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While I didn’t feel responsible for her actions, I did care what happened to her The problem was she hardly spoke to me at all anymore, so even if I tried to help, I couldn’t It was about as close to a ‘‘no-win’ situation as you could get

And so it hen I arrived in town a couple of weeks after ‘the call’, things had almost completely stalled out between us She seeodda the business down any longer I hadn’t alerted her toat around nine o’clock in the evening, I headed straight for the apartment

Clutching the key in my hand, I slid it into the lock and turned it until it clicked open As I entered, I looked to my left and saw the electric blue flicker of the television along the wall across fro rooht, clad in her bathrobe

Her face carried a solemn appearance I’d never seen her look so disheveled I stood in place and swiveled lance, as if I were a ghost My eyes trailed her as she plopped down on the couch As she took her seat, Maddie tucked her legs underneath her robe, then picked up a glass of wine and sipped it What little re room table within easy reach

“What do you want, Grey?” she muttered, as she flipped the channel

She still wouldn’t look at me

What did I want? What did I want? I wanted oddamn friend I wanted Maddie back and so, that’s what I told her

“You, Maddie”

She shook her head and ht here”

“No, that’s not what I meant”

“What did you mean, Grey?” she asked “Oh, do you want to fuck me?”

As she finished, she tilted the wine glass up and after the maroon liquid slid down her throat, she casually tossed it aside The glass hit the floor and shattered Shards radiated in all directions as it did

I turned my head back towards her

“Come on,” she said, as she ss and pulled her bathrobe open, exposing herself to , she continued, “Come fuck me, Grey That’s what you want That’s all you want isn’t it?”

I looked down at her in utter disappointment I felt like I didn’t know this person And the last thing I wanted to do was fuck her Snapping an to walk to the front door As I passed by her, Maddie’s face flickered to life in my peripheral vision

“Where are you going, Grey?” she said Her tone elevated with each step I took “Don’t you want fuck me anymore?”

I resisted the urge to curlstraight ahead If I stopped and fed into it, nothing good would happen

“What’s the matter, Grey?” she yelled in a drunken slur “Don’t you want to fuck me anymore!!!?”

Just then, I heard Maddie get to her feet, followed by the sound of the wine bottle being dragged across the table

“Maddie, don’t!” I yelled as I spun back to face her

She clutched the bottle upside down and held it by the neck As she did, what re a trail of red Maddie scoffed as she looked at le jolt of sinister arasp

It hit the floor with a thud but didn’t shatter Instead, it spun out of view as it vanished beneath the sofa For an instant or two an to walk back down the hall towards the bedrooreetedher delicate beauty once more

“Get out,” she ht

MADDIE

I sat straight up in , I put htstand in search of my phone Once I found it, I palmed it and flipped it over to check the time

“Fuck!” I exclaimed with a loud whisper

Battling a wicked Merlot-assisted headache, I stuet ready as fast as I could Best case scenario, it would hardly leave me fifteen minutes for a twenty minute commute

As it turned out, Katy never flushed my keys In my stupor, I hadn’t noticed she slipped them in her bra Oh well, it was for the best because, uh, did I act like an ass Everyone does it fro closer and closer together and lasting for lengthier and lengthier periods

Yet I got ready as fast as possible and decided to chance it with my makeup and put it on in the car I threw open my bedroom door, broke into a half-run, but almost as soon as I reached the end of the hallway, I stopped dead

Not more than ten feet ahead of me, Grey lay there sound asleep on the couch, with one ar off of it I looked at hi there His breath rose and fell in a steady cadence