The lip ring was what brought back the memory. Kathy looked her up and down, and her first instinct was to close the door. Just the sight of her was enough to bring back the twisting pain in her stomach, and the knowledge of everything she had lost. The woman was much quicker than her still-woozy reflexes, however, and she caught the door before it slammed shut.
“Please! Please, just wait a minute, I just want to talk, okay?”
Kathy groaned. “I don't care what you have to say, I don't want to talk to you.”
“Please, just give me a chance? I didn't know he's your boyfriend. I'd never, ever sleep with another woman's guy. I'm not a bad person, I swear.”
She was so earnest. Kathy didn't know what to make of her. “Why are you here?” she asked weakly.
“I, uh, I think I left my phone here last night. And I figure I owe you an explanation, or whatever.” She shifted uneasily. “I guess you should know what he was doing, right?”
Kathy leaned against the door and rubbed her eyes. She couldn't deal with this right now. She couldn't deal with anything, not after a week long actuarial conference and the events of the previous night. It was too early to process it all, especially with her head swimming with fatigue. “I'm jet-lagged really badly and I had to sleep on my couch. Could you at least have waited until this evening or something?”
She winced. “Shit, I'm sorry. I didn't think about that. And I can't come back later, I have to work,” she said, then sighed. “I'm really sorry about all this. Can I please just have a few minutes to find my phone? I know you don't want me here but, well, I can make you breakfast or something. You don't look so good right now.”
Kathy considered this. It wasn't really her fault if Mark had lied to her too. And she had slapped him... “Are you a hooker?” she asked.
“Holy shit, no. You think I'd be dressed like this if I was?”
She gave up. The world was apparently still out of whack if she was even talking to her and not clawing her eyes out. She just didn't have the energy to be angry right now. “Alright, c'mon in.”
The redhead followed her inside. Kathy lead her into the kitchen, and pointed at the coffee maker. “Breakfast first, then you look for your phone, okay?”
“Sure. My name is Gina, by the way.”
She sat down heavily at the table. “I'm Kathy. I guess you know that already?”
Gina set the coffee brewing, and began to investigate the fridge. “No, I didn't. Your guy didn't say much, just that he'd gotten out of a bad relationship and he wanted to have some fun. You okay with eggs and bacon?”
“Oh god,” Kathy said, putting her head in her hands. She was developing a headache. How many other times had Mark gone out chasing tail when she was away? She had been at one other large conference this year, and had taken three business trips. What else had been a lie?
“Okay, I'm just going to make eggs and bacon with toast,” Gina said quickly. She puzzled her way around the kitchen, opening every cupboard and drawer to find what she needed, without help from Kathy. She knew how to cook at least, and the smell of breakfast filled the room soon enough.
Kathy stared listlessly at the table until a mug of coffee was plunked down in front of her. She stared at it, then sniffed. As she pulled it towards her, tears dripped down her face and into her hands. She looked at her reflection, and it seemed as if it had aged twenty years overnight. Her hair, which she had protected so carefully the night before, was limp and lifeless, and hung in frizzy brown curls around her face. Her skin was pale and sickly, with none of her usual sparkle. Her eyes looked dead and jaded, and her mascara had run.
“We were going out for a year,” she blubbered. “I got an early flight back just so I could be here on our anniversary, and he...” She began to cry again, feeling utterly overwhelmed by the reality of it all over again. Mark had been so good for her. She had even planned to ask him to move in with her – he spent all his free time at her townhouse anyway, rather than his own small apartment. Now the suspicion arose that he was just using her; for sex, for money, for a comfy place to stay in a nice part of the city... Kathy sobbed her broken heart out.
“Hey,” Gina said gently, “hey, it's okay, at least you found out now, right? It'd be worse if you were married or something.” She patted Kathy's arm in sympathy, and passed her a plate of eggs and slightly burnt bacon. “Here, just eat something, you'll feel better. There's toast here too.”
Kathy tried to pull herself together. Yes, at least all he had really hurt was her feelings, but it didn't make it any less hurtful. She could cut him out of her life without too much trouble – but she didn't want to. She wanted to go back to yesterday, when he wasn't a two-timing bastard.
The eggs weren't bad. She forced herself to eat. Gina only helped herself to a cup of coffee, and watched as Kathy picked through the food.
“He came to my bar every night this week, that's how I met him,” she said. “I bartend at this really cool place called Gun Metal. He seemed like a nice guy, you know? I mostly see these grungy rockers, and that gets kinda old. He said his name was Dave.”
Kathy just kept her eyes on her mug. This was hard enough to listen to without having to look
