“Will Delilah be okay?”
“I’ll make sure she’s okay, you know that.”
“I know, but I also know how much it’ll hurt her. She’s grown so much in the last few months. From the bitch she was when I first met her, to the friend she is now, I don’t want to see her suffer.”
“I promise you, she won’t.”
Star cries, her little wails filling the silent night. “Aw, poor bubba, she must be teething.”
“I’ll get her,” Hugh says, climbing out of the water and drying himself off.
He walks out and comes back five minutes later, just as I’m drying off. Star is in his arms, still wrapped up, drinking a bottle. Her little cheeks are rosy red, and she looks like she’s uncomfortable.
“I think she’s in pain, she doesn’t wake up this early,” Hugh murmurs.
“I’d say it’s her teeth. I’ll get some stuff to help make her feel better.”
I get dressed and give Star a few things to make her feel better, then we change her and put her back into bed. She falls back asleep quickly and easily.
Hugh wraps his arm around my waist as we look down at her.
“Never thought I’d come around to the idea of havin’ a kid, I really didn’t want any, but she changed that for me.”
I smile. “She’s pretty darn special.”
“She is. One day, we’ll give her a sibling.”
Now why did he have to go and say that?
Why?
My heart is breaking.
It’s falling to pieces.
What the hell am I going to do?
“YOU WANT TO EXPLAIN this?”
I blink, confused.
Hugh is holding an envelope in his hands, it’s big, and it looks like it’s filled with documents. I don’t know what exactly it is, and it takes me a second to catch on. It’s only the look on his face that tells me exactly what he’s holding there. It’s all the information for my new life, job and the money I won. I accepted the job a few days ago and have been wondering how to tell Hugh ever since.
I didn’t realize it would arrive so quickly.
I look guiltily at him. “Look, I was going to sit down with you tonight and discuss it. I just...didn’t know how.”
“You accepted a fuckin’ job in Canada?”
I swallow. “Yes.”
“Were you plannin’ on givin’ me an ounce of a fuckin’ chance or were you just goin’ to tell me you were leavin’ and that was it?”
“Hugh...”
“I thought we were creatin’ somethin’ here, but it’s clear you don’t give a single fuck about that.”
“You’re wrong,” I say frantically. “I care about this more than you think. I don’t want this to be over, Hugh. But I couldn’t say no to this incredible chance.”
“You don’t want this to be over?” he barks. “You’re leavin’, Maggie. You’re fuckin’ leaving. How is that not makin’ it over?”
“I don’t...I don’t know. I thought maybe we could work something out.”
He laughs, bitterly. “I can’t believe I let myself fall for you. To believe you were honest and good, but you’re a fuckin’ liar just like the rest of them. I had a god damned right to know this; I deserve that. Fuck you, Maggie.”
He turns, grabbing his keys and throwing the envelope down on the table. I rush out after him, grabbing his arm. “Hugh, please. I didn’t tell you because I was scared I’d lose you. I’m not lying, I was coming to you with this...”
“Bullshit,” he roars, spinning around and jerking his arm out of my grips, “if you were comin’ to me with this, you would have told me before you fuckin’ accepted it. How long have you known about this?”
“Hugh...”
“How fuckin’ long?”
“A little while,” I whisper.
“Go to fuckin’ hell.”
He gets into his truck and turns it on, reversing out angrily. Tears burst forth and roll down my cheeks. Of course he’s hurt, of course he’s angry. He has every right to be. He thought we were something special and I just went ahead and crushed that. I should have been honest with him, but deep down, I was afraid of this.
What have I done?
I go inside and take my phone, calling him.
He hangs up immediately.
The next time I call, his phone is off.
My heart feels like it’s going to explode, the lump in my throat is heavy and restricting. I type out a text, it’s the only thing I can do. I can’t leave to go after him, Star is asleep. I’m stuck here and I want so badly to speak to him.
M – I’m sorry, Hugh. I know you think I did this without thought, but I promise you, I didn’t. I was coming to you about this. I wanted to see if there was a way it could work. It’s an opportunity for me, something that could change my life. Change our lives. I do want you in my life, please believe that. I promise you with everything I am, that you are everything to me. Star is everything to me. Please, just let me talk to you.
I know he won’t answer, but at least he might read it and calm down with time. I put my phone on the kitchen counter and go and check on Star. My crying turns into soft sobs, and I sit down on her floor, burying my face in my hands. I cry. I cry until I can’t cry any longer, then I text Delilah and ask her to come over and watch Star so I can go and find Hugh.
She arrives right away and hugs me before taking over so I can go out and try to fix this mess.
I don’t want Hugh to hate me, more than that, I want the chance to explain. I want us to be able to fix this, something.
I go the club first, but he isn’t there. Riggs told me he might be at a local bar, so I make my way in that direction. He isn’t there, either.
Frustrated, desperate and frantic, I keep trying to call him. I’m walking away from the bar and back to my car when someone comes out of the dark night and grabs me, pulling me into an alley. It takes me a moment to register what’s happening, one minute I was walking and then I’m being dragged away. When I do register, I try to pull my arms out of the grip of what is clearly a man. He’s too strong and when my body is slammed against a brick wall, I’m suddenly very aware of the mistake I just made.
Coming out alone was the dumbest thing I could have done.
“Let me go,” I growl, shoving my hands into the chest of the man standing in front of me.
It’s dark and I can’t see his face, but I can feel how close he is, and I know this isn’t going to end well if I don’t figure out how to get the hell out of here. I raise my foot as high as I can, stomping down on his foot only to learn he’s wearing boots. Heart racing, I start clawing, scratching, and screaming. Anything to get him to release me or to bring someone else’s attention to what’s happening right now.
His hand slams over my mouth and something cold and hard presses against my temple.
No.
Oh, no.
Please.
I scream into his hand, but it makes little difference.
“Here’s how this is going to go, you’re going to go to your little club and you’re going to tell them to back the fuck off. If they don’t, what happens the next time I get my hands on you will be far worse than this.”