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Thirteen
I’m dressed in a nice button-down shirt, with my sleeves rolled up my forearms. My jeans are hole free and dark with converse shoes. I look polished and it’s the first time that I’ve been out in public in a week.
I’ve got a solid plan for my future and a way to secure myself financially for several years, if my plan goes well. I just need someone to share my life with.
I spoke with Nydia and she gave me a short run-down on Madison’s schedule. I know that she is here right now, Nydia is also working which will be helpful to give Madison and myself some privacy to take our conversation outside.
I take a deep breath, shake out my arms and open the diner door. I step inside and look around to not see Madison anywhere. Nydia angles her head towards the back and just as I look to the doors that divide the space, she walks out fanning her face.
She stops immediately as soon as our eyes connect, and I see her lips straighten into a forced frown.
I walk up to the breakfast bar where she is frozen in her steps and lean in towards her.
“Can we chat for a few minutes?” I ask quietly.
“I’m at work right now, and no, we cannot chat. I don’t think right now that there is much to talk about,” she whispers back to me.
“You forgot that there are two people in a relationship, and you didn’t give me a chance to speak. It’s your break time, so how about we take that break out back and have a quick chat?”
“It’s not my break,” she protests.
“Yes, it is,” Nydia says reaching for Madison’s elbow. “Go out back, have a quick chat with him. I think that it would be good, for the both of you.” Nydia looks between us.
“Why are you taking his side?” Madison asks.
“I’m not taking anyone’s side, but just listen to him. You at least owe that to him. And if you don’t give him a chance which you know you are dying to do, then you guys go your separate ways like before.”
I see hesitation as Madison looks between us, but I watch the moment that she relents, and she nods.
“Thank you,” I whisper to Nydia.
“Hey, don’t thank me yet. I just pushed a little. You’re the one who has to do the work”
And she’s right.
Completely right.
I follow her out the back of the diner and into the back parking lot. I walk us over to the park benches that are back there, and we sit on opposite sides.
“I have fifteen minutes before I need to be back inside,” she tells me.
“Okay, I’ve rehearsed this a bunch, so if it sounds rehearsed, it totally is,” I clear my throat. “We are a relatively new couple, and when you came over that morning, the morning after, you did all the talking, all of the insinuating. You broke up with me and that was that. I want a chance to talk and I want you back.”
“Well, then talk,” she says.
“You mentioned you’ve seen me twice, drunk. The first time was a celebration of our friends getting engaged. Then the second time was when I had one of the worst days in my career. A day, that I had banked on financially and in one phone call, it went down the drain. I know that you have something about drinking, but I would never put anyone in harm’s way. I’m not an alcoholic, but I’m an adult and I can make my own decisions.”
“I’m sorry,” she offers.
“I like you, a lot. But if I have a drink here and there and you’re judging me, calling me a bad person because of it, then maybe breaking up was the right choice. But you shouldn’t define me or our relationship from just two nights.”
She takes a deep breath, her eyes never faltering from my own.
“I will admit that I ran at the first opportunity. I know that I didn’t give you a chance to fight for us and I didn’t let you talk. I know you’re not an alcoholic, and I didn’t listen to you about why you were drinking so much that night, if for any reason at all. I saw you drunk, and I acted horribly.” She pauses and then asks sincerely, “what happened at work?”
“A client who I had created several programs for went bankrupt and my money was tied up in them for at least the next six to nine months, so I went to the bar and drank. I was upset and pissed. You can ask Miles and Noah, it’s not often when I get that hammered.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know. What are you going to do for work now?”
