A
TIME FOR CHANGEA
TIME FOR CHANGE
CHAPTER ONE
When she opened her eyes and heard giggling, her life began falling to pieces with every passing second. The bastard had brought another woman into their home. He’d been treating her like crap for months, if not longer. She should’ve realized she was going to get hurt. Lou had tried convincing herself that she didn’t love him as a boyfriend anymore. That all she wanted to be was friends with him, but, as her world crashed around her, she knew she’d been fooling herself. She had tried to meet new men so he’d have to watch her leave the house with someone else, but hadn’t found anyone she wanted to spend an evening with. No one compared to him. When she heard the water in the bathroom turn on, she called Rachel and ran out the door without looking back. Life as she knew it, was over.
“Oh Rachel! I’m so sorry I called so late. I just don’t know
what to do.” Lou looked at her best friend and wondered how she was going
to survive. Rachel put
her arms around Lou and guided her to the pillow and blanket she’d laid
out on the couch for her.
“Watch TV if you’d like. The noise isn’t going to bother me.
Try and get some sleep ok.” Rachel gave Lou one last squeeze and headed
to bed. She would get
the full story from Lou tomorrow, but she knew Lou wasn’t ready to talk
yet. Tomorrow would be soon enough to start picking up the pieces of her life.
As Lou tried to watch the images on the television, she kept hearing laughing
and the sound of the water running. She didn’t know how she was going to
make it
through this. She’d been wanting and saving to move for months, even years.
Now it was time…whether she was ready or not. How would she make it through
this?
After a night full of tears, Lou knew the first thing she had to do was find
a new place to live. She had no intention of spending another night in that
house
with him. That jerk would never have a chance to win her over again. He’d
talked her out of ending their relationship before, but what he’d done
this time was
unforgivable. She was going to do anything she could to make certain he never
found her once she left. It was her hope that one day he’d regret what
he’d done.
She knew he wouldn’t, but she’d like to think it would work out that
way.
She heard Rachel walking around in the morning and realized it was time to face the rest of her life. She would never have to face anything as hard as she was going through now. She got up off the couch as Rachel walked into the living room.
“Honey, I’m here if you need me. Here’s the paper, call some places today and set up appointments. Do you know where you’re staying tonight?”
“Umm…Terri said I could stay with her tonight. I don’t know what I’m going to do tomorrow, but I guess I’ll figure that out later. Are you still going to Kim’s to see the baby with me?”
“Of course. You ready to go?” Rachel hated leaving Lou, but she really needed to get to work.
“Yeah, I’ve got to get ready for work and get clothes for tomorrow. I’ll talk to you later.” The women hugged before heading to their cars. Lou’s thoughts focused on how she was going to face the house, the bathroom, not to mention the shower. She spent only fifteen minutes in the house. It was fifteen minutes too long. Now she just had to figure out where she was going to go between work and Terri’s. She’d rather do anything than be in that house with him. Terri had class and wouldn’t be home until after 9:30. That was four and half hours she was going to have to kill somewhere.
Too bad Cody wasn’t home from his business trip yet. She could fill him
in on everything that had happened since he left. Why the Hell did he have to
go out of town when she needed him most?? He couldn’t get back home soon
enough for her! Cody had been her closest friend for years, the one who was
there for her when
she needed someone. If he would have been home last night, she’d have called
him instead of Rachel. Sure Rachel had been through a similar situation, but
Cody
knew her almost better than she knew herself. He wouldn’t have let her
lay on that couch all night alone. He would’ve made her start to talk about
what was going on. He would’ve let her scream and yell about what an ass
Tyler DeWitt was. He’d have offered to beat the Hell out of Tyler since
her brother was a thousand miles away. Sure, he’d warned her six years
ago after she’d introduced him to Tyler, but she couldn’t see it.
She thought she had met the man of her dreams and that he’d never do anything
to hurt her. My, how times change!
Eleven days were all it took for Lou to get moved out of Tyler’s house. Eleven days of hotel rooms and couches. Eleven days of eating next to nothing and showering in hotel bathrooms with scratchy towels and none of her own stuff. Eleven days listening to her friends telling her that she was better off without Tyler and wishing she could believe them. Eleven days thinking about ending her pain and convincing herself he wasn’t worth hurting the people that cared about her. Eleven long days.
When she opened her eyes the first morning in her own place, Lou decided she’d had enough of feeling terrible all the time. She was ready to get some help to deal with everything that had happened to her. She picked up the phone book and couldn’t believe her luck as one ad jumped out at her. The doctor sounded perfect and the idea of being able to work out payment arrangements made it even more appealing. “I just hope Dr. Hunter isn’t all booked up.” Lou thought to herself as she dialed the number.
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