Monroe stood up and crossed her arms stubbornly, and I stood up trying to find the words to turn this night around but couldn’t figure it out.
“I’m going home. Whatever this was,” She said, flinging her arm towards me, “was a mistake.” She said before turning around to walk back to her house.
Grabbing her shoulder, I turned her around to face me. “Don’t be a baby, Roe. It was just a kiss.” I snarled.
Monroe glared at me. “Leave me the hell alone.” She growled, walking away from me.
I was so pissed, but as mad as I was, I walked behind her keeping my distance, making sure she made it back to her house safely before I went home. I stayed up for hours, dissecting every detail of the night. I couldn’t understand why Monroe was acting like this. We had something, but she was too stubborn to admit it, and I had messed up by rushing her. I went back to see her the next day and tried to apologize, but her mom said she wasn’t feeling well. By the time school started, we never had the chance to talk.
I walked into homeroom to find my best friend Justin, talking to her and making her laugh. Those were my laughs, my smiles. As hard as I tried, she wouldn’t even look at me, and by the end of homeroom, I was done. If she was going to be like that, so was I. When we got out into the hall, Justin asked me what I thought about her and if she’d be into him. I told him I heard she was a prude, and too many people heard, even Monroe. It was a stupid thing to say, fueled by jealousy and pride. My best friend was into her, and she wouldn’t give me time to make things right with us.
The next four years spiraled out of control. I never made things right between us, and never let it go. Whenever I got the chance to pick at her, I went for it, continually taunting her. Secretly I just wanted her to talk to me like she used to before things went to shit, but she wouldn’t. I knew I was the one making things worse, but I couldn’t shut my damn mouth whenever she was around.
At first, Monroe would ignore my comments, but she started firing back towards the end of our sophomore year. It got so bad that our teachers had to intervene in class when we started going at it. We were sworn enemies in high school, and all of my friends kept their distance from her. I had a lot of friends. Monroe kept to herself for the most part, which killed me. I had done this, but I didn’t have the balls to make it right.
What was worse was that whenever I saw a guy getting too close to her, I did whatever I needed to make him get lost. I made up a lot of bullshit over the years.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” Monroe asks, staring at me blankly.
“It’s me, Cam,” I say, but she doesn’t react. She just stares at me. “Cameron Beckett. You lived across the street from me in high school.”
Monroe tilts her head to the side and studies me for a long moment. Eventually, she just shrugs. “What can I get you?”
“A large coffee, black,” I tell her.
She grabs a large cup and writes Cam on the cup and hands it to Dani. “That will be a dollar ninety-seven.”
Pulling my wallet out of my back pocket, I grab a five and hand it to her. She takes it, then gives me back my change. The whole exchange is nothing special, just ordinary as if I’m only a customer to her. After months of waiting to see her since she’s been home, I would rather her be pissed to see me than not react at all. Her indifference is worse than a slap in the face.
“I see you haven’t changed,” I growl, wanting to get some kind of reaction out of her.
She gives me a tight smile and is about to say something when Dani calls my name and holds up my coffee. I don’t move from my spot, wanting to hear whatever smart ass comment she’s going to make, but she shakes her head instead. The fire that used to burn in her eyes long ago is gone. What happened to this girl to make her look this defeated? Realizing she isn’t going to say anything, I sigh and move to the end of the counter to grab my coffee from Dani.
“Thanks,” I murmur, taking it from her.
“No problem, Occifer,” She laughs, calling me the name she and my sister Lindsay have been calling me for years.
Dani has never cared what people thought of her. She’s always walked to the beat of her own drum. That’s probably why she’s my sister’s best friend. Lindsay, the painter, is the complete opposite of me, and I love her dearly.
I roll my eyes and walk away. I’m pushing out of the shop when Dani yells, “See you tomorrow, Big Boy!”
I look over my shoulder to see Dani grinning evilly and Monroe looking anywhere but at me.
Monroe wants to pretend like she doesn’t know me, fine. I’m going to make sure she remembers, and I’m going to say my piece after all these years. She can go back to ignoring me after that.
Chapter Three
Monroe
Cam comes in every morning at seven-thirty on the dot for the next two weeks. Even on the weekends, when he’s not working, he comes in and orders the same thing every time, a large black coffee. Every morning he says good morning and makes small talk trying to engage me. Every morning I pretend not to remember him. It’s petty, but I don’t give a shit. What is he trying to prove? Why can’t he just leave me alone? Dani thinks the whole situation is hilarious. I don’t.
I’m just getting home from work when I spot a small package with a red bow sitting on the front porch. That’s weird. Once I’m close enough, I see my name scrawled across the top of it in black permanent marker, just my name. There’s no return address or my address even. There isn’t a stamp. Whoever sent it dropped it off at some point today. My first thought is it’s probably from Cam. The man won’t leave me alone, and I wouldn’t put it past him to up his game. Picking up the small package, I’m surprised at how light it is. I walk in the house and go to the kitchen to drop my keys and purse on the counter and toss the box there. I’ll look at it later.
I go upstairs and shower before changing into a loose off the shoulder t-shirt and some skintight leggings. Coming back to the kitchen for a bottle of water, I see the box again. Curious to see what’s in there, I grab the box and open it.
As soon as I open it, I immediately wish I hadn’t. The scent hits me and brings me to my knees right there on the kitchen floor. Brent’s cologne is strong. He must have sprayed half a bottle inside. I pull out a picture of Brent and me from our first Christmas together. I swallow hard as the memory of that night floods back into my mind. That was the night he told me he loved me. Back then, I would have told you it was the happiest night of my life, but now I look back and see everything he did to manipulate me. Realizing there’s something written on the back, I flip the picture over, and my stomach twists at his words.
We could be this happy again.
I love you so much!
Love,
Brent
Tossing the picture to the side, I grab the box and dump the contents out on the counter. In a tiny satin pouch are the diamond earrings and necklace he gave me that night and a note. I purposely left every gift he gave me at the apartment when I left him, not wanting the reminder of our time together to follow me. The note is written on a folded sheet of computer paper and is in his familiar handwriting.
Monroe,