Robin Wasserman - Envy

As the sun set Adam walked over to the coffee shop-it was a long way, but then, he had a lot of energy to burn. He saw her before she saw him. She stood just under the neon sign, her features lit softly by the bluish glow. Angelic, he might have thought, in a different life. She looked at her watch and began pacing. She was waiting for him-or maybe she was wondering how much time she’d have to waste on him before getting back to her secret lover.

Bile rose within him, and for a moment he thought he might be sick. But then he forced away the image of her and Kane (when he closed his eyes, he imagined them screwing everywhere-on her bed, in his car, in the locker room, on the basketball court-her poison had tainted everything and everywhere in his life). He needed to be calm. Strong.

Things were going to get worse before they got better.

“Adam!” she called, as soon as she spotted him approaching. “I’m so glad to see you-I missed you!” She ran over to give him a hug, but when she tried to kiss him, he turned his face away.

“Are you still mad?” It seemed an unnecessary question. She’d been hoping that a couple days away had made him realize he had nothing to worry about, that she and Kane were just friends. And that was it, she thought, pushing away the memory of last night. That was it.

“Now, why would I be mad?” his voice sounded strange. Hard. “Did you and Kane have a good time without me?”

“It was horrible,” she lied. “All we did was study. I’m so burnt out-I just need to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, I bet you do. I bet you’re real tired.”

“What?” What was he getting at?

“Just drop it, Beth,” he said harshly.

“What?”

“The innocent act. The little miss perfect shit. It’s tired, and I’m not buying it anymore.”

“What act? Why are you being like this?” She reached out a hand to him, but he shrugged it off, jerking away as if her touch burned.

“Don’t touch me,” he said sharply.

Beth took a step back. Her heart was thumping in her ears, and a sense of dread had settled over her.

“Adam, what’s going on?”

“I guess you thought I’d never figure it out.”

“Figure what out?” she asked.

“You must think I’m an idiot or something.”

“Of course I don’t-what are you-?”

“Just shut up already!” he roared. “I can’t stand it anymore. Stop looking at me like you give a shit, stop acting like you’re all confused, all pure and sweet and innocent-I know all about it, all about you and… him.”

He jerked his thumb toward the window of the coffee shop-Kane was inside, looking out with obvious concern.

“This again?” Beth asked, tears welling up at the corners of her eyes. “I told you, there’s nothing going on.”

“And I told you -I know everything. Kaia saw you, Beth. I guess you thought you’d be safe, but she saw you. And she told me everything.”

Beth’s mind skidded across the last forty-eight hours-what could Kaia have seen? What could she have said to make him this angry? The night in the park, it had just been innocent. It might have looked… but it had been innocent. Completely. And besides- Kaia ?

“Kaia? You’re yelling at me because of something Kaia told you?” Beth asked incredulously. “Kaia’s a liar and a bitch, Adam, you’re the one who told me that. Why would you believe anything she has to say? Why would you believe her over me?”

“Oh, Kaia’s a liar? Kaia’s a bitch?” He forced a laugh. “That’s a good one, Beth. You know, I didn’t believe her either, not at first. I defended you-I defended your honor !” He laughed again, bitterly. “Good thing for her, she had pictures .”

Pictures? Beth’s heart leaped into her throat. What could there even be pictures of? They hadn’t even kissed. There had been one moment when-but no. Whatever she may have imagined doing, nothing had happened. Nothing.

“Adam, nothing happened,” she protested. “You’ve got to believe me. This is just a huge misunderstanding. If you’ll just listen to me-”

“I’m done listening to you,” he snapped. “I’m done with your lies. Do you have any idea what it felt like? To see you with him? I should have turned last night with Harper into a Kodak moment for you, then maybe you could see how it feels.”

Beth, who already felt as if she’d been punched in the stomach, staggered back and had to lean against the wall for support.

“Harper? You and Harper?”

He looked surprised for a moment, as if not realizing he’d said it aloud. Then his face twisted into an ugly smile.

“That’s right, Harper. But why should you even care? I hope to hell you do.” He glared at her, and she couldn’t bring herself to look away. “I hope it hurts.”

It was as if Adam had disappeared into the desert, and some heartless, unfeeling monster had returned in his place. Beth was reeling.

“So, what-you get a phone call or something from Kaia , of all people, and then without even bothering to talk to me, you just jump into bed with someone else? What’s wrong with you?” she cried.

“You are not the victim here,” he spat. “So you can just knock off the tears. It’s not going to work.”

She lunged forward and grabbed both of his hands tightly in hers. If she could just make him stop for a minute. Think. Before throwing everything away.

“Adam, just wait-can we just-”

“Enough!” He shoved her backward, and she stumbled back against the wall. “Don’t touch me again, Beth. I mean it.”

That was when she knew. It was over. This person, this thing in front of her who spit out all this hate and anger and venom, who took Kaia’s word over hers, who let Harper-

She couldn’t even think about it. Couldn’t even look at him.

“Just go, then, Adam,” she said wearily through her tears. “If that’s how you feel, why don’t you just go?”

“One more piece of unfinished business,” Adam replied, looking over her shoulder. She turned-Kane stood in the doorway.

“Everything okay out here?” he asked with concern.

“Hey, bro, everything’s just fine. Why don’t you come on out for a little talk?” Adam said heartily.

Kane looked back and forth between the two of them.

“It doesn’t look fine” he said hesitantly, walking toward Beth, who was now slumped against the wall, her head in her hands. He put a hand on her shoulder. “Beth, are you-”

“Don’t touch her,” Adam snapped, knocking Kane’s arm away roughly.

“What’s your problem?” Kane asked, turning to face him.

“You were,” Adam said. Suddenly, he punched Kane in the face, hard, knocking him to the ground. “But not anymore.”

As Kane moaned in pain and Beth looked on in horror, Adam slowly turned his back on them and walked away.

“She’s all yours now,” he called over his shoulder. “You two deserve each other.”

Kane lay on the ground for a moment, moaning-with a few small whimpers thrown in, just for effect. (Not too many, though-it wouldn’t do to have her thinking he was some kind of wimp.) Then he slowly pulled himself up and walked over to Beth, who was frozen in place, staring after Adam’s disappearing figure.

Kane said a silent congratulations to Kaia and Harper-apparently, everything had gone like clockwork. His turn now.

He put a comforting arm around Beth, trying to still her heaving sobs.

She leaned against him for a moment, burying her face in his chest and crying. It’s going to be a bitch to get all of that snot out of the fabric , he thought. But after all this hard work, what’s a little more? So he held her, wishing his hands could stray downward, but he held back, just rubbing her shoulder blades and making comforting noises. Patience, he counseled himself.