Propose To Me

by Caroline Andrus

  “Get. The. Hell. Out.” She enunciated each word with as much force as she could muster.

  “What?” Rob asked, clearly at a loss to what was going on. “Come on, honey. I shouldn’t have left you last night. I guess I just didn’t realize how sick you were,” he said, reaching toward her in an attempt to help her.

  “DON’T TOUCH ME!” she screeched. The thought of this man’s hands anywhere near her person made her feel sick all over again.

  Rob sat back, a look of anger and confusion on his face from being yelled at. “What the hell is wrong with you?” he asked.

  Adele sat up slowly. She placed her hands on the lid of the toilet and began the tedious task of getting up from the cold floor. Twice more Rob attempted to help, but Adele screeched at him again. He backed up to the wall where he watched her slow progress. She sat down heavily on the toilet, gasped for air that refused to go into her sick body and glared at Rob.

  “Would you mind explaining what this is all about?” he asked, his voice indicating true annoyance.

  “Your girlfriend called. She’s pissed about your fling with Becka,” she spat. She enjoyed watching the color drain from her husband’s face, found satisfaction in the way his mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “She also told me that you’re having a baby. I guess congratulations are in order,” she hissed.

  “Michelle called you?” he whispered, not bothering to deny it.

  “Her name is Michelle? Like as in one of the partners, Michelle?” Adele asked, her voice rising again in anger. “You screwed one of the partners, and then you were dumb enough to cheat on her with a secretary?” If Adele hadn’t been so upset that he’d cheated on her first, she would have laughed at his stupidity. “I guess I know who my lawyer is gonna be,” Adele said vindictively.

  At this, the remaining color in Rob’s face drained away, leaving him pale and sweaty.

  “Didn’t think that one through, did you?”

  Chapter Two

  Adele sat in the large, comfy leather chair and stared out the window at the sprawling city of Columbus below. High rising buildings could be seen far into the distance, and the sound of cars honking and accelerating penetrated through the closed glass even at that early hour. Her heart broke all over again as memories of life with Rob flooded through her. It had been months since the call that changed her life, and still she mourned for all she had lost.

  “Don’t do this to yourself,” Margo said, looking over her half glasses at her.

  Adele wiped the tears from her face and did her best to look as if she was all right, as everyone expected her to be. She kept her face turned toward the window, determined to keep her swollen eyes away from the look of pity she was sure to find.

  “Here are the final papers. Everything is signed, filed and now you are officially divorced,” Margo said, a broad grin on her face. It couldn’t be more obvious that she saw this as a very good thing.

  Adele, on the other hand, wanted to curl up into a ball and weep the day away. True, it was over, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less. After she’d confronted Rob, she’d approached Michelle, intent on hurting him as badly as he had her. But Michelle reasoned it would have been a conflict of interest for her to represent Adele. Instead, she recommended Margo, assuring Adele that this lawyer was more than capable of ripping Rob’s throat out. Satisfied, Adele had called Margo immediately. Now, as she sat in the prestigious lawyer’s office, she wondered if she’d done the right thing.

  Margo seemed aware of the melancholy mood and placed the neat stack of papers on the edge of her desk. She regarded Adele with a raised eyebrow. “Adele, he cheated on you with at least two different women. One of them just had his daughter. Don’t question yourself. Trust me. You were extremely easy on him, too easy if you ask me. He’ll get over this and will be screwing more women before the week is out. I guarantee it. Scum like that doesn’t change,” the lawyer stated firmly.

  Adele knew all this, but it didn’t stay the permanent ache that resided in her heart. What did this say about her? She couldn’t even keep the eye of the one person who was supposed to love her through everything. How could she ever move on knowing that crucial fact about herself?

