Dreamer 202

Chapter 4: Home Alone

Dreamer 202

Chapter 4

 

            Bella unlocked the door to the apartment, and noticed that something felt different. A quick glance around her place showed Carter’s things to be missing; the bed was made, all the pillows arranged on the couch, and no dirty dishes in the sink from either of them. It was as if he’d never visited.

            <Hey, where are you??>

            She waited for a response. One came quickly, but not the answer she wanted.

            <Had to go home. Sorry.>

            After opening the text, Bella collapsed on her couch in a heap and sent another message asking why he had to go, and when she would see him next. Carter took longer replying to those, but eventually he answered:

            <Lucy got hurt, car accident. IDK if I’ll ever be able to come back, Bella.>

            Turning the display off on her cellphone, she sat back heavily against a pile of pillows. Work had been exhausting that day, and the sudden turn of events was tough on her. None of her friends had known about him so she felt completely, utterly alone and abandoned. Picking her phone back up, Bella called the one person she knew would understand.

            “…Hello? Bella, what’s up? You don’t usually call me when I’m at work.” Alice’s voice chimed over her speaker. Bella’s eyes watered, and a sob shook her chest.

            “Alice, oh my god… Come over right now, I need to tell you everything that happened. It’s real bad.” She hiccupped, and wiped her eyes.

            “Oh god, okay Bella, hold in there dear. I’ll leave work early and head over.”

She nodded, even though no one could see her. O-okay… I can wait.” With a dial tone, the call ended. The apartment sounded so quiet and empty; sounds of canned laughter from the TV in an apartment above her seemed loud and ironic. Standing up to grab a drink of water, Bella halfheartedly turned the tap on. Deciding instead on some tea, the depressed woman popped the mug into the microwave and reached for a box of teabags. A knock interrupted her silence.

“Hey Bella… Are you there?” A muffled woman’s voice came through her front door. Relief flooded her body as she padded over to the door to let her friend inside. Outside the door, a short field mouse with bright, wavy red hair stood with a black purse and bag. After Alice sat her purse and bag down, she reached for her friend to hug her.  They stood together for a minute, Bella holding back sobs. “Wait, I grabbed something; this is cliché enough that I thought you’d appreciate it…”

“Huh? What did you bring?” Momentarily, her tears stopped. Alice procured a tub of ice cream – vanilla with swirls of blackberry jelly.

“That’s my favorite flavor! But isn’t ice cream during cry sessions really stereotypical?” Even when dealing with a broken heart, Bella couldn’t help but point out things like that.

“Exactly, that’s why I got it for us. Now come on, sit down. I’ll dish out some for you, you start talking.” She bustled off to get bowls and spoons.

Over the next few hours, the story was told of Carter and their short-lived romance. Alice comforted Bella as best she could, listening and sharing dessert and emotions. When the ice cream was long gone and sobs had become small shivers, they turned on the TV and made popcorn for movies. Although it helped, the deep unhappiness was lodged front and center in her mind.

☾~☽

Within two months of her sudden drop back into being single, Bella lost nearly 15 pounds and had stopped going outside for basically anything besides work and groceries. Friends came over and checked in from time to time; watching TV or playing videogames with her, but for the most part the once-cuddly wolf had lost her luster. Her doctor decided to put her back on her antidepressants, which seemed to keep her on an emotional flatline.

<4/9/14 9:03PM: How are you? Haven’t heard from you since you left.>

<4/17/14 5:27PM: Hey there, miss you...>

<5/2/14 10:46AM: Just wondering how you were doing.>

<5/30/14 2:18PM: Carter...? Thinking of you.>

The woman would stare at her messages, hoping an answer would come. With each passing text, her optimism dwindled. Finally, she decided she’d send one last text.

<6/3/14 6:08AM: I won’t bug you anymore, but I wanted to say I love you.>

Bella dropped her phone onto the kitchen table and got up to make toast and microwave oatmeal, feeling unusually worried. It was hard to finally admit that she should probably let go. As she stirred the milk into her bowl of oats, her phone came alive with the sound of buzzing.

<Oh my god, will you just leave me alone already?>

<I’ve seen every fucking text… You don’t have to sound so clingy.>

<It was just a few days during spring break, why are you making such a big deal out of everything that happened? CHRIST.>

She was confused. Clingy, maybe – big deal, though? The woman couldn’t understand why Carter would sound so awful; it wasn’t like the man she had met. Uneasily, she replied, against her better judgment.

<…What? I thought it was important to you too? I fell in love with you that week, Carter. I’ve just been trying to get answers; you’ve totally left me in the dark. What’s going on? Who’s Lucy, and why did you have to leave when she had an accident?>

Sighing, Bella dropped into a chair with her oatmeal and toast. Chewing at a mouthful of her toast, she read his reply.

<You fucking bitch, this is Lucy. I’m his girlfriend, the one you fucking cheated on when you had your oh-so-special spring break. Slut. Just let it go already, you’ve stressed him out with all your whining. So, yeah. :) Bye.>

Too sick to finish the rest of her food, she dumped the whole bowl into the sink and went back to bed. At a loss for what to say or do, Bella decided to continue on with what she’d been doing the last few months: surviving from day to day with as little emotional exercise as possible. If Alice could see her right then, she’d get called a weak wuss. Regardless, it seemed like the easiest course of action while her broken heart tried to repair itself.