“U” is for “Unpack”

I was doing quite fine until Dex’s blonde (let’s call her “Becky”) emailed me from out of the blue asking if we could talk.

Yeah, you heard me right. She wanted to “talk“. We had nothing in common except for him and I had no interest in that topic. Sam suggested that I ignore her but the more I thought about it, the more curious I became.

Was she reaching out because Dex was starting to unravel early into their “courtship”? Had he begun mistreating her too?

Becky might have been a catty bitch the first time we had seen her at the coffee shop but at that point, she wouldn’t have known better, right? I was torn but I gave her the benefit of the doubt and agreed to meet her after work at a trendy vegan-style eatery she suggested around the corner. You know the kind of hipster joint where you feel a bit out of place because you’re not a “hardcore” vegan and recognize nothing on the menu? Well, let’s just say that Becky must have been a regular by the way that the staff greeted her as she sauntered twenty minutes late for our meeting. Yeah, twenty minutes late.

Becky acknowledged my presence as she headed straight to the counter and ordered something “to go” before sitting down at my table. From the moment I locked eyes with her, I knew that she hadn’t called me to commiserate over diabolical Dex. She meant business and wasn’t about to be friendly.

“Thank you for meeting me,” Becky said very formally. “I’m surprised that you came.”

“So am I,” I admitted. “Why did you want to meet me?”

Becky raked back in her chair and folded her arms. “You need to stop chasing Dex.”

“What? Excuse me?” I was totally confused. “Me? Chasing Dex?”

“Don’t play stupid Cara! He told me how you want him back and how you threw yourself at him after I started dating him.”

I was almost speechless. “Is that what he told you?!”

“Yes, he came clean and told me everything. I forgave him for sleeping with you because it was basically pity sex. And we had only just started dating so I can’t hold it against him. But I have a problem with you trying to get him back when he is with me now!”

The more she talked, the more Becky’s face reddened with anger. This girl had only wanted to put me on notice based on a bold faced lie from an abuser and rapist! She wanted to unpack her luggage of insecurities onto me. Can you believe that?

Becky stared me down, expecting some kind of bitchy response and I was just about to oblige when one of the waitreses placed a brown paper bag with Becky’s order between us. I couldn’t help but notice the scrawled writing on the bag next to her name – “Spicy Thai Chickpea Veggie Burger x 2 NO NUTS!!!” Those burgers were obviously for her and Dex and it was clear from the “NO NUTS” that Becky was looking out for her man’s safety. I know it was a stupid thought but wondered how macho non- fruit eating Dex had embraced vegan anything…it had to be for show. Becky handed the girl some cash as she quickly gave her change, obviously not wanting to present for a cat fight.

“Dex is lying to you Becky. Not only do I never want to see him ever again, we definitely did not have sex! He…”

Realizing that I was about to say something I didn’t want to, I stopped myself. Becky didn’t need to know my business and she wouldn’t have believed me anyways.

I got up from my chair. “I feel really sorry for. If you knew better, you would get out now and never look back.”

“I don’t scare that easily Cara…”

“Sorry to hear that! I guess that he’s all yours then…”

I made my way back onto the street and headed home, pulling out my cell to tell Sam what had happened. Little did poor Becky know that she was head over heels in love with a ticking time bomb.

Should I have insisted on warning her? Was there more I could have done?

I don’t know.

What I did know was that I had absolutely no remorse about taking the Epipen from his medicine cabinet and “misplacing” it at the bottom of his bathroom vanity drawer like what he had done with my birth control pills, keys and cell when I thought that I was going crazy.

As I walked away, I wished that I had simply thrown it away.

Hindsight is 20/20, isn’t it?

Cara

Continuation: V is for “Vampire”