Page 18 of Intoxicated
In what world would I say yes when put on the spot like that!
That night was our breakup. He took it about as well as you would expect. While I hadn’t been planning on breaking up with himyet,I thought I had at least a few months left of playing his young girlfriend who put up with his weird pottery hobby and read his awful,awfulpoems. The man seriously thought he was Yeats. More like a fifth grader starting to come into their pubescent emo phase.
Jason ruined a good thing when he asked me to marry him. I could’ve continued to be that girl who sat in his lap when he watched the news and pretended his aftershave was the greatest shit in the world. I would’ve eaten his atrocious cooking he tried to pass as edible. I would’ve pranced around in his favorite color, forest green. A color that is so totally not me, but it always made him happy. When Jason was happy, he upped my allowance and paid my bills months in advance. Shit, he had paid for the first three months of 2019 by the time we broke up. The free ride was the least he could do after embarrassing me in front of his whole family.
The thought of him hiring a professional heartbreaker – or, let’s be honest, a Pro-Pumper-and-Dumper – to get back at me is both hilarious and mind-numbing. If I’m reading Drew’s “menu” correctly, he chargesthousandsof dollars for different levels of services. If he’s meant to completely wreck me, it’s set Jason back a college education at a half-decent university. You can’t tell me Drew, the child of billionaires, needs that kind of money. So why the hell is he doing it?
Besides, you know, being a terrible person?
“Sorry I had to break this to you.” Stella sips her tea and hands me my copy of the files. I’ve already paid her half up front for her to do the work. Now she’s going to slip me the remainder of my invoice. “Ireallythought you should know about this. The stuff I unearthed about Benton Leveraging is… woof. It’s not illegal, but it should be. I wouldn’t be surprised if he posts revenge porn on the internet or is responsible for a woman getting seriously hurt. I know you don’t ask me my advice in these things but… stay away from him, girl. He’s bad news.”
My hands are white from clutching everything like it’s about to strangle me. My eyes are wide and wild, searching the street for any sign of Drew so I can punch his fucking lights out. Every inch of my body craves to launch into the stratosphere and scream as if I am more wronged now than I ever have been in my life.
And there you are, daring to think you can judge me!
What I do isnothinglike what Drew does! According to these papers, that guy sets out tohurtwomen. Whether by breaking their hearts, destroying them financially, separating them from what they love… Jesus, did he really cause one of his ex-marks to lose her dog grooming business because she was too depressed to pay her bills? The only reason this guy hasn’t been taken to court is because he has his family’s Teflon all over him.
I may not be the shiniest example of outstanding women, but I don’t set out tohurtmen. Most of them are angry or annoyed when I break up with them. Few lash out at the world and hurt themselves in the process. Shit, Jason is the first one I’ve heard of going to these extremes. Ask me what happened to most of my exes, and within a year they have totally moved on with a new love on arms. Even the guy I thought I hurt the most, a former boss named Preston Bradley, is now going strong with a new woman he’s utterly smitten with. To the point that every time I see them around, either in real life or in the social blogs, I want to gag from how lovey-dovey they are.
I am nothing like Drew Benton.
I am also most definitely not going to see him again. Our date tomorrow isoff,and he can consider himself refunding Jason’s precious money.
After thanking Stella for her outstanding work, she takes her leave with drink in hand. I’m left sitting at my table, but instead of perusing embarrassing college transcripts or stupid letters to the editor, I’m beholding the nastiest guy I have ever almost slept with.
Blocking his number should be enough for me, but it isn’t. The need to give him a piece of my fucking mind is heavy on my shoulders. Trust me,I knowthat I shouldn’t do things when I’m angrier than a cat whose territory has been treaded upon, but I don’t think you understand. You’ve never been in a position like this before. You don’t know what it’s like to be at this level of mind games and manipulation.
This guy thought he was going to play my fucking game!Only I stand to losewaymore than he ever would had I played him like I play all the other men in my life!
I chuck the rest of my tea into the garbage and bring up the Lyft app on my phone. I pity the driver about to drive me down to the South Waterfront. He’s about to feel my rays ofragebeaming from my eyes the whole ride down there.
Because while I may have blocked Drew’s number, I still have his address stored in my notes. He never,evershould have played his hand so soon.
Eat your heart out, Jason Rothchild. You thought I was cruel to you? Wait until you hear about what happened to the man you hired to ruin me.
