Sometimes while I look at her, when she’s smiling in her sleep, I wonder how I got so lucky to have this woman in my life. And it’s even harder to keep the secrets from her, but until I know for sure, I won’t burden her with my sorrows just yet. She doesn’t need my worries.
The soft-spoken words of last night were true. I’m in love with her and I will do everything in my powers to hold on to her. But first.
“Where have you been? First, I thought maybe I got the wrong apartment until I found a bank statement with your name on it. Then I thought you might be working later, so I ignored it, but when I woke up in the middle of the night you were still not home and now you’re just walking through the door. Where the fuck have you been?”
“Hello Samantha, care to explain how you got into my apartment?” I’m cool and content.
“I told your landlord I was your wife, duh, I lost my key, fucker believed every word,” she laughs but pissed off.
“I’d like you to leave please,” I’m still quiet and just willing to get her out of my apartment without causing a scene for Melody to overhear.
Samantha laughs, “Yeah, whatever. I have nowhere else to be.”
“How’d you find me anyway?”
“Babe, I have my ways,” she snorts.
“Well, take those ways and please leave, I’m no longer your home,” I make clear,
“You wish,” she makes herself comfortable on my couch and I notice a hint of a growing stomach peek through underneath her shirt.
“I’m not kidding, Samantha. You need to get out. You’re the one who cheated on me, you’re just sorry you got caught, not that you’ve done it, so for the last time, leave,” I slowly open the door to see if Melody’s in the hallway. Coast is clear, “Here’s the door, GO,” my voice tends to get a louder.
“Fine,” she gets off the couch, “Abby, that’s what I’m naming your daughter and I are leaving,” she struts by my jingling keys before me, “but I’m keeping these, courtesy of your lovely landlord,” and as I try to pry them away from her, she’s already stuck them into her pocket and left. Unfuckingbelievable.
“Love you babe,” she screams as I slam the door in her face and while I stare through my peep hole, she fades away and Melody’s door remains close.
Sighing, “Shit, that was close,” I continue about my business in the apartment, but a knock scares the living daylights out of me. I actually almost screamed like a girl.
One look through the peep hole before I open and let the devil in, I see a beautiful Melody before me.
“Okay, where are they?” she marches through the day as a woman on a mission.
“What? Who? She’s gone? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” a nervous stutter.
“Huh? The roach’s silly, they were females? Damn,” she’s laughing as she circles around the apartment.
“Oooh, right,” I remember the cockroach story I concocted, “I got rid of them, it turns out it was just one and I squashed him like you wouldn’t believe. Hey, how about we go out for lunch to celebrate?”
New York City is so big you won’t be running into any exes or crazy women, right? I mean, what are the odds I’d run into Samantha out and about. I just have to convince Melody that we should venture to other parts of the city, not just locally and around the corner, that’s where Samantha would be and expect us. Still it surprises me to see her. She’s from out of state. She’s an Arkansas girl, a very high maintenance southern Girl. I wish she would move home and just forget I ever existed, I wish I could do that, pretend she never was a relationship in my life, attempting to erase her, but it’s extremely hard when she shows up and now apparently owns a set of keys to my apartment. That alone scares the shit out of me.
With my girl enclosed tight in my arms, we walk the streets of the city in search of something to eat. She’s giddy as I’m a bit of standoffish trying to come up with ways to tell her the truth without her running into a direction far away from me. If I lose her, I’d lost everything I’d ever asked for in my life. All those birthday wishes over the years wishing for the perfect woman will all have been for nothing when I fuck it up by keeping the truth from Melody. And no one really deserves that. But I decide on a romantic dinner and maybe even introduce Samantha to her, maybe that’ll make Sam realize I’ve moved on and so should she. If this is my baby, I’ll have to take responsibility. If it’s not, then this nightmare will be over and I can move forward.
“You’re really quiet today, is everything okay?” Melody looks concerned.
“Just something on my mind, I’d like to surprise you with a romantic dinner tonight, how’s that sound?” that should be clue enough why I’m a bit quiet.
“Oh really? Will I be wowed?”
“If I do it right, I hope you will be,” we kiss in the middle of the street as a Taxi drives by and happens to hit the only puddle in the road splashing and drenching us from head to toe.
“Should’ve gotten a room,” some elderly woman says from her apartment window as Melody and I just break down laughing.
Any other woman would’ve been freaking out about our good clothes ruined by the nasty city water that covered us, but Melody’s belly laugh said otherwise. She was cracking up and I had to hold her up from passing out on the ground. Even covered in dirt and grime, she’s still the most beautiful girl in the world.