A Happy Coincidence

Chapter 14

"Mommy, you said you overreacted." Emily says over dinner.

I nod.

"I did." I say. "I freaked out because I thought that Daddy had a girlfriend. My company broke, so I left for three months to California. I was sad."

"I was worried." Tyler says.

"We all were." Mom says.

I sigh. "I was at this hotel, and Daddy left me a voicemail. I still have it."

"You still have it?" he asks.

"Well, you left tons, but I kept this one."

I pull my phone out, putting it on speaker.

You have one saved message.

Saved message:

There's a pause, and a lot of silence, and I hear shuffling around, and then a sigh.

"Carmen, hey..." he hesitates. "I'm really worried about you." He whispers. His voice cracks. He sounds like he might cry. He clears his throat and begins to talk a normal volume, his voice trembling. "If this is about the girl that uh, was at my Condo, there's a legit explanation. I'm not a whore, Carmen. I want you, okay? I-I-I can see us getting married and having kids. I can see myself-I want myself to spend the rest of my life with you. I don't know what's going on, but we're all worried about you in Philly." He whispers, "Sunshine...please, call me."

"Wow." Emily whispers. I smile.

"I was buying a house. I was going to stay there, but I couldn't do it. I left the real estate agent there and got a cab. I went to the airport and flew back to Philly. I took a taxi right to Tyler." I smile.

I rap loudly on the door.

After a couple of moments, Tyler opens the door.

He's shirtless, wearing just sweatpants. A bottle of water is in his hand, the cheap kind, the Spring Water.

My favorite, but he said he hated it. That was all we drank in that da, hurricane shelter.

I can hear something, it sounds like How I Met Your Mother playing on the TV.

"Carmen." He whispers.

I ignore him, practically shoving past him, into his apartment.

It's a mess. He usually keeps it tidy.

His eyes are different.

Wild, almost, like he's going crazy.

The brown is a different shade now, and his hair is standing up in every direction, the cushions are falling off the couch because he's been tossing and turning so much. There's dark bags under his eyes.

I pace around his living room quickly, raking my fingers through my hair multiple times

I search desperately for the right words.

"You know," I begin. "I-I-my business went under." I say. Completely destroyed. I found out a couple minutes after I walked in with you and your whore."

"Carm-"

"Shut up, Tyler." I say, angry.

He sets the bottle of water down on the coffee table, flicking the TV off.

"I-I went batshit crazy, Tyler! In a matter of minutes, I managed to lose everything! Hell, reality set in within a few hours. Delaney is married, so she's distracted, Shaun's in college, doing god knows what, my parents are married, happily, which I was too fucking blind to notice before, and you-I mean, I let myself open up to you! I let myself fall in love with you, and I walked in, and she-she was leaning on the counter where I was sitting just minutes before! Why?" I ask, angry tears sliding down my face. "Why did you do this to me?" I whisper.