Chapter One
Haley woke up about ten minutes before the bus pulled into the station and raising her arms above her head, she stretched out her cramped body. She hadn’t really expected to get any sleep but she was thankful that she had managed to get a little and she felt slightly more refreshed than before.
After the bus had pulled in and she had collected her bags, she stopped at the restroom to use the facilities and after washing her hands, she splashed her face with some cold water. Looking in the mirror, she couldn’t fail to notice the puffiness around her eyes which she put down to her earlier crying. Grabbing a couple of paper towels from the wall dispenser, she wet them under the cold water and then dabbed at her eyes. She repeated the action a few times before giving up. Once things with Nathan were sorted out, then she could worry about her appearance, she told herself with a heavy sigh.
Carrying her bags, she exited the restroom and made her way outside. Wanting to get home to the apartment as soon as possible, she decided to get a cab and luckily there were a couple of free ones waiting outside the station. Getting into one of them, she told the driver her destination and then sat back and looked out of the window.
Less than ten minutes later, she was standing outside the apartment complex nervously biting her lip. Taking a deep breath, she picked up her bags and made the short walk up to hers and Nathan’s apartment. When she arrived at the front door she wasn’t sure whether to knock or just let herself in. Ugh, get a grip of yourself, she mentally berated herself. Opening her purse, she removed her key and unlocked the door. Pushing it open, she gasped at the sight that greeted her. The apartment was in total disarray and as she crossed the threshold, dropped her bags and then walked further into the apartment, the first thing she noticed was the ‘Naley Forever’ board lying on the floor broken in half.
Going back over to the door, she closed it before walking around and taking in the destruction that surrounded her. As she did so, her eyes filled with tears and this time she didn’t try and stop them from falling. Not seeing Nathan in the living room or kitchen, she went and checked the bathroom and then finally the bedroom. The room looked like a tornado had ripped through it. There were clothes strewn all over the floor, the bed was stripped bare while the mattress was hanging half off of it. Walking towards it, she pushed the mattress back on and seeing the room the way it was, she knew she couldn’t leave it like that.
The first thing Haley did was take off her jacket and hang it up in her closet before going to retrieve her bags. Bringing them into the bedroom, she sorted out her clothes; hanging up the clean ones and putting the rest into the laundry hamper. Next, she picked up all the scattered clothing from the floor and deciding that they were most likely the clothes that he had taken off at night, she dropped them into the hamper too. Going over to the dresser, she opened the bottom drawer and pulled out some fresh linen and quickly made the bed. It was while tucking in the sheet on Nathan’s side of the bed that she noticed something glinting on the nightstand.
Her breath caught in her throat as she realised what it was and picking it up, she slipped it onto her thumb. The fact he had removed his wedding ring made Haley realise just how much worse things really were between them. If anything though, this made her even more determined to make things right.
Satisfied with what she had done in the bedroom, she went back out and started clearing up in the living room and kitchen. Filling the sink with hot, soapy water, she piled in all the dirty dishes and left them to soak. After that, she walked over to where the broken board lay and knelt down on the floor. She traced her fingers over one of the photos of Nathan and gave a watery smile. Checking her watch, she saw it was getting late and she had a sinking feeling that he wasn’t going to be coming home. She felt sick as she realised that maybe he had decided she wasn’t worth waiting for and that maybe he was already out looking for someone to take her place.
Getting up off the floor, she went back into the bedroom and grabbed her jacket and decided that she wasn’t going to sit around and let this happen. She was going to go and find him and make him see that what they had was too good to lose. Leaving him the way she had done was something she would probably always regret but she wasn’t going to just give up without a fight. He needed to know why she had gone but even more so, she needed to tell him why she had come back.