Either You Do...Or You Don't

Allison’s POV:

“What are you in the mood to watch?” I asked, handing James a small white carton of chicken fried rice and another of sweet and sour chicken.

“Anything really.” he asked, grabbing a pair of chopsticks and attempting to grab some rice.
I laughed, “You’re supposed to use it like a spoon with rice. Not try and grab it.”

“Like this?” he asked scooping some up

“Yes.” I nodded, still laughing as I tried to pick up some of my own rice, but failed miserably, spilling it all over myself

James laughed, “I thought I was bad at this.”

I smiled and grabbed two plastic forks from the coffee table, “Here. Let’s try these.”

“Thank-you. This is so much better.”

“So, a tv-show? Disney movie? Or a random B-rate horror film that’s more funny than scary?”

“The last one! Unintentionally funny horror movies are the shit.”

I nodded in agreement and searched through the browser, “Troll 2?”

“Fuck yes. That shit is hilarious.”

“It’s so overdramatic.” I laughed

James nodded, taking a bite of his chicken. “Hang on a moment, my phone is buzzing…oh fuck, it’s Melanie.”

“Don’t answer it.”

“I have to, I’m sorry…Hello? Um, no, I’m kind of busy…why are you calling me? You dumped me this morning. No, Melanie. Because you broke my heart and you think you can just apologize to me and I’ll forgive you? You think I’ll just come back to you, just like that? Well, I’m not. I’m done, Melanie.” he said before hanging up

“Everything okay?” I asked

James sighed, “She’s trying to get me to get back with her.”

“Oh I see. What did she say?”

“She’s sorry she cheated, sorry she dumped me, she still loves me and more bull shit like that. She thinks that if she says she’s sorry, bats her eyes and gets me to have sex with her again, that I’ll just forget what she did and get back with her. The guy she was cheating on me with found out she was with me at the same time and he dumped her…so now she’s trying to get me back.”

“She needs help.”

“That’s what I told her…and then she broke up with me.”

I shook my head. Melanie had never been like that before. Sure she was always really flirty, but she’d never been…well…she’d never been a slut. “I really am sorry.”

“It’s fine. We’ve all learned from our mistakes. I feel bad for her, to be honest. Once you get a reputation as a cheater, it’s hard to get rid of it.”

“Yeah…” I replied, didn’t I know it.

James POV:

I opened my mouth to say something back to her, when my phone rang again. “Oh my god…” I groaned answering it. “What Melanie?”

“Will you just come here and talk to me?” she asked, crying.

“No. I told you that I’m done. You cannot break up with me and then expect me to come back because the other guy left you.”

“I thought you loved me.” she whimpered

“Melanie, it’s over. I’m sorry.” with that I hung up.

“Melanie again?” Allison asked. I just nodded, finishing the rest of my Chinese food and turning
back to the movie. “So…when’s the first playoff game?”

“Next week. We…they’re playing the Canadiens.”

“I’m sorry you’re injured.” she replied

“It’s okay. It’s not like you’re the one who blindsided me. They didn’t even have a hearing for Ovechkin. He just got the game misconduct. So all he missed was their last game.”

Allison shook her head, “That’s bullshit.”

I just shrugged. It wasn’t fair, I know that for sure. If any other player in the league had been blindsided he would have been suspended. I mean Ovie wasn’t necessarily a “repeat offender”, but he had made questionable hits before and in my opinion he should have at least had a hearing.

In all honesty, I was in no room to talk. I myself have made questionable hits throughout my career, but I’ve never really blindsided another guy.

The movie had ended and Allison was throwing away the remnants of our supper, “I should get going. It’s kind of late.”

Allison nodded, “Okay.”

“Thanks for tonight. I had a good time. Thanks for letting me vent out to you.” I hugged her tight.

“No problem.” she replied, pulling away. “Are you free tomorrow?”

“Uh…I don’t know yet. I have a doctor’s appointment and I don’t know what I’ll be doing afterwards.”

“Okay. Well have a good night and a safe drive.”

“You have a good night too, Allison. I’ll see you.” I replied, leaving. Things were slowly piecing back together. I knew they’d take a long time to be mended, but it’d be worth the wait and I was willing to work on it.

Notes