***
After Nathan had left, neither of them having come to any sort of resolution on where they stood, Amara played back the message her answering machine took from earlier.
'Hi, this is Cardelia Nichols. I bought a skirt there on Wednesday---anyway, it doesn't seem to fit right. Just looking to exchange sizes....'
Amara called back the number the customer gave. After it clicked straight to voicemail, she left a message offering assistance.
Looking around her office, she smiled to herself. If walls could talk! Her workspace seemed to be marked now with the aftermath of her time with Nathan. She swore she could still smell his crisp, spicy cologne in the air. She spent a few diligent hours fixing the paperwork and register, packed up, and went home.
Settling into an overstuffed chair, Amara saw no better way to unwind than with some ice cream and her favorite fashion magazines. Because she owned a clothing boutique, it was nice to use her career as an excuse to browse through all the season's hottest trends. She had just curled up in her coziest Betty Boop print robe and slippers when her phone rang on the small table next to her.
"Guess who's newly single and coming back to Vegas?" It was the familiar voice of her best friend, Stacey. They bypassed phone greeting etiquette if the news was particularly juicy.
Amara knew, but didn't want to hear his name. She nervously twirled a front section of her hair around her pointer finger. "Let me guess---"
"That's right girl, Eric!" Stacey was naturally exuberant, being both sassy and Latina, so when she was really excited, words practically spilled out of her with accented giddiness.
"How do you know this?" Amara spoke flatly.
"Well, I was just cleaning up my friends group online, and just happened to notice on his page that he updated his relationship status and posted about leaving Santa Fe and coming back to Vegas. He didn't say how long he'd be here, though."
"No, but I'm sure you'll find out. You're like a bloodhound!" They both laughed. "AND I know you didn't 'just happen' to notice anything. You were just being nosy 'Private Detective' Stacey, as usual."
"Oh, shut up. You wouldn't be listening to me now if you didn't want to hear about him. I know you never got over him, girl."
There it was. The horrible truth. The man who had usurped any faith Amara ever had in happy endings. The reason why she was overly cynical when it came to the 'L' word. The man who had knocked her off her feet, only to send her plummeting back down to earth.
There had been no give and take with Eric. It was his way or nothing at all. She had never known a man could have such control over her until she collided with Eric; and it was a collision of epic proportions. They had passionate physical lust for each other, however, he always acted unaffected. She realized all too late that he was just using her for sex, but the hope of a relationship between them brought out her steadfast determination.
She tried to play the game his way. Whenever Eric called, she came running. Morning, noon, or night, he was as addictive as any drug could be. When he wasn't around her, she had withdrawal like a motherfucker. She naively thought her sex was a weapon, powerful enough to get him to want to be with her in the way she felt a man and a woman should be there for each other. Much to her disappointment, he was a constant disappearing act.
One night, after a torrid sex session, She rolled over and noticed what she hadn't the night before - the treacherous glint of metal encircling his ring finger.
"I got married, Amara." He said it in a matter-of-fact tone.
Eric verbalizing the obvious zapped Amara into a terrifying nightmare scene straight from the 'The Twilight Zone'. Even though it was several years ago, the pain of that moment stung her memory to this day.
"I just know that he'll be coming back around your way to see you again. He never could stay away from you."
Stacey's words brought Amara back to the present. "I know. That was the problem. He couldn't stay away from me, and at the time, I didn't know better to stay away from him."
Stacey cared about Amara too much to say 'I told you so'. While Amara was going through her shit with Eric, Stacey remained a true friend, never passing judgment, only encouraging Amara to find happiness. She didn't want Amara to miss out on an opportunity to gain closure.
"Amara, you know if he's posting that he's single, it's because he secretly wants you to find out. You could just--you know--bring him to his knees and then leave him high and dry."
"I don't want revenge, Stace, not anymore. Besides, I met someone-"
"You met someone and didn't tell me?! You let me rave on and on about 'the ghost of penis past' and there is a new man on your radar?! Wretched wench!"
"Stace, it's too soon to get all worked up. We have no labels, no commitment. We only just met. But, I really think I could, I don't know, maybe have a sane interaction with a man that isn't entirely based on sex."
