David's Robe
When a drunken night in his hometown leads Bradley directly to his ex's bed.
Bradley stood at the top of a familiar old wooden staircase as he held his breath to be sure to not make any noise. The morning sun pierced through the window directly across from him. Although the old staircase was familiar, nothing else in the house was. Nothing except the robe that he found hanging on the back of the upstairs bathroom door, but even that had changed. It was worn down and thin, moss green in color. Bradley remembered when it was once plush and emerald. He only knew it was the robe he had bought for David all those years ago because of the gold “D” with two little hearts sewn into the left front side of the robe.
At the top of the stairs Bradley pulled the robe belt tighter and made a double knot as if it was some sort of security blanket. He lifted one hand to make a shadow over his face to block the blinding sun rays. When he lifted his arm past his face, he caught a familiar scent. David. He then ran the arm of the robe beneath his nose. David. A whisper of guilt settled deep into his stomach. He wished he could sneak out the front door without having to face David again, but all of his clothes were scattered downstairs like the skin of a shedding snake. By the process of elimination, Bradley knew that David was down there too. He slowly crept down the old wooden steps with a pulse of last night’s margaritas rattling his brain with each step. Visions from the night before flashed in his mind as he approached the bottom.
Bradley didn’t intend on getting so drunk. He intended to have one drink at Frederick’s bar to curb his anxiety before visiting his family for the first time in seven years. After he and David broke up, Bradley moved to New York City and never looked back. There were nights, especially early in those seven years, when he would wish he could be back at Frederick’s drinking cheap beer and playing darts with David. He always imagined going back to that small town in Oregon to revive his love with David. Yet, when he arrived at Frederick's the night prior, he was left speechless at the sight of David sitting alone at the bar.
As he walked down the steps in David’s old robe, he remembered that he had to skip the third to last step because it squeaked. He lifted his leg high and lowered it onto the second step with a little more pressure than all the other steps to avoid that third step.
Squeeeeaaak.
“Dammit,” he whispered to himself. Bradley’s memory served him wrong.
“Good morning beautiful,” David slid across the wooden floor in his long white tube socks, plaid boxers, signature black thick framed glasses, and his bare chiseled chest. Bradley was instantly turned on again and he hated himself for it. After seven years, David only grew hotter. He shot him a sincere full-teeth smile, “coffee is almost done brewing. Two sugars and no milk?”
Bradley nodded, almost in disbelief that David still remembered his coffee preference.
“I’m also making eggs, sausage and some hash browns,” he took a few steps closer to stand right at the end of the staircase. “How’d you sleep,” he paused and lifted his eyebrow, “baby?”
“You shouldn’t call me that, David.”
“Why not? Didn’t you have fun last night?”
“Yes, David, but I never should have come home with you.” Bradley paused. “You’re married.”
David’s smile washed off his face and his perky shoulders dropped. “I know, but –”
“But nothing David. We shouldn’t have done that. You belong to someone else now.”
“But you were my first choice.”
“David, that’s not helpful and it doesn’t matter anymore. You married her, not me.”
“I would’ve married you,” he whined like a child asking for candy.
“I wasn’t ready David.”
“I know, I know that,” he looked down at his socks, “You think I don’t regret asking you to marry me all those years ago? I knew you weren’t ready, but I was so afraid of losing you. Then I did. I scared you away by holding so tight. Not a single day goes by that I don’t think about you and how I lost the greatest person I ever met.”
Tears began to well in Bradley’s eyes. To avoid the tension, he tried to run past David, but forgot he still had one step to go down and he tripped. David leapt and caught him in a tight hug. Bradley’s delicate tears turned into ugly cries. David held him tight as his own eyes began to pool tears.
When Bradley opened his eyes, he noticed a photograph hanging beside the front door directly ahead of him. It replaced a photograph of David and his childhood dog, Roger. The new photograph was from David’s wedding day. Bradley knew about the wedding because he still had friends in his hometown, but he never saw the bride. Bradley’s hometown friends assured him that David downgraded and that always made Bradley feel like he had some power in the situation. But the woman standing beside David in a wedding dress was gorgeous. If he didn’t know any better, Bradley would have believed it was torn from a bridal magazine. The tall, thin, and busty woman with immaculate brown curls was staring into Bradley’s eyes and it was unbearable. He had never felt so guilty in his life. This woman was away for a work trip and she believed the love of her life was comfortably waiting alone for her in their home. But instead, he was sleeping with his ex-boyfriend from seven years before. Did she even know David dated a man before she came along?
“Bradley, I still love you,” David whispered.
Bradley pushed himself away from his tight hug and ran for the door. He swung it open, stepped through the doorway and slammed it shut – just like he had the last time David told him how much he loved him. He skipped the coffee and breakfast and left his Friday night outfit to escape David’s heavy love. Again. David’s house was only a mile and a half from Bradley’s parents’ house, so he left with nothing but David's old moss green robe.