After ringing several times, the call went to voicemail. Maybe she was still at work.
"Hey, Em. It's me. Rory came home." I sat down on the edge of my bed. "I ended it. Actually I kicked him out." I put my hand on my forehead. "I really need to talk to you. He cheated on me. So why does it feel like breaking up with him was a mistake? Please call me." I hung up and looked down at the screen. It was past 6:30. She should have been off by now. Why hadn't she answered my call?
My phone buzzed while I looked down at it. It was a text from Rory. I swiped my finger across the screen.
"I left okay? I know you need some space. And I can see how you may have misunderstood that text. But we need to talk about this. Let me take you out to dinner tonight."
Did that mean he canceled his plans with Jamie and Tiffany? That didn't make me feel any better. I couldn't be bought with a fancy dinner. But maybe I needed to hear him out. If he was willing to tell me what he was doing last night, maybe we could work this out. If. It really didn't seem like he was though. And the only reason I could think of was because he had in fact cheated on me. My phone buzzed again.
"I'm friends with the chef of this really nice restaurant a few blocks away from our place. He was able to get us on the list for tonight. I'll pick you up at 8."
That cocky bastard. I opened up my computer and pulled up Craigslist. I quickly typed out an ad about the empty room in the apartment. At the end I added, "men need not apply," in all caps. Perfect. I pressed the submit button. The sooner I found someone to move into Rory's room, the sooner I could move on.
I sighed and slammed my laptop closed. I didn't want to forget about him. I never wanted to forget the way he looked at me or the way he made me feel. But it all came down to trust. I could never trust him. Rory was a player. And he'd always be a player. I picked up my phone and quickly typed out a response to him.
"I'm interviewing potential new roommates tomorrow. Please let me know when you want to come pick up your stuff so I can make plans to not be around." I pressed send.
I needed a fresh start. In a lot of ways Rory was amazing. I couldn't deny that. But he wasn't my future. It was like he said. I wanted to be happy in the future. That was the ultimate goal. I didn't want to be constantly worried that I wasn't good enough for him or that he was out hooking up with someone else. And the worst part was, he knew how it felt to be on the other side of this. His ex had cheated on him. Why would he do this to me?
My phone started buzzing. It was Rory. I just stared down at the screen. I didn't have anything to say to him. When it finally stopped buzzing I slowly exhaled. A minute later my phone beeped. He had left a voicemail.
"Keira." There was a pause. "Screw the restaurant then. Let's just go somewhere. Let's take a vacation. Just you and me. Wherever you want. I'll take you wherever you want to go. Let's go to Italy. You'll love it there." He sighed. "Please call me back."
What? I lay down on my bed. What is he doing? I didn't want to go to Italy with him. He'd probably see one beautiful girl with long black hair and tan skin and run off with her. Stupid Italy.
I tried to call Emily again, but it went straight to her voicemail this time. I stared at the ceiling. My life had seemed so full this morning. And now I had never felt more alone. I hadn't just lost Rory. Connor and Jackson had basically been living here too. They had become two of my closest friends. Connor had somehow become one of my closest confidants.
I picked up my phone and found Julie's number. If I couldn't fix my own relationship, maybe I could fix things for Connor. It was the least I could do after he had tried so hard to help me.
The phone rang
"Hi, Keira." Her voice sounded slightly cold.
Deservedly. "Hey, Julie!" I said with as much cheer as I could muster. "Connor told me how much fun he had with you the other night."
Julie laughed. "Yeah, I don't think so, Keira. He hasn't even texted me."
"He told me that he really likes you."
"Was that after he ran after you and left me alone in your apartment?"
"Um...yes."
"I don't really know what you're trying to do, Keira. Clearly he likes you. Why'd you even set us up in the first place?"
I laughed. "Likes me? Julie. Psh. I'm dating Connor's best friend. Connor and I have just become really good friends in the process."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He's such a sweetheart. He knew that I was upset and came running after me. He's just a really good friend."
"Oh."
"Look, Julie, he's super embarrassed, that's the only reason he hasn't texted you. He's so caring. If you give him another chance, you won't regret it. You'd be lucky to have him in your life."
"Are you sure there's nothing between you two?"
It didn't seem like I was ever going to see Connor again. So it didn't matter at all that we had hooked up that one time. Fixing things with Julie would be my goodbye present to him. "There's absolutely nothing going on between us. I really think you two would make an amazing couple."
Julie sighed. "So you think I should just text him? I really did have a good time."
"I think you should definitely text him."
"You know, I actually haven't been able to stop thinking about him. I just assumed that he didn't have a good time."
"Trust me, he did."
"Geez, Keira. Okay. I guess I'll text him."
I could hear the smile in her voice.
"Thank you so much for clearing that up."
"Of course. It was just such a crazy misunderstanding."
Julie laughed. "Maybe the four of us could go on a double date sometime?"
"Yeah, that would be fun." I didn't want to talk about this with Julie. I just wanted her to give Connor another shot. Apparently I was a good matchmaker. I could just never find anyone for myself.
"Okay, I'll text him now. Thanks, Keira!"
"Bye, Julie." When I hung up I looked down at my screen. Emily still seemed to be screening my calls. Goodbye, Connor. Goodbye, Jackson. Goodbye, Rory. I had never felt so alone.
Chapter 37
Only one person had responded to my ad on Craigslist. Her name was Rebecca Johnson. She didn't have a Facebook or any social media presence as far as I could tell. She was a complete ghost online. But her name seemed normal enough. And she was female. If a man showed up named Rebecca I'd just close the door in his face. Never again.
I put my laptop down on the coffee table and picked up my pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream. The only thing better than forbidden chocolate was Chunky Monkey. Ben and Jerry were the only men that seemed to understand me.
The apartment was a complete mess. Rory's stuff was still everywhere. There were beer cans on the poker table and water rings on the coffee table. Nerf darts were scattered on the carpet and the broken Nerf gun was still on the floor.
But if Rebecca couldn't accept that, then I didn't want her as a roommate anyway. I needed someone that wouldn't judge me if I ate a pint of Ben & Jerry's ice cream every day until I felt better. I wasn't sure I'd ever feel better. It still felt like I was making a mistake. And I couldn't bounce around my ideas because Emily still wasn't answering my calls. I had even called Jim. But he didn't answer either. I was starting to worry that something terrible had happened to them. Or the baby. I put my carton of ice cream back down on the coffee table. Then I really would be all alone.