* * *
Friday, we spent the day on the beach with everyone, lounging in the sand and taking in the sun.We finished off the night with a game of beach volleyball once the sun started to set.And after we dropped everyone off, Steff said she would stay the night at Sarah’s place, and we could have the apartment to ourselves.We spent the night holding each other tight, her body so close to mine that I could feel her heart beating against my chest.We only had one more day together and I felt that familiar gut-wrenching ache in my stomach that I felt when I drove away from her on the porch three years ago.
“I don’t want you to leave me on Sunday.”I whispered into her hair, smoothing it with my hands, wrapping it around my fingers, trying to memorize every strand.
“I don’t want to leave you on Sunday.”She repeated back to me, holding back a crack in her voice.
“Don’t cry, babe.”I told her, “This is not our ending, I promise you that.”And I knew the moment I said it, that promise was going to be the end of me.
I started to serenade her with her our song, hoping it would stop her tears.“Close your eyes, make a wish and blow out the candlelight.Girl, tonight is just your night, we’re gonna celebrate.All through the night.Pour the wine, light the fire.Girl, your wish is my command.I submit to your demands.I will do anything.Girl, you need only ask.”
“Make love to me.”She said it softly and I did as she asked.
* * *
Steff and I planned a big going away party for Ellie’s final night in California.We invited all our friends and some of their cousins and the apartment was packed.Luckily it was a Saturday night, and nobody was angry about the loud music shaking the walls in the complex.Ellie was making her rounds, saying her goodbyes to everyone in the room when I spotted Maggie and Liz walking up the path.I ran outside, hoping to stop them at the door and turn them away; this was not a party I wanted her crashing tonight.
“Maggie, what are you doing here?”I asked, closing the door, and blocking the entrance to the party inside.
“I came to talk to you Lee, I have something to tell you.”
“There’s nothing left to talk about.I want you to leave.”I pointed toward the parking lot, and I didn’t realize Liz had squeaked by me and left the door open.
“You can’t erase me from your past, Lee, because I’m going to be a part of your future.”She said, making absolutely no sense to me.
“What are you talking about, thereisno future with us.”
“I’m having your baby, Lee.You’re going to be a dad.”She took my hand and placed it on her stomach.I snatched it back, sneering at her.
“That’s not true.It’s not possible.”I told her.
“It is, and you know it.”Her eyes flickered over my shoulder and then back to me with a smile.“Don’t you remember when I told you at the mall the other day?You were so happy in the elevator that you kissed me and then kissed my belly where your baby is growing!”
“Oh my God!”I heard Ellie say.She was there, behind me, she heard what Maggie said and she ran back into the crowded apartment, locking herself in the bathroom before I could get to her.
I ran after her, telling her to stop, but she wouldn’t open the door.She screamed at me to go away.I begged her to please open the door, to let me explain what she heard but all I got back were sobs muffled by water running from the faucet.I had my back to the door, leaning my head against it, “Ellie?Please talk to me.”This isn’t how our story is supposed to play out.We’re supposed to get the happy ending.
Before I slid down the door to the floor, Dane pulled me away from the bathroom and told me he had Liz take Maggie outside.“Is it true, man?”he asked in a hushed tone so that Ellie wouldn’t hear the conversation.
“No!I don’t know.”My head is in my hands, and I can’t think straight.I’m numb.“I guess it could be a possibility.We slept together the night before I ended things; that was almost three months ago though.”
“Do you think she’s telling the truth?”Ezra was next to me now, blocking my view of the bathroom door.
“Why would she lie about something like that?”I asked.
“I know she’s a crazy Bitch, but is she really capable of making up a story like that?”Dane asked us both.
I threw my hands up, “Hell if I know!The rest of it was a flat out lie, though.”I told them.“She didn’t tell me at the mall, and Ineverkissed her.I told you that already.I definitely didn’t touch her belly, either.”I looked at Ezra, reminding him of our conversation as we left the mall that day.
“Maybe that was her plan all along.”Ezra thought out loud.“Make it look like you two had a moment in the elevator so she could draw out this story into something believable.”
“If it’s a lie, she sure fooled Liz, though.”Dane pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and handed it to me.“Liz showed me this when she got here.It’s an ultrasound picture that Maggie had in her car when she picked her up tonight.”
Ezra snatched it from Dane’s hand and held it up closer to his face to inspect it.“It doesn’t have her name or anything identifiable on here.It could be a fake.”He said to me, tossing the paper on the floor.
I felt like I was going to vomit, and I looked over at the bathroom.The door was open, and the light was left on.I ran over, pushing the bathroom door open and she wasn’t there.My eyes fell to the floor, seeing that the phone had been pulled into the bathroom from the hallway.I rushed back to the living room, searching frantically and slammed into Ezra’s back.“Where’s Ellie?She’s gone.”
We all looked around at the people crammed into the crowded space, then Dane pointed at the window, “There!She’s walking toward the parking lot.”His head followed in the direction where she was headed and saw a taxi with its hazards on.“Go!She’s getting in the taxi, man.Go!”He pushed me toward the door, and I ran.
