Misery

Unlike before, Catherine was not hasty with her packing. Before, she knew whether subconsciously or not, that she would be back, and that she would return to Adam. Now was different; she knew she was gone for much longer than a few days. She hadn’t even made it out of the apartment last time before Adam had come home and gotten her to stay. Now, she knew no one was going to be able to stop her. She needed to leave.

“Cat?” Aimee’s voice floated from the entrance to her apartment to the bedroom, where Catherine was.

“In here,” She called in response, closing and zipping yet another suit case.

“Hey, baby,” Aimee sighed softly, wrapping her arms around the petite redhead that had become her best friend. “You’re really doing this?”

“I have to,” She said, the finality of her voice surprising even her. “I can’t get my heart broken over and over.”

Aimee nodded and smiled sadly, grabbing two of the four suitcases that were on the floor, along with a few boxes. “Is this everything?” Aimee asked, and when Catherine nodded, she too picked up the other two suitcases.

The two girls made a trip down to Catherine’s small SUV, loading the bags in the back. They returned upstairs and grabbed the boxes, and after three trips, all of Catherine’s things were in her car, ready to go. She excused herself from Aimee and returned to the apartment one last time, telling herself it was to make sure she had all of her things, but she knew that she needed closure.

Whether or not she’d get it by staring at a half empty apartment, she didn’t know, but it was worth a try. Scanning her eyes over the bright and clean apartment, a wave of memories came over her. She was surprised, but she wasn’t sad. Holding her head high, she left the apartment for what she hoped would be the very last time.

Aimee was texting and leaning against Catherine’s Hyundai Tucson when Catherine returned to the parking garage. Looking up at her approaching friend, Aimee held her arms out, which Catherine stepped into and offered a warm hug in return.

“You best leave now. I asked Troy to keep Adam busy while you packed, so they went out to lunch. They’re done and Adam is on his way here now.”

Catherine let a tear fall as she pulled away from Aimee and the brunette girl frowned. “Why are you crying?” She asked, wiping the tear from Catherine’s cheek. “Please tell me it’s not something Adam-related?”

Letting out a small laugh, Catherine shook her head, “No, I’m just going to miss this city, miss Boley, and miss you.”

“We’ll still talk, and so will you and Boley. It’s not goodbye for us.”

“I know, I plan on getting a new number once I’m settled, so as soon as I get that, I’ll make sure to give you a call. I’m probably going to keep my phone off for a while, ‘cause I know Adam is going to call…”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Aimee said, tears coming to her own eyes as she realized her friend would be leaving. Not that she hadn’t known before; the reality of the situation was finally getting to her.

“Do you think he’ll be happy to see you?” Aimee asked, as Catherine opened the driver side door of her Tucson.

She seemed to contemplate it for a while, but she finally said, “I hope so. The last thing he said to me was that he’d be there for me if I ever needed him.” She paused. “I think it’s safe to say I need him now.”

Giving Aimee a final hug, Catherine hopped into her car, threw her sunglasses on, and drove out of the parking garage. As she approached the entrance to the expressway, Catherine contemplated going north and once again, home to Madison, but she stayed with the path she had chosen for herself that morning and she headed south.

As she left the Chicago city limits, she wondered if she should have left a note for Adam telling him something, anything. That would have been too nice of her to do for him after everything he had done to her. She needed to make a clean break and explaining herself would only complicate things.

She drove for hours before she stopped just southwest of Springfield, grabbing herself some food and bathroom break. Looking over the diner’s small menu, a woman just around her age came to her table and asked if she was ready to order.

“I’ll just have a tuna club, I don’t think I can eat much more.”

Catherine’s waitress gave her a sad smile and walked into the kitchen, returning only a few minutes later with her order. Sitting across from Catherine as she set her plate down, the waitress, whom Catherine learned her name was Ellie said, “Want to tell me about it?”

Catherine wondered why this girl was being so interested, but too confused and conflicted to argue, she realized that this nice stranger was just trying to help and Catherine was dying to get it all out.

“I’ve spent the last six years dating a guy I’ve known for my entire life.”

Ellie nodded, “What happened?”

“He’s been cheating on me for over a year - ”

“And you’re just now leaving him?”

Catherine looked down at her sandwich and nodded her head, wondering how stupid she must have sounded.

“The reason you didn’t leave was because you were living based on all the good times you’ve had with him. You stuck around, hoping those days would come back. You loved him too much to give up.”

Ellie’s words hit Catherine in the face and she felt it was hard to breath. Tears were stinging her eyes as she looked up at the pretty blonde waitress with wide eyes, “You were me once, weren’t you?”

Ellie nodded and offered a small smile, “I started over here; made friends, got a job… You have someone where your headed?”

“I do. He’s an amazing guy. He was such a great friend to me and he couldn’t understand why I was staying with Adam. He really cares about me, thinks I deserve the world.”

“That’s more than I had, I can tell you.”

Catherine realized how lucky she was to have him, even if they stayed friends as long as they knew each other. She quickly finished her sandwich and noticed it was three in the afternoon. Bidding Ellie goodbye and a thank you and getting a ‘don’t let him go’ in return, Catherine was back in her car and back on the expressway, heading toward her destination.

It was almost six in the evening when she reached the St. Louis city limits. Quickly double checking the address TJ Oshie had texted to Catherine (thanks to Aimee getting his phone number out of Jonathan Toews) she typed it into her GPS and let the small device tell her what roads to take.

The drive took her past the St. Louis arch and Catherine could only smile at the beautiful structure. Taking her final turn and hearing the GPS tell her she had ‘reached her destination,’ she put the car in park and looked to her right, sizing up the beautiful house she had heard so much about.

Grabbing her purse and deciding to leave her bags in the trunk, she headed up the pathway and hoped he was home. Ringing the doorbell, Catherine was a ball of nerves as she rocked on her heels. When the door swung open, everything she had planned to say to him had left her mind and was forgotten. Instead, she threw her arms around him and silently cried.

To say Cam Janssen was surprised was an under statement. He hadn’t planned on talking to Catherine anytime soon, not that it was his choice. Now, she was on his porch, crying into his chest, and while he was happy to see her, his heart hurt when he realized why she was there; Adam had hurt her. Again.

Pulling away from her slightly and keeping his arms wrapped around her, he ushered her into the house. Catherine wiped her cheeks and looked up into Cam’s blue eyes and the first thing she noticed was how different they were from Adam’s, but just as beautiful.

“Catherine…”

”You were right. He did it again.”

Cam gave Catherine a look and she didn’t know what the look said, but it was not pity, and for that, she was thankful.

“Forget about him. You’re here now. Did you bring your things?”

“It’s all in my car. All of it.”

Cam gave a wide smile and wrapped his arms around Catherine again, pressing a light kiss to the corner of her mouth, “I’ll bring it in. You go upstairs and take a shower; third door on the right. Relax.”

Catherine felt a weight being lifted off her shoulders as Cam accepted her into his house, and right then, nothing felt more lovely (after hours of driving) than a long, hot shower.