Amber leaned back against the wall. She was hoping that the delivery guy would interrupt them, but she was starting to think that maybe she shouldn’t wait any longer. Maybe it was time for her to interrupt.
“But then, when you moved in, all those old wounds were triggered again. I could see how damaged you were by the past and I held onto you even tighter. That’s my fault. I can accept that. Somehow when Evelyn said that she was going to offer you a room, I thought that it would help bring us closer, you know? I thought that with a little space, you could see all the good we had between us and not be so wrapped up in your fear of living with someone.”
“I was never afraid to live with someone, Shawn.”
“Oh, no? How long did you stay with Evelyn before you ran away from her too.”
“It wasn’t like that. I had to go take care of Uncle Bill’s house. You know that.”
He shook his head.
“How did that go?”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“Isn’t your uncle’s house still on the market? Did you actually take care of the place or did you just use it as an escape hatch so you wouldn’t have to live with Evelyn anymore?”
“I came back for her.”
“Oh? Is that how it happened? The way I heard it, as soon as you ran into trouble up north, you ran back here. Not for her, but to her. And she said that you started staying up all night just so you wouldn’t have to interact with her all day.”
“Shawn, almost everything you’re saying is wrong and you’re starting to make me angry. I think it’s time you leave.”
He shook his head and looked down at the floor.
“No, Amber, not this time. This time I’m going to prove to you that people who really love you won’t abandon you. I’m not like your parents or the rest of your family. I’m not some aging person who is safe because they’re close to passing away. We’re right for each other and I’m not leaving until you see that you can depend on me.”
Amber didn’t hesitate. She reached into her pocket, grabbed her phone, and hit the button on the side until a loud warning began to play through the speaker.
She raised her voice to be heard over the alarm.
“After ten seconds, this phone will automatically call the police. I’m going to tell them that you forced your way in and refuse to leave.”
“Amber…”
“If I tell them that you threatened me, you’re going to jail.”
He didn’t move.
The alarm on the phone stopped and a voice came over the speaker asking for her address and the nature of the emergency.
# # #
Shawn stood there, staring at her for three full seconds while the voice on the phone asked again about the nature of the emergency. He finally strode towards her fast and veered at the last moment and walked through the door.
Amber lifted the phone to her ear.
“Oh my gosh,” she said, pretending to be breathless, “I accidentally hit the button too many times and it called you and then I dropped the phone. I’m so sorry—this isn’t actually an emergency.”
Shawn crossed the lawn and kept going.
The operator said, “Are you sure? If someone is there, you can…”
“No, I’m completely fine, seriously. It was just an accident. So sorry. I won’t keep you.”
She disconnected and held her breath for a moment, expecting the phone to ring. When it didn’t, she exhaled and put the phone back in her pocket. Out on the street, the shipping guy turned into the driveway and Amber turned her attention back to the boxes. She propped the door open and started to move boxes out to the porch. They were already labelled. All he had to do was scan them and load them onto his truck.
By the time he was carrying the last box, Amber realized that she hadn’t spoken a word to him the whole time.
“Thank you,” she called, waving.
He waved back and climbed back into his truck and was gone.
Amber was alone in a nearly empty house. There was just enough furniture to stage the place to be shown. The real estate agent up in Maine had been very businesslike—almost rude—in comparison to the one she found to list her cousin’s house.
In Maine, the woman sat her down and questioned her motives in listing the place.
“Are you going to consider serious offers even if they don’t initially meet your expectations?”
“Of course,” Amber had said.
In North Carolina, the agent had said, “Don’t think of this as a commitment. We’re just going to float this idea out there and see what happens. If the right opportunity comes alone, we’ll have the chance to consider it.”
They were such different approaches. Truthfully, Amber didn’t care for either one of them. She resolved to never purchase a house of her own. Renting would be just fine. The pain of staging and selling a house was something that other people could deal with. She had already done it enough for a lifetime.
Once the boxes were gone, she was able to push around the few pieces of the furniture that the real estate agent had approved. There was a company coming in a few days who would fancy the place up before the open house. It had to look livable but not cluttered.
Amber smiled at the idea. It was amazing that what people found attractive in a home was so completely unrealistic. They thought they wanted big, open, uncluttered space. As soon as they moved in, they would jam things everywhere until they ran out of space and decided it was time to “upgrade.”
Amber resolved to never buy any furniture that she didn’t absolutely need. One bed, one dresser, one nightstand, and one chair was all she could
