Chasing Day Series: Chasing Day & Catching Day

by Twyla Turner

  “What about staying friends? I need you in my life, Day.” Chase said, grasping at straws.

  “People need a lot of things. And I’m sure your wife would love that you talk to your best friend that you occasionally fuck. Besides, she’s hated me from the first time she laid eyes on me. I doubt she’ll be having any part of me being actively in your life.” Day said correctly predicting the future.

  Just at that moment, Chase’s cellphone that was lying on the nightstand started to ring. Day looked down at it and saw Whitney’s name and picture light up the screen. As much as she was pretending to put on a brave face, Day’s heart was breaking. Again.

  She looked up at Chase and gave him a sad smile. “Speak of the devil,” Day said and turned on her heel.

  She headed to the bathroom. She closed and locked the door. She quickly turned on the shower, dropped the sheet, and stepped inside. She wanted to pretend as if there weren’t tears blending in with the water that streamed down her face. But her broken sobs as she pressed her hot face against the tile, said otherwise.

  Chase reluctantly answered the phone as he watched Day walk away. Everything she had said was true, but it still didn’t stop it from hurting like a son of a bitch. He’d married Whitney to hurt Day and to keep from feeling lonely. Now, he was lonelier than ever and had screwed himself over in the process.

  “Hello,” Chase said into the phone.

  “Hello Chase, it’s your wife. When are you coming home?” Whitney said, getting right to the point of her call.

  “Hello, Whitney.” Chase breathed and rolled his eyes heavenward. “I’ll be home as soon as I can.”

  “Which isn’t soon enough. I know you’re with that bitch. I really think you’re forgetting who you’re dealing with. If I find out you fucked that fat whore, I swear to God, I’ll take you for everything you’re worth!” Whitney screeched on the other end of the line.

  So much for being sorry for being mean and cruel to my best friend, Chase thought as scrubbed his hand down his face. Over the twenty-four hours’ worth of stubble on his jaw. He took a few moments to respond, trying to keep his anger in check. Before he said something that would give him away.

  “Careful, Whitney,” Chase warned. “Her mother just had a heart attack. The last thing that either of us are thinking about is having sex with each other.” Chase lied without a hitch in his voice. “She’s my best friend and Pat is like a second mother to me, of course, I would be here for them. But that’s it, nothing more.”

  “Fine,” she huffed. Chase could hear the pout in her voice from two-thousand miles away. “Just hurry up and get back,” she ordered, before ending the call abruptly.

  Chase was beginning to understand why people slowly poisoned their spouses or pushed them off cliffs while on vacation. If he had of been a sociopath with a skewed perception of right and wrong, he would’ve been heading to the store to buy some rat poison right now. But he’d made his bed. Now it was time to lie in it.

  He swung his legs over the side of the bed, but then just sat there. Reality hit him hard at that moment. Chase rested his elbows on top of his knees and buried his face in his hands. He didn’t know what he’d thought he was going to do once he got there and saw Day. He wondered if he really thought that once they saw each other, all their problems would magically disappear. Or that their spouses would cease to exist. He obviously had been praying for a fairy tale and ended up with the hard truth. Once more, timing was not on their side.

  “That bad, huh?” Day asked from the doorway.

  Chase looked up at her and nodded his head sadly. She’d already showered and dressed. He could see the puffiness around her eyes and knew that she’d been crying. Chase wanted to comfort her but had no idea what he could say to make it better.

  “Yeah, she’s pissed that I’m here. And she thinks that we fucked each other.” Chase told her.

  “Pretty perceptive of her.” Day said sarcastically.

  “Yeah.”

  Chase looked at her. He tried to memorize everything about her at that moment, as she leaned against the doorframe. She was barefoot in skinny jeans that conformed her thick, shapely legs. She wore a long, loose-fitting black cowl neck sweater. Instead of blow-drying her hair, she’d just left it wavy and pulled it back into a clip. She’d left her face completely bare of makeup though her lips were still a soft pink and her rosy cheeks were flushed with emotion. Her caramel skin was flawless and her dark eyes were guarded.

