I graced him with a small smile and replied, “It’s quite all right, Jeff. It’s all water under the bridge now, promise.” He took my acceptance with great relief by immediately relaxing his shoulders and releasing his breath.
“Thank you, Eden. After that face off that occurred earlier with Kristina I wasn’t exactly sure what was going to happen. I told my wife that I was scared for my life, but of course she commended you. Why do woman always take each other’s sides?” He was truly curious.
Shrugging my shoulders, I said, “It’s just what we do, I suppose. You enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Once Jeff was far enough in the distance and out of ear shot, Dean chuckled with a smirk, “You sure let him off easy. I distinctly remember on graduation night you threatening certain anatomy with piping hot movie theater butter.” His chuckle ended up a full blown laugh, which was contagious and soon all three of us were laughing with tears springing in our eyes.
“Stop it,” I furiously fanned my hands in front of my face, “I don’t have tear-free mascara on, I’ll look like a freaking raccoon if I don’t quit.” That made us laugh even harder and by that time my side was hurting. “Ok, seriously cut it out! I’m leaving, I’m going to go dance.”
I hadn’t even been paying attention to The Nation’s Capital but as soon as I started making my way towards the stage, weaving around the tables, they began playing a more upbeat song. All it took was the first few notes to be played and even before Toby began singing, “Hey, hey!” I knew it was, “Don’t You Forget About Me” by Simple Minds. I swear I could’ve handpicked the soundtrack to that evening just based on my experiences. But the tables had certainly turned. Baylor hadn’t forgotten about me when I saw him in the airport, he just didn’t know that I was coming and was in a state of utter shock. That day seemed like so long ago when really it had only been a week. I began swaying my hips slowly to the beat of the music and Toby chose that time to look up at me and wink in my direction.
After having such amazing week with Baylor I really didn’t want to leave. I would be willing to talk to my boss about breaking my contract and try to get a job here at the local radio station; it wouldn’t be like the two stations were competing when they were in totally different area codes. The ultimate question was would he want me to stay? I was completely confused and my mind was running in so many different directions that I was just ready to shut it off. It seemed Baylor knew exactly what I needed before I even did because his arms suddenly wrapped around my waist from behind and his lips moved in towards my ear, “You look all sexy up here dancing by yourself. I had to hurry up here and claim my dance before someone else tried to.”
“You’re hilarious,” I joked.
He nodded his head over towards the table, “You did a good thing back there with Jeff. You could’ve ripped him a new asshole like you did with Kristina but instead you didn’t. How come?”
I had to take a moment to mull over my answer because I didn’t really know the answer to that. “Honestly, I had forgotten all about what Jeff had done, spreading lies and all that. Plus he looked so incredibly sad and nervous about having to confront me, I didn’t see the need to make him feel even worse. Kristina is a totally different can of worms, I never ever forgot for a second anything she ever said to me. She was always hateful and did things just out of spite because she could. I may never understand why she did any of it, but she took a big portion of my life away from me. And I will always hate her for that. Hate is an extremely strong word and I don’t normally throw it around but in this instance it’s completely true. I hate her with every fiber of my being. But now I don’t only hate her for me, it’s also because of what she’s done to you and more importantly to Norah.” I started to get choked up because of what I was saying and needed to move onto much brighter territory. “This is our last night together, let’s not ruin it any longer with talks of Kristina or anything that’ll make me cry,” I tried to chuckle to make it a bit lighthearted.
He moved a strand of my curled hair back out of my face, “Anything you want, Edie. Since you brought up this being our last night, how about we get out of here? I don’t know how much more I can take of everyone seeing you in this dress.” He smoothed a hand down my back until it rested on my hip. My body always reacted to him and his touch and that time was no different; I was ready to get out of there.
I looked around to see if there was anyone else that I really wanted to talk to before I left and no faces really stood out to me. My life had always revolved around Baylor and Dean; they were the ones who I came back for, no one else.
“Let’s go…”
The red illuminated lights on Baylor’s bedside clock indicated that it was well past two in the morning. We had laid there for a good hour just talking before his breathing evened out and he drifted off to sleep. I was still wide awake, letting my mind roam and wondering how I was ever going to get past that incredible week. I couldn’t go back home and pretend that everything was all right. I was more confused than I had ever been; when I thought of home I immediately thought of Cottage Grove and not Nashville, even though it had been my home for the eleven years since I graduated college.
I finally knew why none of my other relationships stuck; I had been constantly comparing them to Baylor. And after finally being intimate with him, any other relationship would be doomed from the start. I guessed I really should start getting used to the idea of cats, because that’s what I’d end up: the crazy old cat lady who’s on the radio.
Baylor’s arm that was wrapped around my waist pulled me into him further; even in his sleep he knew what I needed. A single tear streamed down my face as I tried my best to fall asleep.
When the clock read seven in the morning I decided that I could no longer lay in that bed. I’d been watching the minutes tick by on that annoying clock all night, taunting me that my time with Baylor was nearly up. I slowly pulled away from his clutch, trying my hardest not to disturb him in his peaceful state. I took a few minutes to just sit on the end of his queen-sized bed, watching him sleep.
He had an arm thrown over his face and I wished that he would just move it out of the way so I could study him once more. I wanted to memorize the lines of his face and the traces of stubble trailing down his jawline to his chin. If I stayed in his room any longer I was bound to throw myself on him and beg him to ask me to stay, to be there with him.
I got up to retrieve my dress off the floor and grabbed my purse and cellphone and headed into the bathroom to clean up a little. I shot my mom a text asking her to pick me up in fifteen minutes so I could run home and shower before we left for my flight at nine. Yeah, I may have lied to Baylor about the time my flight was leaving. Go ahead and call me a coward, it wasn’t anything worse than what I’d already called myself.
I’d come to the realization that it just wouldn’t work between us because it had always been the wrong time. We tried our hardest to come together and life just kept pulling us apart. Or maybe that was just my mind’s way of thinking before completely shutting itself down. I felt the edge of depression threatening to pull me under, like drowning in a pool of water and not being able to gasp for air.
Before I quietly went outside to wait for my mom I left Baylor a note saying goodbye. I neatly placed it on his fridge next to a self-portrait that Norah drew of her and her dad and secured it with a magnet of a covered bridge.