Page 89 of Staying for You

“I just mean that this isn’t that.”

“You said as much.”

“If you come up to be by Owen’s side, that doesn’t mean you’re accepting defeat over anything that happened or not asking for more or not demanding him to show you that you’re worthy by running to you.”

I don’t understand anything she’s saying right now because I’m far too distracted by the person standing before me.

“Okay. I’ll just… I’ll call soon, okay? I need to go. I have someone at my door.”

I hang up without hearing her say goodbye then tell my ex-husband’s pregnant stripper girlfriend to follow me to the living room. I have a feeling I’m going to need to be sitting down for whatever I’m about to hear.

* * *

“What’s your name?”I ask with not only authority but a little impatience. I just found out Owen was hurt because of my ex-husband, is in the hospital, and well, I don’t want to be here. Not one bit. I want to be searching for flights and getting on a plane so I can get to him. I don’t want to be sitting here with…

“Don’t laugh.” I raise my eyebrows. What a strange way of starting out a conversation. “Helen.”

I can’t help it. I giggle.Helenthe pregnant stripper girlfriend is not what I expected.

I also really need to stop referring to her as the pregnant stripper girlfriend. It’s not nice, even if it’s true.

She’s sitting on the couch, looking around the living room like she’s seeing everything with different eyes. She’s pretty, though she appears tired and a little rundown. And young. She couldn’t be much older than nineteen. She also looks like she’s trying to be someone she’s not. Long, bright blonde hair with dark roots, far too much makeup than she needs, a hot pink mini-skirt with a white top that would be tight even if she didn’t have a pregnant belly but with it, it’s borderline inappropriate. Thing is, though, she looks like she’s uncomfortable in her own skin. I want to strip her of the disguise and see what’s underneath because I’m certain she’s beautiful. “Okay, Helen. Care to tell me why you’re here? And just to say, I’m in a rush. I just found out some bad news and I need not to be here so I’d love if we could push this along and quickly.”

She doesn’t hesitate or look away for a second before she announces. “Scott’s a psychopath.”

I blanch at her words but still, “Yup.” Though, until learning that Scott may have had a hand in Owen’s injury, I would have said was a bit extreme. But now, after his recent behavior, I’m unfortunately in agreement with her.

Her knees are pressed together, feet out wide and she’s fiddling with a cute little camel colored handbag on her lap. It doesn’t match her outfit one bit, but if I had to guess, I’d say it matchesher.“He um… I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“Everything? He, well, he’s a manipulator and aliar.I… look at me, Camilla. It’s Camilla, right? Or did he lie about that, too?”

“No, he didn’t lie about that.”

“He told me that you were crazy.”

“Well, he made me a little crazy.”

She offers up a small smile and it transforms her face. Her bright green eyes are such a brilliant shade, they remind me of the color of grass. Straight white teeth that show time spent in an orthodontist’s chair really paid off. But there’s an overwhelming sense of sadness that’s surrounding her.

“Helen. Are you okay?”

“No. I’m really not.”

“Want to talk about it?”Perhaps another time when I’m not entirely distracted because I need to be somewhere else?

“I lived here. For about three weeks, I lived here thinking that the man I was sleeping next to was someone else entirely. I didn’t know where he lived for months and then suddenly he wanted me here. All the time. Said that things were finally looking up for us and we could be together. That he was going to take care of me. See. My dad? He was around but, not really. He cared more about making sure that everyone saw how much money he made and the power he had. My mom liked her drinks because she knew that when Dad was traveling, he wasn’t just working. He was…” She points to herself and that’s when her face transforms again, this time in a crushing disappointment of herself that’s damn near heartbreaking to witness. “This is who he sought after every single time he was on the road for work. Every. Single. Time.”

“How do you know that?”

“Because he’s a moron and doesn’t understand how the Cloud works. Which, quite frankly, not many people do, but I’m a tech-geek so it’s my thing. And he didn’t realize when he was taking pictures and selfies that they were transferring to all of our phones.”

I suck in a breath, wondering what kind of pictures a girl had to see of her father in order for her to turn into something she’s not.

“So Scott made you promises?”

“He did. Everything was going to be great. We were going to have the baby. I was going to go to school so I could stop, you know, being a stripper. Which he kept telling me he didn’t care if that’s what I did for a living because that’s how he fell in love with me. Watching me.” My gosh he’s gross. “He was smooth, Camilla. So smooth I didn’t even see it coming.”

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