Chapter 2: The Breakup

Tess got up bright and early and left the house with Fred still sleeping. She reaches into her purse and sees the money and card from yesterday.

"Oh, I almost forgot, I should give this to Fred" she said while staring at the cash in her bag, "maybe I'll give him later" she added as she closed her bag and headed to work.

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On getting to work, it was busier than the day before, she was so engrossed in her job she didn't notice how time had gone and even though today was busy, the tips did not come that much.

'Seriously, just $15' she thought as she stared at the money in her hand, but she was still grateful for what she got. As she was getting ready to leave after her shift, she picked up the card which Stan had given her the day before from her bag and looked at it, 'should I give him a call' she thought, 'No, no, I can't do that, it will be wrong, I have a boyfriend' she added as she shakes her head a no "I don't need this distraction" she said.

"I can still remember his smile, those blue eyes NO! he is definitely a distraction I don't need" she said as she dropped the card in a waste bin.

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On getting home, standing in front of her apartment door *sigh* "Today has been a long day" she said as she inserted her key into the lock, but it didn't open.

"What? that's odd let me try again" she said as she tried again, but it still didn't open.

"Oh no, I hope the landlord didn't lock us out because of the rent, but Fred said he had paid the rent yesterday, so what's going on?'' she said as she tried not to panic. She reached for her phone from her bag to call Fred immediately, the phone rang and rang but he didn't pick up.

"He's not picking up, let me try and call the landlord" she said as she redials the phone, the phone rang and rang until "hello, who is this?" the man on the line asked.

"Hello, Mr. Smith it's me, Tess, am one of your tenants in room 04, apartment B., "yes, what do you want? "I am so sorry to disturb you by this time sir but our apartment lock has been changed and I wanted to know if you knew anything about it" she said. "Oh, yeah it was me and I did so because the key to that room was returned, my tenant Mr. Fred returned it today in the morning, sorry who are you again?" he asked.

"Wait, wh…what?" she replies as her eyes open in shock trying to recover from what she had just heard, she suddenly drops her phone gets on her knees, and begins to cry.

"HELLO, HELLO!" Mr. Smith calls out but then cuts the call "No way, Fred didn't do what he just, no, Fred will never do such a thing" she said as she picked up her phone to call Fred's number again, he didn't pick again but suddenly a text message appears on her phone.

"What, a message from Fred" she said as she opened it, "Dear Tess, sorry I'm sending a message to you, instead of telling you face to face, I just don't believe you are the one for me, I am struggling and need a girl that will help me and not slow me down. Sorry it has to end like this but it's over between us" the message read.

"Fred, what!" she shouted as she stared at her phone, she knew this couldn't be real, there was no argument, no fight and he was leaving her just like that. There must be a mistake, she tried calling his number, but this time it didn't ring.

"We were together yesterday night, I showed him the money I made, I can be supportive if he gives me the chance. I have a job now; with time I can support too. I didn't know the pressure was this much, he didn't let me know anything, He always said, he would handle it and he did. I can't do this; I can't survive alone in the city without him". She said as tears rolled from her eyes.

"Where will I start, where will I sleep tonight, what will happen to me, Oh God, help me" she said as she fell in tears in front of the apartment.

Tess, sat in front of the apartment door and was just crying. After crying for almost an hour, she walked to a room which had the number 03 written on the door, she knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" A young feminine voice said as the door opened slightly and a woman peeps through the open space.

"Tess, what are you doing here?" the woman said as she opened the door.

"Please Katie, can I come in?" Tess asked bewilderedly, "Yeah, sure" Kate replied looking concerned.

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"Is everything okay?" Kate asked as she closed the door after them, "Have you seen Fred?" Tess asks looking confused.

"Yeah, I did, I saw him in the morning putting some stuff in the car and he drove off" Kate replies, "is everything okay, what is going on with you guys?" she added, Tess took out her phone and shows the message from Fred to Katie and continues to cry. After reading the message, Katie was shocked "He broke up with you, ON THE PHONE!! Who does that" she said, not asking anyone in particular.

"This is pure evil, please stop crying, he's so not worth it" she said as she handed Tess a tissue, "Relax, we will call the landlord tomorrow to get your things out of the apartment. Right now, you can borrow some of my stuff and just move in" she added as she tries to comfort her.

"Thank you so much Katie" Tess said as she hugged Katie. She couldn't think but just continued sobbing. Later that night as she lay down on the couch in Katie's living room, she felt enraged.

'How could he do this to me, He knew I depended on him and knew I can't handle things myself' she thought, 'He did everything and now he's gone? no, I have to start learning how to survive without him, this isn't him, what happened?' she added, before she knew it, her mind began to wonder.

'Why would he do this? was there another girl?' she thought, 'did he find a new girl in his new job, maybe that is why he is always coming home late' she added, so many questions but no answers, she didn't know when she drifted off to sleep in tears.