Chapter 34
The flight to Boston was excruciating. I did not sleep, so I stared out the window at nothing. That's how I felt inside. When I landed at Logan airport in Boston, there was a car to pick me up. The driver had the address and drove me straight to my crappy apartment.
When I walked inside, I saw that the only thing that had changed was that all my plants had died. I set all of my bags in the living room and threw myself into the chair. Looking around the small, dank apartment made me miss Nick a lot. Both of his houses were castles compared to my dungeon.
I finally pulled myself to my feet and went into the bedroom. Inside, there was the bed Nick had bought at the charity auction with all new sheets and blankets. Near the only window was my desk and computer that he had set up for me in my office at his house. I threw myself onto the bed and cried myself to sleep.
The next morning, I woke up in the same place I had thrown myself. I checked my phone and there were 15 missed calls from my mother, five from my father, two from Paul, and 30 texts, mostly from my mother.
I called my mother first, then my father, and finally, Paul. All were pretty mad that I hadn’t called when I landed in Boston, but Paul had contacted the driver and he assured them that I was delivered home, safe and sound. I had to promise my mother that I would visit New York as soon as I was settled. My father said he would be in Boston in a month and would like to see me. Of course I wanted to see him.
There was a knock at the door and I opened to find a UPS man with dozens of boxes to deliver. I opened the boxes to find my wardrobe that had been purchased by Paul and Nick. I didn’t want to keep them, I was incredibly saddened to see it. However, the realist in me won out, and I kept the clothes because I didn’t want to spend the money to replace the wardrobe. All the clothes were top of the line.
After a shower and a change of my clothes, I walked to the corner store to pick up some food, as I had nothing in the apartment.
“Abby?” A voice called from behind me.
I spun around to see David Miller, a guy I knew from the hospital after I tried to kill myself.
“David?”
“Oh, my God, it is you. How are you?”
He ran toward me and spun me around in a tight hug.
“I’m okay, how are you?”
“I’m pretty good, actually. I’m getting married in two weeks.”
“Really? Wow, that’s great, David! Congratulations! Who’s the lucky guy?”
“Ooh,” he gushed. “His name is Jameson. We met at the therapist, can you believe that? The doctor sees us now as a couple,” he laughed.
“Wow! Do you still see Dr. Wendell?”
“Yep, every other week.”
“I should make an appointment,” I said absently
“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you around town in ages?”
“I went out to Portland to spend the summer with my Godfather.”
“Wow! How was that?”
“Well, I went out thinking I would find a job and build a life. Instead, I got into a terrible car accident and had my heart broken.”
“I noticed you had a cane. I thought it was something to do with fashion. Never know with you Breeders.”
“A cane for fashion? David, you’re a trip.”
“Let’s have coffee! We have to catch up and you have to meet Jameson.”
“Can we meet in like an hour? I wanna take my groceries home and put them away.”
“Okay, an hour, at Café Lulu. Give me your phone number. You’re not ditching me.”
We exchanged numbers and I walked back to my apartment. After I had put away my groceries, I had about 10 minutes to kill before I had to go back to meet David. I checked my email, saw nothing of importance, and left to meet my friend.
“Abby!” David screeched from the sidewalk as he entered the Café. “You came!”
“You didn’t give me much choice,” I said, standing to greet them.
“That’s true. Abby, darling, this is the love of my life, Jameson Fowler. This is the Abby that I’ve talked about for months.”
“The Abby! I’m so happy to meet you,” Jameson said, hugging me fiercely. “This one has told me so much about you!”
“I’m afraid I can’t say the same, I’ve been sort of out of the loop for a while. I just got back to Boston yesterday.”
I told them the condensed version of my adventure in Portland, leaving out anything about assaults or rapes or murder or anything else illegal. I also gave them the short, short version of how Nick broke my heart and I was still grieving that loss. They told me about how they would pass each other in the sitting area of Dr. Wendell’s office until Jameson waited until after David’s appointment one day and they went on their first date.
“Gosh, I feel so out of everything,” I said. “How long have you been together?”
“Nine months,” they answered together, laughing.
“You both seem so much in love.”
They looked into each other’s eyes and I could tell that they were both, truly happy.
“We are, Abby,” David said.
I saw Jameson elbow David and motion with his head and eyes.
“Oh, my God,” David said. “Abby, you must come to the wedding.”
“Oh, David. I don’t know. I just got back, I don’t know. I don’t have a way to get there.”
“Nonsense, get a car service,” David said, flippantly.
“What makes you think I can afford that?”
“Well, you’re wearing designer clothes and carrying a designer hand bag. So, I’m thinking you may have a little something-something hidden away.”
“I don’t have a date. And I’m just not sure I’m ready, after Nick…”
David leaned in close, lowering his voice, “Abigail Moss, I know for a fact that the reason you were in the hospital was because you fell apart after a brutal break up. You’re not gonna lock yourself up in your shit-hole apartment and shut off your life because some jackass broke your heart.”
“David, I…”
“I’m not finished! You are one of the most beautiful, smartest, sexiest women I know. You have the biggest heart and you’d do anything for anyone you care about. Don’t let some piece of shit man, who, apparently, doesn’t have a bit of sense, ruin your life. You need to get up and get out. If I were a single man, I’d be dragging you out to clubs and making out with you to make the boys jealous.”
I laughed, “I know, David. I’ll go, okay.”
“Hooray!” David clapped.
“Here’s the invite and all the info you’ll need,” Jameson said, pulling an invitation from his bag. “You can open it and give me back the RSVP card right now.”
I did what he told me, not wanting to get another lecture. Now I would have to go, no matter what. In a way, I was pretty excited to go. There would be nothing more extravagant than a big, gay wedding on Cape Cod.