The Suite Adult Life

February (6.3)

Starting on Valentine's Day Bailey found waiting at the front desk of London's, now her, apartment was a giant bouquet of red roses. Not one to look ungrateful, she took the giant arrangement up with her. And every day there was something new waiting for her. Cookies, a stuffed bear, chocolates, and more roses. Was it really that difficult to order sunflowers? Love notes and badly written poems accompanied every gift. She kept the chocolates for herself and took the cookies and flowers into her office. She gave the teddy bear to a little girl on her floor.

She had discovered this was called 'love bombing' and he did every time they had a disagreement. She didn't think anything of it because they argued so little. Not to mention she had been taught that men give gifts when they are sorry. This was excessive. But that was the point wasn't it? Bog her down so she would lower her defenses. Well not this year. All of Valentine's Day she kept her phone on Do Not Disturb. She had a feeling that Chad would try to blow up her phone. And as soon as she got home, again to find another arrangement waiting for her, she saw how many voicemails and texts he left for her.

They ranged from casual to intense, loving to accusatory, but most were tinged with a derangement. She could hear him spiral and unravel with every word uttered. The worst message came not from him, but from his mother. She was curt and clipped with her message. It played on all of Bailey's insecurities of inadequacy. That message left her curled up in her bed holding back tears and failing. She wanted - no, needed, a friend. But there was no one to come and comfort her. London was gone and this city belonged to Cody.

Her phone buzzed with an alert. She was quick to pick it up thinking it was another text message from Chad. Instead it was from the New York Times. An article about a small town losing one of their two high schools and the students trying to save it. The article was good but the pictures really painted the picture. She didn't need to see the byline to know exactly who took them. Her breath caught in her throat at the gang leader. In another life... she thought to herself.

Bailey finally mustered up the courage to text her ex-fiancé back.

Stop contacting me, please. Thank you for the gifts but any more will be refused. I will be sending the ring back in the mail. Any further attempts to contact me will be ignored and can result in me blocking you.

She could hear London telling her to block him anyway. But, Bailey didn't work like that. She gave everyone the benefit of the doubt even if they didn't deserve it. She believed in second chances. Well, fuck. Where was Chad's second chance? She had never been cheated on before. The trust was completely gone. To give him a second chance would mean that she trusted him; and, she couldn't in good conscience say that she did.

The following week work was a haze. Bailey woke up at the same time every day, went through the same morning routine, took the same commute to the office, and moved through meetings and filing like she was on autopilot. Her finger felt naked and she constantly checked it, expecting to twirl the diamond around the digit. Instead of a tan line her finger turned red from all of the chafing.

At the behest of one of her coworkers who told her that she was 'bringing the vibe down' she left her office for an actual cup of coffee. As she approached the glass doors, she spotted a familiar dark moptop. She almost turned around and went back upstairs. She opted to hopefully sneak out by blending in with the crowd passing by. Unfortunately, just as luck would have it, as she walked out the crowd had dispersed.

"Bailey!" Cody yelled, catching her attention. He was sitting on the brick ledge of a flower bed and he looked like he had been out there waiting for some time. Should she run away or confront him? If she confronted him, what would she say? Any rebuff would just come across as the original rejection.

"Cody, what are you doing here?" She asked, approaching him directly. He had two cups of coffee next to him. One in a warm container the other an iced drink. He presented her with the iced coffee. The ice was partially melted but an iced drink was still good no matter the temperature. "What is this?"

"I thought you would like a coffee. I asked the barista what you ordered last time. I hope it's still good." He gave an apprehensive look, not sure if the drink would be good or if he just crossed an overall line.

She took it gingerly, giving a small thank you. She took a sip and recoiled a little bit. It was her drink. He got it right - a half vanilla half gingerbread oat milk latte with an extra pump of sugar. "Why are you here, Cody?" She asked again, sipping her drink.

"Why did you ignore me yesterday? Did I do something?" He hadn't meant for it to come off so accusatory. But, if one of them should be ignoring the other it should be him.

"I just thought it would be best with everything that has happened over the past few months." She said very judiciously. At his confused raised eyebrow she continued. "Well, you know with you and London," Fuck he didn't know she knew about that. "And that I called off my engagement..."

"You what?!" His eyebrows flew into his hairline and mouth dropped open like a caught fish.

Dammit...! She nodded her head slowly, confirming what she had just said. "Yeah, uh, I did it just after New Years. He's been trying his best to win me back but I just can't do it." She sat next to him, resting her feet, her ugg boots clashing with her outfit, but at least they were warm!

Cody nodded, taking his time to digest the new information. "Is it because you called me?" It was egotistical to ask, he knew that. But her phone call haunted him.

"Call you? What do you mean because I called you?" A look passed between the two of them. Bailey's was blank and not that fake kind of blank. The kind of blank where your friends are telling you about the drunken escapades you got into the night before; and, you really don't want to believe them but it still sounds like you so you know they are telling the truth. He looked like he was about to throw up. His eyes pleading with her to remember at least something; because, in this situation he could easily look like the creep.

"You called me at the beginning of January. You went on this rant about... " He could see Bailey's face slowly change as she came up with various hypotheses of what she said to him. Cody just couldn't bring himself to embarrass her. She needed to know the truth but there was a much kinder way of going about that. And did she really need to know all of the details? She sounded drunk and no matter how truthful someone can be while inebriated most were just regrettable actions. "...regrets." He finished lamely.

"Regrets about what?" She shouldn't push, she knew she shouldn't. But there was a part of her brain that just itched when she didn't know something. And she wanted, no needed, to know what she told him.

Cody shrugged a shoulder, sipping at his empty coffee cup, buying him a little time to think of a misdirect. He couldn't lie to her. He wouldn't lie to her. "Life. Honestly it was a bit garbled and I don't think you were completely sober," he said cautiously.

Bailey let out a silent 'oh'. She knew what night he was talking about. She was going to check her call history to see just how long this phone call lasted. "I think you thought you were leaving a voicemail." She continued to nod. She didn't know what was worse, not leaving evidence, or telling the one person she should be avoiding things she shouldn't.

"Well, I'm sorry. That was completely inappropriate of me and it will never happen again." Her chocolate curls shook around her shoulders. She could hear him begin to protest but her embarrassment won out. "I need to get back to work and I'm sure you've been freezing out here. I don't want to tie you up anymore. Thank you for the coffee!" The words came out furiously and without a moment to breathe or for him to interject. She turned quickly on her heel and she was inside the elevator of her office building before she could blink.

The following day, as she walked back into her office after another mind-numbing client meeting, she spotted a coffee togo cup sitting on her desk. It was still hot so it had to have just arrived. She recognized the logo of the cup as the one that Cody frequented. On the cup was a yellow post-it note that she assumed was his handwriting.

There wasn't a name but the drink was her order. She allowed herself a small little smile. She didn't let herself read too much into the gesture. She knew that was dangerous territory. Instead Bailey allowed herself to enjoy the small gift and ignore the fluttering of the butterflies that decided to hatch in her stomach.

You never have to be sorry with me.