“I didn’t know how you felt, and I didn’t want to ruin things between you guys if you didn’t feel the same way,” she states simply. “And what is this thing about you think you heard Cal? What the hell is with that?” I open my mouth to say something, but she cuts me off. “Lauren, he’s been gone for a while now. Don’t you think it’s time to get over him? I thought you were over him, for God’s sake!”
“Wait a minute, Hillary, you need to calm down. You don’t know anything about what’s been going on with me, so before you come in here and start chastising anyone, you need to know what’s going on.” This is why I don’t talk to her. This is exactly why I go to Angela instead.
“Okay, fine. Then tell me what’s going on,” she demands, tapping her foot impatiently.
“I woke up to Caylen crying on the baby monitor. When I tried to go to her, I realized my door was locked, then I heard Cal talking to her. I couldn’t go to her; I couldn’t get out. By the time Raven got back from the drug store and let me out of my room, he was gone.”
“And this is the reason you’re throwing away your chance with Steven? You didn’t even see him, Lauren,” she says condescendingly.
Her tone is pissing me off. “I don’t think I heard anything. I know I did. I have proof,” I tell her, walking over to the counter. I hand her Caylen’s bracelet.
“D.L.G. What the hell does that mean?” she asks, looking up from the bracelet as if it’s meaningless.
“It stands for Daddy’s Little Girl. When he was talking to her, I heard him say he had something for her. It was this!”
She sighs, seeming unfazed by it, and hands it back to me.
“Don’t you get it?” I continue. “I heard Cal talking to her, then suddenly she’s wearing this bracelet from out of nowhere with those initials. You tell me how that’s possible.”
“Okay, so what? Let’s suspend all disbelief and say it was him. If he really was here, what happens now? Are you going to sit around waiting for him to pop up again?”
I open my mouth to say something, but I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say.
“If he does come back, then what? You’re going to take him back with open arms, wipe the slate clean, forgetting the fact that he was MIA for two years, doing God knows what—or who. That’s okay with you? It’s fucking fantastic that he left you, pregnant, to raise Caylen alone, and he gets the thumbs-up to drop in whenever he feels like it?” she asks me mockingly.
Hearing her speak about Cal that way sparks something in me. “You don’t understand. When I heard him talking to her, it was as if something was keeping him from us. That it wasn’t his choice.”
I’m about to make another comment in Cal’s defense, but the doorbell rings again, and I can see on the monitor that it’s Angela. I get up and hit the buzzer for her to be let in.
“Okay, let’s just imagine, ridiculous as it is, something important caused him to abandon his family and now he’s free to come back. What about all the problems you were having before he left? Is everything just going to start over? You’re going to pretend like it never happened? Don’t tell me you’ve grown that desperate,” Hillary says, staring me in the eye.
I look away, feeling my cheeks burn. As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right. I’ve been ignoring everything I shouldn’t. I run my hands through my hair and cover my face in frustration.
“Look, L, I’m your friend, even if we haven’t been as close as we used to be. I don’t want to see you hurt. I don’t want to see you throw away something that could be genuine for a shot in the dark at a world full of heartache again,” she continues as I bite my lip to keep from really blowing up at her.
Angela’s knocking at the door breaks up Hillary’s momentum. I answer the door, and she breezes into the penthouse.
“Where’s the birthday girl?” she sings happily with a gift bag in hand. Her smile fades when she sees the look on my face. “What’s going on?” She looks from Hillary to me.
“I heard Cal last night,” I tell her.
“She thinks she heard Cal last night,” Hillary corrects.
“I know I heard him. I showed you the bracelet!” I shout at her.
“Wait. What!” Angela looks confused and shocked by the conversation and how Hillary and I are at one another’s throats.
I show her the bracelet and brief her on what happened earlier with Cal.
“I think I need to sit down.” She exhales, taking a seat next to Hillary.
Angela is looking at me sympathetically, and Hillary is looking at me in disbelief.
“You believe me, don’t you, Angie?” I ask her hopefully, focusing on the more optimistic side of the couch. I need someone to just at least admit there’s a possibility that what I’m saying may be true.
“Lauren, I don’t know what to say. I really don’t.” She sighs quietly.
“She wants to say the same thing I did,” Hillary snarls.
“Hillary, shut up,” Angela snaps at her.
“No, I’m not shutting up! Tell her this is crazy!” Hillary snaps back. She grabs her head and closes her eyes. “This is driving me crazy! Don’t get me wrong, Lauren. I used to like Cal. I thought I was wrong about him, but he turned out to be exactly how I expected him to be.” She stands. “Bottom line is if he loved you, he’d have his ass here. He left you when you needed him most, and not just for a week. It’s been almost two years. And you’re sitting here crying and pining for him as if he’s left for war!”
“I haven’t been just sitting here. I have my job. I’ve been raising Caylen!”
“Yeah, that’s a hell of a life. You edit some crap manuscripts because you can do it here alone, shut off from the rest of the world. You were supposed to be an artist and travel the world—what happened!” Her words sting because there’s so much truth to them. “He walked out on you, and you’re still here being the faithful little wife, wasting away.”
“Hillary, don’t!” Angela growls at her, giving her a glare before looking at me sympathetically.
“No one else may tell you this, but I’m not going to lie or ignore what’s happening here anymore. That’s why I was so happy to see you warming up to Steven again, then I find out this!”
“Cal promised me he wasn’t leaving me for anyone else. He just said he had to leave. Cal has done a lot of things, but he never lied,” I tell her sharply.
“How do you know that? Because he said he didn’t?” Hillary laughs.
My skin is hot, and my heart is pounding. “Cal is a lot of things, but he isn’t a liar!” I approach her so we’re face to face.
Angela approaches us quickly, ready to intervene in what she’s seeing as an escalating situation.
“No, Lauren! You probably know him as well as I do, which isn’t much,” Hillary screams, and my anger melts, replaced by depression. I see the anger leave her face as well. “Lauren.” Her tone is softer than before. “I should have shown you this when I first got it. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to hurt you. I figured if you didn’t know…”