Misery

Smiling at family member after family member, Catherine turned to her sister and mumbled how much her face hurt. Elizabeth, two years younger than Catherine, laughed and agreed. She had been home in Madison for five days, since she had arrived that Sunday night. Her mother had sent Catherine, Elizabeth, and their father on a cleaning spree the entire week, preparing for the family party that was taking place at their house.

Now, two hours into the party, Catherine was being run from the kitchen to where the party was being held, the basement. With a giant bar aligning one wall, it had always been a family ‘hang out.’ Needing a few moments to herself, she stepped out into their backyard and into the cool night air.

“Catherine,” She heard from behind her, and she turned to see her father and her uncle standing and talking.

“Hey, daddy,” She smiled, as he reached out to wrap an arm around his eldest daughter. “Hey, Uncle Michael, what are you guys doing out here?”

“Hiding from your mother,” Her uncle, her mom’s brother, said.

Catherine let out a small laugh, “Me too.”

There was a silence over the three of them as they stood and looked at their surroundings, Catherine’s gaze on the darkening sky. Wondering what Adam was doing was not good, she knew, but she still couldn’t help it. As if her dad knew what she was thinking, his grip on her tightened.

“How are things in Chicago?” He asked, quietly.

“Really great,” She said, turning to look at him.

“Adam’s been treated you well?” He asked, almost as if he was surprised.

“Yes, dad, he has. I really think he’s smartened up.”

Her dad smiled and pulled her into a hug, “I’m glad he has. I couldn’t stand to see my little girl treated that way.”

“I know…” She frowned.

“Promise me something?”

Looking at her dad, Catherine could only comply. “Sure.”

“If he goes back to his old ways, you’re gone.”

“I’m gone.”

The ease at which those words came out of her mouth surprised her. Remembering just weeks before when Boley had suggested the same thing to her, and her heart had ached at the thought, she couldn’t believe how strong she was being. A month ago, the thought of no longer being with Adam would have terrified her, and while she still didn’t want to leave him, she knew that she needed to take care of herself.

For the first time in her life, Catherine was going to do what made her happy, and while, right now that was continuing to live her life exactly how it was (with Adam), she made a promise to herself that if being with Adam – being in Chicago – made her unhappy, she would leave.

Being in love with Adam for so long had given her many highs and lows, good times and bad. And while, right now, was the highest of highs, she had to wonder how long it was going to stay that way. She was, of course, still so in love with him it surprised even her sometimes, but Catherine knew that if he cheated, even just once more (which was nothing compared to all the times he had before) she had no problem leaving him. That fact, though, surprised her the most.

But she was strangely at peace with it.

Her father and uncle told Catherine they were heading back inside, but she opted to stay out a little longer. Wrapping her arms around herself, trying to warm up, she pulled her cell phone from her pocket. Frowning at the missed call from Adam’s number, she deduced it must have rang while she was inside the loud party. Quickly calling him back, she frowned even more when he didn’t answer.

Sighing, she put the phone back into the pocket of her jeans and headed back into the party. Her mother gave her a pointed look as soon as she stepped foot into the kitchen.

“I needed your help putting out desserts and you were nowhere to be found!”

Catherine didn’t hear anything else her mother said, because before the middle-aged women could finish her sentence, her daughter was downstairs and grabbing a plate of chocolate cake. Catherine and Elizabeth locked eyes from across the room as they both shoveled cake into their mouths, and they laughed.

- - - - - -

Kissing her parents and her sister goodbye wasn’t supposed to happen until the next morning, but Catherine was itching to get back to Chicago. After her family had left the party the night before, she had made the decision to leave a day early, immediately packing her bags. Her dad gave her a tight hug, mumbling the promise he had made his daughter make in her ear. Smiling up at her dad, she gave him a reassuring nod, moving to hug her little sister tightly.

“You need to come visit soon,” Catherine told Elizabeth.

“Of course I do! I need to meet Adam’s teammates,” The younger girl smirked.

Catherine’s father shook his head and rolled his eyes, pulling his wife and youngest daughter into the house with him, giving Catherine a final wave as she made sure everything she had brought was loaded into her small SUV and she pulled out of the driveway.

The drive home seemed to go by within twenty minutes; and Catherine could only guess it had something to do with her excitement (and the fact she was driving at least twenty miles over the interstate speed limit). When she pulled into her and Adam’s parking garage, it was only nine thirty AM; she had left her family’s house a little before seven that morning.

Dragging her bags behind her, she stumbled into the elevator and pressed the button for the twentieth floor, anxiously rocking on her feet. When the elevator bell dinged and the doors slid open, Catherine practically threw herself out and ran to her and Adam’s door. Quietly taking her keys out of her purse, she quickly opened the door and almost tip-toed inside.

Leaving her bags by the door, she walked down the hall to her and Adam’s room, but she didn’t need to go in to see where he was. The bed was made, something he never did, and Catherine instantly knew he hadn’t been home at all the night before.

Sucking in a deep breath, she stepped out onto their balcony and looked at the Chicago skyline all around her. Pulling her cell from her jeans, she dialed Adam’s number and this time, she wasn’t surprised when she received no answer. Snapping the phone shut, she slid into one of their patio chairs and let her mind race.

After an hour of waiting and he still hadn’t called her back or come home, she picked up her cell phone again and dialed another number. Boley was cheery when he answered, but Catherine didn’t call to small talk.

“Where’s Adam?” She asked.

Boley questioned, “Are you back in Chicago?”

“Yes,” She sighed. “I haven’t talked to him since Thursday night and I know he didn’t come home last night.”

He was silent for a while before he answered, almost as if he was looking for a way to put things, “We went out to a bar last night, me, Adam, a few other guys.”

Catherine nodded, even though Boley couldn’t see her.

“He left before I did.”

“Was he alone?” She had put it bluntly, figuring there was no other way; she had to know.

The silence that came from Dave Bolland’s end of the phone already answered her question, but his small sigh and even smaller ‘I’m sorry,’ had confirmed Catherine’s suspicions. She snapped her phone shut and dropped it on the concrete ground of the balcony.

She couldn’t stop the tears that fell as the cold Chicago wind whipped around her.