Chapter 4: Aiden

 

 

I was so confused about the Chelsea situation I didn’t know what to do, but staring at her while she slept wasn’t helping. So I set out early, deciding I’d join the team for an early morning weight room session.

For some reason- no matter what was bothering me- lifting heavy things and putting them back down again always helped me clear my mind. And that’s what I needed right now, to clear my mind of all the confusing shit she’d filled it with.

Because the previous night, she’d done something so unprecedented it threw me for a loop. She apologized. With words. And she did it without any coaxing.

Granted, I was pissed, but normally she would sulk when I was mad and wait for me to be the bigger person. But on this occasion, she owned up to being wrong right away.

She claimed she got carried away, not just because of her luck getting the job she went for, but because she got swept up in the excitement of my sister’s happy day. Then she admitted that she was wrong to buy the bracelet for herself, but that the saleswoman was so persuasive that she fell for her tactics and lost the run of herself.

And surprisingly, I thought all her excuses were valid.

But the most ridiculous thing was the personal growth she demonstrated by calling to cancel the order immediately.  

It was the most mature thing she’d done in weeks. And while I knew it was completely idiotic of me, I was kind of proud of her for reacting so well to a situation that hadn’t gone exactly how she wanted it to.

So even though I wanted to be mad, I couldn’t sustain it because she made it all better by undoing her bad behavior and impressing me at the same time. Plus, it was a little hypocritical of me to be so mad at her.

After all, I’m the one that started spoiling her rotten from the minute we started dating. I’m the one that told her to use the credit card if she needed to, though I explicitly remember using the phrase “for emergencies.” And I’m the one that had gotten her every gift she’d ever wanted because it made me happy to treat her so why wouldn’t she think she should just take out the middle man and pick up her own birthday present?

She probably thought she was doing me a favor, which I suppose she would’ve been if I saw any future for our relationship.

Still, I didn’t want to end things on bad terms.

Unfortunately, I realized I didn’t really have a leg to stand on with the black underwear accusation. No matter how I tried to verbalize my concern, I sounded like a total psycho.

Can you explain why your black underwear is dirty?

For whom did you wear this underwear because it wasn’t me?

Where were you when you last wore this underwear?

It seemed ridiculous. Laughable even. I needed to chill out. Our relationship needed work, not paranoia. As a result, I decided to ride out Chelsea’s mature mood and have a conversation with her in which we could reset our expectations. I planned to go over our current financial situation and figure out exactly what we both considered a fair arrangement.

I would discuss how I wanted us to argue going forward so that no one’s feelings would get hurt, and if that went well, I might try to suggest she go see a nutritionist. I figured that might go down better than the whole shrink idea did since I could actually sell it as something that wouldn’t interfere with her relentless ambition to physically disappear.

In fact, by the time I was done maxing out in the weight room, I was feeling clear headed and ready to give her another shot.

I texted her before I got in the shower and asked if she wanted to meet for lunch. By the time I was out, she’d already gotten back to me saying that she couldn’t because she was volunteering at the nursing home again, but maybe we could get dinner.

And by dinner, I’m sure she meant Grey Goose.

I don’t know if it was the endorphins pumping through my body that gave me the crazy idea or what, but I decided that I should go surprise her at the nursing home. After all, her Grandma Rose was a total sweetheart, and there was probably at least one old guy looking for a game of competitive chess whose day I could make.

Hell, I might even learn something.

Besides, I was sort of curious to see how Chelsea managed herself when she was surrounded by a bunch of people who had committed what she considered to be the only sin greater than getting fat: aging, which she often substituted for the phrase “letting oneself go.” As if surrendering to gravity was a deliberate decision people made when they hit fifty.

What’s more, she’d been spending a lot of time with the other volunteers so I was bound to meet them eventually. Why not speed up the process? Maybe I was just being all Alpha and trying to check out the group and make sure no one was after my girl, but a guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.

So as soon as I left the gym, I hopped on the expressway and headed for Leafy Lakes Lodge. Twenty minutes later, I parked all the way at the back of the lot so no one would dent my car and headed inside.

The woman at the front desk greeted me with an automatic smile. “Hello, sir. What can I do for you?”

“I’m here to see Rose Delacroix?”

“Relation?”

“Her granddaughter’s boyfriend.”

“Very well,” she said, lifting an open binder onto the counter. “If you could just sign in there, please.”

I wrote my name and the date and time. I didn’t see Chelsea’s name above mine, but I figured that was only because regular volunteers didn’t have to sign in as visitors.

“Thank you-” The woman craned her neck to check my signature. “Aiden.” Then she checked her watch. “Rose should be in the sitting room now with her friends.” She raised an arm and pointed down one of the hallways. “Straight down that way. Third door on your left. It should be open.”

I thanked her and headed down the corridor, peeking in the rooms as I went by, hoping it wouldn’t be too long before someone offered me a butterscotch candy.

I saw Rose as soon as I stepped through door number three. “Hi Rose,” I said, lifting a hand and nodding to her and her friends. “Ladies.”

“Aiden! What a nice surprise.” She put her hands on the front of her armrests.

“Don’t get up,” I said, grabbing an empty chair and planting it beside her.

“Oh sure, the day I’m not wearing my glasses a hunk of man candy shows up,” her friend said, throwing her hands in the air. “Isn’t that just my luck?”

“Don’t mind Betty,” Rose said. “She’d only undress you with her eyes if she had ‘em on.”

“I’d undress you with my hands, too, if it weren’t for my arthritis,” Betty added.

“How are you?” Rose asked.

“I’m great,” I said. “Though I bet I’d be better if I came to see you more.”

“And me,” Betty said. “I’m the one that’ll give you something to smile about.”

Rose rolled her eyes.

“Is Chelsea around?” I asked, my eyes bouncing between the knitters and card players around the edge of the room.

“Chelsea?”

“Yeah, I thought she was coming to see you today.”

“That would be a wonderful surprise. I haven’t seen her since March.”

“March?” I asked, wondering if Rose was losing it after all. “I thought she was here more recently than that?” Like last week.

Rose turned to Betty. “Wasn’t it March?” Rose asked. “Remember when you met my Granddaughter?”

“The hungry looking one?” Betty asked.

Rose gave her a look and squeezed my knee. “The slim blonde, yes.”

“It was March alright,” Betty said. “I remember because it was around the time my husband died.”

“I’m so sorry,” I said.

“Oh don’t be, pet,” Betty said. “He died fifteen years ago.”

“So it was definitely March then,” Rose said. “Haven’t seen her since.”

“My bad,” I said. “I must have gotten her confused with someone.” Someone I could trust.