  ~ * ~

  Sobbing for the fifth night that week, Adele grabbed her phone determined to find someone to talk to, determined not to cry herself to sleep yet again. Her friend Rachel would always listen, like she did many times at work, but Adele felt she’d already reached her quota of complaints given to the poor girl. There had to be some limit for any one person to endure. She looked at her contact list and realization crashed on her like an ocean wave. Most of her friends had moved on after Rob. She had married in her senior year, so her priorities had changed. She went from the crazy and carefree college student to a married woman. Her world suddenly revolved around the incredibly sexy man she felt privileged to call her husband. Without her realizing it, her friends had drifted off, leading their own happy lives. Rob’s friends became her friends; or so she’d thought.

  “Don’t see any of them calling me now,” she muttered humorlessly to herself. She wiped her nose on the tissue balled up in her hand; her gaze never left the blank screen of her phone. As much as she willed it, it remained resolutely unmoving. She tossed the useless device onto her couch and buried her face in her hands. Worse, over the past several months she managed to push away almost everyone else in her life, even coworkers she’d gotten on relatively well with despite her overbearing husband. She barely had the energy to wake up and teach every day. Forcing herself to be more than civil to people her own age, only pushed her past her limit of what she could accomplish in a day.

  Her gaze shifted past her indifferent cat to pick out different things Rob had bought her over the years. Unpleasant thoughts took hold as she realized they were all bribes meant to placate her into thinking she’d been happy. The complete and utter control she’d let Rob have over her. All the time he’d spent in the ‘office.’ The fancy presents and clothes he’d bought her instead of actually being a decent husband. She looked at the different trinkets and love tokens surrounding her and saw them in a new light. She clenched her fist and gritted her teeth until her jaws ached.

  She strolled across the room, spotting the first unlucky piece of furniture. Grabbing the side of it, she pushed over the large bookcase Rob had given her for her birthday one year. The satisfying crash it made, splintering against the floor, egged her on. Ten minutes later, her entire living room lay in total disrepair. It resembled tornado alley more than a living space.

  Still livid with hot angry tears running down her face, she marched into her bedroom and straight toward the closet. Destruction lay heavy on her mind.

  “Thought he could dress me up and make me look like a real fool in front of his friends, did he?” Reaching in, she snatched several outfits he had treasured for their sex appeal, but she’d never felt comfortable in. She yanked open her drawer and located the scissors. Within a few short minutes, a fabulous pile of shredded garments littered her floor. She looked back at her closet, her hate and anger dying away as quickly as it had begun.

  “Now, what am I gonna wear,” she lamented. Realizing she’d demolished over three fourths of her wardrobe in a little under twenty minutes, she hung her head in defeat. She didn’t have the money or desire to go shopping for clothes. The weariness of depression and having used more energy than she’d had in months slapped her rudely. She collapsed to the floor, sobs wracking her body and her mind. The marriage she’d held onto so tightly had left her a worthless and entirely too dependent woman. He had wanted her like that, so he could carry on with the single life behind her back.

  “You stupid ass!” Adele screamed at the walls around her. Callie walked in and surveyed the destruction with her haughty eyes, making Adele want to choke her too. She was Rob’s cat, but he claimed he wouldn’t have time for her and insisted Adele take her. Not wanting to see anything happen to the companion she’d spent more time
with than her own husband, she’d agreed. Now, the independent creature seemed more like Rob than she’d ever realized. She wished she’d swallowed those emotions and left the cat behind.

  Preparing herself to stand or kick the cat, she was thrown off when Callie strolled over nonchalantly and rubbed her head against Adele’s leg. Adele stared in shock. The cat had never before offered any kind of attention to Adele. Most days, she barely tolerated her—only using her owner for food and water. Other than that, she remained completely aloof to Adele’s desire for affection.

  Crying for a completely different reason now, Adele reached out, grabbed the fluffy hairball and brought her to her chest. Callie graciously allowed it, even deigning to purr for Adele’s benefit.

  “You do love me,” Adele wailed into Callie’s soft fur. “Somebody still loves me.”

