Possessed by a Stranger (24 page)

“You should have just asked.” He was
determined to drive his point home.

“After three months … I shouldn’t have to
ask.” She stopped before her mouth over ran her good sense. She
inhaled a deep breath. “Listen, I’ve just pulled in front of the
cottage. I’m in desperate need of a shower, food and some rest.
Let’s talk about this later.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Later …” He
disconnected the call. He stewed over every word the remainder of
his trip home.

Inside his townhouse he had a liquid dinner
of scotch. He wasn’t certain his stomach would hold down anything
solid. All the aggravation he suffered was preventable. A phone
charger or a simple question could have saved him a night and day
of pure hell. It was her fault and instead of taking responsibility
she was pissed at him, the victim in this entire cluster fucking
mess. He showered then plopped on his bed to finish his second
soothing drink. His tension eased. With the exhaustion of a
sleepless night and a stress filled day he drifted into sleep.

Hannah sunk into her pillows after scrubbing
the horrific two days off in the shower. She chomped ravenously
into the apple she called breakfast, lunch and dinner. There wasn’t
an ounce of energy left in her body to fix anything else to eat.
The apple felt like it weighed a ton just carrying it up her long
flight of stairs. With her stomach’s boisterous demands squelched,
she called Garret. She knew she wouldn’t sleep without talking to
him. His phone rang then went to voicemail. Now, who was being
childish?

“Garret, I’m sorry. I overreacted from pure
exhaustion. I want you to know something. I won’t ever ask to go to
your townhouse. I understand about your need to have privacy with
all that goes along with being a Presley. I know it’s a necessity
and I care about you too much to cross over a line that would make
you uncomfortable. Good night … Oh p.s., I crashed at Sharon’s
apartment.”

She disconnected the call knowing her message
was a bold faced lie. She understood she was included in a long
list of desperate women he avoided after tossing them aside. She
was only his favorite flavor of the week. Sure, she had lasted
longer than most but she still remained on the soon-to-be-a-problem
list. She needed sleep before her thoughts drove her into a full
blown fury and she called him back to tell him how much she loved
his stupid ass. She reverted to her deep breathing techniques and
only made it to a count of four.

During breakfast Garret listened to her
voicemail. Her message was meant to be apologetic and comforting
but it wasn’t. He had woken that morning knowing the whole damn
thing was his fault. It all stemmed from his lack of commitment. It
wasn’t as if he hadn’t reached for her in his bed almost every
morning, including this morning. He wanted her during the week. Oh
shit, he wanted her every fucking day. The first thing he did every
single morning was look at her picture on his cell phone. Yet, he
couldn’t take that giant step to commitment. He was hanging off the
edge of reason clutching desperately not to plummet into loving
her. He just wasn’t ready to hazard a broken heart. His avoidance
of a commitment wasn’t fair to her or her feelings after stringing
her along for so long. She had lasted longer than any other woman
but she seemed content with their arrangement. He wouldn’t end it
with her until she demanded more. With a break in his routine
quickly approaching he could wean himself off her gradually. Work
would interrupt his weekends soon enough.

*****

The cuckoo clock loudly chugged nine times as
the figurine on the hand car, pumped around the tiny railroad
track. Garret hadn’t pulled in front of her house in his sports
car. It was Friday night and he wasn’t where he had been for the
previous weekends, at her cottage, in her arms. Hannah was curled
in the corner of her couch, hugging her knees. She ran dry of tears
an hour ago. She had checked for accidents online through the state
highway website. The local hospital emergency room was a negative.
She had relented and sent him a text asking if he was running late.
His short answer of “working all weekend” felt final.

After their unrequited spat she almost
expected their ending. The one thing she wouldn’t do was call
Garret. She couldn’t force herself to hear firsthand it was over.
Being considered as one of his stalkers wasn’t how she wanted him
to remember her. She always knew this day was inevitable. The pain
in her heart, which she had prepared for this day, was greater than
she ever imagined.

Ten AM on a Saturday morning without Garret
renewed the emptiness of her cottage. She hadn’t slept this late
since she was in college after a late night of bar hopping with the
girls. The sun had shown in her eyes before she remembered turning
over, pulling the pillow over her head, and finally escaping into
sleep. Her phones loud ring tone started her dismal day.

