I’m not sure how long I lay in the water, but then, a strange sound interrupts my reverie. There was the slight tinkle of a woman’s laugh from far away. It was as if she was speaking in an echo cavern, and I was hearing her voice bounce off the walls.
Then Bo’s voice growled. “That sounds great, honey. Oh yeah.”
My ears perked. Who was he calling “honey”?
The woman spoke again, and I couldn’t make out her words, but she definitely had a sly, seductive purr to her voice. What the hell? This time, I sat up straighter while coming fully awake. Who was Bo talking to?
But then he let out a low groan, and growled, “Fuck baby. Yeah. Tell me how much you want me. Speak those pretty words in my ear.”
My eyes went wide, and the air disappeared from my lungs. Oh my God, Bo was having phone sex with someone! The walls in the cabin are thick, and he was barricaded in his office, but what he didn’t realize is that the vents are connected. I looked up, and sure enough, there was a metal grate right above the tub, with ghostly, faraway voices emanating from the duct.
“Oh yeah,” he groaned again. “Touch yourself now. Put those little fingers into your pussy, and rub your clit too. Pretend I’m there with you.” The woman must have said something because my boyfriend then let out a low hiss. “I’m touching myself too,” he rasped. “Fuck yeah, this is hot.”
With that, my shoulders began to shake and tears sprang to my eyes. Oh my God, Bo was cheating on me. He was literally having secret phone sex with another woman while locked in his office. He thought I couldn’t hear, but obviously, the mechanics of this cabin conspired to blow his little secret apart.
My heart shattered and tears dripped down my face. But I swiped angrily at the moisture on my cheeks because what did I expect? It’s not as if Bo and I are in a relationship. Sure, it’s been a month, but we’ve never specifically discussed what we’re doing together, or what boundaries and expectations govern our interactions. So yes, if he wants to engage in dirty phone sex with one of his paramours, then he’s not “breaking any rules” per se. Instead, it’s me who’s been dumb. I’m the idiot for thinking we had something special.
With that, I let myself sob silently in the tub for another ten minutes. But then I stand resolutely, the lukewarm water sloshing off my curves. Water gets everywhere, but I don’t care. I have to leave this cabin. The weather’s been warming up for the last two weeks, but I ignored it. The roads are surely open by now, and my little Civic is going to spirit me out of here.
Quickly, I throw on some clothes and head into my bedroom. There, I grab my suitcase out of the closet, and stuff my things haphazardly inside before emphatically zipping it shut. Then I enter the bathroom and with a sweep of my arm, push all of my cosmetics and lotions into a plastic bag before throwing that into my handbag. I don’t care if I’ve forgotten anything, I just have to get out of here, and away from the presence of Bo North.
“He was never in love with me,” I whisper to myself while slinging the bag over my shoulder. “I was just being stupid.” With fresh tears in my eyes, I crack open my bedroom door and peer into the common area. Thank god, the door to the office is still shut and there’s no sound whatsoever. As silent as a mouse, I creep across the living room with my roller bag behind me and open the front door. It squeaks for a moment, and I pause, my heart pounding my chest. Did Bo hear that?
But the office mercifully remains silent, and I haul my bag outside onto the stoop before quietly closing the door behind me with a click. Then I tiptoe around the back of the house, where my car is parked and jimmy my key into the Civic’s door. Thankfully, it works. I was afraid my vehicle would be so rusty from being left alone that even my key wouldn’t fit. But I manage to get my bags stowed in the back before sitting in the front seat and placing my hands on the steering wheel.
This is it, I think to myself, gazing at the cabin once more. Once you leave this place, you’ll never see Bo Nielsen again.
The thought should make me happy, but instead, all I feel is my heart breaking. Regardless, I can’t stay any longer. I don’t want to look into those blue eyes while he tells me that we were never anything, and that he has every right to engage in phone sex with any woman who happens to call.