in it. Me, not so much. Bennett spends a heap of time here, but he can’t be here all the time, so TV fills the void.

Tonight there’s a marathon of Big Bang and I can’t wait. I have my snacks all worked out. The biggest bag of m&m’s, Cam and my favorite, and a huge bag of pretzels, with a gallon of coke to wash it all down. Talk about a sugar high. I’ll be bouncing off the walls tomorrow. But it’s for a special occasion. It’s my birthday today. Number twenty two. I got off working at the bar tonight, with a lame excuse about finishing an assignment. Which isn’t actually a lie, but I’ll leave off the study and indulge tonight. Gerry and Dad text today, which was nice. Dad said my check’s in the mail with my birthday card. I have my eye on this cute little dining room table and chairs in a thrift shop in the city. I’m hoping he sent me enough to buy that. The space in this apartment is about three times the size of the other one, and it looks barren with the measly furniture I moved across. The addition of a dining suite should fill up the space nicely.

I haven’t told anyone else it’s my birthday. Not even Bennett. Don’t know why. Feels kind of weird, waltzing around saying,
Hey guys, guess who’s a birthday girl
. Gag, not my scene at all. Bennett is busy anyway. Some gala event his Dad said he had to attend. He wanted to drag me along as his date, I declined nicely, with a:
Hell no!

I check the clock only ten minutes to go. I race to change into my pajama pants, singlet top and fluffy pink socks. Then I get all the bowls ready with all my snacks and set them up next to a large, goblet like, glass of coke. Ah bliss. Or so I think, when there’s a knock at my door. Crap, who could it be? I don’t know anyone around here, only Mrs Feldon, and she keeps a polite distance. I grumble a few expletives as I rush to the bedroom and grab my coat. I don’t own a dressing gown, but don’t want to answer the door in my pajamas. I wish at times like this I had one of those little peep holes.

I suck in a breath and open the door a fraction to see who’s there. And it’s Bennett. Bennett dressed in tux, and looking more smouldering than I’ve ever seen him.

“Well if it aint, James Bond, himself, wotcha doin’ here then?” I put on my best British accent and Bennett rolls his eyes.

“Hey, funny girl. I’m here, because I’m mad at you.”

He does looks a little mad, now I look at him properly. He’s only been mad at me one other time and that’s when I tried to set him up with Lucy. That didn’t work out so well. Bennett got over it, because that was the night I was attacked, and being hurt kind of overrode his anger. But Lucy only came into the bar a couple of times after that and I haven’t seen her for weeks. I’ve learnt my lesson though; there will be no more attempts at match making Bennett with anyone. He can throw out his own line when he's good and ready.

I scrunch my forehead, mulling over what I’ve said over the day in my texts to him. Nothing comes to mind.

“That doesn’t make any sense at all,” I say.

“How so?” He crosses his arms over his chest, not asking to come in.

“Well, for one thing, if you are mad, you probably wouldn’t want to see me, and for another, I don’t really get why you’re mad in the first place. But whatever it is, can you hurry up. I only have five minutes till my hot date.”

Bennett, pushes open the door of my apartment and strolls in, taking off his jacket and putting it over the arm of my couch, then loosens his tie and undoes the top button of his white shirt.

“Well, come in, why don’t you?” I say, a bit peeved he didn’t believe me on the hot date excuse.

He sits and swipes a handful of m&m’s then puts the whole lot into his mouth.

“And make yourself at home while you’re at it.”

He leans back and puts his arms behind his head. “Thanks.” He grins.

“Bennett, don’t you have somewhere to be tonight?” I’m still standing tapping my foot
. I glance over to the TV and see a preview of Big Bang’s new episode.

“Your hot date?” Bennett queries, gesturing to the screen.

“So what if it is? Now, are you going to tell me why you’re here and not at your soirée thingy?”

Bennett chuckles. “Soirée
? I love it. You’re so refined, Bales.”

I give up, yank off my coat and plonk down next to him, taking the bowl of candy out of his reach. If he’s going to stay then he can live with my TV fix for the week, minus my m&m’s.

I huff and puff, trying to get comfortable on my side of the couch. I intended snuggling up with my new blanket, stretching out. Bennett can be such an ass.

He lifts his legs one at a time and props them on the coffee table, lying back a bit further, getting even more comfortable. I hate the way he’s so cagey and takes his time telling me things.

The episode starts and I try to focus on the show, but my mind keeps mulling over why he’s here, but I don’t cave and ask him outright. He loves that. Likes to play with me like a cat plays with a mouse before he eats it. I decide birthday and all, I’m not playing tonight.

We watch the first episode and then the second. I’m not enjoying it, like I usually do. I can’t stand it any longer. I kick Bennett’s foot off the coffee table. “Listen, if you’re not going to talk to me, and your mad at me, can you do it somewhere else, you’re killing my good time.”

Bennett arches a brow. “Why didn’t you tell me it was your birthday?”

My birthday? Why is he mad about that?

“Um … I don’t know. It’s no big deal.” I blush a little, I really hate any fuss. After mom died, Dad and I always kept our birthdays low key. Mom was the one, who loved to make a big deal, and we indulged her, but after she was gone we couldn’t bring ourselves to get enthused. Cam always took me out and bought me thoughtful gifts, and that was enough. Now with him and mom out of the picture, I don’t want to celebrate. Doesn’t seem right, somehow.

Bennett shakes his head. “Well, it’s a big deal to me. We’re friends right?”

I nod.

“Friends an
d family are the ones you celebrate birthdays with, right?”

I shrug. “I guess.”

“So, you were going to let your only friend in Chicago, go out, without you, on your birthday, so that days later, when he did find out it was your birthday—which he would have done by the way—he would have felt like the biggest ass.”

Now I do feel rotten. I bite my lip. “Sorry. I really didn’t think much about it.”

Bennett picks up a pretzel, steals a big gulp of my coke and reaches over me to grab a handful of candy. “Didn’t think about it, huh? So what’s with the pity party for one?”

“It’s not a pity party,” I grind out through gritted teeth.

“Bales, I agree it’s a really pitiful pity party, but it definitely is one. Oh, and September 25th if you’re wondering.”

I throw a handful of m&m’s at him. “You
’re a pain in the ass. And noted.”

“Takes one to know one,” he mocks and throws the candy back at me, grinning.

I catch it, and stick it in my mouth. “How did you find out, anyway? I never told anyone.”

“I turned up at the bar to have a drink with you, before I went to the—soiree,” he chuckles and I scowl at him. “When I found out you weren’t working tonight, and Ted said you had to finish a major assignment, I knew something was up.”

“Of course, James Bond, spy extraordinaire…, still doesn’t explain how you found out.”

“I asked Ted to check your birth date on his employee records.”

“What? Isn’t that confidential information?”

“Normally, yeah, but he was pissed at you too.”

“Great. Thanks Bennett. I don’t need my already grumpy boss pissed at me.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“No. You wouldn’t.” I cross my arms, more than peeved now. My birthday well and truly ruined. I turn off the TV and grab the two bowls of tainted treats ready to throw them in the trash.