I Do

Chapter 12

Ethan had grown used to going to sleep and waking up next to Josie. It was no wonder that he was disappointed when she said she was not coming home the previous night. When he got to the office, he could feel that something was different as soon as he saw Josie. She looked exhausted, almost as if she had not had much sleep.

“Good morning,” he said when he got to her desk. She smiled up at him.

“Good morning.”

“Are you okay?” he asked and she nodded.

“Actually, can we talk?” she asked.

“Sure. Come on in.”

He walked into his office and she followed him in.

“What is going on?” he asked as he walked to the desk.

Josie closed the door behind her and leaned against it. She looked at him and took a long, deep breath.

“I think that we may be rushing into this…” she started and Ethan looked at her with an eyebrow raised at her. “I think it would be better if we called off the engagement for now.”

Ethan shook his head and stood up.

“Whoa, what are you talking about?” He walked to where she was.

“You know exactly what I’m talking about. Five months is a very short time for us to make such a serious commitment.”

Ethan looked into her eyes.

“Baby, what happened? Please talk to me.”

Josie shook her head.

“Nothing… I just wish you would respect my request and just do this one thing for me.”

Ethan let out an exasperated sigh.

“Everything was fine last night. I mean, we talked and everything…” he started before his voice trailed off. He noticed that a few people were standing outside his window enjoying the free show. He walked back to his desk and drew the blinds before he walked back to Josie.

“I proposed to you, baby, and you accepted… For you to change your mind so soon. Tell me what is going on, baby.”

She shook her head.

“I already told you…”

“Well, it’s not enough!” Ethan said in frustration. “I mean, I went to bed as an engaged man and I wake up a single man? Don’t I deserve an explanation?”

“Stop yelling at me!”

“I’m sorry, baby, but I just don’t understand. Why don’t you just talk to me?” he pleaded and she shook her head.

“I already told you. We shouldn’t have rushed this.”

She was fighting back the tears that were threatening to roll down her cheeks.

“Please… I can’t talk about this right now.”

“But, baby, we have plans.” He took her hands in his. “We are getting married… we are supposed to go to Atlanta and meet your family… All these plans for the future. Why would you just give it all up?”

She pulled her hands away and slipped the ring off.

“No…baby, please. Keep it. Don’t do this.”

“I can’t have this right now,” she said as she walked to his desk. She placed the ring down on the mahogany desk and turned around to look at him.

“How am I supposed to see you every single day without having any feelings…at work? I mean, for God’s sake Josie, you are my assistant.”

She shook her head.

“What? Don’t you want to work with me anymore?” she asked and he exhaled loudly.

“That’s not what I am saying, obviously. It is just that with you breaking off the engagement without any explanation, I can’t help but wonder what I did wrong and that question is going to eat at me every single time I look at your desk.”

Josie forced out a laugh.

“You know what, let me make things easy for you.” She walked to the door and lingered for a long second before she spoke again. “I quit.”

“Baby, no…please.” Ethan rushed to the door just in time to see her grab her bag and walk quickly towards the exit. “Josie!” he called out but she never turned around. He stood there wondering what to do before he noticed that everyone was looking at him. “What the hell are you all looking at? The show’s over.”

He slammed the door and walked back to his desk. He had just sat down when his brother came almost running through the doors.

“What the hell is going on here?” Noah asked. “I could hear you all the way from my office.”

Ethan exhaled loudly and looked at Noah.

“It’s over. She broke up with me,” he said as he reached for the ring.

He looked at the ring for a long time before he held the ring in his hand. He clenched his fist so tightly, his knuckles turned white. Noah took a seat and looked at his heartbroken brother.

“What happened?” Noah asked and Ethan shook his head.

“I don’t know. She won’t tell me… I just know that something happened yesterday that changed her mind…”

“Why?” Noah asked, cutting him short. “What happened yesterday?”

Ethan shook his head and ran his fingers through his hair.

“I don’t know.” He banged his desk in frustration. “All I know is that last night, she went to her old apartment and when she came to work, she had a whole speech prepared.”

“Why don’t you take the day?” Noah asked. “Go home or go to the batting cages. Get your mind right and then once you are relaxed go talk to her.”

Ethan knew his brother was right. There was no way he could be of good use to anyone in the office given the state he was in. He got up and grabbed his iPad before he looked at Noah. He was struggling to get the right words to say to Noah and his brother knew him well enough to know that he was struggling.

“I know,” Noah said. “You are welcome.”

Ethan took a long, deep breath and slowly made his way out of the office.

                                                            *****

For the next few days, Josie could hardly get out of bed. She spent her days binge watching old TV shows and when she could, she went to the kitchen for some ice cream. She was on a steady diet of Chinese take-out and pizza. For Josie, a good binge and food always made her feel better. She did not believe in getting back on her feet immediately. She had a principle. She needed to mourn the end of the relationship. If she did not do that, she was going to end up with a rebound situation.