  Chapter Three

  Adele waited in line at the deli. An older woman stood in front of her, but she was in no hurry. She had nothing to look forward to but more old movies, Callie and her tiny apartment. Woohoo, Adele thought sarcastically. Can’t wait to get started on that. Every night, for the past several months, had been a repeat since that horrible night.

  “Stupid jerkface,” Adele said angrily, a little louder than she intended. The older lady in front of her turned around, giving Adele a very hostile look. “I’m sorry, I was thinking of someone else,” she stammered, her face a violent shade of red.

  The older lady threw her nose up in the air, turned back to the deli lady and promptly ordered several pounds of cheese and more meat. Adele suspected the woman clearly didn’t believe that she might be telling the truth.

  With a sigh, she understood the older woman’s perspective but felt wronged just the same. She really needed to get a better grip on her inner monologue. This wasn’t the first time she’d offended someone by randomly shouting out insults. She shook her head, taking in the variety of meats and other produce available while she waited her turn. Maybe I should just go home. I can always come back later, she thought dully. It would give her an excellent excuse to get out of the house if the newest movie didn’t live up to her expectations. And lately, nothing had.

  Making a decision, she turned around and promptly ran into the person waiting patiently behind her during her mental battle. She backed up quickly and found herself looking into a face she hadn’t seen since high school. It had been sixteen years, but she’d thought of him several times since.

  “Jack?” she asked, not wanting to assume it was him. He could have had a double that she’d never known about.

  “Adele,” he responded, the same familiar smile peeking out from his face.

  She looked him up and down and made mental notes of what was familiar and what had definitely changed. He was no longer the boy she had dated off and on from middle school through high school graduation. He had filled out in all the right places but with the same warm, brown eyes that lit up when he smiled. And what a smile. It still made her heart skip a beat after all these years. It was what had convinced her to date him. His short, brown hair gave him more sex appeal than the longer, curly style he used to wear.

  She didn’t say something witty about how nice it was to run into him, quite literally, or tell him how often she’d thought of him since graduating years before. Instead, she found herself bluntly asking, “What the hell ...”

  Jack grinned broadly, clearly nonplussed by the question. “I just moved back,” he replied, chuckling slightly.

  For the second time in less than ten minutes, Adele turned a brilliant shade of red. “Sorry, that didn’t come out how I intended,” Adele muttered. “How long have you been back?” she asked with a bit more elegance. Hopefully, he won’t write me off as a complete imbecile.

  “A couple of months,” he answered, rubbing a hand carelessly across his short hair.

  The simple gesture distracted her, and she wanted more than anything to run her own fingers through his silky hair. She remembered how soft it had been the last time she’d felt the strands against her skin. She shook her head to bring her mind back to the conversation and his explanation for returning to their hometown.

  “So, I came back here,” he finished, looking at her expectantly for some kind of response.

  Damn, she thought angrily. Why on earth did I have to fantasize right when he was talking, she scolded herself. Now, I look like an uninterested idiot again. Instead of asking him to repeat himself, she settled for the chicken way out. “Well, that’s great.” Mentally, she slapped herself on the forehead. Outwardly, she attempted to look composed and interested. Something she hadn’t felt for several months.

  Jack looked down at her with a sly grin. “Do you have any plans tonight?” he asked quietly, almost as if he were afraid of her answer.

  “Why?” she asked rather rudely again. What the hell is wrong with you today, she nearly shouted aloud. “I mean, if you don’t consider staying in again to watch movies with your cat as plans, then no, I don’t.”

  Once again, Jack let out a low chuckle, the sound doing something funny to Adele’s middle. “I just noticed no ring on the left hand, so I thought I’d ask.”

  Adele looked down at her left hand. The pain of what she lost hit again, but without the normal gusto she normally felt when looking at her naked ring finger. Five minutes of making a fool of herself with Jack, and the pain faded. Nice, she thought with a glimmer of hope starting to take root in her mind.

  “Want to go get something to eat? You can choose the place then we can get caught up on all the time we’ve missed,” he went on in a single breath.

