lawn.
“Hey now, what did that trash can ever do to you?”
It’s Nathan. He’s standing at the bottom of the steps, looking up at me with raised eyebrows. I notice his t-shirt and remember I stole his sweatshirt, oops. He doesn’t look cold, he looks hot, I avert my eyes and take the steps down to him two at a time.
“I’m guessing it didn’t go that well?” he asks.
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” I walk past him and head back across the parking lot, toward the hotel. “Come on.”
Nathan hesitates a second, then sighs and starts to follow after me. I’m walking way too fast for comfort, but I’m so mad that I can’t help it. Of course, Nathan has no problem keeping up with me.
“What happened?” he asks, not even the slightest bit out of breath like I am.
“Nothing, it doesn’t matter, no one cares.” I pick up my pace even more, partly because I’m upset and partly because I just realized the more distance I get between Nathan and the diner full of truth, the better.
“Of course it matters, if you’re this upset, it must matter.”
I can feel the tears starting to form behind my eyes, and I jog the last few steps to the room, desperate to get inside before any tears escape from my eyes. “It’s nothing, I just need to shower, I feel gross and smell like car.” This makes no sense, since my car is brand new, but whatever, I’m just babbling at this point anyway. I reach into Nathan’s sweatshirt pocket and pull out the keycard, sticking it into the slot, and opening the door.
Nathan follows me inside and the door slams shut behind him. He let’s out an annoyed sigh, back to treating me like I’m ridiculous. “Whatever you say, then maybe we can get on the road. No offense, but I’ve had just about enough fun for one 24 hour span.”
I don’t even look at me, instead heading straight to the bathroom.
“No problem,” I say, slamming the door shut behind me.
It’s not until I’ve safely locked the door, turned the water on, and allowed my body to slip down to the floor that I finally surrender to the tears that have been waiting to spill out for what feels like forever.
***
Twenty minutes later I feel clean, refreshed, and at least a little bit better. I had tried my best, that’s all anyone could ask of me. It wasn’t my fault that Kathleen hadn’t believed me. That clearly had more to do with her and Stephanie’s relationship as mother and daughter than it did with me. Kathleen didn’t even know me, so for me to take this personal was silly, it wasn’t even about me. I would just have to explain it to Eric, and if he didn’t get it then he could just march up here himself and talk to that crazy woman for himself.
No way I was going back inside there, I wasn’t getting taken to jail for Stephanie, I had tried. So why did I still feel so horrible? I decided the only thing I could do was get myself home and talk to Eric, hopefully when I told him what was going on he would be able to make more sense of this than I could.
I swing open the door of the bathroom, a cloud of steam following me. Taking a shower had just been an excuse to get away from Nathan, but I had to admit it had made me feel a little better. My hair was all wet, and Nathan’s sweatshirt felt soft on my skin, I felt refreshed. And now we could get on the road and I could forget all about Stephanie, Kathleen, and the stupid wellness center for the next few hours. That sounded great to me.
Only Nathan’s not in the room when I come out of the bathroom, I glance around the room, but it looks deserted. Great, this was typical. He was probably already in the car, waiting for me. Why did he have to be so rude?
I grab my purse off the table at the front of the room and swing the door open. I was honestly getting sick and tired of how rude he was, it was the last thing I needed at this time of the morning, especially considering what had just happened. Hopefully he would sleep the whole way
“Hey now, what did that trash can ever do to you?”
It’s Nathan. He’s standing at the bottom of the steps, looking up at me with raised eyebrows. I notice his t-shirt and remember I stole his sweatshirt, oops. He doesn’t look cold, he looks hot, I avert my eyes and take the steps down to him two at a time.
“I’m guessing it didn’t go that well?” he asks.
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” I walk past him and head back across the parking lot, toward the hotel. “Come on.”
Nathan hesitates a second, then sighs and starts to follow after me. I’m walking way too fast for comfort, but I’m so mad that I can’t help it. Of course, Nathan has no problem keeping up with me.
“What happened?” he asks, not even the slightest bit out of breath like I am.
“Nothing, it doesn’t matter, no one cares.” I pick up my pace even more, partly because I’m upset and partly because I just realized the more distance I get between Nathan and the diner full of truth, the better.
“Of course it matters, if you’re this upset, it must matter.”
I can feel the tears starting to form behind my eyes, and I jog the last few steps to the room, desperate to get inside before any tears escape from my eyes. “It’s nothing, I just need to shower, I feel gross and smell like car.” This makes no sense, since my car is brand new, but whatever, I’m just babbling at this point anyway. I reach into Nathan’s sweatshirt pocket and pull out the keycard, sticking it into the slot, and opening the door.
Nathan follows me inside and the door slams shut behind him. He let’s out an annoyed sigh, back to treating me like I’m ridiculous. “Whatever you say, then maybe we can get on the road. No offense, but I’ve had just about enough fun for one 24 hour span.”
I don’t even look at me, instead heading straight to the bathroom.
“No problem,” I say, slamming the door shut behind me.
It’s not until I’ve safely locked the door, turned the water on, and allowed my body to slip down to the floor that I finally surrender to the tears that have been waiting to spill out for what feels like forever.
***
Twenty minutes later I feel clean, refreshed, and at least a little bit better. I had tried my best, that’s all anyone could ask of me. It wasn’t my fault that Kathleen hadn’t believed me. That clearly had more to do with her and Stephanie’s relationship as mother and daughter than it did with me. Kathleen didn’t even know me, so for me to take this personal was silly, it wasn’t even about me. I would just have to explain it to Eric, and if he didn’t get it then he could just march up here himself and talk to that crazy woman for himself.
No way I was going back inside there, I wasn’t getting taken to jail for Stephanie, I had tried. So why did I still feel so horrible? I decided the only thing I could do was get myself home and talk to Eric, hopefully when I told him what was going on he would be able to make more sense of this than I could.
I swing open the door of the bathroom, a cloud of steam following me. Taking a shower had just been an excuse to get away from Nathan, but I had to admit it had made me feel a little better. My hair was all wet, and Nathan’s sweatshirt felt soft on my skin, I felt refreshed. And now we could get on the road and I could forget all about Stephanie, Kathleen, and the stupid wellness center for the next few hours. That sounded great to me.
Only Nathan’s not in the room when I come out of the bathroom, I glance around the room, but it looks deserted. Great, this was typical. He was probably already in the car, waiting for me. Why did he have to be so rude?
I grab my purse off the table at the front of the room and swing the door open. I was honestly getting sick and tired of how rude he was, it was the last thing I needed at this time of the morning, especially considering what had just happened. Hopefully he would sleep the whole way
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