“Something came up,” she said, swallowing. “He will be out of town for a couple of weeks.”
“That's it?” Sarah said, clearly disgusted. “Girl, he's a jerk. God, don't even message him back. Be done.”
She looked at her glass, suddenly feeling like she needed another bottle. She wanted to sit in bed, drink, and cry. She wanted to crawl into a dark hole and never come out.
She'd done something. That was apparent, but she had no idea what it was, and that frustrated her. He didn't give her a reason why.
Not even a little message saying,hey, can we talk about something? Hey, I didn't like this comment.
Lisa shook her head. “God, well, it's a good thing you said it was just for fun anyway. Wouldn't want it to be serious and get that message.”
Sarah nodded her head in agreement. “Yeah, you can move on and find someone that deserves you now. Someone that will answer their bloody phone when you text or call them.”
Casey suddenly regretted her words from earlier. Her friends had been asking, and she was not being truthful when she said she didn't see a future. She couldn't just admit she did. She didn't date much. And suddenly admitting she might have found the one, her friends would think she was crazy. She didn't want that. She wanted this to go well with Jake and them.
She also didn't want to admit it to them before she even told Jake. That was just wrong. Jake was supposed to be the first person she admitted her feelings to, not others.
But suddenly, she felt it was all coming apart, and her words were more accurate than ever. Maybe she'd been seeing everything wrong, and as her friends said, he was just enjoying himself until he got bored. Maybe now, he was bored, and he was moving on.
She could feel tears forming but refused to allow them to break free. She couldn’t let herself fall apart over something like this.
She had a feeling he was pulling away, and she should have known. He was on a higher status, and she wasn't. It was bound to happen. They weren't going to end up together. It had always been wishful thinking.
“It's okay, sweetie.” Lisa reached over, patting her arm. “We are here. Screw him. You don't need him.”
She gave them a weak smile. Really, she just wanted to go home now. There wasn't much they could say or do to change what had happened. Her world was falling apart.
Her relationship had ended, and there was no saving it. She put her phone into her purse and sighed before she downed the last of her wine.
“I'd just like to get the bill and head home.” She slid her chair out, pushing herself up. She didn't bother to wait for them to say anything.
She could tell her friends wanted to say something, but they stopped. There wasn't much they could say. Her relationship was done.
Casey got home and showered, wanting to wipe everything from her memory. She had dolled herself up and even bought a new bra and underwear for the occasion.
She crawled into bed after her shower and sent him a goodnight text receiving nothing in return. It made her heart twist.
She cried, unable to contain it. She had emotions for him, attraction for him, and suddenly it was being ripped apart. She couldn't stop the tears once they started.
For the next four days, she sent him a message. A simplehey. Or a,hope everything is okay. Nothing was ever sent back.
She spent the next four days riding the roller coaster of anger mixed with disappointment.
By the end of the week, Casey was resigned. She spent most of her time watching TV and screaming at the characters, telling them it wasn't really love. He didn't want her. Then at times, she'd just bawl into her ice cream.
She stayed up late, unable to sleep. She didn't want to sleep. She would dream about them and wake up realizing that wasn't going to be her life.
She texted Jake and wanted him to just give her something. Just a sign that maybe there was something still there to work with. But at the same time, she wanted to strangle him for treating her as less than a human being.
It got so bad that she started to smell, and her friends told her to shower, to start pulling herself out of the dark hole she buried herself in. She didn't want to. She didn't think she could pull herself together.
But there were only so many days she could call in sick before she had to return to the world. Day five was where it started.
Casey went back to work with dark eyes and an even darker aura. She spent most of her time to herself and tried to ignore her phone. She knew there would never be a message.
She was cleaning out a dryer trap when the door swung open. She'd wished she had put the closed sign on because she was sick of dealing with people for the day.
“Well, aren't you looking wonderful?” Gerri's voice filled the space, and she froze.