Out of Body Universe - Part One, Page 2

  ***

  Nathan walked into the bakery and said nothing; he didn’t even look at Amy. In the back room, he changed into his uniform in silence, and then came out and stood beside Amy behind the counter.

  “What’s the matter, Nathan?” Amy asked carefully.

  Nathan stared outside, past the door, not focusing on any particular object. He didn’t turn to look at Amy whilst speaking. “Sorry for being rude to you, Amy…Cathy sent me a text this morning saying she’s breaking up with me…”

  “What? Cathy broke up with you by text?” Amy realized her voice had risen and quickly apologized.

  “Yeah, Cathy is very tech savvy, even with a breakup.” Nathan laughed bitterly.

  Amy thought for a while. “Nathan, did she give you any particular reason, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  Nathan turned around and looked at Amy’s chubby face for the first time. “Well, this is the best part: Cathy said in the text that I am too polite and too gentle for her, so I’ve become boring; she wants to be treated rough, to be with a ‘real’ man. I never would have thought that being ‘too gentle’ would be the cause of our breakup.”

  Amy pushed a strand of her short brown hair away from her sparkling brown eyes, and then patted Nathan’s arm. “Nathan, not every girl is like Cathy, and many like a gentle-mannered man, and that’s why they are called gentlemen.”

  Nathan forced a bitter smile. “Thanks, Amy, I do appreciate it…”

  He broke off as two guys rushed through the door.

  “Hi, Amy.” Dave turned to Nathan. “Is it true that Cathy broke up with you?”

  “Yeah, but how did you find out about it so quickly?” asked Nathan.

  Gary leaned his slender six-foot-two body against the counter to steady himself. “It’s all over Facebook; everyone already knows about it.”

  Nathan nodded, but said nothing.

  Dave glanced at Amy, and then turned to Nathan. “We all knew that Cathy has been online dating for a while, so it’s not really a surprise to me.”

  “What? Did you all know she has been seeing other guys all this time? Why didn’t you tell me? I thought you were my friends.”

  Gary shook his head, speaking slowly, his words accompanied by alcohol fumes from last night’s party, and maybe some from this morning as well. “We didn’t want to damage your relationship…” he started, but Dave interrupted him.

  “Nathan, forget about Cathy; she’s just another slut. You know what, tonight I’ll take you to a party and introduce you to a few new girls. You know, there are plenty of lovely girls out there and it’s time for you to get some fresh meat anyway…”

  Nathan shook his head; he didn’t know what to think, and all he wanted to do was get away, away from everyone.

  “Amy, I can’t stand it anymore…I have to get out of here.” He turned to Dave and Gary.

  “Get out of my way; I thought you were my friends.” Without another word, he walked to the back room.

  As he left, he heard Amy calling after him, “No problem, Nathan, leave everything to me, just go. I am so sorry about what happened to you today…”