“Don’t say that. It’s not true. I love you!” Maggie tried to reach out to him but he took another step back.
“I’m sorry for that,” Aaron said sadly. “I never should have allowed that to happen. I never meant to hurt you.” He kept backing away and she just watched in disbelief unable to stop him, unable to move.
“I’m sorry,” Aaron whispered his voice heavy with tears. Then he turned and walked away leaving Maggie alone in the big house.
She just stood there staring after him, feeling completely and utterly destroyed.
“Why?!” she screamed out into the empty house “Why are you doing this to me?!”
She crumpled to the ground, her knees hitting hard on the marble floor. “Why did you bring me here?!” she shouted angrily, then she buried her face in her hands and cried.
23
Maggie tried to sleep. She still felt emotionally exhausted but she’d already spent the last day in bed and sleep was evading her. Ms. Brandy had been very understanding when Maggie had called to tell her she was sick with the flu. She wished it was the truth, wished that her pain was physical. She could take medicine to ease those symptoms, but there was no cure for a broken heart.
She’d been avoiding Andi’s calls. She knew she couldn’t avoid reality forever, couldn’t stay in bed forever, but she felt like getting up out of bed and going out into the real world would be acknowledging that her relationship with Aaron was over. It would be the first step to moving on. She wasn’t ready to take that step, wasn’t ready to let go. But she couldn’t stay in bed any longer. She felt fidgety and restless. Her body ached from disuse and she needed to move.
The warm water of the shower washed over her and released the tension in her sore muscles, but she felt like an empty shell, hollow on the inside. She dressed mechanically and walked downstairs to make a cup of coffee. She was shocked to realize it was dark outside. More time had passed than she thought.
She still went through the motions, sitting at the kitchen island and sipping her coffee. She finally glanced at the clock over the stove and saw that it was midnight. She was instantly reminded of the midnight picnic her and Aaron had shared at the lake. Her heart constricted with pain at the memory and then she was suddenly filled with a new sense of determination.
This was not over, she wouldn’t let it be. She needed to see Aaron, needed to talk with him again. She wasn’t just going to give up, and she wasn’t going to let him give up either. She stormed out the back door into the dark night, charging ahead with a sense of urgency.
She easily found the path that led to the barn and pressed ahead into the dark forest. She noticed that the woods were eerily silent tonight. The sky was shrouded with clouds. There were no stars, no moon. The forest seemed to be mourning with her. All of the magic was gone.
She began to move faster, practically running as she broke out into the small clearing in front of Aaron’s house. The windows were dark, the loft overhead shut tight. She walked slowly across his small lawn, her breath coming in ragged gasps. She hesitated before knocking on the door. Could she handle it if he rejected her again?
She almost turned back, but she’d come this far and she needed to see him. She held her breath as she knocked on the door. There was no answer. She knocked again, louder this time, and waited, but no one came. She tried the handle and it turned in her hand.
She pushed the door open and slowly stepped inside. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the murky darkness and then another second for her mind to register the fact that Aaron wasn’t home.
The furniture remained just as it had been before but there was a feeling of emptiness permeating the air. She walked to his room and confirmed that he was not asleep in his bed. She noted with a sudden feeling of panic that his books were gone. He was gone.
She didn’t even remember the walk back to the big house. She didn’t bother turning on a single light as she crossed through the house and climbed back into bed.
~∞~
Apparently two days of missed calls was all Andi was willing to put up with. She woke Maggie by plopping down on the bed beside her.
“I have coffee,” she said in a bright sing-song voice as she held out a styrofoam cup. The strong smell of coffee invigorated Maggie’s senses and she opened her eyes to look up at her friend.
“I also brought chicken soup, just in case you really were sick. It’s down in the kitchen,” She told, her standing from the bed and crossing to the windows to pull open the curtains.
“What do you mean in case I really was sick?” Maggie asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and grabbing the cup of coffee off the nightstand where Andi had left it for her.
“I know that Aaron left,” Andi said matter-of-factly.
“How did you know?” Maggie asked. Andi just looked at her with an expression that said she knew everything that went on in this town and Maggie ought to know that.