How to break a heart

Chapter four

Garth bursts through the door to Rose's place. Rachel sits at the table, holding her head in her hands. He looks around and searches every corner.

"Where's Rose?" He asks her.

"Oh, not now," she mutters in pain. "I don't even know where I am."

"How could you hook her up with a guy we've never met?" Garth asks her angrily. "Shirley said you..."

"Just shut up," she says. Shirley runs in with a glass of water and a few painkillers putting it in front of her. "Thank you, hun."

"Okay, we've got a missing girl, a woman with a massive hangover and an angry father. Which one do we address first?" Shirley asks. Garth looks at her and sighs. "The missing girl, right? So stop blaming each other and help me. She might've fallen asleep somewhere in the streets, or someone took her in because she is definitely not with the man Rachel hooked her up with."

"This is all my fault," Rachel starts crying. She moans in pain and hugs her head. "Oh Rachel, you're so stupid."

"Have you tried calling her phone?" Garth asks and takes his phone out from his pocket.

"I don't think she has her phone on her," Shirley replies. "But it's worth a shot, right?"

Rose woke up feeling like crap. Her head is spinning and screaming of pain, and her stomach is feeling completely upset. Scared, she looks at the shirt on her and then gets up from the bed. She looks at her wedding dress on the chair and hugs herself, leaving the room. The shirt covers most of her body, and the last thing she wants is to wait on answers. What happened last night? In who's bed is she?
The kitchen is filled with giggles and chatter. When she came to the entrance, her world was revealed to her.

"Oh, she's awake," Gerald chuckles. The twins, Julie and June, immediately look at her and gasp in excitement. Their red hair wild and curly, both about five years old.

"Hi," she greets them awkwardly.

"I made pancakes," Gerald says and gets up from his seat. He takes the plate from the cabinet and puts it on the empty space next to one of the girls. "Have breakfast with us."

"Thanks," she whispers and takes a seat.

"I'm Gerald, and these are my two girls, June and Julie," he says, showing to them. Rose smiles at them and pick up her fork, looking at the pancakes that are covered with syrup. She swallows hard on the spit in her mouth and looks nervously at Gerald. "Would you prefer something lighter?"

"We didn't... hook up or something, did we?" She asks. He chuckles and shakes his head, glancing over at his daughters. "My name is Rose, by the way. Do you have a phone, perhaps? I think I left mine at home. I just want to call my parents and tell them I'm okay."

"Sure," he nods and takes his phone from the counter behind him. With a smile, he gives it to her and continues eating. She takes the phone and immediately gets on it.

After a warm shower, Rachel went down to the kitchen, finding everyone there talking underneath each other at the same time. She crinches when it triggered her headache and grabbed the bottle of whiskey from the counter, taking a clean shot.

"What are you doing?" Eileen asks her in disgust. "Your daughter is missing, and you're drinking?"

"Wow, when there's a problem, she's mine, but when it's all paradise and sunshine, she's yours. You are so pathetic," Rachel says and puts the bottle down. "I'm just warming up to the search party, okay?"

"Someone is calling you," Shirley says, taking her phone from the charger. Rachel takes it and answers it, putting it to her ear.

"Rachel's strip club," she answers the phone. Her eyes go round, and she puts her hand up to get everyone's attention. "Rose, where are you?"

Everyone grows quiet and rushes to her. Rachel put the phone on loud-speaker and showed everyone to be quiet.

"I'm at someone's house. We're having breakfast," her voice comes through.

"Give me the address," Garth says, and with the intention to grab the phone, he cups Rachel's hand as well. "I'll come fetch you."

"I'll send mom the pin location," Rose says. There's a talking in the background again. "Oh, never mind. Gerald says he'll bring me home."

"Gerald?" Eileen asks, shocked and looks at Rachel. "This is your fault. She woke up to a guy named Gerald, whom we've never even met. That's worse!"

"Get over yourself, Eileen," Rachel shouts back at her. "At least she's making use of my advice."

The women started shouting at each other up until a point where Garth really had enough.

"That's it!" He shouts, getting their attention. "I don't care who got Rose where she is, I just want my daughter safe! What's wrong with you two?"

"She's always starting it," Rachel says, feeling a little upset. She admits that if she was even a little bit more mature and perfect, they would come along better, but they're worlds apart and different on so many levels.

"Well, I wouldn't have to if you could use your brain for once," Eileen replies cheekily. Before Rachel could react, Garth stepped between them and gave Eileen an odd look.

"Wait for me in the car," he tells his wife. Eileen throws her hands up and grabs her handbag, leaving. Shirley follows her to make sure she walks out safely. Garth looks at the phone, seeing that the call has been hunged up. He let go of Rachel's hand and sighed. "Rachel, what has become of you? This is not the woman I used to know."

"Well, this woman stopped taking life so damn serious when she learned how to wake up alone," Rachel replies and walks away from him to the counter to put her phone back on charge. "Life is fun, Garth. It's not supposed to be a trial. That's why our marriage never worked out."

"Our marriage didn't work out because you lied to me," he barks at her. She gives him a strange look. "You lied about everything."

"Like what?" She asks angrily. "What did I lie about?"

"What did you lie about? Let's start from the beginning. You never told me you were engaged. You've always been so secretive. What about that time when you said you were going to visit a friend and I didn't hear from you for a week?" He looks angrily at her and points his finger at her. "You never went to your friend."

"I was in hospital!" She shouts at him and slams his hand away. He grows quiet and just stares at her. "Gosh, you're such an idiot. I was sick and you knew it. Then I started bleeding and I went to the doctors and... I knew you wanted another child, but I couldn't give it to you. I had to get a hysterectomy.  So yes, I lied about visiting my friend."

"You went through that all alone and never told me?" He asks and slowly approaches her. "Rachel, I'm your husband. You are supposed to lay these burdens down on me."

"That's not the point, Garth," she says, getting tears in her eyes. She shakes her head and looks down. "I started bleeding. I went to the doctor and they told me that I had lost the baby. I was so angry at myself. I never even knew I was pregnant because I wasn't supposed to be."
She sighs and dries up her tears. Garth breathes heavily and touches her shoulders.
"And I'm sorry I kissed your wife," she adds and inhales deeply, looking up at him. "I didn't mean to hurt you in the process. I was just having fun, and perhaps my jealousy took over a little."

"For what it's worth, I like this new you," he smiles at her. He grabbed his car keys from the table and turned around. She watches him leave as she tries to pick up the pieces that had spilled so suddenly. Everything was perfect when she carried the load herself.