  “Go home, Chase. I’m not trying to cause trouble for you.” Day implored him. “I’ll drive my mom’s car to the hospital and you can follow me there. And then say goodbye.” She said huskily, blinking rapidly.

  Her words stabbed at his heart painfully, but he knew she was right. His eyes stung and his throat tightened.

  “Okay,” he rasped.

  Day nodded and her chin quivered as a tear fell down her cheek. “Are we ever gonna stop hurting each other?” She asked forlornly.

  “I don’t know,” Chase answered gruffly as he swiped his thumb across his wet lashes.

  “I’ll let you get ready. I’ll be downstairs cleaning up the mess from last night.” Day turned and left the room.

  Chase desolately dragged himself up and headed to the bathroom to shower. He was not looking forward to the next couple of hours.

  Chapter 11

  Day looked in the rearview mirror as Chase followed her to the hospital. His face appeared sad but stoic. His overnight bag already in his rental and ready to head straight to the airport after saying goodbye to her mother.

  Day hurt all over. From her exhausted and jetlagged brain and body. To her passion-abused muscles. To her aching core and shredded heart. Not one single inch of her inside and out went untouched by that man. How had the bond between a little boy and girl become so twisted up in excruciating pain?

  Chase parked next to Day in the hospital parking lot, and together they walked inside. The silence between them and tension of their impending goodbye were palpable. When they walked into Pat’s hospital room, she took one look at them and frowned deeply.

  “I take it, it didn’t go over well?” Pat said, skipping pleasantries. “A mother can hope.”

  “Hello, mom. How are you?” Day said almost sarcastically, calling to attention that she hadn’t even greeted them.

  “Sorry. Hi, baby. I’m doing okay.” She said as Day leaned over and kissed her cheek.

  Chase moved to her other side and also kissed her cheek. “You’re looking better, Mrs. D.” He grinned down at her.

  “Thanks, Chase. I’m sure I’ll be outta here in no time. Kicking ass and taking names as usual.” She smiled sassily and Chase flushed, realizing that Pat knew his favorite saying for her. “Remember, I see and hear all.” She winked.

  “God, I hope not!” Chase cringed and looked at Day.

  “Uh huh,” Pat mumbled.

  There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, between the three of them. Chase finally cleared his throat and gripped Pat’s hand.

  “Well Mrs. D, I gotta get going,” Chase said around a thick throat. “Take care of yourself, alright?”

  “Of course, sweetie,” Pat said. “Do you really have to go already?”

  “It’s for the best,” he nodded. Day could hear the gruffness in his voice, getting deeper and deeper. It took all she had not to cry.

  “Day.” Chase looked at her and nodded his head towards the door.

  Day swallowed hard and followed him out the hospital room. He stopped right outside of the door and Day closed the door behind her so that her mother didn’t witness their goodbye. Day touched the bracelets on her wrist, and for the first time since he put them on, she took them off. Even through her wedding, honeymoon, and every time she made love to her husband, she wore those bracelets. But she couldn’t any longer. They felt like a thousand pounds on her arm.

  She took Chase’s hand and placed the bracelets on his palm and then closed his fingers around them. Day looked
up at him and he looked so lost.

  “Day, don’t!” Chase exclaimed.

  “I can’t wear them anymore, Chase. If I continue to wear them, I’ll continue to hope. And I’m so tired of hoping. I can’t take feeling this hurt one more time. It’s killing me,” she said as a sob broke past her lips.

  Chase didn’t speak. His jaw muscle ticked as he clenched his teeth. His amber eyes shimmered with tears. With lightning speed they collided. Chase gripped her face and Day clutched the back of his head as their mouths came together harshly. Chase kissed her so hard that Day was certain she’d feel it weeks later. It would have to be enough to last them a lifetime. It was goodbye.

