Abby

Chapter 23

The room's darkness embraced me as I sat alone on Mandy's couch, still fuming. Phone in hand, I had so far resisted the urge to call Dan, telling myself I should wait until I had everything planned out and organized in my head. My thoughts became more random and chaotic as I stared into the welcoming blackness. How long had this been going on? Had he ever really left her? What did he see in her that he didn't see in me? Had there been signs that I had missed all along?

A muted scraping of a key in the apartment door, and the sudden click of the bolt unlocking, startled me. The door swung open, immediately followed by a blinding light as Mandy switched the lights on, finding me on the couch, my knees pulled up to my chin.

"Hey, are you alright? What happened?"

"Dan has been seeing his ex behind my back," I said, squinting as my eyes adjusted to the brightness.

"What! That piece of... I'm sorry, hon. Are you OK?"

"I... I don't know... I feel anger more than anything. I don't know how I should..."

Tears came uncontrollably as I broke down. Mandy immediately rushed to hug me as I bawled into her soft red curls, my body shaking with each sob. We held each other for an untold number of minutes until I regained my composure, feeling like I had no more energy left to give the tears.

"Aren't you home early?" I said as I sniffled into a tissue she handed to me.

"Madeleine came and told me I should leave early to check on you. Why didn't you come tell me?"

"I didn't want to break down in front of everyone in the lounge. I was furious about him using Sheryl to manipulate me, so I just came straight here."

"How do you mean? Just the cheating?"

I told her about the documents Madeline had given me, how they had shown the sequence of events the day I bought the dress, and how it had been Dan who had set the whole thing up so we wouldn't go to the party last weekend.

"That fucking snake!" Mandy clenched her fists as she swore. "If he were here right now, I'd show him what it feels like to hurt."

Her dramatic physical response caused me to choke on a small chuckle as I brought the tissue to my nose again.

"So, what are you going to do? You're going to dump his ass, right? Right?"

"I don't want to think anymore about it right now," I said, determined not to break down again, thinking about the decision that lay before me. I just wanted to feel numb.

Mandy got up and made her way to the kitchen, returning with a bottle of wine and two glasses. She dimmed the lights again before pouring us each a healthy dose, handing me a glass as she sat down next to me again.

"You know I'm going to kill him if I ever see him, right?"

"Yeah, I know," I sighed, resting my head on her shoulder as we sipped our wine.

"Thanks for being here. Sorry you missed the after party."

"Hey, don't worry about that. There's nowhere else I'd rather be right now. Except maybe at Dan's... bashing his face in with a frying pan."

I laughed again at her bravado and the cartoon image that came to my mind. Her fiery spirit and the wine were just the medicine I needed at that moment.

We continued to sit mostly in silence, my head still on her shoulder for another hour until Mandy yawned and suggested we get some sleep. She hugged me again and offered to let me sleep with her if I would rather not be alone, but I declined. I expected this to be a long night, lying awake with my thoughts.