Chapter Three

Abby's POV

As much as I didn't like to admit it, there was a part of me that was waiting for Anthony to call me but after three days, I let the idea fizzle away.

“He still hasn't called you? What a jerk,” Sarah says, reclining into her seat as she sips her drink.

“Can we not talk about Anthony right now?” I ask, not in the mood to be reminded that he'd stood me up.

“We could go look for his house and demand answers,” Sarah suggests.

I narrow my eyes on her. The scary thing about Sarah was that she could do it. She was a daredevil, unlike me— I liked to play it safe.

Today, we had decided to head down to the beach. Seated at Sandy's Booth, talking over our glasses of mango tropical smoothies— it seemed like the perfect day and place to unwind.

“How's Mike doing?” Sarah asks and I shoot her a look.

“Don't you have anything better to do than interrogating me?” I ask, taking off my shades.

“What? You're the one with the interesting love life. I'm just here to watch,” she replies with a wide grin.

Rolling my eyes at her, I ignore her question. I wasn't in the mood to talk about my divorce neither did I want to remember anything that'd promoted me to come down here.

“Look at it this way, maybe it's a good thing that you guys are getting divorced. I mean, yeah, I know it hurts now but soon you'll forget all about him.”

I roll my eyes at her again. Sometimes Sarah wasn't the smartest in the room and she loved to show it.

“That's my husband and my marriage that you're talking about Sarah. Getting divorced isn't exactly a flex.”

“I'm just saying, you never know. Where a door closes shut, another opens,” she shrugs.

Never in my life did I envision myself divorced, or on the road to being divorced. As much as Mike and I are constantly arguing, I always knew I still loved him.

My eyes shift to the wedding ring he'd given me. Fiddling with it, I deliberate taking it off.

“Anything else ladies?” Sandy asks, staring between us two.

“I'll have the lunch platter and a refill of this,” she says. “What about you Abby?”

With the topic of divorce roaming in my mind, I’m not sure I can stomach any more meals.

I shake my head politely. “I'm okay. I could use another drink but that would be all.”

Sarah eyes me, a brow arched. “Don't tell me you've lost your appetite over some pathetic guy Abby.”

That pathetic guy was my husband, sadly. A sigh escapes my lips.

“Can we not talk about this? If you bring him up again, I promise I'll leave.”

For the next couple of minutes, lunch is silent. Sarah is focused on her meal while I'm busy trying to distract myself from my reality.

Since it's a weekday, the beach isn't so busy or filled with people— many of which are either at work or school.

Just as Sarah and I finish up with our drinks and food, Anthony walks in, a lady following after him.

They're both dressed nicely, their faces holding a wide smile as they speak in low tones, giggling and grinning.

For some odd reason, my stomach twists at the sight. Sarah, noticing the shift in my eyes, follows my eyes to the entrance where Anthony is standing with his female friend.

“Damn… Now we know why he hasn't called back.”

My stomach twists again and at that moment I decide I'm ready to leave.

Sarah grabs my hand before I can get out of my seat.

“Don't tell me you're going to let this bother you too. You just met him again after so many years Abby,” she says, surprised and disappointed at my sudden behavior.

I know she's right but something inside of me aches.

Her brows suddenly draw together into a frown and then her face falls. “Wait, did you want to give Anthony a chance? Again?”

No. No, that wasn't what this was about. Right?

“Abby, come on,” she forces me to look at her. “We're talking about Anthony Wells here. The same guy who thought that shaming you in front of the whole soccer team was the best way to let his friends know he had moved on.”

I could still remember that moment. It was humiliating but another part of me wants to remind her that we were kids back then— high schoolers in fact.

“Abby, you're here to have fun and relax, not get entangled with some guy from your past. You're on the brink of a divorce, you should be thinking about that and not who's going to be your rebound.”

Rebound. Every word felt like a slap, hard enough to draw me out of my delusional state.

The subtle hinting on Anthony being a potential rebound sounded believable. Sarah was right.

I mutter a thanks to her, holding up an appreciative smile.

“Let's go for a walk,” Sarah suggests and as we head towards the exit, Anthony sees us. He glances at the lady with him and gives a little wave which I return.

Following behind Sarah, eager to leave, I don't bother stopping to say hi.

Finally outside, I can breathe properly again and my heart is no longer thumping in my chest anymore.

“Race you to the water?”

______

Several hours later and we're finally home. I'm exhausted and in need of some rest.

Shaking off my sand filled shoes, I head up to my room for a well deserved shower. Rain clouds were starting to roll in— perfect time for a little self care.

Stripping out of my clothes, I head into the shower and turn the jets on. It's all relaxing and therapeutic as I recall the highlights of our day at the beach.

Anthony comes to mind and I quickly push the thought aside. I wasn't going to think of him.

Twenty minutes later and I was out of the shower, drying myself off with a freshly washed towel. By now the air had gotten colder and the wind had picked up.

Tugging on some clothes, I am to reach for my laptop on the bedside table, when my phone rings.

It's an unknown number and my heart instantly skips. I hate that Anthony comes to mind first.

Calming my nerves down, I pick up and answer. “Hello, Mrs.Beckett speaking.”

“Hey Abby,” Anthony's voice rings through. My heart skips a beat and for a minute my lips fail me.

“Who’s this?” I ask, an attempt at playing dumb.

“It's Anthony.” There's a bit of silence. “How are you?”

“I'm good. It was nice to see you today,” I reply, trying to overlook the friction in our conversation.

“Likewise. I'm sorry I haven't called since the last time we saw each other. I've been really busy with work and I've barely time to do anything.”

“That's alright. I work too, so I understand how stressful things can be,” I reply, doing my best to keep my voice straight.

“Are you free this evening?” He asks.

My heart skips another beat. My eyes shift to the rain clouds and thunder rolling in and then down to the novel I was hoping to finish tonight.

“No, why?”

I can almost hear him smile. “I'm outside Abby. I'll be waiting.”

The line goes dead before I can even protest and so does my brain.

Quickly, I scurry out of bed, and rush to my bedroom window which overlooks a section of our driveway and sure enough there his car is.

Shit.