Out of the Ordinary

Chapter 27

Emily looked like she'd been hit in the stomach with a blunt object.

I stood up, alarmed. "Are you okay?"

She shut the door behind her and stood there, eyes wide and glassy, skin pale. "It's over."

"Oh shit." She and Bryan had met for coffee this morning to talk things over. "He broke up with you?!"

Her blue eyes met mine. "I broke up with him."

Oh shit.

"What?" I asked, breathless now, and walked over to her, took her hand, and was even more startled to find it cold. "Come on, sit. Do you want coffee, or tea or something?"

She sat down on the couch like her legs were made of wooden stilts.

"Whiskey? I can see if Mark has any stashed somewhere around here."

Emily laughed a little, which was what I'd been going for, and as I sat down next to her, her smile only widened, her laughter becoming more and more enthusiastic.

It was making me laugh, but I wasn't sure whether her giggles were going to turn into tears at a moment's notice, so I tried to rein in my own enthusiasm.

Emily leaned back into the couch, her head falling against the cushion, and took a few deep breaths, the smile still on her lips.

"Okay?" I asked, afraid this was going to become an all-out panic attack in a matter of seconds.

She blinked once, twice, three times, and looked up at me, her mouth ajar. "Yeah. I am."

She sounded so surprised by the words coming out of her mouth, I was still afraid this might go the complete other way. "Okay..." I said uncertainly.

"No, really. I am." I must've still looked doubtful (I certainly still felt doubtful), because she smiled at me, and put her hand over mine - she was reassuring me now. "I've been thinking about it a lot the last week. I mean, all we've done is fight since I found out, and he never even apologized to me in the first place, and all of it was making me wonder why I was fighting so hard to keep it together, when it was just becoming increasingly clear that we've changed. Both of us. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don't want to be in a relationship with a guy who's slowly, but surely losing interest in me."

I nodded, wondering how even in this life-changing, emotionally-charged moment, she could still be so rational.

"And I mean, with school getting hectic, it's been harder and harder for us to see each other anyway. It was only going to get worse, so I think ending it now, while we still have some respect for each other - this is for the best."

"Sounds like you've got it all figured out," I said, wanting to be encouraging, but not sure how to keep from sounding skeptical.

"Yeah," she said, nodding her head. "I think it'll be fine."

"Mhmm," I mumbled, still eyeing her. But she looked as fine as she said she felt. Her skin gained some of its color back. Her eyes didn't have the same glassy sheen, they just looked bright, aware, as if voicing all of those thoughts, those justifications, made her realize, even more, the truth in what she was saying. And then, she smiled at me.

"I'm good. Better than I thought I'd be. Promise."

"I can see that. I guess, I'm just... hoping the other shoe doesn't drop."

"It won't," she insisted, but her "certainty" made me even more nervous.

"So... what did he say?"