Sweet Disposition

“Hey babe,” Henry called out to his girlfriend as he heard the front door of their Manhattan apartment close behind her as she walked in. His gaze never left the television blaring in front of him as she dropped her keys on the small kitchen/dining room table. “Hey,” she sighed, dropping her bag beside the armchair positioned by the couch. She collapsed into the cushioned chair, exhausted from a long day at work.

Claire worked at a physical therapy practice in the city after graduating from Columbia for athletic training 7 months ago. Today had been a particularly long day filled with back-to-back appointments and a rather large load of paperwork. Her boss, Alan, had hired her during her senior year of college after she had worked her junior (year) internship. She had impressed him with her work ethic and her eagerness to learn. His fondness for the girl spurred him to offer her a job as she neared the end of her internship, which she accepted immediately.

Some crappy reality series played out in front of him as the couple sat in silence, neither really acknowledging the other. His eyes glued mindlessly to the television while her gaze rested on her lap, her hands wringing themselves almost nervously. He was too engrossed in whatever he was watching to notice her odd, uncharacteristically fidgety behaviour, a far cry from the usually composed and calm 21 and a half-year-old brunette.

“Henry,” she called out, her voice attempting to break through the heavy silence that had consumed them. “Yeah,” he replied automatically, his dull brown gaze never leaving the screen before him. “Henry, we need to talk,” she said, louder this time mustering up more force behind her voice, barely even trying to cover the irritation that had manifested so clearly in her tone. This behaviour had become the norm for him over the past few months and she had finally had enough.

“Can’t we talk later baby? I’m in the middle of a show,” he asked without even so much as a glance in her direction. She sighed in frustration, shooting up from her seat, snatching the remote from his loose grip, and turning off the television, “No, we’re talking now.” He looked a little taken aback by the sharpness of her tone and the sudden forwardness to really challenge his thoughts of how this conversation should go.

However, he obliged, hoping to get the impending conversation over as quickly as possible, “Fine, what do you want to talk about Claire? Did you have a rough day at work or something?” She knew he didn’t give two shits about her job, but she replied anyway, sitting back down in the armchair, placing the remote beside her, “It was a long day, but Al-“

“God, it’s always a rough day at work Claire!” he exclaimed, cutting her off as he began another one of his tirades, “I don’t see why you don’t just quit that job already. You work ridiculously long hours there that could be spent doing things around the house here. The apartment’s always a mess and since you spend all your time at work nothing ever gets done here. Besides, I miss having you here babe, it’s almost like you’re never home.”

Claire’s jaw clenched in anger, this wasn’t the first time nor would it be the last that he had brought this argument up and she was not having any of it tonight. “Let me finish before you start with this bullshit again Henry, okay?” she snapped, her temper made short by her tiredness flaring. She loved her job and she’d be damned if she was going to let him slag it off again.

He huffed, folding his arms over his chest like a little boy and nodding for her to continue. “As I was saying, Alan wanted to talk to me before we closed up today. He said that he’s been talking about me with a few of his friends who work as athletic trainers in the NHL and three of them apparently expressed interest in offering me a job in their training staffs.” He looked at her, a frown prevalent on his features, “You got three job offers?”

“Yeah,” she nodded, her eyes lighting up at the prospect that three NHL athletic trainers and organizations were interested in hiring her, “I got offers from the Rangers, the Devils, and the Flyers.” His expression changed to one of relative relief, clearly sure about which team she had chosen, “So, you’ll be taking the one with the Rangers. Great, at least you’ll still be in the city-“ A dangerous glint flashed through her usually warm brown eyes as she cut him off, “No, Henry. I want to take the job in Philadelphia.”

He began to laugh, “Good one babe.” She glared at him, clearly not amused by his reaction, “What’s so funny? Huh? I’m not joking around. I want to take the job in Philly.” The smile faded from his face almost instantly, “You-You’re serious?” He earned a stern ‘yes’ and an arched eyebrow from his girlfriend.

The pair had been arguing more frequently over the last few months of their relationship and the thin ice on which it stood was cracking drastically beneath it. She had threatened to end it with him countless times over the past month and a half giving him the ultimatum that he either got his act together and turned things around or she would leave him. He would promise after each argument that he would try and be better and convince her otherwise, sweet-talking his way out of the doghouse.

“Baby, you’re being ridiculous,” he scoffed, trying to reason with her and talk her down, “You just need a break, you’ve been working too hard. Maybe you should quit your job, turn down the offers and stay here. Besides, we’re happy here, and I know that you love this city and I know you don’t want to leave me.” She glared angrily at him as he moved closer, trying to sooth her with his words, words that he wanted to hear, only adding kindling to the already raging fire.

