I left the office that night, eyes shining with unshed tears and a few streaks down my face. A coworker stopped me on the way out, "Rachel...you okay?" I nodded, shakily, unconvincingly. "Yeah. Just fine." I continued walking.
It had been a long day. Overbooked with people whose appointments were too short. 7am-7pm, 14 patients in all, and by the end of the day my hands were shaking as I completed my paperwork.
And then I got your emails while I was still finishing up. If you meant to make me cry after I told you you were in danger of doing just that, kudos to you. I kept apologizing, as sincerely as I possibly could, but each new email delivered a fresh barrage of anger and hurt. You are smart and you are clever, and when you're mad at me, which is...always, you turn your intelligence toward pointed attempts to target areas in which you know you can hurt me.
I walked to my car, glancing at the phone and seeing the blue message light. And yet again..."lazy...good for nothing...I'm pretty much done with you...I don't really care...I'm regretting the time I've spent with you". I was already reeling and my face finally crumpled as I climbed in the car.
And so you wanted a story? Now? Everything I had read that night hadn't been meant to inspire a particularly kinky or erotic mood. But okay. You wanted a story, I would write you a story.
I drove home, lost in thought. My mind tumbled over the possibilities, each of which I discarded as not good enough or overdone.
I pulled up at my place and hauled my stuff inside, going through the motions of taking care of my pets, cooking a little dinner, washing up. I just kept thinking about how you wanted to get together tonight. Of how you've wanted to get together several times that I've rebuffed you. And it made me feel awful. And stupid. Wasting opportunities to see you when that's really all I want. I kicked a box on the floor. One of many that are still laying around with my belongings from the last move. Why the fuck can't I get my shit together and just clean this motherfucker up?
After a while, it was time to get ready to hunker down for the night. I performed my nighttime routines by rote, mind occupied elsewhere on how in the world I was going to write you a story when all I could think about was feeling sorry for myself. The knock on the door almost didn't register at first.
But it came again. I was naked, ready for bed, but I threw on a robe and went to see who it was against my better judgment. It was late. No one had any business with me this late. I unlocked the door as I glanced out the window, and then stared.
"Peter? What are you doin..." My query was cut off midsentence as you pushed past me as if I wasn't even there.
"Fuck! Peter, what are you doing here? It's late. Go home." But you weren't paying attention to me at all. You were looking around, registering the randomly scattered detritus. I was almost in a panic. My place was so messy and shameful, and I wasn't ready for you to be there. It's unlikely that I would have been able to wrestle you out the door unless you were inclined to go, though, so I tried reasoning with you.
"Peter. Peter? You need to go. I'm not in the mood for this. Please leave. Leave!" The exclamation on the last word wasn't from any particular emphasis I put on it, but simply due to the surprise of your hand casually landing with a *smack* across my face. My hand flew to my cheek in shock, but before I could say a word in protest, you grabbed a piece of my robe and stuffed it in my mouth. I tried to speak around it, to get you to stop! Please, stop. But you simply looked me in the eye and said four words very quietly, with all the menace in the world.
"Shut the fuck up."