Thanks for dropping me off at the car rental, guys. I’m sorry I have to leave early.”
“We are too. Are you sure you don’t want us to drive you? It’s only a two-hour trip.”
“No, you stay here and enjoy the rest of your time. We’ll get together soon. Love you, guys.”
“We love you, too,” Jane said as they hugged good-bye.
Annie was next. “You drive carefully and text us when you get home so we know you arrived safe.”
Morgan waved before she stepped through the door. A short time later, she was in her rental car headed home. She used the time to think back on her too-short trip to the lake. She’d truly enjoyed herself with her friends exploring the small towns that dotted the west and north shores of the lake. They’d bought some crafts at a little outdoor market, they took a walk on a path along the Truckee River, and had spent some time at the beach. Morgan had truly relaxed in the two full days she’d spent there, so much so that her anger and sadness toward Jessica had dissipated.
She felt the corners of her mouth tug as she thought of Shawn from Ray’s Diner. She was taller than Morgan by a good three or four inches, and she had a sturdy build to her—not that she considered Shawn to be overweight, but kind of brawny and athletic. Her short, dark brown hair looked thick and sat just above the collar of her T-shirt. She had the mountain woman look to her. And her eyes. Oh, those eyes that were the color of whiskey, and made Morgan feel a little drunk when she looked into them.
Morgan spent the rest of the drive making up stories about Shawn—what her house looked like, what activities she liked to do. She wondered if she liked to play around or if she was relationship material. Morgan would bet a year’s salary that she was fantastic in bed and knew how to please a woman. Damn, she and Jessica needed to have sex soon and get their relationship back on track. Maybe they could start tonight. They could order dinner in, have some wine, and get reconnected.
Once she’d arrived in Sacramento, Morgan drove straight to her office to look over Steve’s email and get prepped for tomorrow’s meeting. That way, there’d be no distractions, and she’d be able to enjoy her night with Jess. She shot off a quick text to Jane to let her know she’d arrived safe and told them to have fun.
Morgan had spent a good four hours reviewing all of the notes Steve had emailed her, and she did some research on the doctor she’d be meeting with. She had no intention of adding anything to Steve’s notes and presentation, but she also didn’t want to get caught with her skirt around her ankles. She wanted to be as prepared as she could be to answer any questions Dr. Molinari might have. Satisfied she was as prepared as she was going to be, she turned off her computer and locked her office.
While driving home, butterflies started moving around in her stomach as she anticipated surprising Jess by being home two days early. Her excitement increased as she pulled into their driveway next to Jess’s Acura. Morgan’s car was parked in the garage already. She unlocked the front door, expecting Jess to be in the living room, but it was empty, as was the kitchen. As she walked down the hallway, she peeked into Jess’s home office, not wanting to startle her. Empty. I wonder if she’s taking a nap. She opened the door to their bedroom where she found Jess—with another woman sitting on her face, Jess’s hands on the other woman’s hips. The bag that dropped from Morgan’s hand caused a loud thud. Jess and her floozy looked her way, and Morgan grabbed the doorway to steady herself. Her pulse raced with fury and she felt like her legs were about to give way. She never once considered coming home to find her girlfriend cheating on her.
“Morgan, I can explain,” Jess started as she used her sheet—HER sheet—to wipe the woman’s juices off her mouth.
Nausea and rage rumbled like an inferno through Morgan’s body. “Pack your shit and get the fuck out of my house. Now!” Morgan turned and quickly made her way to the kitchen. She pulled down a glass from her cupboard and fumbled while removing the cork from the bottle of whiskey she saved for special occasions, and she took a healthy swallow. This was an occasion, all right. She poured another finger, which went down her throat easier than the first time, leaving a slight burn down to her stomach.
She heard the front door slam then she poured another finger that she intended on sipping. She turned to find Jess standing there in ripped jeans, a V-neck T-shirt, and barefoot. She had her nerve standing before Morgan. Any other time, Morgan would’ve found that look sexy as fuck, but now all she wanted to do was throw up.
