“Let’s Break-up.”

Her words had left me dumbfounded. I had driven all the way down to her place to take her to some swanky restaurant downtown. It was one of those places that you only heard about through word of mouth, and could only afford on a special occasion.

Tonight, the special occasion was Kat’s birthday.   

“Break-up?”  I questioned.  I took a glance down at the dozen red roses I had bought on the way to her place. She probably had no idea I had them since she had her front door cracked between us just enough for her head to peek through.

“But these are for you?” I pushed the roses up into her face.

“Keep them” she ordered as she pushed them right back in mine.

“I don’t understand, do you hate the surprise?”  

“Yea,” she was curt and looked highly irritated.

Two weeks ago she said I shouldn’t worry about her birthday. And then I thought it was her way of being humble.

“Look Julian, I really like you and everything. We just aren’t working anymore so let’s just call it quits. No hard feelings right-“

“Kat, who’s that?” A deep baritone voice interjected from behind the door.

“Yo, Kat are you forreal right now!”  I said in a rage, but discreet enough for only her to hear.  I practically punched myself for reacting as if I had stepped on some other man’s toes.

“No one! Thanks Julian, but let’s just end it here”, she said in a rush closing the door in my face, but I placed my foot between the door before she could. She stared at me as if a mutant was chilling on my head.  We stood in that position for a good 30 seconds, and I thought of all the twisted shit I should say but I just didn’t have the balls to.

“Are you going to move your foot?” She crossed her arms with impatience. I looked down at my foot then moved it from between the door. Standing there like a fool with roses in my hand, she shut the door without giving us a second thought.

So much for dinner.

I went back to the car and tossed the roses into the back seat. If I hadn’t already made a fool of myself I would have had the courage to go back there and beat that guy's ass. I would have even lied to Kat’s face and told her,

"Don't worry there were other girls too." So she would think there were no real hurt feelings. And he would understand that I never let him slide for the shit he pulled at the door.

“He knew I was there,” I muttered to myself bitterly.

The radio was on when I started the car and I let it play some sappy eighties song which managed to worsen my mood. The thunder roared, and poured down from the sky. It was almost impossible to see the road ahead.

If I managed to crash that night, it was all Kat’s fault.

By the time I pulled up in front of my crib the rain slowed down to a drizzle. In the distant The thunder and lightning could still be heard. I stared back at the roses I had tossed into the back seat. Sucking my teeth i snatched them up in my left hand and my house keys in my right.

I walked briskly through the foggy rain, and continued to curse under my breath. The fog in the air was so thick, that at even three feet away, I was unable to see my townhome. My eyes were on my ring of keys while I flipped through them in the darkness for the one to my house.

That is why when my foot bumped her body at my doorstep I was taken by surprise. the shock didn’t arrive immediately. It was so dark I couldn’t really see her at first. I tried to pick her up like a UPS package, but when my hands touched warm flesh it repulsed back in horror. I squatted down to my knees and looked at her more closely.

Her clothes were soaked from the rain as she laid at the bottom of the steps in the fetal position. The bangs of her childishly bobbed brunette hair stuck to her face, and if I hadn’t felt for the rise and fall of her chest I would have thought she was dead. I picked her up and carried her back. She was a little heavy, but luckily she was in front of my door.

As I held her in my arms I could feel her body burning. She had on some funky neon purple racerback spandex top with these metallic looking shorts and bare feet in the middle of February.

Maybe she locked herself out the house? The brace she wore on her foot stood out like a sore thumb. I’m sure i would recognize a person on house arrest if they were living on my block.

 I rushed her over to the living room sofa, and laid her out across it.The rise and fall of her chest placed me in a trance. If not for the ankle bracelet, I would not have labeled her as any kind of criminal. I only hoped that whatever she did had nothing to do with stealing. Not that I had anything worth taking in here.

Her face was flushed, and I had already done the basic things like feel her forehead with the back of my palm. in order to only reaffirmed what I had already knew.

she was burning up.

I needed some help fast. This girl had been the icing on my shitty cake, and i needed help for my sanity more than anything else at the moment.

I called Sora, the only girl who got me apart from my mother. Plus she was a nurse and knew a thing or two about bringing down a fever.

“Who’s sick?” She asked through the phone.

“Uh-,” I thought of something to say other than the truth. Which was strange, because I never lied to Sora. Maybe I l lied about how much I love her homemade pies, but never a flat out lie like this one.  

"Kat” I said. Kat being the only believable lie I could think of.

“Kat has to be one the luckiest girls to have her boyfriend take care of her when she is sick. When are you guys getting married?” Sora teased.

“Stop playing, it’s not even that serious.” I forced myself to chuckle.

"Just tell me how to get this fever down." I quickly changed topics

Once she instructed me on what I needed to do, I rushed her off the line. I ran around the house grabbing blankets and some clothes. I had grabbed an old shirt and some shorts that kat had left behind. I didn't have a thermometer or anything like that, so I planned to run to cvs the next morning and get stuff like that.

When i was done running around my three bedroom room townhome I stood over the sleeping induced female; deciding what the least harmful approach to undressing her would be.

Close my eyes?

Look away?

I squinted my eyes and quickly slipped off her weird spandex top. One by one I removed each article of her clothing until she was bare. I took a second to look at the band on her right ankle. It looked like a house arrest bracelet except for the fact that the band was a shiny silver. When I was finished being distracted by the band on her ankle I dressed her in kat's old clothes, then laid a blanket over her, and put a damp cloth over her forehead.

I expected her to instantly wake up after going over the whole process. Instead she was still in a peaceful slumber, and it didn’t look like she would be waking up soon. I sat back in the love seat, and looked off into the bare walls of my living room.

Now what?

I looked down at her wet clothes that sat at the corner of the sofa. I reached over and grabbed them. Shaking and patting at each article of clothing I tried to find some type of wallet, or anything that could give me a clue to her identity.

nothing

Apart from a wad of bills stuffed in her pocket there was nothing. I began to pace the floor because I knew I could not do anything until she woke up.

I was so caught up trying to figure out how a strange women could end up on my doorstep, it helped me to forget that my girlfriend of three years was probably sleeping with some other guy currently. So much I allowed my eyes to get heavy and drift into the same slumber that had taken the girl laying on the couch next to me.