Chapter Thirty-four
Morgan
I wake up at like, 5:00 a.m. Monday morning, almost two hours before my alarm is supposed to go off. My plan is to go to Dex's apartment right from work. I honestly don't know if he will want to get back together, but I need to at least apologize to him for the way I acted both during the breakup and last week at the bar. I think either outcome will provide me with the closure I need to move on with my life.
I am surprised at seeing Gia when I enter the kitchen. She is never up this early since she is a freelance writer and blogger. She tends to be a night owl and sleeps in late since she doesn’t have a work commute. Seeing her up before 6:00 a.m. is unusual.
“Wow, I didn’t know you could function this early in the morning,” I say nudging her. She’s staring lifelessly down at her favorite mug as it slowly fills with some extra-strong smelling coffee.
“I haven’t gone to bed yet,” she says, as if she’s in a trance.
“What? Why?” I pull a banana out of the fruit bowl next to the coffee maker. “Why not go to bed now instead of downing all that caffeine? You look exhausted.”
“Can’t. I’m on this crazy deadline. I told you about that huge entertainment news site that I want to write for, right?” She finally looks at me, as though I’ve broken the Keurig spell she was under. She looks at me with droopy eyes and an electric smile, “They want me to produce several articles for them on a trial basis. They are all due today at noon. And if they like what I write, I’ll get a trial run as a contributor.”
“Oh my gosh, Gia, that is awesome!” I squeal, leaning in and squeezing an arm around her shoulder.
“Yeah, but don’t get too excited. I’ll get paid peanuts and write the crap fluffy pieces their full-time staff doesn’t want. But at least it’s a foot in the door.”
“Whatever, I’m still excited for you. I see TV premieres and award shows in your future, Gia,” I squeal again.
She smiles and snags her coffee as I start devouring my banana. I’m really not hungry, but I need to put something in my twisting stomach.
“So, I know you normally get up early, but why are you up this early?” Gia asks.
“Couldn’t sleep, so I figured I would just go into work early. Get some work done, then maybe break out early. I mean, ick, Mondays.” I try to say with nonchalance.
An eyebrow shoots up over her coffee mug as she sips, “Really?”
I shrug, “Yup! I’ll just be heading out now. Good luck today getting your writing done.”
I pick up my purse from the table and head to the door.
“Right,” she follows me into the living room as she drags out the word. “You do realize it’s still dark out, right? Why on Earth do you want to leave now? Why not hang out and watch some TV? Read some? There’s no good reason to leave this early.”
Trying to play it cool, I agree, “You’re right, silly me. I didn’t realize it was so early. Catching up on world events sounds like a great idea.” I plop down on the couch and grab the remote to flip on the TV.
“If you say so, Morgan. But you’re acting kind of twitchy, almost like you’re nervous about something. Actually, I’ll be willing to guess you are gonna go see Dex after work and just don’t want to tell me in case it doesn’t go well. But then again, what do I know?”
I catch the smirk on her face as she turns down the hall and says over her shoulder, “Good luck, Mo.”
I just shake my head and try and focus on the local news. She knows me too well to believe I'd really go into work this early to well…work.
I last about forty-five minutes watching the news. I decide to walk to work, to kill some time, plus it's beautiful out already, now that the sun is up. The drive to and from the office is only about eight minutes, but traffic can be a pain, so walking is a nice change of pace, since it’s only a twenty-five-minute walk. I walk home from work several times a month, mostly when I'm knee-deep in an audiobook and want the extra time to listen to it.
I've got my current playlist pumping through my earbuds as I walk. I get closer and closer to work, and I can't shake the feeling that something big is going to happen today. Since I woke up antsy, my nerves have nothing to do but get worse. In a split-second decision, I decide to go to Dex's now; there’s no way I can wait all day to see him. In a quick minute, I call in sick to work. I call my boss and leave a message on her phone letting her know I'll be out today.
I get ready to hail a cab when I realize that it's only 7:30 a.m., and that's way too early to show up and try to win back your boyfriend. So, I guess I’ll kill some more time and walk a few blocks to the nearest Starbucks. I’ll grab a seat and attempt to work through the book I'm reading.
I order myself a white chocolate peppermint mocha and find a comfy chair by a window. I quickly realize, that reading just isn’t gonna work. I stare out of the window and think about what I’m going to say to Dex when I’m finally face-to-face with him.
I watch the growingly busy sidewalks outside the shop when my phone vibrates with an incoming email. I realize I’ve been daydreaming for more than thirty minutes, and it’s past 8:00 a.m., so I throw away my empty mocha cup and order Dex a coffee. I’ll come bearing gifts. Maybe that will earn me some points this early in the morning.
I’m about twenty minutes away from Dex if I walk, but I decide to jump in a cab. It only takes a few short moments before I’m climbing into the back of one. The cabbie is texting and doesn’t seem to hear me when I give him the address. Ok, I’ll wait, I guess.
Finally pulling his eye from his phone, he asks in an exasperated tone where I’m going. I rattle off the address again and lean back into the seat. The cab pulls away from the curb with a screech. Dang. I picked the wrong cab this morning.
Traffic this time of morning is stop and go at times. And I swear I’m getting whiplash from all the jerky stops. Dex’s piping hot coffee has almost ended up in my lap twice now.
Finally, we pull off on a side street away from the busy street we were stuck on. Good, going a reasonable speed with less break checking sounds good. My stomach starts to twist in knots the closer we get to Dex’s apartment. When those little butterflies deep in my belly start fluttering again, and I know I’m doing the right thing. I smile down at the coffee in my hands when the cabbie suddenly lets out a strangled, “Fuck!”
My head snaps up to see the train barreling towards us as we cross the tracks. Only seconds pass before the massive, 200-ton train rams into the back-end of the cab. The coffee in my grip flies from my hand as I’m flung across the back seat and a scream is ripped from my throat.
The last thing I feel is my head slamming against the window. The last thing I hear is the sound of the car coming to a smashing stop.