Given Time

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After ten minutes, I manage to lift off the dirty floor and shuffle my feet along to the sink. I cup a handful of cold water and splash it on my face, and when I lift my head to look in the mirror, all I see is a broken mess. Red splotches cover my face, and my eyes are puffy and red.

I'd give anything to have Tanner here with me, as he'd know just what to say and do to help me through this ordeal. I want to call him to come and get me, but I left my phone in my purse next to the table.

I have no idea if Abby is still out there waiting for me, but I kind of wish that she has gone. It would make things a little easier to not see her again, but then I wouldn't have the answers I desperately need.

Sighing, I move to the door and go back out into the café. I clock Abby still sitting in the same place that I left her, looking sadly on at her baby as he continues to play with the toy. I'm slightly envious of his happiness and wish I could be as carefree as he is right now. But as soon as the thought pops in my head, I feel guilty for thinking that way.

"Are you okay?" Abby asks quietly as I retake my seat.

"Not really," I mutter.

She says nothing in response, but continues to look at me with pity in her eyes. It's unnerving.

My throat feels sore from throwing up and crying, so I grab my now-cold coffee and take three large gulps, hoping it'll rid away the pain in my throat as well as giving me an energy boost, as I feel mentally and physically exhausted.

I watch Abby in silence for a few seconds as she keeps her head down and plays with a loose thread on the end of her sleeve. She seems so anxious and sad. I kind of wish that she was just being a bitch so I could hate her, but there's something about her expression that makes me wonder if she's not completely a bad person.

When I'm ready to continue this conversation, I clear my throat and lean forward on the table. "I need to know how it started," I murmur.

Abby nibbles on her lip again as she thinks my request over. There's a long five-second pause before she opens her mouth again. "I guess it first started in the middle of October," she whispers.

"We were assigned as lab partners in science. At first, it was innocent. We would just talk to each other. I knew he was seeing someone, but I didn't know who at the time.

"One day he made a comment; I can't remember what it was now, but I felt like he was flirting with me. Even though I knew it was wrong, I flirted back."

I sigh despondently. "What caused it to go from flirting to actually cheating?"

At that moment, baby Shawn cries. Protectively, Abby immediately turns her attention to him and finds the source of his crying as he's dropped his toy on the ground.

She picks it up and wipes it on her top as a precaution, then gives the toy back to him. He stops crying almost instantly and bangs the toy happily against the high chair.

I hate to admit it, but he is really cute.

When Abby is satisfied that Shawn is okay, she turns back in her chair and answers my question. "We both ended up at a party one night. I think you were at home with a bug or something, and he came over to me when I was by myself, and he told me I looked pretty."

She pauses and wrings her hands together. "One thing led to another, and then we were in an empty room making out."

"And then what? You started sleeping with him from that night onward?" I ask.

She nods her head.

I run my hands in frustration through my hair. "Did anyone know? Someone must have known."