Shouldn't Be by Melissa Silvey Page B

phone chimed.  She knew it wasn’t Alex; he might as well have fallen off the face of the world.  She hadn’t heard from him since he went to the basketball camp.
    I’m sorry I left you so suddenly.  It was a family emergency.  I’ll explain more later.  Ben.
     
    * * *
     
    She spent the next three days sadly free of Ben’s pestering.  She’d only spent two weekends with him, or four nights to be exact.  She missed him, but she wouldn’t admit it to him.  She spent her free time doing yoga and reading.
    Eventually she texted Mandy, and asked her out to dinner so they could complain about men.  “Have you seen or heard from Bobby?”
    “No, not a damn thing,” Mandy grumbled, and sipped on her daiquiri.
    “What is wrong with men?” 
    “They’re stupid.  I mean look at us.  We’re both strong, beautiful, and independent women.  Why don’t we have men all over us?”  Kaity shrugged.  Mandy continued.  “Speaking of stupid men, tell me what’s going on with Alex.”
    “I don’t have any idea what’s going on with Alex,” Kaitlyn admitted.  “I see him like, once a week, and I never hear from him other than that.”
    “Do you think he’s seeing someone else?”
    “Probably, I don’t know.”  Kaitlyn sighed.  “How else would you explain it?”
    “I think he is a fucking moron,” Mandy said seriously.  “Do you ever think you and I should get together?”
    “Maybe, before I met Ben,” Kaitlyn smirked. 
    “So if you and I are still alone in three years, we’ll be together, okay?” 
    “Okay.”  Mandy looked shocked, but only because she didn’t know if Kaitlyn was serious.  “Let’s get you home. I think you’re hammered.”
    When Kaitlyn dropped Mandy off at her apartment, Mandy looked her right in the eyes, grabbed her cheeks, and kissed her lips.  They’d done it before, lots of times.  But this time felt different.  Mandy pulled away and grinned happily, then hurried up to her apartment. 
    Finally on the fourth day, when she assumed that Ben had forgotten about her, he texted her. 
    I’m going crazy.  I need to see you.
    She smiled with relief when she got the message.  She didn’t answer immediately.  She made him wait five minutes.  When and where?
    Ray’s, around seven?
    Sounds fine, she replied.   Then she realized she had to plan an outfit, and she hadn’t washed her hair that morning, and it would take forever to blow out.  So she scrambled to call the salon to find out if they could fit her in.
    Why was she trying so hard to look good for him?  She pondered the thought as she stared into the mirror, watching the stylist give her hair a look that said she didn’t need to go to the salon to look this fabulous.  She carefully did her make-up, and dressed in jeans so tight that they looked painted on, and a loose shirt that barely reached her waist.  She didn’t know why she had to look so good for him.  She just did.
     
    * * *
     
    At seven, she drove her expensive convertible into the parking lot of the bar.  She easily found his truck, and pulled in beside it.  She should have taken a cab, she thought at the last minute.  But she parked the car and climbed out.  She leaned up against the side of it, waiting for him to exit the truck.
    He frowned at her as he stepped down out of the cab of his beat up vehicle.  For some reason he knew in the back of his mind that the car was hers.  It was the way Mandy tried to hand the keys to Lyn, and she’d refused them. 
    “Nice car,” he said when he leaned against his own truck, facing her.  “How does a waitress afford a car like that?”
    She chuckled then. 
    He wrapped his arms around his chest defensively.  He didn’t like her nervous laugh at all.  “Did your boyfriend buy it?” 
    She laughed even harder.  If he only knew, she thought.  Alex didn’t even buy his own dinner when they went out.   
    “Stop doing that,” he groaned, and kicked his foot against his