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“Noon. Olivia is helping too. Maybe I can get Matty to come.”
“Matty. He’s dreamy.”
“He’s not your type.”
“He’s beautiful. I want to hang out with him.”
“If you’re not serious about Lucian, please let him know now.”
“I don’t know what I want. I’ve spent the past few years being tied to one guy. Now I want some freedom, especially living in the city.”
I can see that she’s going to break Lucian’s heart if she isn’t careful. Wonderful. I have my own shit to deal with. Thinking about entering my former apartment causes my stomach to knot, and that feeling of nausea begins to take hold. I shove it down because I don’t want to throw up.
I spend the night wallowing in a pint of pistachio gelato and a glass of white wine courtesy of Megan. We all sit around chatting about things other than men, and it’s then that I realize how much I’ve missed my sister and best friend. I’ve spent so much time with Noah that I lost myself.
I announce we should plan a girl’s weekend somewhere. We can invite Emma since I haven’t seen her in months. She’s probably itching to get away from my parents for at least a weekend. Megan and Olivia agree and say we should plan something here in the apartment. It probably makes sense since both of them are starting new jobs next week.
That night I can’t sleep, tossing and turning. I get up to lie on the couch since I’m in Olivia’s bed, and I don’t want to disturb her. How did I get so lucky to have such a good friend?
The next morning Olivia shakes me awake. I’m bleary-eyed since I got maybe three hours of worthy shut-eye.
“When did you come out here?”
“I don’t know. Maybe two or three this morning. I didn’t want to wake you.”
“I doubt that. I sleep so much better now that I lost weight.”
“Good to know next time I can’t sleep.”
I trudge to the bathroom and look in the mirror. I have dark circles under my eyes, and my face is pale. My light brown eyes look dull. I’m not in the mood to do what’s before me. To pack up my life and start anew but I have to.
At eleven-thirty, Matty shows up, and Megan is right behind him. She bats her eyes at him, and I nudge her to knock it off. Matty is very handsome. He shares the same shade of black hair with Olivia except it’s short and spiky. Matty has heterochromia, two different colored eyes.
His left one is the same shade of green moss that Olivia has; the other is a soft sea blue. Couple this with his strong square jaw and dark permanent stubble and it makes for a gorgeous picture.
I take a deep breath and lead the way to my former life. During the walk, Megan won’t shut up. She keeps chattering away to Matty about this and that. I’m nervous, and Olivia grabs my hand and holds it, which elicits some whistles from a couple of male passersby. Jerks. They must think we’re lovers. The next thing they’ll yell is for us to kiss.
As we enter the building, I nod at the man at the front desk. The wait for the elevator is excruciating because I want to get my things and be done. The apartment is quiet when I enter and I’m thankful that Noah at least had the decency to allow me to get my stuff without intervening. But as I dig through my side of the closet for shoes and other items, I hear the apartment door open and my heart sinks.
I hear him arguing with Megan and Olivia, then he barrels into the bedroom and slams the door, locking it, trapping me inside with him.
“How dare you go through my desk. I have confidential papers in there.”
I scramble to my feet and point at him while narrowing my eyes.
“Go fuck yourself. Maybe if you were straight with me, I wouldn’t have to snoop around to find out what you were doing behind my back. You’re disgusting. Now get out of my way and let me finish what I have to.”
He grabs my wrist as I try to pass by and squeezes hard enough to make me yelp. I try to wrench free, but he holds fast.
“Get off me,” I scream.
“No. We have to talk about this.”
“The time for talking is over.”
I swing my other hand hard and connect with his face. It startles him enough to unhand me, and I run to the door, unlocking it and running right into Matty’s arms.
“Is he your new boy toy?”