“I didn’t expect you back so soon.”
Morgan had a sour taste in her mouth as she replayed the betrayal she’d walked in on just five minutes ago. She was speechless.
“It didn’t mean anything, Morgan. She’s just a woman I met the other night. Baby, she doesn’t mean anything.”
Morgan’s entire body shook as she felt the explosion coming like a volcano ready to erupt. She locked her knees to prevent herself from falling to the floor due to the sudden weakness in her legs.
“No, Jess, obviously, I don’t mean anything to you, otherwise you never would’ve cheated on me. Seriously? You bring another woman into our house?” Morgan slapped her hand against her chest. “MY house and fuck her in our bed?” Morgan was screaming, but she would not give Jess the satisfaction of seeing her cry. “Pack a bag and get the hell out of my house. I’ll call you when you can pick up the rest of your shit.”
Jess took a step toward Morgan, and she put her hands up to stop Jess from advancing. “I swear, Jess, if you don’t get out of here in five minutes, I’ll throw all your shit on the front lawn and set it on fire. Go! Now!”
Jess turned around and headed back down the hall. What the hell did she just walk into? Three years of her life, their relationship destroyed, over a one-night stand, or one-weekend stand. Did Jess have so little respect for Morgan? Maybe that explained their drifting apart, their lack of sex. Had she been cheating all along? Morgan pinched the bridge of her nose, forcing herself to take deep breaths despite feeling like her chest was being squeezed. She clinched her fists and pounded them into her thigh muscles, wishing it was Jess’s face instead. She wanted Jess to hurt as much as she did at that moment. Jess came back out to the living room with her suitcase and looked at Morgan.
“I’m going now.”
Morgan finished off her whiskey and raised an eyebrow. “Bye.”
When Jess closed the door behind her, Morgan hurled the glass at the door, and it shattered into a thousand pieces. Morgan crumpled to the floor and buried her face in her hands. She’d expected the tears to start as soon as Jess walked out the door, but maybe she was too shocked to cry. Instead, her whole body trembled. She wrapped her arms around herself as tight as she could and started rocking back and forth in an effort to calm down.
Morgan didn’t know how long she’d been sitting on the floor, but her house was almost dark. It was time to get herself together and do what needed to be done. She stood and went to her bedroom where she stripped off the sheets, blanket, and comforter, and she took them outside to throw in the trash. She grabbed a box of trash bags and started stuffing them with everything that belonged to Jess—clothes, shoes, toiletries, makeup. She picked up Jess’s jewelry box, took out the TAG Heuer watch Morgan had given her for her birthday and stomped on it over and over, rendering it useless. She threw the jewelry box into one of the garbage bags, tied it up, and took it out to the garage. She went into Jess’s office, and loaded up more garbage bags with her books, computer, and knickknacks. She sat in her chair and went through the desk drawers to make sure nothing of hers was there. In the middle drawer on the right, she’d found letters written to Jess that weren’t from Morgan. The author of said letters explicitly explained how sexy she found Jess, and what she couldn’t wait to do to her when Jess’s girlfriend left town. “I know you’re planning on breaking up with her for me, but I can hardly wait until we’re together for real.” Met her at a bar, my ass.
There were only three letters, but they weren’t signed, only an initial, D. Morgan ripped the letters in half and threw them in one of the bags. Framed pictures of Morgan and Jess throughout the house went in a different bag that would go into the trash can outside. By midnight, the whole house had been cleared of everything that belonged to Jess. Tomorrow, she’d have to order a new mattress and have the old one hauled away. In the meantime, Morgan would be sleeping in the guest room. She crawled into bed utterly exhausted, feeling completely numb, though she’d be surprised if any sleep came her way.
She tried putting Jess out of her mind by thinking about the presentation she had to give tomorrow. Thankfully, it was scheduled for mid-morning. She’d have enough time to make herself presentable, slap on her marketing personality, then after she met with Dr. Molinari, she’d take the next couple of days off. She was technically still supposed to be on vacation, so she was going to be busy. She had a mattress to buy, locks to change, and a house to be scrubbed clean of any remnants of her cheating girlfriend.
