It was a great escape. I had never felt more ashamed than I did that morning. I struggled to free myself from Andrew's embrace, gathered my clothes, and, dressing on the fly, jumped out of the apartment. Now I didn't even understand what came over me! Probably, my resentment toward my lover, alcohol, and the remnants of pride played their part. Nothing raises self-esteem as much as the opportunity to feel desirable!
Providence decided to take pity on me: I had change from the grocery store in my coat pocket, and I managed to catch a cab almost immediately. My leg didn't go away, only swelled more. Not all of my underwear had been collected, some of it had been left in enemy territory, and my stockings had disappeared even earlier, so I felt as if I'd jumped out into the street without clothes.
The driver was looking at me in the rearview mirror, and I thought he had figured it all out. For a teacher, publicity is the worst. For some reason, teachers are supposed to keep their reputations like a virgin in the Middle Ages.
It was good that I had put my keys, which I had taken from Alex while running away from the restaurant, in my coat pocket. I hadn't thought about losing mine. I flew to the third floor, made sure that Alex wasn't waiting for me in the entrance, and entered the apartment.
The first thing I did was go to the bathroom, wash my face, and scrutinize the scattering of hickies on my neck. I'd have to hide them with a scarf, I couldn't blame it on the curling iron. And, having changed into a cozy sport suit, I went to the kitchen to drink coffee. It would also be nice to go to the drugstore or even ask my neighbor to do it.
No sooner had I settled down at the table, putting my injured leg on a neighboring stool, than the doorbell rang. Sighing, I hurried down the hallway, feeling a sense of unease. And it was justified! In the stairwell stood Alex, disheveled. He held his jacket in his hands.
The unfortunate thing is that if you pay attention, you can see a shadow on the other side of the peephole. Of course, Alex noticed me and angrily kicked the door.
“Marina, open up, we need to talk.”
“We?!” I was theatrically surprised. “It seems to me that we have nothing to discuss.”
"Marina! Open up!"
"I won't!" I responded.
The fact that he had come to reconcile was nice, and somewhere in the back of my mind, I really didn't want him to leave. But at the same time, I knew it was the end of the relationship. It would be better if I put an end to it myself.
“But where would I go? What did I do?!”
I even looked through the peephole to make sure my senses were right: he really didn't understand what he'd done. Apparently, it's normal for him to have relationships with more than one woman at a time.
“Fuck you…!!!!” – I shouted.
“Who needs you, you gray mouse?! You should be thanking me for everything!”
I couldn't believe my ears! I never thought I'd hear Alex say that. I thought we were going to part quietly… well, as quietly as possible. He'd find out I wasn't going to forgive him, take his things and leave.
“Well, then I won't take up your time. Go to the one you appreciate.”
Not listening to his scolding, I headed back to the kitchen, and on the way I turned on the TV and turned up the music channel. It partially blocked out the screaming from the stairwell, and at the same time showed that I wasn't listening to my ex-housemate's cries.
Trying to abstract myself from the situation, I decided to think about something else. My memory immediately brought up some particularly vivid scenes from last night. I had to give a natural shake of my head to stop thinking about it. It would be better for me to forget the adventure.
Turning off the TV, I sat down on the couch and cried. I'd been wanting to since last night. They say that tears release all negative energy, so the best remedy for a broken heart is tears. But I don't know why my thoughts were occupied not by Alex, but by Andrew. I couldn't fall in love on the spot, could I?! Or could I? Why did I run away?
No, I did the right thing. Why would he want me? Is he just having fun? Taking advantage? What?
Completely confused, I covered myself with a blanket. I have to go to the clinic tomorrow and get a note. I just can't do six classes. I can't stand.
I ignored the next ringing of the doorbell. It was probably Alex coming back. He's going to apologize for his behavior. I don't want to hear it. It's disgusting.
“Marina, I brought your bag.”
When I heard his voice, I was at the door in a second. When I opened it, I made sure that I hadn't imagined his voice. Andrew suddenly smiled and demonstrated the "loss". My smile was a little unsure. Just a minute ago I thought I would never see him, and here he was, handsome, in a long open coat, beige turtleneck, and unshaven.
"I'll come in," he didn't ask, just warned me of his actions.
I didn't even have time to sidle up. Wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against him, he stepped inside.
“It was the first time I'd ever seen a girl run away from me.”
Here I didn't know whether to be proud or angry at the mention of past passions. Andrew let go of me and threw off his coat. I was a little surprised: he was going to stay!
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Andrew asked.
"You came."
"Of course, I couldn't leave a girl I liked," I echoed.
"Liked her," I echoed. "When did you like me?"
"Right away, when you showed your character," he said.
He hovered over me, smiling playfully with the corners of his lips. I had no choice but to retreat down the long hallway to the kitchen. The table was the end of my retreat.
“Andrew," I exhaled as I found myself sitting on the table.
“What?" he asked, pulling my sweater off.
“Don't," I tried to stop him before my mind left me, drowning in desire.
“You didn't say that yesterday.”
I was flustered, even angry. Yesterday I didn't remember myself, but today I have to pull myself together and not let my life be ruined.
Andrew ran his finger along the scattered hickeys on my neck and immediately felt a new one. I tried to push him away, but I think I just turned him on. Andrew started to shower me with kisses. I groaned and pulled off his turtleneck. That was the signal that I was giving in to his pressure. A moment later, my belly on the table, I stood on my tiptoes and bucked harder. He took his time, covering my back with kisses, driving me to a frenzy.
“Hurry up!” – I couldn't stand it anymore.
