People Change

Sydney hobbled gingerly across the linoleum floor of the kitchen towards the ovens cooking a few loaves of banana nut bread. She grabbed an oven mitt and gently pulled open the oven door, peeking inside its high-temperature interior. The bread seemed to be doing fine on its own, so Sydney threw the oven mitt down on the counter beside it and hobbled back over to the stool in the corner, finding herself with nothing to do until she switched with Lanie.

It’d been a month since the accident—Sydney preferred to refer to it as “the accident” instead of “when Brian showed his true cheating guts”, just because it was easier that way. Finally, only a few days later, Lanie let Sydney back into the kitchen, satisfied that Sydney could hobble around with just the boot on her leg without her crutches. So far, Sydney had done well, only burning herself once when her palm pressed against a hot pan. Lanie couldn’t talk, though; she’d done the exact same thing only a week earlier.

Over the past couple of weeks, Brian kept sending Sydney voicemails begging her to answer his calls and listen to him, just once. She refused to, however, knowing talking to him now would result in her getting very upset, and that would make Lanie upset, and Sydney didn’t want Lanie any more upset than she already was. You see, Lanie was still searching for the perfect opportunity to punch Brian in the face at least once. It hadn’t come yet, but once it did, Lanie would be just a little more satisfied.

Sydney had decided to just wait a couple more weeks. Then, when Brian called, she’d answer, listen to his excuses, and ultimately not forgive him. He didn’t deserve her forgiveness; he sure as hell didn’t deserve her trust either. She’d forgiven him and trusted him once, and look where it got her: with a fractured ankle and a broken heart. She wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.

Thinking about her situation often saddened Sydney. She switched her mind to other things as she rose from the stool and headed towards the shop to switch places with Lanie. Right as she went to step through the swinging doors, she heard Brian’s voice and froze, listening to hear what would happen.

“Please, Lanie, just let me talk to Sydney,” Brian said. Sydney smirked at the unmistakable sound of a fist making contact with a face. Brian cried out in pain, only causing Sydney’s smirk to widen. “You punched me!”

“Damn right I did!” Lanie yelled back. Sydney could almost see her pulling back another fist for round number two. “Sydney doesn’t wish to speak with you, so you better leave before I fly across this fucking counter at you!”

“Okay, okay,” Brian replied. Sydney heard his defeat in his voice, and decided Lanie deserved an extra big hug after this. His voice got a little quieter as he retreated back from Lanie and from the door Sydney hid behind. “Just tell Sydney I’m waiting.”

The bakery door opened and closed before Sydney allowed herself to walk out into the bakery shop. Lanie stood behind the counter, both fists clenched at her sides with her body pivoted towards where Brian climbed into his SUV. When she looked around at Sydney, she saw Lanie’s flashing chocolate brown eyes.

“Thanks,” Sydney said gratefully with a smile. Lanie’s glare fractured and a smile broke through.

“No problem,” Lanie replied happily, rubbing her hands together like she was wiping something off of them. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a month.”

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Sydney sighed when her specialized ring tone for Brian rang from the coffee table. Lanie sat beside her on the couch and she, too, looked down at the cell phone where it sat singing and vibrating against the table.

“You going to answer it this time?” Lanie asked, looking back at the television as she flipped through the channels.

“Yeah, I think I will,” Sydney sighed, leaning forward and snatching it off of the coffee table.

“Good luck,” Lanie called after her as she walked into her bedroom, closed the door, and plopped down on the edge of the bed. Taking a deep breath, Sydney answered it.

“One excuse, Brian, and I’ll never consider answering your call again,” she said by way of greeting.

“Well, hello to you, too,” Brian answered, sounding immensely relieved that Sydney actually answered his call. “But I promise: no excuses.”

“Good,” Sydney said. “Now, speak.”

“What do you want to hear about?”

“Your story,” Sydney answered, figuring she had to get it out of the way. “Tell me what made you do it.”

Brian truthfully told her the same story he told Jimmy. Once he was finished, though, he added, “Sydney, I know this is useless, but I’m really sorry about all this. It’s a little cliché to say that I never meant for this to happen, but it’s the truth.”

“And you’re over me? This quick?” Sydney questioned.

“Um...yeah,” Brian answered.

“Out of the several dick moves you’ve made lately, that has to be at least number two,” Sydney commented. “I suppose you have zero remorse for what you’ve done.”

“Of course I have remorse! I would give anything to turn back the clocks and change what happened! It’s just, I’m not into you anymore. I feel no attraction towards you. I guess after being away from Michelle for so long, I’d forgotten what true love felt like and mistook what we had for it,” Brian explained.

“And one meeting with her made you realize you didn’t really love me.”

“Yeah,” Brian answered reluctantly.

“I wonder why I ever trusted a jackass like you.”

“I’ve always been a jackass,” Brian agreed. “I just toned it down so you could see I wasn’t a jackass all the time.”

Sydney sighed. “I guess I should be grateful that you’ve been truthful. But I can’t forgive you this time, and I don’t think I’ll ever trust you again.”

Before Brian could respond, Sydney flipped her phone closed.