Fifteen minutes later, I was woken up by the banging on the door and heard Mina’s voice from the other side. “Scarlett? Are you in there?”
I jumped up and ran to let her in. “Sorry, hun, I passed out on the couch,” I explained as I ushered her inside.
“You look like shit. You’re not going anywhere looking like that,” she said as she hugged me and walked into the apartment.
“I don’t care what I look like. I’m just going for the company.”
“Well I care what you look like so my company will suck if you look like that. Your eyes are so swollen you look like you’ve been sitting around hitting the bong, now come on. At least put a little Visine in and some lip gloss wouldn’t hurt either.”
“Can’t you show me a little sympathy? My boyfriend moved out of town today,” I whined and made a pouty face.
“Nope. You gotta learn to live on your own and I’m not gonna let you sit around and feel sorry for yourself. You knew what you were getting into with him, you knew he was leaving. You decided he was worth trying a long distance relationship with, so now put on your big girl panties and deal with it,” she scolded me. “And get your ass ready, Max is meeting us at Gigi’s at the Galleria in thirty minutes.”
I knew that everything she said was the truth, but knowing and feeling were two very separate things. However, finding that I would get to see Max made me feel a little better, so I threw on a little makeup and threw my hair into a messy French twist to appease Mina and we left for the mall.
Lunch with my two closest friends helped pull me out of my funk, and the delicious Asian-inspired plates that we all shared didn’t hurt either. Max left after we finished the meal, claiming that even though hours of shopping with us sounded tempting he really need to do some research for his thesis.
Pulling me in for a hug before he headed to the parking garage, he whispered, “Whatever you need, whenever you need it, please call me. I know you feel alone right now, but you’re not. I’m always here, okay?”
I nodded and said, “Okay, I know,” trying my best not to start crying again. I knew he was just trying to be supportive, and I was so thankful that I had people like him and Mina to help me through the rough patches. He kissed both Mina and me on the cheek before heading out the glass double doors, and the two of us girls headed for the clothing shops.
The first night sleeping in the bed alone was tough. Mason and I had Skyped while I lay there until I could no longer keep my eyes open. He had given me a video tour of his apartment and then sang to me about how much he missed me. We promised to talk the next morning and I disconnected the call only to find myself suddenly wide awake. Hours passed and I just stared at the ceiling, my mind covering every topic from family to school to religion to Mason. Finally around three or four in the morning, my body gave up and I passed out from exhaustion.
Mason came home the following Sunday as promised and we nearly mauled each other before he could even get through the door. I never realized that you could have a physical dependence on another person, but my body literally ached for his touch, my lips longed for his kiss. We did not leave the bed the entire twenty four hours he was there except to shower ~ we ate there, we talked there, we watched TV there, and we thoroughly enjoyed each other’s bodies there. I didn’t go to my Monday classes even though finals were fast approaching, but I didn’t care. There was no way I was missing any time that I could spend with him.
When he left the second time, it was hard, but not nearly as bad as the first. I knew that he loved me and that he would be back soon; I just had to keep reminding myself of that when I started to feel lonely. I really had to buckle down with my studies with less than a month left in the semester. Between school, work, and spending time with Mina and Max, I kept myself busy. It was at night when I was alone in the bed that I was reminded of his absence.
Jobu’s Rum had hit the Austin music scene running. Bentley had apparently set them up to play in some of the bigger bars and they were received well and requested often. They started booking more and more shows which was great for Mason and the guys, but meant that he wasn’t able to talk at night nor was he able to come home to visit. Our phone conversations had been moved to my lunch time, which was normally around the time that he was waking up from being out late the night before. We never went a day without speaking but I couldn’t help but feel like we were growing apart. We even missed one another over the Thanksgiving break. I had gone home to visit my family which was less than hour from Mason’s apartment, but Jobu’s Rum was playing the entire weekend in Dallas.
I was anxiously awaiting the first weekend of December, which was Noah and Mina’s bachelor/ bachelorette parties, but more importantly marked the end of finals week. All of the guys were supposed to be coming home for the party, and they had given Bentley strict instructions not to schedule anything for them that entire weekend.
That Friday I had my two final exams. I had been a complete ball of stress due to the countless hours of reading, minimal sleep, and having not seen Mason in nearly four weeks. I hated that we would be split up between guys and girls for most of the night, but the important thing to me was that he would be sleeping in bed with me that night.
When I had finally turned in my last paper, I stepped outside and grabbed my phone to check the time. At the sight of a missed call and voicemail from Mason, my stomach dropped and I immediately knew something wasn’t right. I listened to his message which only confirmed my suspicions.