BANE

CHAPTER TEN - BARE (Part 1)

It had been two days since Holden had returned to their apartment, but he was still having occasional bouts of pain in his left hand and arm. It was for this reason, that Corbin found himself shopping alone at the grocery store on a Thursday afternoon. His shopping basket filled with painkillers for Holden and vegetables for dinner, Corbin made one last stop to grab a bag of rice.

"Corbin?"

Corbin's heart stopped when he turned around. "Jeremy... What are you doing here?"

"I'm in town for my sister in-law's wedding. My wife's from here," The other man winced when he mentioned his wife. "Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize. My brother told me that you and your wife are going to have a baby. Congratulations."

"We did, two weeks ago. A baby girl," Jeremy said with a beaming smile. He let out a short nervous laugh and hesitated. "I'm sorry, this is weird..."

"I'll go," Corbin turned to leave but Jeremy grabbed his wrist.

"Wait, um... The truth is, Blake called me last week and asked me to check up on you while I was in town. When I ran into him last time, he mentioned you and Layla lived here now, and I told him that I was heading here for the wedding... I'm not sure what this 'checking up' business is about, but I wasn't planning to see you, I swear. My in-laws' condo is right down the street..."

"I believe you. It's fine," Corbin pulled his hand away.

At that moment, a pretty woman with long brown hair rounded the corner pushing a baby stroller with one hand and holding a can of corn in the other. "There's daddy!" She placed the can of corn in Jeremy's cart and smiled up at Corbin. "Hello."

"Um, this is my wife Renée, and our daughter Ella Marie. Honey, this is Corbin."

Renée paused while shaking Corbin's hand and her eyes widened. She looked at her husband. "The Corbin?"

Corbin looked at him as well, both confused and fearful. Surely, she did not know about their past. Jeremy nodded to her. "One and the same," He smiled at Corbin. "My first boyfriend... I really did not expect to run into you like this."

Corbin was at a loss for how to respond. Had Jeremy just casually told his wife about his ex-boyfriend in the middle of a grocery store? Corbin knew he ran the risk of crossing paths with Jeremy back home, but he did not expect to bump into him halfway across the country, two blocks away from his apartment. At that moment, all Corbin could think of was how much he wished Holden was with him, but he knew that had the potential to make this meeting more awkward. "Nice to meet you, Renée. Congratulations to you both on the baby. I should go..." He took a step back.

"Are you free tonight, Corbin? Maybe we could go for a drink later. We'll be busy with wedding events all weekend, but Jeremy's schedule is completely empty tonight. Ten years, you two must have lots to talk about," Renée suggested.

"I'm sorry, I don't think that's a good idea..." Corbin saw the pained look in Jeremy's eyes. He didn't think he would cause him to make that expression ever again. "I'm sorry," He walked away.

Renée stopped him after he finished at the checkout, right as Corbin was about to leave the store. "Corbin, please..." He looked around, Jeremy and the baby were not in sight. "You probably don't believe me, but you really did a number on him. It took him years to get over what you did. We'll be here tonight, so please... just a few drinks and a conversation," She handed Corbin a piece of paper with a phone number and the name of a restaurant written on it. "This is his cell number, we'll be at this restaurant at eight tonight."