Payback

She pulls a letter out of her pocket and begins to read it to Tommy, as her tears begin to smear the ink. When she is finished, she moves aside some of the gravel and folds it back up, placing it in the spot she's made. Covering it up, she looks over at me with her glistening eyes.

“He would have liked you because you have a motorcycle,” she says, smiling through her tears.

As we’re leaving, she looks back and whispers, “I love you, Tommy, and you will always be with me.”

I pull her closer to me and put my arm over her shoulder and ruffle Ella’s hair. “Do you realize how amazing you are?” I ask. She shrugs and climbs in the truck.

“Do you remember where I told you the apartment complex is?”

I nod and buckle my seat belt. I watch her as I pull out, and she sighs deeply. “If all this is weird to you, I don't know what to tell you. This is me coping with life.”

“I don’t find it weird at all, you have some shit to get through, Cami. I’ll get through it with you,” I reply, taking her hand.

The small two bedroom apartment she found is perfect, and its only three miles or so from my house. We pull up, and the manager meets us outside and walks us up to the apartment that would be hers. She falls in love with it and has already started planning the way she wants to decorate it before we even leave. But when the manager starts asking her financial questions, she talks with him. Ella is wandering around the place pretending. It’s sweet.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“I love it here.”

“Ok, so what’s the deal?” If she can’t afford it, I’ll pay. I can.

“I don’t want to live here.”

“What? You just said you love it.” Women are fucking confusing sometimes.

“Yes, I did. But I can’t help but notice the pink paint under your fingernails. You finished Ella’s room at your place, didn’t you?”

“Well yeah, but this is your choice. You do what you want.” I’m not going to push her to be with me, that’s not fair.

“What I want is to be with you,” she says, her eyes shimmering.

“So what you’re saying is…”

“I’m coming back to the house with Ella, and we stay there, with you, if that’s ok.”

“Yeah.” Of course it’s ok, but I’m not going to make a big fucking deal about it. But it’s what I wanted, to be with her, and to have her in my bed again.

When we finish, we drop Ella back off at Suzanne’s for one last night. Suzanne says she’ll pack her up and drop her off in the morning. We have one final night alone. I'm lying there in the darkness and can still smell a faint hint of her perfume. Closing my eyes, I keep thinking about her, the way her hair swings when she walks, and the blushing of her cheeks when she’s embarrassed. My phone whistles, indicating I have a text message, and I almost ignore it. After a few minutes, curiosity gets the best of me, and I open the message.

You awake?

My heart thumps a little faster as I answer it. Yeah. Everything ok?

Yeah, I'm just bored and my bed is cold.

I smile because I’m feeling the same way.

I’m sorry.

I reply, waiting for the invitation.

Want to come watch a movie with me?

Sure.

Good, come on then and you better pick a good movie.

Ok, be there in a few.