Chapter 26

When he woke up the next morning, he was alone and covered with a warm duvet. Eric stretched and yawned, then snuggled deeper into the duvet. He didn’t feel like getting up just yet, and maybe Aubrey might come back and join him under the warm cover. He liked that thought, so he relaxed and closed his eyes.

He dozed off and woke up shortly after, feeling disappointed that she hadn’t come back to join him yet. Where was she by the way?

“Aubrey?” He called out.

Silence.

“Aubrey,” he tried again.

Still no response.

He lifted himself to a sitting position and looked around but there was no Aubrey in sight. Maybe she’s in the bathroom, he thought and got up to go and check. He knocked softly on her bedroom door before going in, but the room was empty. Eric waited to see if he would hear any sound from the bathroom, but none came. He went in to check just to be sure and the bathroom was indeed empty.

“Aubrey!” He called out again as he strode to the kitchen to see if she was there, but like the other rooms, the kitchen too was empty. Eric scratched his head in confusion. She left me alone in her apartment. Why?

As he made his way back to where his things were stashed on wing-backed chair in the corner, so that he could get his phone and call her, he caught sight of a piece of paper on the dining table with his name boldly written on it. He picked up the folded paper and opened it to see a short note addressed to him. It read:

Hey, Eric. I had to run off (literally) to the office this morning to finish up all the stuff that I abandoned yesterday. Please give the keys to the doorman when you leave. Have a safe flight back to Fairbanks. Aubrey.

Eric frowned. Are we back to this again? Was she going to make a habit of fucking him and dismissing him like some irrelevant, walking dildo? Eric felt insulted but he refused to accept Aubrey’s disrespectful treatment this time.

He walked back to the living room where she’d folded his clothes neatly on the couch and he got dressed hastily. He couldn’t believe that she would revert to her old ways of brushing him aside again, even after how they’d connected last night. Or had that been an act? Had she been faking it? What kind of messed up game was she playing with him? Eric could feel anger welling up inside of him, but he reminded himself to stay calm and approach Aubrey with a clear head. If she thought she could sleep with him and discard him like a rag, then she better think again, because he wasn’t going to take that. Not now, not ever.