Page 44 of Unwrapped

“Did you two break up? Did that asshole dump you less than a week before Christmas?”

“I don’t know.” I take a deep breath and tell her everything that happened after I left here the previous day. Thankfully, the tears remain at bay as I speak.

“Oh, Mir.” She smooths down my hair and sits back in the chair. “You’re my girl, and I’m not excusing him whatsoever. In fact, I’ll track him down and kick his sorry ass. Fuck him up real good. But people act out when they’re hurt. I understand the position you’re in, but I understand his feelings too.”

“I know. I understand. I’d be hurt too, but I went there this morning to apologize. I told him I want to tell her tomorrow, but the best way was to tell Dad first, get him on our side, and the three of us could sit Mom down and explain. Now, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do, Marissa. I never set out to hurt anyone, but I did and now I’m here acting like a weak bitch, but he’s being so unfair.”

“Girl, I’ve been married for two years now. Listen to me. Men are big babies.” She stands up, grabs a paper towel, and comes back to wipe my face. “Dry your tears. Crying ain’t gonna fix shit. He’s somewhere licking his wounds, and when he comes back, and you know he will, you kick his sorry ass. Let’s get something to eat, then you are going back to being fabulous. Well, as fabulous as you can be in that elf outfit.” She stands up and extends her hand. “Lunch is on me.” She hooks her arm through mine and we leave the break room.

^^^^

It takes a certain amount of inner restraint for me not to fling my phone against the wall. The way I’m feeling, it would be as if Hercules himself was doing the throwing. I imagine the phone going through the wall, leaving a gaping hole. In the end, that would only make my life even more miserable, given that it’s winter in Massachusetts and I don’t have hundreds of dollars for a new phone.

My thoughts are a jumble as I think of what I should have said to Nick this morning when he had hismantrum. I should have told him to grow up and stop acting like an entitled brat because I didn’t do what he wanted me to do when he wanted it done. What did I do instead? I followed him around the house like a lovesick fool.

Whoever said it was better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all obviously had never been in love because this shit is for the birds. Tears that I had to keep at bay in front of my parents start to fall in the privacy of my small basement apartment.

How dare he? He pursued me, knowing my mother worked for him. Not once, but twice. I walked away only for him to pull me back in; he got me to fall in love with him only for him to walk away after one mishap.

“Jerk!” I yell to no one. As if he heard me, I see his name flash across my screen with an incoming text.

Nick: I will be back in town tomorrow.

I roll my eyes at the stupid text. Back from where? We hadn’t talked in over twelve hours, which hasn’t happened since he first saw me at his office and gave me a key to his house. We text constantly.

I know he’s waiting for me to respond. This is probably his way of making sure I made it home safely, and there’s a part of me that wants to ignore the text like he did to me the night before. Make him sweat. But I can’t bring myself to do that.

Me: Okay

I barely have time to breathe before my phone buzzes again.

Nick: Everything good?

Are you fucking kidding me?

Me: Yup

I toss the phone beside me on the bed. Exhausted and defeated, I decide not to let Nick take up any more space in my head. I jump off my bed and run up the stairs to where my parents are.

“Mom! You want to watch the Hallmark Channel with me?”

CHAPTER 30

NICK

“Shit!” I hiss as the hot liquid burns the tip of my tongue. I plop the coffee down a little too forcefully and some of the liquid seeps out of the top and lands on my fingers.

The shitstorm from yesterday continues as I rub my eyes, which feel like someone shoved a fistful of gravel into them.

That’s what happens when you don’t sleep all night because all you can think about is how you miss sleeping next to the woman you love. What did I get instead? Nonstop barking from my mother’s beagle, Sadie.

When my mom called from Ireland, concerned because she was not doing well at the doggie hotel, all I wanted was to take Miranda to Providence for the night. In fact, that was my intention when I went to the mall, only to be rebuffed and left there like an idiot.

But damn, I miss her. I miss her voice, her smile, the way her eyes light up at the most unexpected things, and how I never know what’s going to come out of her mouth next. It’s starting to snow now, and I can imagine how excited she probably is. She’s most likely checking the weather every few minutes, filled to the brim with excitement at the possibility of Christmas snow.

“What the hell is wrong with you, Bain? Did you really have to act like such a fucking asshole?”

Did I really have a temper tantrum because my girlfriend left with her mother instead of me? The mother who has no idea about us because she works for me. Oh, and she also hates me, so there is that. Did I really think it was a good idea to have that conversation while she was at her job? But I really wanted to go with them to dinner with her and her family.

---