"Amen, sister. I hear that. Well, be careful, and I do want to meet mister man sometime soon."
"We'll see."
***
"Hey baby," a female voice called out to Nathan.
"How the fuck did you get in here?!" Nathan was ready to attack when he saw HER draped on his couch. He slammed the door shut behind him, setting down an armload of groceries on the coffee table.
"I never forgot where you kept the spare key, baby." She said it with a smug grin.
"There must be someone else in this room, cause I'm sure as hell not your baby. I'm not your anything." He ran his hands through his hair, trying to calm his fury.
"No matter what you think, I never stopped loving you."
"Yeah, well, I stopped feeling anything for you a long time ago." Her blue eyes that used to hypnotize him no longer had their effect. The pixie style he used to think was adorable, angelic even, on her blonde hair now just looked overly trendy and obnoxious. Her slender gamine figure seemed to further emphasize that she never actually fully matured or grew out of her selfish nature. Now he despised the words that came from what used to be a sweet, kissable mouth.
"I was just so confused, and you wouldn't even try to understand---"
He cut her off. " 'So confused' that you slipped and fell on another guy's dick? Wow. Now that's the fucking definition of confusion." He was disgusted and saw no better way to deal with Carrie than bitter animosity.
She wouldn't dignify that with a response so she tried a new tactic. "Nate, I know I hurt you---"
"Wonderful that you can admit your fault in this. What do you want? A damn cookie for honesty?! Of course you hurt me, but more than that, you disappointed me. I took you to be more than the usual Vegas club slut, but hey, we all make mistakes. You made yours by coming here. Now get out," he finished icily.
"You'll regret this, Nate."
"I'll regret what?!" He asked incredulously.
"That I came here to try to work things out with you, and you're so fucking stubborn you wouldn't listen to reason."
"Hold the fuck up! In what twisted parallel universe do you---" He interrupted his own rant, seeing no point in arguing with her. The damage was done. "You know what? I don't even want to fucking know, I just want you out. Leave the damn key."
"How do you know that it's the only copy?" She had the nerve to tease.
"How do you know that I won't just change the locks, or better yet, get your ass for trespassing?"
"You wouldn't." She leaned back into the cushions as if to put distance between them. She knew he would never lift a hand to harm her, but she was starting to see that she underestimated how angry he was.
"Try, me."
From the look in his eyes, she knew he wasn't playing. She slapped the key on the kitchen counter and left without further argument. But it wasn't over in her mind.
***
About a week had passed since Amara and Nathan had talked. She happily found distraction in her work.
"I think that the '6' sits better on your hips." Amara scrutinized her customer's reflection in the three-way dressing mirror.
"It does. I only went home with the '4' cause I thought the tighter, the better. But then I thought about it, and I didn't want my boyfriend to have any trouble taking it off, you know?"
Well that's too much info, but Amara got her point. "Mm-hmm, girl, I understand."
Never turning off her retail skills, Amara asked "Is there anything else you want to take with you this time, maybe a corset or silk camisole? Either would make a fierce combo with the skirt." She always pressed for building the sale.
"No thanks, I already burnt a hole in my credit card when I was here last."
"Ok. I'll pull up your account for the exchange. We have you under 'Cardelia Nichols'?
"Actually, you guys probably have me under my nickname, 'Carrie'."
***
It had been long enough. Nathan felt he had allowed plenty of time to pass for he and Amara to go to their separate corners and think about what they were doing. He got out of his truck and stepped onto the sidewalk in front of Amara's shop, but not before having all the wind knocked out of him.
He gawked at the sight of Carrie leaving, a shopping bag in her hand. What were the fucking odds?! As soon as he came in, he had to find out.
"How do you know the girl that just left?"
"No 'hi, how you doin'?" Amara saw the impatience in his expression. "What, am I under interrogation or something? The short blonde with the eyebrow piercing? She's a regular customer. Why? How do YOU know her?" She asked suspiciously.
He didn't want to lie. It would no doubt come back to get him. Karma was a bitch.
"She's my ex."
