Love Simmers (6 page)

“
I promise I’ll
put out next time.” He left the room quickly.

“
There won’t be
a next time!” I shouted after him playfully.

I cursed his name as I finished
my shower with cold water.

I walked down the steps with
what I imagined to be a pretty frustrated look on my face.

“
Trouble
brewing in your pointless relationship?”

You’d think my brother would
know better than to poke the bear but obviously not. I was widely
considered to be the intelligent twin. In moments like this I
understood how I got the title. The bar wasn’t set high.

“
Don’t start,”
I snapped as we headed to the car.

“
Nate left
laughing a couple of minutes ago.”

Ollie opened the car door for
me, enjoying my meltdown. I hated baby brothers. They were a plague
on the earth.

I put on my darkest sunglasses,
the bright light killing my head. It was a reminder of last night’s
narrow escape.

“
You know
you’re about to leave, why are you starting something you can’t
finish?” I fought the urge not to smack his arm with my good
hand.

“
Do you have to
delay the opening?” My tone becoming serious as my focus shifted to
the problem at hand.

“
Hopefully not.
We’re on our way there now to meet the contractor,” Ollie told me
as we pulled into the parking lot. Nate was standing beside an
older man when we walked into the dining room, his expression
brightened when I walked in. No doubt he was deeply amused by his
earlier antics.

“
I’m Oliver
Blake. This is my sister, Logan. Thanks for meeting us on such
short notice.” My brother shook hands with the
contractor.

“
Liam Turner.”
The man greeted us both.

I took his hand with my left
awkwardly.

The men surveyed the damage,
discussing options and costs while I hung back and stared at the
writing on the wall. Idiots with a cause did a lot of damage to
people’s lives. When I had filmed the segment where I’d cooked an
animal that I’d seen alive it had changed my perspective on eating
meat quite a bit. I mean, it never bothered me eating steak but
when I’d see a cute rabbit bouncing with life one moment and dead
the next in order for me to eat, I’d felt bad. Was it enough to
turn me vegetarian? Probably not, but it was enough to make me want
to contribute to animal welfare charities and campaigns. I guess
the more extremist animal activists remained unimpressed. Aside
from going full vegan, animal products were a part of most people’s
daily lives. I wasn’t sure what else I could do.

“
To get the
place done in three days you’re looking at around $6000.” Liam
gestured at the state of the walls, shelves and broken windows. I
heard Ollie sigh softly. We hadn’t even figured out the cost of
replacing the furniture and liquor that had been broken
yet.

“
That’s fine.
Start work.” I walked over to the group, thanking Liam before he
left to call in his workers.

“
It’ll take a
few weeks for insurance to process the claim,” Nate said, “They
need the police report.”

“
I’ll pay all
the bills needed for the place to open on Saturday, no problem.” I
eased their worries, glad that I could help. Even if it hadn’t been
essentially my fault their place had been trashed, I would have
been there with my chequebook. I believed in their business, I
believed in them.

“
I wanted to
ask-“

My phone interrupted whatever
it was Ollie had been about to say.

“
Charlie walked
out,” Maddie whispered when I answered and my heart broke for
her.

“
I’m on my
way,” I hung up and turned to Ollie and Nate.

“
Charlie’s
gone.”

“
I’ll drive you
to her place.” Nate wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“
Why do you
think he left her?” I asked Nate as he drove, he hung out with
Charlie regularly.

“
He’s an idiot
who’s afraid there’s better out there for him than Maddie. Probably
got it in his head that unless you play the field a bit you’ll
regret what could have been.” Nate’s words hurt. I felt like they
were directed at me as much as Charlie.

“
Is that what
you think that about me?” I asked a stupid question. You never
asked questions you didn’t want to hear an answer to. Better yet,
you never asked a man a question when the answer could hurt you
badly.

“
I think you
didn’t want to settle down with the first guy you kissed, the first
guy you had sex with because you thought it was dull.” He pulled up
in front of Maddie’s house, watching as I reacted to his
words.

“
I didn’t want
to settle down with you because I wanted to leave Chester, to live
in the city. You didn’t,” I knew there was an element of truth in
those words. But I also knew there had been an element of truth in
his.

“
Cause we
talked about future plans together so much back then,” he said
sarcastically. I grimaced at the implications of what he was
saying.

“
Go comfort
Maddie. She needs you,” he silenced me before I could say anything
more.

I left the car, without saying
goodbye.

“
I’m sorry I
didn’t come to the hospital,” Maddie said, grabbing another tissue
to dab her red, puffy eyes with. We sat on her couch in her
beautifully decorated living room. The house that she had created
for her and Charlie appeared empty now that he was gone. I looked
around and noticed pieces of furniture were missing. I guess he’d
taken them with him. It all seemed so abrupt. Six years packed away
in two days.

“
Don’t worry
about it. I wasn’t there long.” I didn’t really know how to comfort
her. I had never gone through what she was going through mostly
because I steered clear of long-term relationships. The only man
who had ever brought me to tears or fits of rage or bursts of love
I hadn’t stayed with long enough to allow him to hurt me. I had
thought I was being smart and brave. On hindsight, maybe I was just
being…dull. I was doing what was safe thinking I was being
adventurous. But it took courage to start something that could
ultimately end in so much heartbreak.

“
I thought we
were happy. Were we happy?” She looked to me for an answer. I
didn’t have the answers to my own life problems let alone hers but
I wanted to help.

“
You were so
happy that he freaked out and began to question it, and doubt it.”
I believed what I said. Charlie was so happy with Maddie he’d
decided it was boring. That he needed to add some color into his
life by destroying it and starting a fresh one. Some people found
happiness boring.

