The Show Goes On

This Is Where I Leave You

After closing up the office and driving towards home, Brandi stopped to fill her tank. As the gas pumped into her car, Brandi's cell phone rang. She flipped it open and brought it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Brandi." It was her friend Annabel.
"Hi, Annie, what's going on?"
"I just thought I should call you, I just saw something I think you should know about."
Brandi's hands went icy and her stomach knotted.
"What is it?"
"It's Lenny. I saw him walking out of the bar on St. Louis Boulevard."
"Yeah?" Brandi's hand shook.
"He was walking with some woman," Annabel whispered.
Brandi was stunned.
"I don't know who she is. She was blonde, I think and had short hair. I got out of there quick so he wouldn't see me..."
Brandi stayed silent.
"I'm so sorry, honey."
"It's okay. Thank you for telling me," she said, her voice catching.
"Sure, doll. Call me when you find out anything else."
"Sure. I'll see you around." Brandi clicked her phone shut and very slowly pulled the hose out of her car. Gasoline dripped onto the floor. She climbed into her car and started home, just barely being able to look past the tears that clouded her view.
Brandi was a rational thinker. She always considered her options before doing anything but right now she was starting to move past her sadness and quickly boiled it into rage. Her car revved through highways and she turned so sharply at every corner that her wheels screamed and left thick, black marks on the pavement. Brandi was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles had gone white and her breath came out in jagged puffs. It was so cold outside. She didn't notice anything else. Finally, she pulled up in front of her condo and she looked up at the building with blazing eyes. She breathed deeply and smoothed back her waves.
It's okay, she thought. We're just. Talking.
Brandi's heels clacked up the stairs and she deftly unlocked the door, stepping inside the warmth of the room.
Lenny was sitting on the couch, drinking a beer. He was in a great mood.
"Hey baby," he smiled. "How was work?"
"Oh, fine," she smiled pointedly and stepped into the kitchen. Her jagged breathing had been suppressed into short huffs of cold.
"You know," she said, her back turned to him. "I found out something really funny today." She poured herself a glass of wine. Oh, so casually.
"Oh, yeah? What's that?" Lenny clicked through the channels.
"It's actually pretty interesting. How obvious it should have been." Brandi smiled and sat down on the couch next to him. He put his arm around her.
"What's interesting, babe?"
She suppressed a small chuckle. "You've been in such a good mood lately."
"Yep. You have too, you know." He turned to look at her kindly. His gray eyes. Her heart almost melted.
Was it even true? She thought. It couldn't be. It couldn't. Then she looked at his hands. There was just the slightest smudge of pink on his thumb. And her heart broke.
"You're right. I have. And you know why?" She looked at him.
"Why?" He gazed at her before turning lazily back to the tv.
"Because," she said softly, moving closer to his ear. Her lower lip grazed his earlobe.
"All this time, I didn't know you were fucking someone else behind my back," she said just barely a whisper. Lenny's eyes widened and he shot up from the couch.
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh," Brandi smiled casually and sipped her glass, not looking at him.
"You know. Don't you, baby?"
"You're fucking insane. You know that?" He shouted, shooting daggers out of his eyes.
"The only thing I know is that the reason you're so angry is because you know it's true." She swallowed her wine.
"No! How could you even think that? HOW?"
Very cooly, she swallowed the rest of her wine and stood up from the couch, leveling her eyes to his.
"I don't think. I know."
He slapped her. Brandi's face shot away from him and she stumbled back.
"You don't know shit! You don't know shit! You whore!" He screamed at her.
Brandi shoved him back with all of her force and he nearly fell over.
"DON'T YOU TELL ME I DON'T KNOW! I'M NOT STUPID! YOU CAN'T HIDE ANY MORE! YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH!" Brandi yelled back, backing away from him. Lenny reached out and grabbed her arm, wrenching her back to him.
"NO! JUST SHUT THE HELL UP! YOU DIDN'T LEAVE ME ANY CHOICE! YOU'RE NO PRIZE, YOU KNOW THAT? I'VE DEALT WITH IT FOR SO LONG, WITH ALL YOUR SHIT," he spat. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT! ALL OF IT!"
"YOU ASSHOLE! LET GO OF ME!" She yanked herself away, but his grip was iron-clad. He wound up and punched her in the face. Hard. Her head fell back and she hit the floor with an angry thump. Jagged sobs gasped out of her mouth and she shielded her nose. Blood gushed everywhere, all over her suit and her hands.
"YOU UNDERSTAND ME NOW? YOU FUCKING BITCH. YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"
Brandi scrambled towards the door and ran down the stairs and stumbled towards her car. Blood soaked the floor of the parking lot and the cold shocked her so hard she fell against her car. She unlocked the door and slid inside, locking it and drove back onto the rode. Brandi pulled up in front of a neighboorhood a few blocks away and still sobbing, she dialed Jordan's number with shaking hands.

Jordan was sitting in his living room, watching Matlock when his phone rang. He looked at it. Brandi? She never called this late. He flipped it open.
"Hello? Brandi?"
"Jordan?" She sobbed.
"Brandi? What's going on?"
"It's Lenny. He-" Her voice caught and she cried desperately into her sleeve, pressing it against her face.
"What did he do? Brandi?" Jordan stood up quickly and knocked over a stack of papers to find his shoes.
"He was- he- I'm dizzy," she sobbed pathetically into the phone, breathing quickly to try and steady herself.
"It's okay, it's okay, where are you? I'm coming to get you."
"I think it's... Brookstone... The neighborhood."
"Just stay put, I'm coming right now." He had his coat on and was locking the door, running for his car. Jordan started the ignition and drove desperately towards Brookstone.
"What did he do? Brandi? What did he do?"
"I found out he cheated on me. And I told him," she breathed deeply, trying to speak.
"Did he hit you?" Jordan ran a red light and turned on Parkway.
"He- yeah, I- The blood..."
"Brandi, don't move okay? Just stay there, I'm coming."
He revved fast and angrily through every street, every avenue.
Fucking Lenny, he thought. Stupid asshole son of a bitch. Swear to god... His punk ass... Dead man, he's a dead man.
He pulled up in front of Brookstone and ran towards Brandi's car. He beat his palm against the window and the door gave away. He scooped her out and pulled her into him. She was crying furiously and clenching the back of Jordan's jacket hard, like her life depended on him. Her life depended on him.
He set her in the back seat of his car and drove to the nearest hospital. His hands were covered in blood.
"We're almost there... Just hang in there... You'll be okay..." He whispered more to himself than to Brandi. He just needed to get her through the night.