Wild Card

Screaming Infidelities

"Hello?" The voice on the other end sounded tired and slightly out of breath.

"Hey," Karlie responded, "Were you just working out?" She glanced at the clock, "It's a bit late for that don't you think?"

"No, I was just taking a nap," the entrepreneur was quick to answer, "I've been feeling a little under the weather that's all."

"Oh, is everything okay?" The model asked worried.

"Yes, everything is fine. It's probably just a small cold," he answered, "I'll probably be fine by tomorrow morning,"

"Okay. So do you want to cancel our dinner plans?" Karlie wondered, but already knowing the answer, she started taking off her shoes.

"Yeah it think that'd be best."

"I'll talk to you later then."

"Bye!"

He hung up before Karlie could answer. She sighed and went back to her bed, maybe she would order something in later. Or maybe I could make some soup and take it to Josh. That's something a girlfriend would do, right? The thought of having to deal with a sick Josh was not appealing to her at all, but leaving to him fend for himself while sick made her feel even worse. What if he was downplaying just how sick he actually was?

Karlie got out of bed, deciding to go buy some food for herself and some for Josh. If she wanted this relationship to work, she had to put in the effort.

***

It took Karlie an hour to get to Josh's apartment, a bag of food in hand, soup for him and salad for her. In the other, she held the key he had given her a few months back. With a flick of her wrist, the door opened. The place was eerily quiet and she couldn't seem to remember the last time she'd been there.

She quietly made her way towards his room in case he was asleep. She opened the door to the dark room, she could see nothing and only hear the sound of breathing. She decided to turn on the lights, praying the entrepreneur wouldn't wake up.

However, when she turned the lights on, not only did he wake up, but also the pretty redhead next to him.

Karlie's stomach was turning in a million directions, throwing up seemed like a very possible future for her. She felt like crying and screaming, but she wasn't going to. At least not in front of him.

"Karlie," the expression on Josh's face was pure shock. "I can explain."

Karlie laughed cruelly, she didn't need an explanation, she wasn't blind she saw everything she needed to see with her own eyes.

Josh turned towards the girl next to him and whispered something in her ear, she simply nodded and got up to leave the room. She kept her eyes on the floor as she did, Karlie almost felt bad for her.

The model wanted to the same the redhead had just done, to leave that room. But she had questions she needed the answers to; plus she figured, if she threw up, she wanted to leave him with the mess, let him deal with it.

Both looked at one another, Karlie's eyes were filled with anger and betrayal, but Josh's were only filled with guilt, but no regret. It only made the model feel sicker.

They were quiet for a second, until Karlie couldn't bear it anymore. "How long?"

Josh sighed, "Since after the accident." The girl realized this wasn't something she wanted to hear, but it was too late now. "I thought I was going to die, but then I didn't. And I realized just how unpredictable life was, how little time we actually have. You know, before the accident, I was okay with what we had, but after, I realized I didn't love you anymore, and I wanted more, I wanted so much more. I wasn't okay with just settling anymore. But I didn't know how to tell you. You had spent so much of your time taking care of me when I need someone, and it just felt wrong."