  As quickly as he grasped her, he let her go and strode down the hall. Day placed a hand on her bruised lips as her eyes followed him, though it wasn’t like she could see him through her tears, but she could feel him. And she felt it when he was finally gone.

  Day hurriedly opened the hospital room door to get away from the curious looks of the nurses nearby. She closed the door and pressed her back against it. She tried to take a deep breath, but the air got stuck in her throat. She said one word.

  “Mom.” Her voice trembled and she broke.

  “Aww…come here sweetie.” Pat held out a hand to her.

  Day stumbled over to her bed and collapsed in the chair next to it. She laid her face down next to her mom’s leg as huge hiccuping cries burst past her lips. Her mom gently stroked her hair and cooed soothing words to her.

  “This too shall pass,” Pat said wisely.

  Day knew she was right, even though it felt like the pain would never stop.

  Chase slammed the heel of his hands into the steering wheel of the rental over and over again.

  “FUUUUUCK!!!” He roared in pain.

  Tears blurred his vision and he swiped them away angrily. Besides coming to see Pat and to make sure she was okay, the purpose for him coming home was definitely not to end things permanently with Day. Hell, he had been hoping that if he couldn’t have her romantically; he’d gladly settle for getting his best friend back. But as always, his need for her physically. To connect with her in every way got him in too deep. In hindsight, he realized that coaxing her into having sex with him again, had only pushed her out of his life for good. He’d hurt her and she couldn’t take it any longer.

  As Chase started the car and headed towards the airport, he knew that the ache in his chest wouldn’t be going away anytime soon. The pain seemed to worsen the further he moved away from Day and the closer he came to the façade of his storybook life.

  ~~~

  “I’m pretty sure he’s sleeping with one of his students. I called him on it and he didn’t deny it.” Day admitted to her mother.

  They were sitting on the couch at her mom’s house. Pat had been released from the hospital earlier that day. She rested on the couch as Daylen doted over her. It had been a week since Chase left and Day’s heart still didn’t feel any better. Both the Daniels women were healing broken hearts, just two very different kinds.

  “I’m so disappointed in that man. I thought he was better than that though he did seem arrogant and controlling to me. But I try my best not to interfere with your private life,” Pat said and Day’s mouth dropped open.

  “‘Try not to interfere’!” Day said in disbelief. “If I didn’t know you so well, I’d think that you purposely had a heart attack just to get Chase and I back together again.” She pursed her lips together knowingly.

  “I’m not that crazy! I just want what’s best for you. And I truly believe that you and Chase are what’s best for each other. Your timing is just all out of whack. With a few mistakes thrown in for good measure.” Pat explained herself.

  “Ain’t that the truth?” Day sighed and collapsed back into the couch cushions.

  “So what are you gonna do? Are you gonna leave him?” Pat asked curiously.

  “I don’t have much choice. I don’t want to have the type of marriage where we stay together and do our ‘own thing’ on the side.” Day shrugged.

  “I so didn’t want divorce for my daughter. I wanted you to have better than me.” Pat breathed sadly.

  “It’s okay, mom. I’ll make it through this. You did.” Day reached over and gently rubbed her mom’s hand that was bruised from the IV.

  “I know. You’re a strong young woman. You’ll bounce back. Though, I find it interesting that you didn’t cry as you told me about ending your marriage with your husband. But you cried like a baby when you ended your relationship with Chase.” Pat said intuitively.

  “I know! Am I a completely terrible person?” Day asked as she dropped her head back against the cushions.

  “No sweetie, you’re not. You’re just a woman that knows what real once-in-a-lifetime love feels like. I can’t imagine it’s easy to try and love someone else with that kind of fierceness.” Pat consoled her.

  “I’m so done with relationships. I don’t have to have another for the rest of my life.” Day said firmly.

  “Don’t be like me. Don’t close yourself off. Maybe the right person, at the right moment will come along and change your mind,” Pat advised.

  “Well, for now I don’t wanna think about it. Right now, it’s time for Daylen to focus on herself for once.”

