Page 42 of Semi Sweet
Evan pulled a lighter out of his pocket. I did a double take because I’d never seen him carry one on his person.
“I’ll burn down this place and destroy everything you ever cared about, starting with this job offer.” He flicked the wheel, igniting the flame, and held it to the corner of the envelope. I watched it turn black before it caught on fire.
“EVAN!” I screeched and dove for it.
This went beyond the internship. I didn’t want to die in a house fire or cause the neighbors on either side of our townhouse harm. I swatted the envelope out of his hands, hissing when the flame licked my hand. It fell to the carpet and continued to burn, the beige carpet starting to smolder. I was grateful I was still wearing boots as I stomped the fire out. Evan cursed and I felt him reach for my arm. This could not escalate further. I would not allow it.
“Stop!” I demanded. “You are out of control and drunk. I think you need to leave.”
Evan laughed. “Where do you suggest I go?”
To hell,I thought to myself, but I’d just made a point about not making things worse.
“For a walk, to the corner for ice cream, just away from here, or I’m calling the cops.” I thought better of it. “No, I’ll call your grandmother. What do you think she’d say if she saw the state of this place?”
Evan stared at me like he was looking for me to prove it. The stagnant seconds felt like hours before he finally relented and left the room. A minute later, I heard the front door slam.
The silence that followed was almost as painful as the burn on my hand.
***
For a while, I sat on the floor with the heels of my hands pressed against my shut eyes. I was too angry to cry, though I had every reason to. He’d destroyed my belongings and ransacked our house. It was a complete overreaction. If this was how he behaved about me getting a job, what would he have been like if he’d found out about Sean’s cupcakes?
All this time I'd been hopeful that if I tried hard enough, I’d make Evan accept my passion for writing. It was clear now he never would. Maybe it was jealousy or possessiveness, but he saw me being anything beyond a piece of his Cash Value Market fortune as a threat. I was starting to wonder if this version of Evan had always been there and the person I’d fallen for had been a sham–an attractive front to lure me in.
Olivia, do you know what gaslighting is?
Maybe I wasn’t too angry to cry after all, because remembering what Sean said to me made tears prick behind my eyelashes. He was right, of course. An outsider would see it better than anyone else. Convinced that I had no other option, I dealt with Evan’s bad attitude, but it was becoming glaringly obvious that things were not going to get better. Honestly, I was starting to believe that Evan was an alcoholic, and not the happy, drunk kind. I considered myself strong and very tolerant, but this was getting ridiculous.
“I can’t keep living like this,” I said aloud.
Once the words left my lips, I sat up with a jolt. I’d heard someone say once that when a relationship reached a certain level of intensity, there was no going back. He’d smashed things and lit things on fire. It had seemed like he was going to put his hands on me. I’d let Evan do a lot of things to me over the years, but I would not let it get to that point. This was it, the moment I realized our relationship was beyond unhealthy. It was toxic and volatile.
No job was worth going through this. I’d gotten the paid internship and I could find something else if that ended up not working out. My body began to shake. It was more important to get out of this place before Evan came back. A park bench was a safer choice at the moment.
Ignoring the painful welt on my hand, I scrambled to my feet, searching through the rubble for clothes that hadn’t been destroyed. I found a few pairs of jeans, several hooded sweatshirts, and a pair of workout leggings that could work as pajamas. Good thing I’d had my laptop in my bag, I could only imagine what state it would be in if I hadn’t. I grabbed any paper that hadn’t been shredded and the only manga volume he hadn’t gotten to because it had been in a drawer of my nightstand. The bathroom had also escaped Evan’s wrath and I was able to get my toiletries before I went into what was left of my closet and found a bag to quickly stuff them in. I grabbed my school bag and headed to the kitchen where our balcony and fire escape were. There was no way I was going out the front door, just in case Evan came back.
I stepped over broken glass and smooshed food as I headed to the sliding door of the balcony I’d stood on only a week or two ago, back when I didn’t know what to do about anything. Now I wished I’d been thinking as clearly as I was now. I stopped when I touched the handle, looking down at my hand.
The engagement ring was a rude reminder of the only choice I’d thought I had. Not anymore. I twisted the ring until it slid off my finger and walked back towards the counter. The empty bottle of bourbon was still there, unscathed. I put the diamond ring on the counter in front of it before I went back to the door and slid it open. I shut it behind me and bounded down the fire escape.
Chapter Twenty-One: Not a Real Person
Icreptinthedarknessbehind the other townhouses until I was on the street. I continued to check for any sign of Evan as I headed towards the train station. It was after eleven and initially, I wasn’t sure where to go. Not much was open besides It’s Never Too Late for Cake or bars, and I was too upset to eat and not in the mood for whoever would be hanging out at a bar on a weeknight. Even walking around the city until the sun came up wasn’t the smartest idea. Neither was the train, but that was where I was headed.
“Blue Line with a final destination of Lakewood now arriving,”an automated voice said over the platform intercom.
I exhaled as I pulled my bags onto my shoulder and headed into the closest car. I held out my frequent passenger card for the conductor and paid him. The first thing I did when I sat down was pull out my phone and transfer all the money in my joint account with Evan to a private account I hadn’t used in years. It wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough for me to get by for the next few days. Once that was finished, I started to take my names off of bills and accounts. I forgot to keep track of time.
“Next stop is East Lakewood.”
Crap.I’d meant to text well in advance. As the train came to a stop, I grabbed my bags and dialed the number. It was time to see if he was going to put his money where his mouth was.
“Hello?”
“I swear this isn’t a booty call,” I answered. “Does your couch offer still stand?”
It sounded like he was up and moving. “What happened? Where are you?”
