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I sniffled.
“I’m in a hotel. It was his apartment, and he renewed the lease with me on the lease as an additional tenant,” I replied.
It hurt. It all hurt.
Mom talked to me for almost an hour, trying to calm me down. It helped, a little bit. However, she also suggested that since they were paying for the rehearsal dinner next week, that we simply uninvite Mark and his family from it and have a dinner to celebrate finding out that he wouldn’t have been faithful to me before the marriage.
I hated that idea. Though some people found empowerment through continuing with some of the wedding activities as planned but with an entirely different purpose, I could not imagine going to that restaurant, where we had so painstakingly put together the menu and the arrangements with the owner for a wedding dinner only to show up and have to tell everyone that I was no longer marrying this man that I had been so in love with.
Cheating soured a lot of things.
“Do you want to be alone right now, or do you want us to keep you company?”
I was a bit surprised that my mom wasn’t already on her way over. I wanted to talk to her, but I also wanted to be alone.
“I think I’m okay being alone right now. I haven’t been sleeping, and I’m so tired.” My voice cracked again as warm tears rolled down my cheeks.
“Would you like us to send you some dinner tonight instead, then?” Mom suggested. “I know it may not be exactly what you had in mind when we arrived for the wedding, but I can’t imagine it’s going to be easy for you to stay in a hotel and have no idea where you’re going for dinner.”
“That would be okay,” I said with a sniffle. “I have some ice cream to eat… I needed to distract myself and picked it up earlier before I checked in.”
“All right. Give me your hotel’s address and room number, and I’ll get you that pizza you really like. And don’t worry about telling anyone else. I’ll take care of notifying the vendors and the family and friends—I still have the copy of the guest list you sent me.”
I opened my mouth, but she predicted my question.
“Don’t worry. I won’t share any details. Those are for you to share if and when you’re ready. Keep your chin up, Laurel. It only gets better from here.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
I texted her the address and room number before letting the tears completely take over.
The rest of the evening was a bit of a blur. The delivery man arrived with the pizza and a box of gallon sized bags so that I could save the leftovers, a note provided from my parents, no doubt. The pizza was delicious and worth saving. Mom had a knack for knowing what would give me the best comfort at times, and tonight, I was thankful for it.
I managed to type out a resignation and emailed it to the kitchen manager at the restaurant.
I’d worked at the high-end restaurant for years, ever since graduating culinary school. I loved the place, but I couldn’t imagine going back. In less than an hour, the manager emailed me back to tell me she understood and was sorry to see me go. She didn’t even make me work a two weeks’ notice, which I appreciated. With the way this week had panned out, I was more thankful that she wasn’t making me go into work than ever.
If the manager was so understanding, that could only mean that the whole staff knew what had happened. News travels fast in a kitchen.
After a good shower, I laid down on the bed and tried to get some sleep. Mark could keep his cheating philosophies to himself, as far as I was concerned. However, I needed a clean break from everything here in Chicago. As easy as it would have been to get another job elsewhere in the city, I knew the kind of person Janelle was. She wouldn’t stop until I was considered a horrible cook since I had had the audacity to ‘force a man to choose’, as I was pretty sure she’d phrase it.
The next morning, I ate breakfast in the lobby. They had decent eggs and waffles, though I did wish they had orange juice. One of the chefs found me a small carton meant for kids, but it was a pleasant surprise. Perhaps they could tell that I had been having a hard time of it lately. I knew my eyes were red and puffy and probably would stay that way for some time.
Once I returned to my room, I checked the time. It was late enough in the morning that I believed my friend Bailey would be awake. She lived in Idaho, so was an hour earlier than I was as far as time was concerned. With it being just past ten-thirty here and knowing that Bailey had always been an early riser, it was reasonable to conclude she was up despite it being nine-thirty in the morning in Idaho.
I dialed her number and waited as the phone rang.
“Laurel! Oh my gosh, I got the email from your mom that the wedding’s off. Is everything okay?”
“Bailey… ” I said softly. “He cheated…” I took a deep breath before it all came spilling out. The screenshots, the argument, his ‘reasons.’ “I just can’t marry a man who refuses to remain faithful and somehow blames me for his irresponsible actions.”
Bailey fell completely silent. I swore I could have heard her drop something in the background, but I wasn’t entirely sure. She lived in an idyllic little town that I had visited a couple of times, but the name always escaped me unless I was looking at her address on the map or on my phone.
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she finally said. “And I guess your parents are in charge of calling around to cancel the wedding?”
“Especially since I believe Mark wouldn’t do that, and just show up with more guests and a new bride,” I replied. “But… I wanted to talk to you and just… just not think about it. Bailey, I don’t want to stay in Chicago. I think I need to get out of the big city.”
“Well, that is certainly a big change for you,” Bailey said hesitantly. “Are you thinking about coming to stay with me in Waterfront?”
