Chapter 4
Danielle
I could not believe I had been played. I was fuming. I deleted his number from my phone. I could feel the tears swelling in my eyes.
"Why was this asshole even worth my tears?"
I pondered. I knew that Peter was coming over for dinner, and I could not allow him to see me pining over someone I had never even met in person.
Fuck!
I turned to head to my kitchen, trying to think about what I would cook for dinner tonight. I picked up a gourmet-cooking magazine to see what simple yet mind blowing recipes might be in the everyday living section. I made a promise to myself that I would avoid any thoughts of David. He was the past, and Peter was my future.
In a reflex gesture, I turned on the lights and took in the familiar trappings of my kitchen. Several dishes in the sink needing to be washed. My unopened and opened mail was scattered on the dining table. The stainless steel refrigerator had fingerprints on the front of it that needed to be wiped down. There was dust and grime on the newly finished Pergo flooring. My pantry shelves that were looking a bit bare these days, I stood in the kitchen for a few more seconds and decided that maybe Peter and I needed a night on the town.
Flipping off the light, I turned on my heels to head back to the living room to call Peter. A night out sounded like just what the doctor ordered. Dancing seemed like just the right prescription, and then when I was all hot and primed, I would bring Peter back and fuck him senseless. Smiling, I picked up the phone.
~~*~~*~~*~~
Spike
When I got off the phone with my girl, I decided to check on David. I tried to call him at least twice a week since the accident. He was doing well, but he was still having some memory loss. The doctor had said it may never come back, or that a single event could bring it all rushing back. Most likely it would return in bits and pieces, and we would have to fill in the blanks. So far, David was not remembering anything, and for that, I was a bit grateful because I would not know how to help him get over the loss. The way he talked about that girl, Danielle, I was sure he would want to get in touch with her, but too much time has passed. I was sure she had moved on.
What would you say if you were her?
"
So you had a bad car accident, you lost your memory, and now you're ready to pick up where we left off? Yeah sure, no problem. Let me just trash what's going on in my life now and pick up with you. I mean after all, it wasn't your fault, right?"
I grimaced at the notion. Sure, she might understand, but this was just too sticky a situation. I am sure if she was as great as David said she was, she would be in a relationship with someone else. I picked up my phone to call David.
~~*~~*~~*~~
David
I listened to the voices. No one sounded remotely familiar to me until message number 9. This voice was angelic, soft, and it was concerned about me.
"Hi David,
It's me, Danielle. I'm not sure what happened last night. We were supposed to meet at Starbucks. Anyway, I tried your cell, but it keeps going to voicemail. I hope you are okay, listen...I mean, if you decided you didn't want to meet, that's cool. I can totally understand that, but I did think we had something worth pursuing. So let's still be friends, unless you want to try it again, meeting that is. I would be up for that. No pressure. Man, I sound like a desperate fool. I'm going to hang up now. Hope to hear from you. You know the number. Bye."
I hit repeat and listened to that message three times. Why was I drawn to her? Her voice was very familiar to me. I hung up the house phone and reached for my cell phone. I looked through the contacts. There was no Danielle. She said I had her number. Did I have it written down somewhere? Why was it not in my phone? I was trying to think what I would have done with her number. My mother had been the one to take care of getting my new phone after the car accident. Had she transferred all my contacts from the old phone? What in the hell was Danielle's number? Maybe I saved it in the messages in my account. Picking up my home phone again, I called back into the singles line to see if any of the saved messages contained her phone number.
My call waiting interrupted me. I didn't want to click over to the other line, but the incoming call might be important.
"Hello"
"Hey D, how are you doing?" I heard Spike saying.
"Good, thanks for asking. Hey Spike, did you know I had met a girl through a singles chat line before the accident? Danielle, was that the girl I was seeing? You know, the one you said I was going to meet the night of my accident?"
"U-Um yeah, Dave, that's what you said when we had talked before you left your place to meet her that night. Why, what's up?"
"I called the chat line and was listening to my messages. There was one from her --- Danielle -- and she mentioned that I had her number. I went through my contacts on my cell phone, and there is no Danielle. How well did I know this girl?"
"Well, you were going to meet her for the first time that night, D."
"Fuck me, so this girl thinks I just blew her off? She mentioned that we had a connection." I pondered her words again.
"You said that there was something about her."
"Spikey, you've got to help me find her."
"Just how the fuck am I supposed to do that?"
"Shit man, I don't know, but she has to know I didn't just stand her up. She has to know I was on my way to meet her, even if she wants nothing more to do with me. I have to tell her. Fuck me!" I rubbed my hands through my hair in frustration. "I've hurt enough women in my past; I don't need one that thinks I hurt her intentionally when I didn't."