Catherine is a woman I have loved with everything, it's only been recently that the love has become shaky. I ask myself, "Do you still love her?" and at times, I find it difficult to answer that question. The other night where we had a misunderstanding which made her walk away in the rain was about a text she saw on my phone.
That night, she came over and I wasn't quite expecting her appearance, I had spent the evening arguing with Becca  about sleeping with her or not. You might wonder who Becca is, don't worry, I'll introduce her to you shortly, but let me continue with what transpired between Catherine and I that night.
After getting home that evening, I was so sober and scared that the only one I could call on was the whiskey which I had decided to do away with it before, "Guess it's you and me again tonight, buddy." I stared at the bottle blankly, sitting on the sofa with the bottle in my hand, still deciding if I should go for a shot or not. After replaying the scenes with Becca in my head, I decided to drink directly from the bottle, I opened it and turned the whole thing in my mouth, but it was too strong for me to swallow it all, a gulp was more than enough for me, I poured out the rest from my mouth unto the floor, dropped the bottle, put my palms on my face and began sobbing. "Why did I do this? How could I be so unfaithful?"
My moment of soberness was cut short by the sound of a knock on the door, "Who's there?" I asked while still sitting.
   "Who else would it be? Open up."
   "Cathy?" I was surprised to hear her voice. "Why would she decide to come by this hour? The wrongest of all hours." I quickly picked up the bottle lying on the floor and dashed to put it on the table in the kitchen, put my  palm close to my mouth and breathed in and out to know if the smell of the whiskey was strong enough for her to notice I drank it, I cleaned my face afterwards and prepared myself very well, then I walked to the door and opened it, "Hey, honey." I hugged her as she stood by the doorway.
When we released from the hug, she put on a suspicious face, she had noticed the whiskey in my breath but she didn't say a word about it. She walked in and saw the whiskey sitting on table. "What is it this time? Why are you drinking again? I thought we've talked about this." She turned and said.
I walked past her with my right hand rummaging my hair, "Sit down, Catherine."
She shook her head and sat beside me. "What's the problem, Dan?"
   "Nothing. I just feel tired." I looked away as I spoke.
   "Tired? Dan, talk to me. You know I won't take that as an excuse."
   "I just had a bad day. That's all, really."
   "Alright, I'm here now, cheer up." She pulled my cheeks as she spoke.
   "How are you? How'd your own day go?" I faked a smile as I spoke. I wasn't really happy to see her.
   "Well, I had a busy day. Would you believe my boss literally asked me to share his bed with him if I wanted a raise? It was so disgusting to me ears, a raise which I deserve, he dared ask me to sleep with him. Gosh! I can't believe he could ask such a thing knowing how close I am with his wife. I walked out on him, he called me but I didn't answer, I wished I could turn and hit him for even calling my name but he is my boss, I couldn't do such. On my way here I even met Mrs....." She turned to look at me. "Dan. Daniel!" I snapped out of my thought. "Were you listening at all?"
   "Yeah. You said something about your boss." I sat upright and smiled.
   "Yeah, something." She mimicked my pronunciation of 'something'. She stood up and walked into the kitchen.
   "Come, Cathy. I swear I was listening." I said.
   "Nevermind." She replied, not looking back.
I stood up and followed her into the kitchen, she saw the whiskey on the table but ignored it and went to the faucet with a glass in her hand to get a drink. "Looks like it's about to rain." I said, looking out the window.
   "I forgot to come along with an umbrella." She responded.
   "That shouldn't be a problem. You would be spending the night here after all." I walked close to her and hugged her from behind, resting my head on her back. I needed that badly, a feeling of comfort. "I've missed you, Catherine."
   "You can prove that by fixing me something to eat. I am starving." She freed herself from my hug and walked away.
   "Sure. Let me see what's at home." I felt good again, I had put Becca behind me. "Shit! There's nothing here. Just a box of cornflakes. How did I not know I had no food at home? Damn! Becca ruined everything, I had planned on going to the grocery to get a few things." I pondered on what to do, "I have to satisfy my woman. I guess we'd have to settle for pizza tonight." I touched my pocket and noticed my phone wasn't there, I remembered I had left it on the chair. I walked out of the kitchen to get it. "Honey, I think pizza..." I was startled seeing my phone in her hands.
She shot a cold glance at me and passed me the phone. I collected it and read the text on it: "I'm sorry I lied, Daniel. I miss you, please come keep me warm." Becca had sent the text. My brain turned upside down, my heart skipped a beat, I couldn't dare look at Catherine that moment, I stared emotionlessly at the screen.
   "You wanna tell me what's going on, Dan?" She stood up.
I didn't say a word, I didn't even know what to say. "Daniel! What the heck is going on here? Who the hell is Becca?!" She shouted.
   "Calm down, Cathy." Those were the only words that filled my mouth that moment.
   "Calm down? You're asking me to calm down? Geez, I can't believe this."  She put her hands on her forehead, caressing it like she was having a headache. She padded back and forth saying, "I can't believe this. I can't believe this."
   "Cathy, it's not what you think. She's just a friend."
   "Yeah, a friend who misses you."
   "She must be drunk sending the message."
   "You're such an idiot. If you were tired, you would have at least said something."
   "No, Cathy, I am not. It was just a one-off thing. I swear, I was drunk that day."
   "It always you blaming it on the alcohol. I'm tired of that excuse." She sat down back, still caressing her forehead.
  "Not like I am the only unfaithful one here." I didn't know how those words came out of my mouth. Catherine stared at me coldly, her look was enough to tear me apart.
  "So what are you saying, Dan? That I cheated?" She stood up and got closer. I dared not look her in the eyes as she stood in front of me.
   "I didn't say that. I am just saying... You know... Your boss and how you're always going to his place at weekends. Who knows?" I walked away slowly.
  "Jesus! So now you think I am messing around with him? I am cheating on you with that pig? No. No. No. I didn't just hear you say that. You definitely won't say that." She snapped her fingers after speaking.
   "Look, I told you already, it was a one night stuff and I was drunk but you keep pestering me about it. Why won't you just believe me? Have I ever lied to you? You do this almost everytime, turning little issues into a big one. I saw your boss dropping you off the other day and I didn't say anything about it, why? Cause I believe you, Cathy! I fucking believe you! You are..."
   "Shut the hell up, Dan! Just shut the hell up for heaven sakes. You're just stupid. You definitely are drunk. Just get the hell out." She didn't let me finish my statement. She walked away.
   "Yeah. Walk away like you always do. Away from the truth, ignoring it." I became confident about my speech. A part of me felt uncomfortable with my talks, but the other part motivated me to keep talking.
   "Just shut up and go to bed! I wonder what Becca gives that I didn't give you. You're just an idiot and a greedy fellow."
   "You're too thin and stupid." Those words were the height of her patience, she turned and stared at me. Immediately, I came back to my senses, like the demon possessing me had left, but it was too late. She picked up her bag and said, "I'm done with you."
She headed straight for the door, opened it and saw how wet outside was, the rain had begun falling before, we argued way too loud to hear it falling. She didn't mind, she stepped in it like that.
Catherine hadn't said those words to me before, it was the first time. She knew whenever we had arguments, the whiskey or beer did the talking in me, so she would ignore the things I say and just walk out. I hadn't realized how toxic the words I had been saying was till she told me she was done and walked out even after seeing that it was raining, everything in my life fell apart that moment. It's a scene I dared not let it occur again.
Catherine will always be the woman for me.