“Hey girlfriend. I know you’re going to hate
this but, Happy Birthday.” Sharon’s cheery voice was welcomed but
her words weren’t.

Hannah cleared her throat before she
answered. “Actually, it might have been just what I needed. How
about a girl’s night? Why don’t you and Cindy come to my cottage?
I’ve been dying for you to see it.”

“We’re in, but I’m inviting Tequila. I won’t
survive a night in the wilderness without her.”

“You can’t get in any trouble here so she’s
welcomed to come. Call if you get lost. No b-day stuff. You have to
swear.” Her friends used to try to celebrate her birthday. After
years of Hannah’s protests and her not showing up for any of the
parties they finally gave in and quit trying.

“We know the drill. I swear.” Sharon
replied.

A girl’s night was exactly what she needed.
If she had remembered today was her birthday she would have known
it was time for Garret to end whatever it was they had together.
Holidays, personal, national, or religious marked some disastrous
occurrence in Hannah’s life.

Grammy died on Easter Sunday, leaving Hannah
with the last Easter basket she would ever receive. Unless, there
was a party to attend, her parents never remembered holidays. Her
parents died in a car crash on Christmas morning, returning from a
Christmas Eve party. Two cars, traveling in opposite directions,
driven by two wasted drivers, both in the middle of an icy snow
covered road, equaled another cursed holiday.

The list went on with a broken arm on the
fourth of July which Hannah didn’t have set until the following day
when her parents were sober enough to notice. Her mother tumbled
down the steps on Memorial Day and Hannah had spent her summer
nursing her back to health. She cherished that summer. It marked
one of the few times her mother acknowledged her existence. Now, on
her twenty-fifth birthday she lost Garret, the man she had
inadvertently fell madly in love. Damn, life sucked.

She hurried to get ready, afraid to look in
the mirror, praying she didn’t appear as haggish as she felt. Ice
was a definite for her swollen eyes or her friends would know she
had cried all night. An explanation of why would only make her pain
worse. Oh shit, the portrait over her bed, marking his territory,
wasn’t to be shared with anyone, not even her best friends. She
moved her hanging clothes across the pole to hide the painting in
the back of her closet.

Her friends arrived soothing the pain of
loneliness in her heart. She proudly showed them her cottage after
the initial hugs and bringing in their bags. They ended the tour in
the kitchen where Sharon made Margaritas. With the medicinal
alcohol taking effect Hannah relaxed and enjoyed the company of her
friends. They sat around the snack filled kitchen table catching up
on each other’s lives.

Sharon started on the all the gossip Hannah
had missed hearing. “You haven’t heard all the latest gossip. Some
guy broke Jay’s arm. He’s been in cast for a couple weeks now.”

“Someone’s husband or boyfriend?” Whichever,
it served Jay right. There was justice in the world.

“No, well, no one knows for sure. He walked
out of the bar one night and a guy walked up behind him. He snapped
his arm and told Jay to keep his hands to himself.” Sharon kept her
eyes on Hannah. Why would Sharon think that would upset her?

“Jay didn’t get a good look at him but he
swears it was the guy you left the bar with.” Cindy blurted the
news she was dying to tell.

Sharon shouted at her impatient sister. “Damn
it Cindy, what part of ease into it didn’t you understand? Jay just
thinks it was him. He can’t prove it. We’re just relaying the
latest rumor, not accusing anyone.”

Hannah giggled sipping on the refilled glass
of her tangy drink. “That’s utterly ridiculous. Jay didn’t even see
Garret. He was too busy screwing his secretary to come to the bar.
And Garret wouldn’t have a reason to break Jay’s arm.”

“Garret who? Have you been seeing him? You
slept with him didn’t you? Tell us everything.” Cindy leaned
forward resting her arms over the table.

“Was that a trick or is Jay’s arm really
broke? You’ll have to wait until I’m drunk enough to tell you about
Garret.”