“Are you shitting me?” she asked incredulously, springing up from her chair and away from his touch, “Quit my job and stay here to clean up your mess? And what do you suppose we do for income Henry? Hm? I’m the only one who has an actual job, unlike you. I pay the fucking rent for this apartment while you just sit on your ass all day and do nothing!” She was absolutely livid as she stood over him, her eyes ablaze in an intimidating display that caused him to visibly flinch.

“Claire, babe, listen. You know I’ve been looking for a job-“ She didn’t even give him the chance to finish, “Oh, right, forgive me for forgetting your never ending job search! You sit on that damn couch every day and I’ve yet to see you look for a job let alone keep one Henry. You can’t just keep quitting jobs just because you get bored or don’t feel like doing the workload they give you! Grow up!” He opened his mouth to respond but she stopped him before a sound could leave his throat, “And don’t even think that I don’t know about your dad’s monthly checks.”

She almost laughed at the look of shock on his face as she called him out. A month and a half ago she had come home late from work to find that he was out at the bar with his friends. He hadn’t checked the mailbox that day so she had brought it up with her and began going through it and sorting it when a particular envelope caught her eye. It was addressed to her boyfriend, the return address from his father’s office. She frowned at the paper in her hand. It wasn’t the first time that she had seen an envelope much like this one and she felt her curiosity peak.

She allowed the overwhelming feeling of interest consume her as she carefully opened the envelope. To say she was pissed when she inspected its contents was an understatement. In it she found a check for $1,500 made out to Henry from his father with a small note to go with it. She had waited all this time for him to bring it up but he never had.

“You know, Henry, that money your dad’s been sending you could have gone towards paying bills and rent-“ He cut her off this time, shock giving way to anger, “You have no right going through my mail Claire. It’s my money and I can do what I want with it!” She scoffed, “Why didn’t you tell me he was sending you money? More importantly why did you not offer to use it to help make payments? You know I’ve been struggling Henry!”

He shook his head, not even bothering to answer her question, “God, what is with you Claire? Ever since you started working at that fucking job of yours you’ve been harder and harder to deal with!” She shook her head letting out a humourless laugh, “Oh, I’ve been harder to deal with? Why? Is it because I actually stand up for myself now? That I can actually function independently? Qu'est-ce que je ne vois jamais en vous ... vous êtes arrogant, égoïste, connard incompetent!” (What did I ever see in you… you’re an arrogant, selfish, incompetent asshole!)

“Oh no, don’t start Claire, you know I hate it when you go off in another fucking language,” he fumed. “Oh, sorry cher, how could I forget you hate when I speak to my family in their native fucking language since god forbid I talk about you to them and you can’t understand what I’m saying!” He had often made it very clear to her how much he detested her speaking in French to her parents for fear she was saying bad things about him to their faces. His lack of control over the conversation made him uncomfortable. “God damn it Claire, what happened to the girl I started dating three years ago?”

Her face changed from furious to stony and cold, his words the last straw for her. “She’s gone and never coming back. This is who I am and you know what? That’s it. We’re done. I want you out of here by tomorrow,” she fumed. “Whoa there baby, hold on just a minute. You’re kicking me out?” he asked in disbelief, taking a step back from the shorter brunette, “Where the fuck am I supposed to go?” She shrugged, eyeing him coldly, “I don’t care what you do or where you go. Just get the hell out of my apartment and out of my life. I’m moving out as soon as I can. The lease is almost up anyway.”

His face was a mixture of shock, anger, and disbelief and Claire couldn’t care less, finally standing her ground against him. “You’ll be sorry Claire. You’ll be wishing you never broke up with me in the first place,” he spat, “You’ll miss me and don’t think I’ll take you when you come crawling back to me!” He stormed out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him.

She sighed, shaking her head and sinking back into her chair. She knew he was probably even more infuriated because he wasn’t the one who had done the dumping, ripping his beloved control from his grip. She was just glad that it was finally over. She sighed again, her eyes wandering around the living area, her gaze landing momentarily upon the spot of the sofa that her now ex had previously occupied.

She felt her temper cool down relatively quickly as the realization that he was no longer in her life hit her full force. All of a sudden it felt as if a heavy weight was lifted from her shoulders. She thought it was strange that she felt no regret in breaking off her relationship of 4 years in a nasty fight. She should be upset, trying to call him and apologize profusely over the phone, begging him to take her back. But she found herself feeling nothing but relief and contentment.

With a smile and relatively calm and happier air about her, she took out one of the cards Alan had given her at work and dialed the number printed on it. It rang a few times before someone picked up. “Hi, my name is Claire Dubois. I’m calling in response to a job offer. Is Mr. McCrossin there?”