8 Weeks

Chapter Six

Chapter 6 -Shelly

I cried for two days. I called in sick to work, turned off my cell phone, and hid out in my childhood bedroom. I just kept hearing him over andover in my head, "I'm pretty sure I slept with her."

How can you be "pretty sure"?

By the time the two days were over, it no longer mattered to me. All that mattered was that Cal slept with someone else.

He was not the man I thought he was.

My first order of business was to take a shower. I reeked.

Once I was scrubbed, shaved, and squeaky clean, I went out into the house in search of food. My dad was sitting at the kitchen table, reading the paper and drinking tea. Judging by the darkness outside, it was nighttime. I looked at the clock and was surprised to see it was eleven o'clock.

"What are you doing up?" I asked my dad as I opened the refrigerator door.

"Hey, Bell,"he said, grinning at me from around the paper. "It's good to see you up."

"It's late,why are you up?" I asked again.

"I figured you'd have to get up eventually, and I wanted to be here in case you needed to talk."

I put the carton of eggs on the counter, then walked over and kissed him on the head.

"That's sweet, Dad, but you should get some sleep."

"Nah, I'm retired. I can sleep whenever I want."

"Alright, do you want some eggs?" I asked.

"No, I already ate," he responded.

He continued to read his paper as I made my eggs, and I found his presence comforting.

When I sat down at the table next to him he said, "Cal's called a few times."

"I don't want to talk to him right now," I spat out. Just the sound of his name made me lose my appetite.

"That's whatI told him," my dad replied. "Gaby and Sasha have also called a few times, I guess Cal told them you were here. They were worried because they haven't been able to get a hold of you."

"I turned my phone off," I explained as I pushed the eggs around on my plate.

"Well, you should give them a call, let 'em know you're okay."

I nodded. Sasha and Gaby were probably exactly what I needed right now. Great friends.

"You need to eat those eggs, not just play with them."

"I'll try," I said softly.

My dad stood up and gathered up his empty cup, then he kissed me on the head, mimicking my earlier gesture.

"You'll get through this, sweetheart. You're a strong woman, just like your mother."

"Thanks, Dad. Goodnight."

I sat there staring at the plate in front of me, wondering what I was going todo. I guessed that I'd have to go back to work; now was not the time to get fired. Plus, I needed to start thinking about money.Cal and I had always kept our money together and paid our bills.Now, we'd have to decide who was going to get the house and pay the bills, and divvy everything up. I was always the one who paid the bills, so Cal was going to have to start worrying about that on his own now.

I'd already decided that we would have to get a divorce. There's no way I'd be able to stay with him after what he did.

I picked up my plate and threw out my uneaten food, then went to find my phone.

When I turned it on, there were numerous missed calls and text messages from Cal,Gaby, and Sasha. I ignored Cal's and went right to Gaby's. She started off worried, then pissed, and her final message simply said, Call Me Now.

I called her.

"Hello," Gaby said sleepily.

"Hey," I responded. "Did I wake you?"

"Shelly? You at your dad's?" she asked, a little more alert.

"Yeah."

"I'm coming over," Gaby said. Then she hung up.

"Hello?" I asked, but she was already gone.

I shouldn't have been surprised though, the three of us had always been like that. We could count on each other no matter what.

Gaby and I had been friends since elementary school. In fact, I couldn't remember a time in my life without her in it.

Sasha had moved into town our freshman year in high school. She'd been gorgeous, fashionable, and scared the shit out of everyone, so the majority of the school had shunned her almost immediately. Not ones to conform to the masses, Gaby and I had asked Sasha to sit with us during lunch ... We'd been inseparable ever since.

I was sitting on the couch, looking out the window, so I saw Gaby's VW Bug pull up in front of the house and got up to open the door for her.

She jogged up the path, into the house, and put her hands on my shoulders, looking me over everywhere.

"What the fuck is going on?" she asked finally.

I pulled her inside and shut the door,leaning against it as I answered her. When I finished telling her about Cal, her mouth was hanging wide open and she was shaking her head back and forth.

"No ... No,way. Not Cal, he loves you too much."

"Apparently not," I said with a bitter laugh. "He was drunk and doesn't remember, but it happened."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm doing it, Gaby. I left him."

"But, he didn't do it on purpose ..." she began, then stopped when I shot her a glare.

"Don't you dare defend him."

"I'm not defending him, Shelly, but it's Cal. It's the two of you. You love each other and there's no way that he would have consciously went out and slept with another woman. You have to know that."

"I may know that, Gaby, but I also know that I can't get the image of him with another woman out of my head. I can't stop thinking that he had sex with someone other than me," I explained as I paced the living room. "We were both each other's first and only lovers. That's not the case anymore, and I can't get it out of my head."

"Maybe with a little time you will," Gaby said softly.

"Please, stop. I know that you love both of us, Gaby, but I need you to be on my side on this," I pleaded.

"I'm always on your side, Shelly," Gaby promised. "No matter what."