  ~~~

  Day carried her mom’s overnight bag she had borrowed into the London flat she shared with Rhys. Surprisingly he was home and sitting on the couch in the living room reading. He glanced up at her and laid his book down to the side.

  “I didn’t know you were coming in today,” he remarked without much feeling or getting up to greet her.

  “I’ve actually been back for a couple of hours, but I met with David first to let him know that I wouldn’t be coming back to the Philharmonic.” Day informed him and watched for a reaction. There was none.

  “I’m moving back home, Rhys. My mom’s heart attack made me realize that I want to be closer to her. And at the same time, to pursue my dream of playing with the Chicago Symphony and working at becoming their first black principal cellist.” Day told him.

  “I have little doubt that you’ll succeed. If nothing else, you’re an exceptional cellist.” Rhys complimented, his handsome face devoid of all emotions. He looked different to Day. No less handsome, just lacking the same mature appeal he’d once had for her.

  “You brought it out in me. And for that, I will always be grateful to you.” Day said honestly.

  “Well…” Rhys expelled a breath. “If you’re heading back, I might as well give you this now.”

  Rhys walked over to his desk and pulled out a packet of papers and handed them to her. Day looked down at the papers and laughed. There in clear cut typeface were divorce papers.

  “Well that settles that, doesn’t it?” Day shook her head.

  “It is obvious where this was headed. I just took the next logical step.” Rhys said nonchalantly as if they were discussing getting rid of old furniture.

  “No muss, no fuss,” she mumbled.

  “Look, it’s not like you ever really loved me. You never got over your ex. I know where you went on Sundays during the autumn. I know you watched videos of him on the internet. You were as absent in this marriage as I was. We had a nice tumble. It was hot and now it’s fizzled.” Rhys defended.

  “I’m not negating that, Rhys. I’m just kind of astounded at how easy this is all turning out. Most people battle it out for years in divorce court.” Day paused before continuing. “By the way, I don’t want anything from you. I’ll sign these and then we can go about our lives. I just need to box up my things and grab my cello.”

  “Done. I’ll leave you to it. I’m going out. Call or text me when you’re done.” Rhys said as he grabbed his coat and shrugged it on.

  “Alright.” Day nodded.

  Rhys walked up to her and kissed her softly on the forehead.

  “Good luck with everything, Daylen. I mean that.” Rhys said earnestly, finally showing some emotion.


  “You too, Rhys. Thank you.”

  Day watched as he walked out the door. It would be the last time she saw him. Instead of sadness filling her heart, she felt buoyant and hopeful. For a future, she would make on her own terms.

  ~~~

  “I can’t believe you’re leaving me!” Catherine said as she watched Day tape up the last of her boxes the next day.

  A mover from a shipping company slid more boxes onto his dolly and wheeled them out.

  “I know. But maybe you could come visit me in Chicago.” Day suggested, sighing with relief that she was all done.

  “Oh, posh! It’s not the same.” Catherine pouted. “You’re the only person here that doesn’t judge me for my scandalous affairs and lets me tell you all the juicy details.”

  “I’m only a phone call or Skype conversation away.” Day reminded her.

  “I suppose.” Catherine huffed. “Would you like for me to put in a good word for you with the Chicago Symphony? I have connections all over the world, darling,” she offered.

  “As great of an offer as that is, I’m gonna try to do this on my own.” Day declined. “I want to know that I got it because I was good enough, not because I know the right people. But thank you for being a great friend, though.” Day smiled brightly at her unlikely ally.

  “Well, I better go before I cry or something dreadful like that.” Catherine stood up and kissed Day on both of her cheeks. “Good luck, darling. Let me know how it goes.”

  “I will,” Day said before Catherine disappeared out the door.

  She looked around the flat that she’d called home for four years. Day knew her life wasn’t where she wanted it to be, at that moment. But she was proud that she was moving towards what she wanted and with no man in sight.