  Now, it was Adele’s turn to smile. She couldn’t help it. Something about going out to eat with this incredibly handsome man sounded very appealing. “That sounds great. So, I’m guessing this means that you don’t consider movie nights with a pet as plans?” She threw in with a smile.

  Jack laughed aloud. “If I did, then you wouldn’t be available for dinner tonight, now would you?” he asked, giving her the sexiest smile she’d ever seen.

  Her heart gave a little skip, warming her whole body down to her toes. She returned the smile, sure that hers was not half as inviting as his.

  “Where would you like to meet?” he asked, his own eyes on the floor.

  “They opened a great little restaurant a couple months ago, roughly the same time you came back, and I’ve been wanting to try it for some time,” Adele replied, her confidence and manners returning.

  “Sounds great,” Jack replied, looking her squarely in the eye.

  ~ * ~

  Adele threw another shirt on the pile of discarded clothes. She stared in disgust at the clutter of clothes on her bed. That one fit a little tight to be appropriate for a ‘catch up’ date. She wanted him to be interested in her without looking like a hooker. Grabbing a dark gray shirt with quarter length sleeves from her closet, Adele slipped it over her head and looked at herself in the mirror. The shirt still clung a little tightly to her top but then flowed out, so it wasn’t super tight around her midsection and brought out the gray in her eyes. It wasn’t exactly what she wanted but paired with her ‘sexy’ jeans, it would have to do. She still needed to fix her hair and make-up.

  “Why don’t I have anything decent to wear?” she shouted at her reflection as she ran a comb through her hair. Because you decided to go on a mad destroy-everything-in-the-house-spree, she scolded herself. “Maybe I should have made him wait until tomorrow night. It would have given me time to buy a new outfit.” Shaking her head in resignation, she continued the process of making herself look respectable yet appealing.

  Her thoughts trailed back to Jack—again. She’d often thought of him, even scrolling over his Facebook page occasionally. He’d always seemed so content, so happy with life. Adele never dreamed of reaching out to him. She often wondered how different her life would have been if she had married Jack instead of Rob. But their choice of colleges had separated them by too many states and too many miles. Adele sighed.


  Thirty minutes later, she didn’t resemble the put together hottie she once considered herself, but at least she looked better than the stay-at-home-with-her-cat lady. With a sigh, she took one last look in the mirror, grabbed her purse and headed out to her car with nerves on high alert.

  She got in her car and gripped the wheel with shaking hands. How would she make it the four blocks to the restaurant without crashing? Should she be doing this? You don’t have much of a life so getting hurt shouldn’t be a consideration. What if he doesn’t feel the same about me?

  “Oh boy,” she said quietly, hoping the crazy-and-ready-to-party part of her mind would shut up the lock-yourself-up-in-the-apartment part of her mind. If she didn’t relax soon, those fabulous armpit and back sweat stains would show everyone the depth of her nerves. “What a great first impression that would be,” she muttered. This isn’t your first time with him, you dummy. Remember, you dated him off and on all through middle school and high school. She shook her head slightly at her logic. That settled it, she needed to get out of the house more.

  Pulling into a free spot at the restaurant, she looked around and realized she had no idea what type of vehicle he drove. Pulling her shoulders back, she got out of the car, went in and did a quick head scan to see if he’d beat her there. No Jack.

  “How many?” asked a young girl of no older than sixteen.

  “Two,” Adele answered nervously, wiping her sweaty palms on the thigh of her pants.

  The hostess took her to a small table, just on the edge of the main area, with a clear view of the front door. Adele wasn’t sure if this was a good thing or not. She didn’t want to constantly watch the door while she waited for Jack to arrive. So, she opted for the chair with the back facing the entrance. Now, she just had to fight the urge to turn around every second as if she had Tourette’s.

  “I can do this,” she mumbled.

  “I’m sorry?” the hostess asked, clearly thinking that Adele had been addressing her.