“
Six years
together. I don’t know what life is like as an adult without him,”
she cried, and I moved closer to wrap my arm around her sobbing
frame.

“
You’ll find
out and you’ll thrive and you’ll realise that you can do great on
your own.”
And then you’ll realise that
you’d rather be thriving with him than thriving on your own,
I thought to myself but refrained from saying it
aloud. Maybe, Nate and I would be where Maddie and Charlie were if
we’d started dating in High School. Wondering whether we were
missing out on the single, wild life experiences because we were in
a steady relationship so young. The differences between Charlie and
Nate formed in my mind and I knew that it was unlikely.

“
I love him and
he just walked out the door,” she hiccupped, “he said he’d met
someone that made him feel things he’d never felt with me! What
does that even mean? You shouldn’t say something like that to
someone without an explanation!”

She tried to control her tears,
my own eyes starting to water. Maddie didn’t deserve to be hurt
like this, no one did.

“
There’s
nothing I can say to make you feel better.” The words sounded lame
even to me. “Is there?”

“
You can’t but
I know what can,” she wiped her eyes and stood up, running upstairs
before I could even process what she’d said.

She came back down three
minutes later wearing a cute sundress and enough makeup that her
face was no longer red. She picked up her car keys.

“
Where are we
going?” I said, ready to follow her anywhere.

“
Get a drink,
down it and repeat.” She locked the door behind us, a determination
on her face I found unnerving. Maddie rarely drank. She wasn’t a
party girl. She was a homebody ready to have a house filled with
kids. I wasn’t sure what to think about the path she was about to
take.

“
Sure.” I
didn’t point out I couldn’t drink with her thanks to my
painkillers. No one liked that person who sat sober staring while
you got smashed. Either neither of you remembered the night or you
both did. It was the proper lush etiquette.

The local bar was surprisingly
busy for a weeknight, the pool tables were full and the TV was on
loud as people watched some hockey game or another. Maddie went
straight for the bartender. Before I had even reached her, she had
a Vodka raspberry cocktail in her hand and was seated on one of the
stools. I took a seat beside her.

“
Drinking
through the pain’s never a good idea.”

I knew it was futile to point
out but I wanted to be able to say I had warned her.

“
You know, we
picked out our unborn children’s names when we were sixteen. By
nineteen we’d figured out what we were going to do when the kids
left home,” she took a big sip of her drink, “we were going to buy
an apple farm and brew ciders.”

“
You can still
have that with someone else someday. Someone who will make you feel
things that Charlie never made you feel.”

Her laughter was cynical. My
word choice had been poor considering what Charlie had said I
realized now.

“
The sex had
been dull lately,” she admitted. “But there’s more to a
relationship then sex,” she tried to justify herself.

“
Maybe, but
intense passion does compensate for a lot of crap that would
otherwise drive you insane.”

I smiled as I thought about
Nate and me. With him, I felt more passion than with anyone else,
and in turn more anger. Bittersweet was the fruit of life.

“
I hated his
pancakes!” She shouted as she downed her drink and gestured to the
bartender for another one. I hoped his pancake recipe wasn’t the
only thing she hated about him. I needed something a little more
substantial than that.

“
I hated the
way he never supported your writing. You always supported his
professional goals. I mean, no one but you thought he would be a
great photographer,” I said, thinking back to the countless times
Charlie had laughed as Maddie outlined her newest plot. I always
believed in her ability, I wanted to see her finish something.
Charlie hadn’t thought she would ever make it as a
writer.

“
I thought his
photos were stupid. Not artistic, just stupid.” She was getting
angry now, no doubt thinking of the times he had read her opening
chapters and picked them apart. Maybe that was why she had never
finished something.

“
Yeah!” I
cheered her on, wanting her to see Charlie for who he was and not
who or what they had been together. Hopefully they didn’t ever want
to get back together or I would have a lot of backtracking to
do.

“
I hated the
way he dressed. I mean, what type of man wears printed
shirts!”

“
What was he
thinking when he got dressed in the morning?” I asked, thinking of
all the ridiculous outfits I’d had to compliment him on. He really
had no sense of style. I had never seen anyone try harder to be
fashionable than him.

“
He didn’t like
dogs!” She shouted, getting more and more animated. “I want a
dog!”

“
You know who
don’t like dogs?” I asked her, “serial killers and sociopaths!” I
answered my own question.

She stopped drinking suddenly,
her eyes widening in shock as a pretty blonde walked into the bar
wearing a skimpy dress. I froze in fear, terrified that the woman
was who I was assuming she was. The only woman who could put that
psychotic look on Maddie’s otherwise docile face. Surely it was too
big a coincidence, then again it was the only bar in town.

“
That’s her. I
found pictures of them on his phone.”

Maddie didn’t breath as the
woman walked over to the bar to order a drink. She turned to me, a
friendly smile on her face.

“
You’re Logan
Blake!” She squealed excitedly until she looked over my shoulder
and saw Maddie.

“
And you’re
Chuck’s ex,” her voice lost all its warmth. Why I had no idea, it
wasn’t like she was the one scorned and betrayed.

“
Chuck?” Maddie
rose to her feet to stand closer to the blonde, her body visibly
trembling with rage. I stood up in front of her, wanting to keep a
distance between the two women. Maddie was far too delicate for
prison.

“
Look, no hard
feelings. You can’t control the heart,” she sighed as if bored by
this conversation.

“
You can’t
control your vagina, bitch!” The bar went silent as those words
erupted from Maddie.