When Molly finished her shift, she had six unread texts and one missed call from her brother, three missed texts from her mother, and three missed calls from an unknown number. Crouched in the cramped, dim break room at the back of the restaurant where she picked up shifts, she scrolled through the wave of deranged messages.
Jason's texts showed an uncharacteristic level of concern, but an expected amount of self-absorption.
Jason: Did u fck Mikey?
Jason:????
Jason: Hope ur happy, drove all the way back and ur not even here. Michael's a freak. Stay away from him.
Jason: Beat Mikey's ass, u can come home now. Text me ur ok. This is ruining my
weekend.
Jason: Literally anytime u want to let me know ur ALIVE
Jason: CALL ME BACK.
Her mother seemed normal, for her: chilly, irritated, and offended by the inconveniences of parenthood.
Mom: Mrs. Furstenberg says a red pickup truck was at the house all night and Jason and Michael got into it in front of the house. What did you do?
Mom: Communicating is how you take responsibility.
Mom: Michael called. Sorry to hear you were unwell. Gave him your number. Call me when you can.
She texted Jason first to confirm that she was, in fact, alive and was at work. She lied in a text to her mother and promised to call on Tuesday. Rubbing tiredly at the corner of her eye and wincing when she only ground mascara into it, she shoved her phone into her bag and stumbled out of the restaurant.
The antiseptic yellow-orange of the streetlight illuminated cracked pavement and a rusted green dumpster. At this time of night, the buses weren't running and Molly would have to walk home. It was why she avoided late-night shifts on weekends, despite the bigger tips. She stumbled forward to round the restaurant and headed for the main road on leaden feet. If she'd made it through her waitressing shift, she could manage the two and a half miles home.
When she turned the corner, a familiar pickup sat parked in front of the restaurant. She only made it three more steps before Michael was out of the truck and jogging the short distance between them. Her shoulders slumped, and she had to force her breaths past the knot in her chest. There he was, fresh and handsome as ever, ready to take on the world, while she stood in a work polo stained with dry sweat and an ugly pair of black slacks.
"Molly, hey, I--" Michael began.
"Please leave me alone," Molly said. "You took off before and you don't get to just show up at my work out of the blue."
Michael's eyebrows snapped together. "I didn't take off. YOU took off. I went to get us breakfast."
"Oh, is that so? You just went, without telling me, and were gone for over an hour, and didn't leave a note, or send a smoke signal, or--" Molly choked off the sentence, biting back a rising sob.
"I'm not lying," Michael insisted.
"And I'm not going to stand outside my job and litigate your shitty communication skills at 1 AM!" Molly wasn't sure when she started yelling, but she ended the sentence at top volume. "I'm going home. Do us both a favor and fuck off."
Michael was shocked. She watched the spark of anger in his eyes grow to a five-alarm fire.
"I can see that you're very tired and upset," he bit out around gritted teeth. "I'm going to give you a ride home. We don't have to talk right now."
"I meant every word I said," she shot back.
Closing the distance between them, he grabbed her arm and tried to steer her toward his truck. Molly dug her heels in and yanked on her arm.
"I'm not going with you."
"Oh, yes, you are," Michael snapped.
"Let me go, you jerk!"
"Molly!" Michael yelled, his patience spent. "I know I fucked up! Now please get into the fucking truck so I can make sure you get home safe so you can still be mad at me over dumb shit tomorrow!"
Molly wrenched her arm out of his grasp. "Stop yanking me around!"
Chest heaving, Michael stepped back, shoving his hands through his hair in exasperation.
"I'm sorry," he said in a quieter voice. "Please let me give you a ride? It's late and you must be tired."
Molly crossed her arms and tried to keep the tears from rising back into her eyes. She was exhausted, wrung out. She couldn't think straight. She wanted to slap him, to fuck him, to never see him again, to erase the last 24 hours. She wished she knew how to forgive and not fight.
"You will," she bit out, "not touch me, and not talk to me, and take me straight home. Can you do that?"
Michael sucked in a breath, ready to argue, but the tears spilled over and out of Molly's eyes, and he found himself promising to do just that.
**************
Sunday morning found Michael in the gym, waling on a punching bag. He'd kept his promise and drove Molly home in silence, murmuring a soft good night as she climbed out of the cab. She had said nothing back, just looked at him with red-rimmed eyes that hit him straight in the gut, and climbed out.
Michael couldn't remember when he'd given up on sleep the night before. He'd ended up pacing back and forth in the tight space offered by his one-bedroom apartment, arguing with himself about texting her or calling, wondering if she was asleep, if she was done with him, if she would talk to him in the morning. He headed to the gym when it opened at 6 AM and had been there ever since, trying to leave his phone alone until 9, so Molly could sleep.
Even after hours and hours of thinking, he still didn't know what he would say to Molly. Sure, he knew he should have left a note or something, but he wasn't totally in the wrong and she wouldn't even talk to him when he came to see her.
At 9, the alarm on his phone chimed in his earbuds. He headed to the showers to wash up and change, then hopped into his truck. He stared at his phone. Nothing from her yet, but he couldn't wait anymore. He called her. She picked up on the first ring.
"Hey," he said into the phone.
"Hey," she rasped.
"Did I wake you up?" he asked, wishing he'd waited longer.
"Yeah. It's okay," she mumbled.
"Can I come by, I --"
"You can't show up at my work unannounced, Michael," she interrupted.
He felt like all his blood was rushing down, like he might sink through his seat, like he was falling out of his own life. "I know that--"
"And you can't call my mom without telling me. Or 'settle' things with my brother. Or just, just disappear in the morning."
"I'm sorry I didn't leave a note. And the other stuff just sort of happened."