F*ck Love

“Why?”

“Helena, look at me.”

“Ugh.”

I look at him.

“I don’t have a good reason, except something about me responds to something about you.”

I know the feeling.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say.

“Yes,” he says, watching my lips. “You do.”

He’s right.

No one knows about the time we spend together, not even Greer. Especially not Greer. One morning, when we are in the kitchen, she asks me where all the light in my eyes comes from.

“Port Townsend,” I tell her. She looks at me over the rim of her coffee cup. “It’s Kit,” she says.

“What? No. Who?” I spill my yogurt.

I glance at her while I wipe up the mess. Her face is neutral, but I can feel something radiating off her.

“Yes,” I say.

“I saw your purse at his apartment. The day I came pounding on his door.”

“Oh,” is all I can think to say. My face is burning.

“Did he come back here for you?”

I’ve wondered the same, though it feels indulgent to do so. This is his home. Coming to his home has nothing to do with me. As much as I’d like to believe otherwise.

“Greer. I don’t know why Kit is here,” I say, standing up. “They broke up, and I think he needed to come home for a bit.”

She nods, slowly. “Makes sense. But you know what I think? You’re going to get hurt.”

I know that. I do.

“I can’t get hurt if my heart’s not in it.”

“You’re a very, very poor liar, Helena.”

I know that too.

We don’t talk about it any more. Greer leaves without a goodbye, and I get ready to go to work. She was right. I needed to stop this now. I take out my phone and delete Kit’s number. There. Now I couldn’t text him first. Such a stupid thing, but I feel mildly triumphant. For the moment. I walk to work, formulating a plan. I’ll text Della, listen to her, comfort her. I’ll reaffirm our friendship. Chicks before dicks. I will be the friend she needs me to be, and put my feelings for Kit aside. There! I make it down the block, and turn left when I reach the Conservatory. I see him about twenty steps ahead, walking right toward me. His head is bent over his phone. I have time to turn around and run. Maybe running isn’t the best option. I go inside the Conservatory. It’s my favorite store, but today it will just serve as my hiding spot. I move past the shelves of red coral and fur throws, and head to the back of the store. There’s a piece of art I like to look at, hanging on the far wall. An octopus, legs furled, ink shooting from its mouth.

“I’ll always find you. Even when you run.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” I say, not turning around. I’m cool as a cucumber, but my heart is violent in its pumping. “I was just doing my morning exercise routine.”

“I see that,” he says. “Running away from me.” I glance at him out of the corner of my eye.

“That’s a very self-absorbed thing to say.”

“Hey, wanna go for a walk?”

“Nope. I have to work.”

“I’ll walk you to work.”

I shrug.

Kit walks with his hands buried in his pockets. There is no wind today, but I clutch my purse like it’s going to blow away anyway. Something to do with all my tension. When we reach the gallery doors, we stop, and I dangle the keys from my fingertip, shaking them a little. Just to let him know. This is it. Peace out! I’m jingling my keys at you!

“Thank you for walking me to work,” I say stiffly. I jingle the keys louder, and they slip off my finger. Kit bends down to retrieve them, and when I look at him, he’s on one knee in front of me. He lifts my hand from my side and slips the ring of the keychain back onto my finger. It’s not on my ring finger, and for that I’m mildly grateful. There would be the issue of not being able to conceal a swoon. He’s already on his knees, looking me in the eyes. And he doesn’t break eye contact with me when he stands up either.

“I have to go,” I say.

I turn, insert key into lock, all robotic. I see him come up behind me in the reflection on the window. His voice is close to my ear. I imagine I can feel his breath, but it’s probably just a blow of wind. I imagine myself pushing the door open and walking inside—the gallery swallowing me and pressing Kit out. The gallery would have to press him out, because I can’t. I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.

“Don’t push me out, Helena. I’m not ready to go.”

And what can you do in that moment but close your eyes as tightly as you can and try to control the trembling in your limbs. I turn around, the stupid girl that I am, and let him kiss me. He holds my face like he wants to keep me from pulling away. He doesn’t have anything to worry about. All my attention is…

His phone rings. That’s what ends our kiss. I am left pressed to the glass doors of the gallery. I can feel Greer’s warnings staring at my back—ripples upon ripples in blues and greens and blacks. I am blurry eyed, my chest aching from … what? Longing? I watch him answer his phone, our eyes connected, then a look of surprise takes over his face.

“Whose number is this?” His voice is hard. I wouldn’t like to be on the other side of that voice. I come out of my daze a little bit. I don’t need the gallery to hold me up anymore. I right myself, straightening my hair, which was mussed underneath Kit’s hands.

I have an uneasiness. It’s building by the second. And then Kit’s eyes find mine. He’s quiet as he listens, but I can see it on his face. I already know, before he hangs up the phone and slips it back into his pocket. We are over before we even start.

“It was Della,” he says. There’s a pause. “She’s pregnant.”

Not five minutes after she called Kit, Della posts a sonogram picture to Instagram. A perfectly timed scheme by a perfectly insecure girl. Helluva way to go about this, Dells. She captioned it: my little been. Been. As in I’ve been there. IF ONLY THERE’D BEEN SOMEONE TO PROOF THIS CAPTION. Her hashtag crushes me: #eightweeks. Right before he came back to PT. Oh my God, I feel so sick.

You’ll be okay, I tell myself. This isn’t even a big deal. I hung out with him, like, what? Five times? Fifty-five times? I married him once, and we had a baby, but he doesn’t know that. Plus, I’ve been through this before. A guy. A woman who is not me. A baby. But, what Neil did does not compare to this. Neil betrayed me, sure. But Neil and I were together because we were young, and it made sense. Had we really had a connection? Ha! No. Our connection was circumstantial. We went to the same school, had the same friends. We watched the same things on television because our friends were watching, and we needed something to talk about.