Secret

Overwhelmed. That's the first word that came to mind when I turned on my phone for the first time in almost two weeks. 57 missed calls, 34 voicemails, and 79 text messages were waiting for me to tend to. Cracking my knuckles, I began the daunting task ahead of me. I quickly dialed the familiar number of my work, a posh workout center. I was a personal trainer there, and one of the best if I say so myself. I took a moment to catch my breath before pressing the dial button. Here goes nothing... I thought to myself. After three rings, someone answered.

"Natalie Carcillo! Where are you?! You haven't been into work for two weeks and no one knows where you are!" My boss screamed, obviously furious. Natalie Carcillo, ha. Not in the mood to sugar coat anything, I decided to just get it over with. Rip it off like a band-aid.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Bryant, I really am. I wanted to call you sooner, but I just couldn't even get myself to turn on my phone. I'm quitting." I sighed, sad to let my dream job slip away from me like that. So much for not sugar coating

"What?! Natalie this better be a fucking joke! You are one of our top trainers! Customers beg to work with you! If you do this we are going to loose so much money! If you're quitting to spend the summer with your professional hockey playing husband, I can promise you that your job will not be waiting for you when you get back from a summer of relaxing on the beach!" Mr. Bryant continued to scold me, but there was a hint of panic in his voice, along with pleading. The last part of his rant really irked me. Oh, how I would love to be on the fucking beach, spending time with my husband, like we had originally planned to do this summer. Look how well that ended up, my husband fucked me over, and so did his sister. Now I'm left with no job, no best friend, and having to live with my brother. I know for a fact that as much as he loves me, he would rather I was elsewhere. I felt the same way. I was done listening to people beg for me to do what they want. I was going to do what I wanted for once.

"Mr. Bryant, for your information, I don't want and will never want my job back! I am done with Philadelphia! I quit! Good-bye!" I shouted into my phone, articulating every word with a nasty tone. I hung up before the conversation could escalate any more.

Running my fingers through my hair, I began to tackle the ridiculous amount of text messages and voice mails ahead of me. I decided to check texts first.






The rest of the texts were pretty much the same. Almost all were from Dan and Tori, with a few Patrick texts and some random people who had no idea what was going on in my life, and wanted to talk about pointless things, like the weather or the latest episode of The Bachelor.

Finally done with checking text messages, it was time for voice mails. Listening to the ones from Tori made me chuckle a bit, hearing a drunk Patrick try to talk in the background never failed to make me laugh. The ones from Dan really hit me hard though. Hearing his voice again made me realize how much I missed him. I really wanted him back into my life, but I knew I couldn't let that be an option. Taking him back would only make me weak, and would only hurt me again. If I took him back, it would give him the idea that he could sleep around all the time, and only be in trouble for a little bit. And what would it say about me? I would be that girl who can't live without a man. I am an independent woman, and I can make it by just fine. My thoughts were interrupted by an incoming call. Peering onto my screen, the caller I.D. let me know it was Tori calling. I almost answered, but I willed myself not to, and hit decline. Flopping back onto my bed, I sighed and tried to make sense of what I would do with my life now. My attention was drawn away when I heard a knock on my door.

"What?" I grumbled, with the attitude of your typical single and bitter person.

"May I come in?" Kris asked me.

"I suppose..." I replied, flatly. Lying down next to me, he and I just sat there for a few moments, not saying anything. Finally, Kris began his proposal.

"I'm going out with some friends tonight, and I really think you should come too." He suggested.

"No thanks." I grumbled.

"Come on, Natty-Boo! You need a night out! You need to have some fun! Sitting around all day is only going to make you feel worse! Spend some time with great food, great drinks, great friends, and of course, yours truly." He raised his eyebrows at the last part.

"No." I rolled my eyes, and turned around on the bed so I wouldn't have to face him.

"You are going whether you want to or not." He ordered me.

"Try me." I challenged him. Kris accepted my challenge, and walked over to my side of the bed, and began tickling me mercilessly.

"No, Kris, no!" I cried out.

"Never!" He let out an evil laugh as I tried getting him off of me. He was really getting a kick out of it too, he began singing show tunes along with it, just to increase my misery.

"ALRIGHT I'LL GO!" I screamed to him, hoping he would stop. Thankfully, he did. Grabbing my purse from the door, I straightened myself out and started towards the garage, to get into Kris's car.

"Uh, Natalie, you might want to take a look in the mirror before you decide to leave like that." He said, in the kindest way possible. I walked over to the mirror and did not like what I saw. I looked awful. I had bags under my eyes and I look like I haven't slept in weeks. Well, I really haven't slept in weeks so I guess that was correct. Either way, I definitely need to be spruced up before I went anywhere.

"Give me thirty minutes." I ordered, before making my way into the bathroom, preparing myself for an evening of getting wasted and singing karaoke with my big brother.

"That's my Natty-Boo." Kris winked.