The sugar bowl and napkin holder flew off the table with the first thrust, decorating the floor. With something between a moan and a growl, I clung to the tabletop even tighter.
“Cat," Andrew whispered, biting my ear.
“Don't you dare stop!” – I ordered.
Slow movements only fueled the fire; I needed a hurricane to put it out. Andrew took his time, preferring to build up the pace; I lost my sense of space and couldn't control myself. The world was reduced to one man, his pace, his hands and lips.
"What's going on here?" Alex's voice broke into my almost perfect world.
I jumped up and hid behind Andrew, who turned toward the audience. For some reason, Alex didn't look startled, more like angry. Clenching his fists, he stepped toward us.
"You took the keys from him," Andrew clarified in slight bewilderment.
"Yes," I confirmed. Looking closely, I saw a blue keychain and understood everything: he took it from the neighbor.
"Come on, the keys," Andrew demanded, stretching out his hand.
"Mr.Rebrov?" Alex was surprised.
The former even somehow retreated, not believing his eyes. Taking advantage of the fact that the attention of the "guest" had switched to Andrew, I quickly pulled up my pants and put on a sweater. My cheeks were burning. Alex and I had broken up, of course, but the fact that he caught me in that state was unpleasant.
"Why did you come here?" I asked indignantly, burning with shame.
“I came to talk, but I can see that you're no longer impressed by spiritual food.”
I laughed. He came to talk! He's got nowhere else to go! I suppose he was hoping to convince me that I'd misunderstood, as if what had happened in the restaurant could be understood in any other way!
It's over between us! – I reminded him of the obvious.
"Yes, I can see that," Alex grinned.
"Good, if you can see it! Give me the keys and get out! " Andrew held out his hand again. " “I'll fire you.’
The threat had an effect: Alex threw the keys on the floor and rushed to the exit. All I had to do was blink.
“Fire me? “I specified.
“Yes, in any case. I won't tolerate my girlfriend's ex-boyfriend around. “
“A?”
“Why are you even dressed up? Although… Come here....”
At the last moment, I twisted out of his arms and bounced away. For some reason, I had the feeling that Andrew knew that Alex was coming: he appeared just in time to interfere with our reconciliation.
"What is it?" Andrew asked.
"Go away," I demanded, putting my hand out in front of me to stop him from coming near me.
"What?"
Andrew didn't seem to believe what he was hearing. He stepped even closer, and I took another step back. But there was nowhere else to retreat: there was a windowsill behind me, and I leaned against it.
"Go away at once!" I commanded.
I needed to think. I had to think about what had happened. Right now, the men around me were just getting in the way. I felt like I was being used and brainwashed, so I wouldn't understand.
"Are you sure?" he said.
"Yes!"
I jumped out of my seat and pushed him out the door. It was only after I had locked the door that I could finally cry, sinking to the floor in the hallway.
If you think the worst thing in your life has already happened, you have to wait a little longer to see how wrong you are. As I wiped tears from my cheeks, sitting on the floor in the hallway, thinking about how betrayal was the worst thing in my life. Just yesterday I had a family and a loved one, and today I'm alone in an empty apartment.
Realizing that I am terribly afraid of loneliness, a titanic effort decided not to forgive. I'd rather immerse myself in work – there's always something to do at school. I'll take another class, start leading a club, and forget Alex.
I started to pack his things so that I wouldn't change my mind. I brought garbage bags from the kitchen (I couldn't give him his brand-new suitcase!) and began to empty his closet. Somewhere I read that this is a necessary stage in the breakup, they say, then it will be easier. Well, it's all lies!
I was ready to get hysterical over every shirt. There were memories associated with all of them. If memory could be formatted like a hard drive, I would have done it.
I couldn't even get half of it done, and I fell asleep in the middle of the mess.
In the morning, I felt even worse than yesterday. My leg hurt even worse, my face was swollen, and my eyes were puffy. I couldn't go to work tomorrow in such a state; I'd better tell them I was sick and take a few days off. I didn't want to sit alone in the apartment, but it was better that way than to catch the interested looks of my colleagues and listen to their whispers. At the same time, I remembered my phone, which I hadn't even seen yesterday. It was left in the bag brought by Andrew, and I had completely forgotten about it. It took a decent amount of time to find the phone. The apartment was a mess.
After rewarding myself with another sandwich, I checked the contents of the bag. Nothing seemed to be missing, but it felt like it had been rummaged through. Probably Andrew was looking for my ID to get my address. But my phone surprised me: it had zero battery life. I realized the reason as soon as I turned it on: I had never had so many calls in one day. Everyone called: friends, colleagues, acquaintances. The messages in messengers were no less mysterious: "Wow!", "What happened?", "Well, you're crazy, friend!", and the "icing on the cake" was a message from the principal about the call to the pedagogical council, the reason for which should be my unworthy behavior.
Understanding absolutely nothing, I clicked on the first link sent to me and realized that I would be fired. Although I have a chance to go to the bottom of the Moscow River simply out of shame! Turns out there was a newly minted paparazzi in that ill-fated restaurant, so the entire performance I put on was filmed and posted on TikTok! The comments were horrendous and the highlights were plastered on memes!
Obviously, the video with the title "A woman caught a man cheating and made a scandal in a restaurant" was instantly recommended and spread all over the Internet!
Choking back another batch of tears, the only person I responded to was the assistant principal. After informing her that I had twisted my leg and couldn't walk, I disconnected the phone again. I just didn't have the energy to get mocked or be sympathetic to what had happened.