This Empty Love

“Damn it Oliver, can you at least try to pick up your shit around the house?” I yelled, loud enough that he could hear me in the kitchen. At the moment, I honestly didn’t feel like touching his two pairs of shoes, sweatshirt, new shipment of Drop Dead T-shirts, and random leftovers that he had strewed across the living room.

He peaked his head around the corner, dodging as I threw his sweatshirt at him. “Calm down, would yeh? I’ll get it in a minute.” He replied, disappearing back into the kitchen.

I opened my mouth, ready to ramble on more until he got annoyed and would come pick it up right away, but before I could talk the doorbell rang, rudely interrupting me. I stalked over to the door, not bothering to glance out the peep hole, and swung it open.

My mouth gaped open. “Cara?” I asked, wondering if it was really her. I was about to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming.

“Did yeh know that yeh haven’t answered your phone in three whole weeks?” She asked, pushing the door open all the way and walking in.

Oli peeked out into the living room again. “Who was at the- Cara?” He looked just as dumb founded as I had.

“Yes, Cara.” She muttered sarcastically. “What’s with yeh two? Why so damn surprised to see me?”

“Maybe because we didn’t expect you?” I asked, pointing out the obvious. “What are you doing here?”

She scoffed. “If yeh ever answered your mobile, maybe yeh would have known I was comin’. I mean, yeh expect me to not hear from my best mate in three weeks and not worry at all?” She asked, making herself at home on the sofa. “Hell, I was about ready to call the police, thinkin’ Oliver might ‘ave gotten rid of yeh.”

I shifted my eyes to Oli, who gave a small smile and entered the living room. “I’m not a murderer Cara.” He said, leaning on the arm of the couch.

She shrugged and looked over to me. “We have a lot to catch up on, yeh ‘ave a lot to explain,” She glanced over at Oliver, “and yeh better listen to your wifey and clean the living room. We’ll be back.”

Cara jumped up off the couch and strutted over to me, grabbing my arm and dragging me towards the front door. I had no time to say anything before she slammed the door behind us and pushed me towards her car. “Yeh ‘ave been ignorin’ me, so I flew out to see you. Don’t ask anything, my turn for questions.”

Cara Herrington has been my best friend since I moved to England. Other than Oliver, Tom, and the rest of the guys, she was the only girl that I chose to associate myself with. We met at university, and have been friends since. But, in the past few weeks, I’ve ignored all phone calls from my family, friends, and acquaintances. Now, locked in her car and going 60mph+ down a highway, I couldn’t exactly ignore her or leave the vehicle.

She reached her slim hand over and turned down the radio, making it almost silent in the car. “So yeh and Oliver seem okay?” She questioned, keeping her eyes forward. “No one’s dead yet.”

I hadn’t been letting her into the loop recently. The last detailed conversation we had was over a month ago, simply because I didn’t want to face my problems, let alone talk about them. The only reason she knew half of what she did was because of Tom, who was her trusted sidekick.

“We’re on and off.” I replied, my tone changing to a more serious note. I knew that I had to be honest with Cara, or she’d hurt me. “We slept together last night.” She looked over at me, eyes wide and more open. “No, no, not like that! I mean, like, in a bed, clothes on, sleeping. Gah, no, sex is pretty much non existent with us.”

Cara chuckled. “Maybe yeh two just need to shag, might help out a lot.” She told me. Her voice seemed joking, but I knew she was being completely honest.

“You and our therapist think that.” I muttered, feeling slightly over powered. “He’s so convinced it’s as easy as-”

“You have a therapist?” She asked, interrupting me. “Damn it, yeh never tell me anything any more!”

She was right, and I hated that. “I know, I’m sorry. Things have just been-”

Cara cut me off again. “I’ve hear it a hundred times with yeh. “Things have been hectic,” “things are overwhelming,” “I’ve been busy.” Blah, blah, blaaaah.” She mimicked, her face becoming red with frustration. “I’m always honest with yeh, please be honest with me.”

“I was trying to before you cut me off.” My voice was barely a whisper. “But yes, we have a therapist. We have to go to him for three months before we can decide if we want the divorce. And like I was saying, he’s convinced it’s as easy as retelling our past and having sex.”

“See, I came ‘ere all prepared to cancel the divorce.” Cara admitted, “It’s a bit of a relief to know yeh haven’t set anything in stone. And maybe yeh need to take this shrink more serious. He knows what he’s talking about, maybe yeh and Oliver need to push your stubbornness aside and take his advice?”

“I’m all for it, you know that. You know I didn’t want this to happen anyways.” I muttered, “Ya'know, I still don’t know why he was the one to file the papers. After he cheated on me and lost my trust, I still wanted to be together.”

Cara, like Dr. Owens, didn’t comment on what I had to say. Instead, she got a look on her face like a light bulb was about to appear over her head. “We should go lingerie shopping!” She half screamed, startling me.

“What?” I yelled back, mimicking her pitch on accident. “I mean, what the hell is going on in your mind?”

“I’m a genius. I’m a fucking genius.” She chanted, throwing her arms in the air for a moment. Her smile was going to blind me. “We need to go lingerie shopping so you can look absolutely lusty and irresistible. I mean, if you happened to be wearing a lacy get-up, and then walked through the house “looking for your phone” and Oliver saw you, there’s no way he could restrain himself.”

I shot her a glance. “Are you creating a plan to get me laid?” I asked, just to confirm it. “I’m not sure whether to think this is ridiculous, conning my own husband into getting into bed with me I mean, or to think you’re amazing and buy you dinner.”

She beamed. “Let’s do dinner. I’m feeling good ole, California Sushi.”