The story of Jay’s broken arm turned out to
be true. They spent hours deducing who had the best motive. The
list was longer than Hannah ever imagined. Now, that Hannah was out
of the picture her two best friends were included in the Jay
gossip. They shared their new found wealth of information
gleefully. None of Jay’s activities bothered her in the least. It
bothered her more that it didn’t bother her. How stupid had she
been to be engaged to that whore hound?

They stayed up most of Saturday night
drinking margaritas and catching up. Sharon was madly in love with
a guy named Jeff and they had discussed marriage. Whoa, that was a
giant step for Sharon, the girl that would never settle down with
just one guy. Sharon’s humongous tits on her petite frame gave her
pick of the wolf pack wherever she went. Most of the guys she went
home with wouldn’t recognize her again if they only saw her from
the neck up. But she refused to listen to Hannah or Cindy when they
tried to stop her. Hannah would sleep better knowing Sharon had
settled down and given up on her dangerous lifestyle. Cindy was on
a hiatus from dating to recuperate from her latest heartbreak which
surprisingly was Larry. Hannah advised her to hang in there always
thinking those two were meant for each other. Life was stranger by
the minute.

Cindy and Sharon pried information out of
Hannah. After two margaritas, she became quite the little chatter
box telling way more than she intended to tell. They Googled Garret
Presley. When his picture popped up on the screen Hannah’s heart
threatened to break all over again. Her friends piercing screams in
both ears kept her tears in check. She hadn’t mentioned Garret
dumped her, wanting to forget that part of her love story.

The girls stayed until late Sunday evening.
Hannah hated to see them leave but they made plans to have another
weekend soon. After spending a wonderful birthday with her friends,
Hannah knew she would survive her first heartbreak. Although, it
was her first, she suspected it would be her last. Even shattered
her heart still belonged to Garret.

The long lonely week was emotionally
disastrous. Everywhere she looked reminded her of Garret. Hell,
they had made love all over the cottage. No room had been spared in
retaining a now glaring memory. No, she made love, he had sex. She
tried to work. Her heart wasn’t cooperating blurring her eyes with
tears. She ended up doing a whole lot of nothing. She spent more
time with Pops than anything else. She wasn’t sure if her time
spent in Garret’s home made the pain worse or better. If nothing
else it kept her busy.

Friday afternoon Hannah sat on her couch
reading a book. The deep purr of the car’s engine stopped followed
by his car door slamming shut. Hannah’s heart flip flopped in her
chest. That was a sound she hadn’t expected to ever hear again.
Hannah inhaled and rushed to open her front door to greet him. She
exhaled the second her eyes confirmed it was him.

Without missing a beat, Garret pulled the
door shut behind him. One arm slipped around her pushing her into
the house. He lifted her off her feet with both arms wrapping her
close to him.

“Damn, it’s been way too long.”

He tasted the softness of her lips. Her arms
and legs slipped around him with an urgent eagerness. His mind
cleared of everything except fulfilling his manly urges to have
her. He had wanted, waited, too long for this moment to stop for
anything. He turned, bracing her against the door to raise her
dress. His kiss deepened in her mouth as his hand ran over her
silky bare hips. He breathed in her flowery scent, felt her breast
pressed against him. He leaned back to soak in her beauty. The pain
in her eyes glaringly stared back at him. He should have called to
explain before she had to text especially, the way they had left
things earlier in the week. He saw it in her now questioning eyes.
He planned to call but one thing led to another and time slipped
away along with the thought of calling her. Damn, he was an
inconsiderate bastard.

“I missed you. I don’t smell anything
cooking. How about we order a pizza? There’s a great little pizza
place in town.” He touched her lips gently with his.

She unlocked her legs finding the floor with
her feet. “That sounds good. I wasn’t sure you would be here.”

As good as it felt to be in his arms and boy
did it feel good, her heart still ached. So, he missed a weekend,
it shouldn’t matter. They both had busy lives. It wasn’t as if they
had a commitment. They didn’t spend hours on the phone telling each
other about their day. All they had was sex filled weekends. Why
did she feel so … betrayed … discarded? She knew the answer. It
wasn’t simply sex for her anymore and hadn’t been for some
time.