* * *
Two days later, Morgan’s mattress was delivered, the locksmith had been out, and Morgan had texted Jess to let her know she could come by sometime that day to pick up her shit that was already packed up and sitting in front of the garage. Morgan had told her not to bother knocking or trying her key, Morgan had no interest in seeing or talking to her.
By the time Annie and Jane arrived with pizza, wine, and beer, the bags were no longer in front of the garage, much to Morgan’s relief. She still hadn’t cried—maybe she was still in shock, but the moment Jane threw her arms around Morgan and held her tight, Morgan had completely lost it. The tears fell and fell hard. Morgan saw Annie take the pizza into the kitchen, probably trying to give Morgan and Jane some privacy, but maybe she felt a little uncomfortable. As loving as Annie was to Jane, she never had been one to show her emotions to anyone but Jane.
When the tears slowed, Morgan released Jane and went in search of tissue. By the time she returned, the pizza had been plated, and the drinks were poured. They sat at the table, but Morgan had no appetite. She lifted her wine glass and took a healthy swallow. She had no problem drinking, but except for the night she discovered Jess was a cheater, she hadn’t overindulged.
“Tell us everything,” Annie commanded, and Morgan could see the fire in her eyes. She knew Annie and Jane never were crazy about Jess, but they tolerated her for Morgan’s sake.
Morgan went into full detail from the time she discovered them in bed to the time she went to sleep. Recounting the story reignited the rage inside her. She slammed her fist onto the table, making the wine slosh in the glass.
“I just don’t get it. Why wasn’t I enough for her? I have a great job, I’m not bad to look at—”
Jane and Annie both said she was gorgeous and quite the catch.
“Sure, we’d grown apart over the past few months, but I thought we could reconnect. It’s bad enough to cheat on me, but to do it in my house, in my fucking bed. That’s inexcusable!”
Jane and Annie remained silent as Morgan purged through her tirade. Morgan covered her eyes with her hands and took a deep breath. “I’m a good person. I try to help others however and whenever I can. Why can’t I find a girlfriend who is the same? I just don’t get it.”
Jane laid her hand on Morgan’s arm and she looked at Jane. “You are a wonderful person. Just like most of us, you’ve had some good relationships and some bad ones. But your ‘one’ is out there. There is a woman who is waiting for you to find her. She’s going to be kind, considerate of your feelings, and worship the ground you walk on.”
Annie refilled Morgan’s and Jane’s glasses with wine and grabbed another beer for herself. Morgan thanked her before taking a sip.
“God, I sound so pathetic. Pity party for one, please.”
“Hey, you’re allowed some time to wallow. It’s only been a couple of days after being together for three years. You just need some time.”
Annie had been pretty quiet the entire time, allowing Jane to do all the talking. Annie looked at Jane then Morgan. “You want me to go kick her ass? I will, ya know. I’ll kick her ass all the way into next week then back again.”
The seriousness on Annie’s face and tone of her voice set Morgan into a fit of laughter, followed by Jane while Annie just sat there grinning like Morgan’s protector. The thing that Morgan found so amusing was Annie was smaller than Morgan, and although Morgan considered Annie a soft butch and had an intensity about her, she really was a softie at heart.
“I love you both so much. Thank you for being here with me tonight. I know you didn’t like Jess, so you must be relieved that it’s over.”
Annie found her voice and continued to talk. “Look, just because we didn’t like her, we’d never wish for this kind of pain on you. Are we sorry she’s gone? Fuck, no, but we are sorry she hurt you. Karma has a way of being a bitch and Jess will get what she rightfully deserves. Now, stop picking at your pizza and eat a slice. If you do, then I’ll let you have more wine.”
Morgan smiled and reached her hands out to hold Jane’s and Annie’s. “You two are the best, just in case I don’t say it enough.”
“We love you, too. Now eat.”