THE NINE OF CUPS, THE TWO OF CUPS AND AN UPSIDE DOWN ACE OF RODS
Cindy Maddera
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Andrea ran her sleeve under her drippy nose and sniffled as she poured the last of the wine from her second bottle into her wine glass. She plopped back onto her couch and blearily flipped through her photos on her phone. “Delete, delete, delete. F you delete.” Andrea slurred as she tapped each photo of Jason mugging for the camera, selfies of the two of them kissing at sunset, dancing at Freddy and Alex’s wedding. They were all lies and she wanted to erase every trace of Jason from her life. “Meow.” Andrea turned her head to see Felix sitting on the arm of the couch. The room spun a bit as she tried to focus her gaze. “Oh, Felix. You knew Jason was rotten on the inside the whole time. You never liked him from the start.” Which was true. Felix would hiss at Jason and then run from whatever room Jason was occupying. She reached over and scratched her orange tabby behind the ears.
Andrea couldn’t figure out how it had all been so good and was now so so bad. She had been so sure that Jason was the one, that they were meant to spend the rest of their lives together. Andrea had been duped and she was angry at herself for falling for the idea that this could be her happily ever after. She should have known from the beginning that Jason was too good to be true. He’d greeted her with a bouquet of spring flowers outside the restaurant where they had agreed to meet after a brief conversation through the online dating app. Andrea had been surprised and flattered at his thoughtfulness. She had been on a few of these online dates already. The first date was never really a ‘date’ as much as it was a meet-n-greet. This was the date where you decided if you wanted to go on a real date together. Andrea had expected to wait at the bar for Jason to show up half an hour late. Then they would have two drinks where she would pay for her’s and maybe even his because of some made up wallet fiasco. They would stand outside the bar and agree to do this again or to go to dinner and a movie. Then Andrea would head back to her cat, Felix, and delete the number from her phone.
This first date with Jason was not at all like those other dates. He had arrived before her and had flowers. When Andrea suggested they just have a drink at the bar, Jason said “Oh…I’ve already gotten us a table. I thought we could eat and linger over our food and wine.” Andrea shrugged and agreed. She had even let him pull the chair out for her and scoot her back in. They ended up sitting for what seemed like hours, taking turns telling life stories and getting to know each other. Afterward, Jason had walked Andrea back to her apartment. They stood outside on the stoop and instead of just saying that they’d like to do this again sometime, Jason suggested they both pull up their calendars and set a time for the following Friday. As the week passed, Andrea started to worry that Jason wouldn’t show, but was leery of sending any kind of text. She didn’t want to come across as too needy or insecure, but Jason buzzed her apartment four minutes before their agreed time. He took Andrea to a concert at the park where they sat on a blanket with a picnic. When the concert ended, they remained on that blanket talking until three in the morning.
Things moved in a whirlwind fashion after that. The two of them seemed inseparable. Jason spent more and more time at Andrea’s apartment. They went to company outings together, introduced each other to friends and family. There were vacations and camping trips. There were minor quarrels with great make-up sex. They talked about moving into together or buying house together. They talked about a wedding on a beach. Andrea was in love and she had thought the feelings were mutual, but it turned out that she was wrong. Andrea was at the Farmer’s Market, picking out veggies for a special dinner. Her plan was to surprise Jason with a nice meal. She was just turning from one vendor when she saw him. Andrea paused to be sure, but it was clearly him. With his arm around the waste of a pretty petite blond woman. Andrea felt her heart leap to her throat as she watched him laugh at something the woman said and then lean down and kiss the woman on the lips. Andrea stepped back between two stalls, her heartbeat racing. Then she turned and fled the market.
Andrea didn’t remember how she had gotten home. Her brain just kept replaying the scene over and over. Maybe she had been wrong about what she had seen. Maybe that really wasn’t Jason. Andrea had dug her phone out of her bag and sent him a text to remind him of their dinner plans. Jason responded with a thumbs up emoji. Emojis were not really his thing, but Andrea shrugged this off and went inside to get dinner started. By the time Jason arrived, she had calmed herself with a few glasses of wine. She kissed him at the door and then led him to the kitchen. She laughed as she poured Jason a glass and handed it to him. “The funniest thing happened today at the Farmer’s Market. I could have sworn that I saw you there. The man looked just like you, except he was kissing some blond woman.” Andrea lifted a pot lid and stirred the sauce she had simmering on the stove while eyeing Jason from the corner of her eye. Jason took a long sip from his wine glass and then cleared his throat.
“Well…the thing is…” and then Jason started telling Andrea everything. He had met Janet around the same time he had met Andrea. Jason had been seeing both of them during these last six months. “I just can’t decide. You both are so great and I just don’t know what to do.” Andrea calmly set her now empty glass down on the kitchen counter, looked Jason squarely in the eye and said “Let me help you decide.” Then she showed him out of her apartment. Andrea leaned against the door and sobbed. Felix sat down beside her and started cleaning his face with his paws. Andrea got up from the floor, found a kleenex and blew her nose. Then she went to the kitchen and threw the dinner she had made into the trash. She grabbed a second bottle of wine and her glass and then wandered into her living room. Andrea’s phone was sitting on the coffee table. She could see text after text flashing across her screen. All from Jason. She ignored them and proceeded to get stupid drunk and talk to her cat.
Andrea continued to scratch Felix behind the ears. “Felix, you’re the only man I need.” Then she passed out, fully dressed, on her couch.