Chapter 25: CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Savannah threw her lipstick against the mirror in her vanity and dropped her head into her hands. She pinched her eyes shut to prevent the tears from falling but with no success. She glanced into her cracked mirror at her thin cheeks, short hair and the dark circles clinging to the skin underneath her eyes. She glanced at the multiple bottles of foundation near her elbow. None of them seemed able to hide the shadows on her face especially near her eyes. She looked up to see Dwight standing in the doorway.
“Are you okay?” He took a step towards her.
She swiveled in her chair and narrowed her eyes. “What makes you think everything would be ok? What kind of question is that?”
“I’m sorry. I was just checking on you. I heard the glass.” He moved to sit on the edge of the bed. It was as close as he felt safe to get. The glare in her eyes told him he was right.
“Stop looking at me like I’m dead already!” She got up and stormed towards the bathroom. When she emerged, she had the small trash can in her hands. With one swift motion, she swept all her makeup into the can and dropped it to the floor.
“I don’t know what else to do Savannah.” Dwight stood up. “You won’t let me touch you. I can’t compliment you without you crying.”
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m going bald, I have bags under my eyes, I’m a skeleton and I’m dying! How can you be so selfish?”
“Selfish?! Everything I’ve done, every decision I’ve made is for you and the kids. I even adjusted my schedule so that I could go with you to your appointments.” Dwight stood, his eyebrows furrowed, his eyes boring into hers.
“I guess I should get on my knees and thank the heavens.” She held onto the back of the vanity chair for support. She was shaking to the point that her teeth were chattering and though she was angry and could feel it pulsing through her, she could also feel the weakness coming over her.
Dwight threw his hands up in the air. “I’m not saying that at all! Look, I love you. And I’m here for you, but you can’t just pretend that I’m not here. I would much rather you tell me you don’t want me around than to force you to be nice to me.”
“I don’t want you here.”
The statement hit the room like a rock through glass and shattered the tension between them. Dwight’s stance softened; his hands dropped to his sides. He chewed his lower lip. Savannah stood with her arms across her chest, her eyebrows pulled tight to the center of her forehead. Although he could not see it, her bottom lip was trembling.
“What?” It stumbled out of Dwight’s mouth.
“You heard what I said. I don’t want you here.” She backed up until she hit the wall separating the bathroom from the bedroom. She needed the support.
“Savannah.”
“Stop! Why can’t you take a hint?” She ignored the throbbing pain in her chest and the panicked scream inside her head. Dwight’s face revealed the torment inside of his own body.
“Kim told me you would do this. But you don’t have to push me away. I want to be here.”
“You and my sister were talking behind my back? Maybe you should marry her since I’ll be dead soon.”
He closed the distance between them and grabbed her arms. “Listen. This is crazy talk. You know I love you. Your sister and I are just worried about you.”
“Leave!” She screamed. “Just leave!” She pressed her hands into his chest and pushed, shoving him backwards.
He stared at her for a few seconds. His mouth opened and closed a few times as if he was going to speak. With cloudy eyes he turned and stormed from the room. When the front door slammed, Savannah slid down into a pile on the floor and the tears that were stinging her eyes poured down her face. She sobbed openly until her weakened body couldn’t move. She brought her hand up to wipe her tears and closed her eyes.
Dwight rolled over and checked his watch. It was nearly ten. He searched for his cell phone and after seeing no missed calls, he pulled the pillow into him and laid his head against it. The glass next to his bed and its contents had been the only thing to calm his nerves enough for him to sleep.
The drive home from Savannah’s was much longer than usual. It took him 20 minutes to finally pull away from her house. He’d found himself outside of his office having nothing else to do. And then, eventually, he crawled home after picking Izzy up from his uncle’s. Bless his uncle for knowing how to entertain a kid enough that she slept all night. He couldn’t count how many times he picked up his cell phone to call Savannah. Not to mention the texts he sent with no response. His uncle finally managed to convince him that she needed time to process what was happening to her. Two days. Two days was all he was giving her.