He called me after he got there later that night. We talked for a while before I had to go to bed and get some sleep. I was working the weekend. He texted on and off all day Saturday and called me again that night. I could hear what sounded like a party going on in the background. I tried not to picture what was going on there. All the guys with the Punishers were single from what the ladies had told me. Their parties were bound to have women there.
On Sunday. I got a call from him. The business they were helping the Punishers with was going to take longer than they expected. He didn’t know for sure when they’d be back. I was disappointed but tried to not let him hear it in my voice. I missed him like crazy.
On Monday, I didn’t hear from him all day. Not a single text. That worried me, but I knew if something had happened, then Bull and the guys would be acting worried, and they weren’t. I did have one good thing happen on Monday. My old mentor, Dr. Clouse, called me. I hadn’t seen him or his wife in ages.
We caught up and then he told me what he was calling about. He did charity work with an organization that provided free healthcare to the underprivileged in other countries. I’d gone on one of their trips a little over a year ago. It was amazing. He confessed he was calling to see if I could help him out. One of the doctors that was supposed to go had a family emergency and couldn’t go right away. He was looking for someone to fill in for that month.
“Ted, I’d love to help you, but I don’t think I could get off work at this short notice. When do you leave?”
“On Thursday.”
“Thursday? This Thursday? Ted, I can’t. Even if I could, I really don’t want to be gone right now.”
“Why is that, Zara?”
“Because I met someone and we’re kind of serious.”
“Oh really, do tell. Who is he? When did you meet him? What does kind of serious mean? Tell me everything.” I laughed. He was a big busybody. I knew he’d run home and tell his wife all the details, so I filled him in on Demon, how we met and what we were talking about for the future.
“Zara, honey, I’m so happy for you. Congratulations. I understand perfectly. We have to be sure when I get back to get together. The four of us. Leslie and I will want to meet him and give him our stamp of approval.”
I laughed. “I know you will. I promise when you get back, we will. Is this another three-month trip?”
“Yes, it is. I hate to be gone but love how much good we do when we go. Now, I’d better let you go. Talk to you later. Take care.”
“You too, Ted, take care.” We ended the call. I had a smile the rest of the day, thinking of him and the get-together when he got back. He was a trip. I hoped Demon liked him. He was one of the few people I still talked to from back where I went to school. He’d been there in the aftermath of Nathan.
That evening, I settled down in bed. I still hadn’t heard from Demon. I was getting more and more worried. What if something happened? Would Bull and the guys tell me? What was taking them so long to get back home? I fell asleep thinking about it.
Sometime in the middle of the night, I heard my cell phone ding, alerting me that I had a message. I came up out of bed and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. It had to be Demon. I eagerly grabbed my phone and opened my messages. It showed I had a picture from him. I smiled as I opened it. The smile died from my face.
There was a picture of Demon. He was naked and in bed with an equally naked Lucky draped over him. He had his eyes closed and a smile on his face. She was snuggled up in his arms with a satisfied look on her face. My stomach cramped and bile rose in the back of my throat. I dropped the phone and ran to the bathroom to throw up. I couldn’t believe it.
He’d done just what Nathan had done. He cheated on me, and with that bunny he had told me was no one two weeks ago. What a lying piece of shit. As pain and grief ravished me, anger began to grow. Fuck him! I didn’t need him or anyone else. I guess I knew what had kept him those extra days. He’d been renewing his acquaintance with Lucky.
When I was done puking up my guts, I went back to bed. I ignored the phone. I looked at the clock. It was three in the morning. I settled down to wait. At six on the dot, I placed the call. I knew exactly what I needed to do. No way was Demon going to be able to rub this in my face.