Page 11 of Tail, Dark and Handsome: Celestial Mates
Even if she had the money, she did not want to stay. Tomas infected her apartment. What had once been her haven was ruined because she shared it with him.
And her bed…
She wouldn’t be able to rest in that bed, thinking about goodnight kisses, early morning conversations, and how Tomas’ hair spilled on the pillow. Her mind replayed every conversation from their first messages, first date to their final night when Tomas kissed her goodbye and said he couldn’t wait to see his perfect wife in her wedding dress.
It didn’t matter. While she bent over backward to be the perfect partner for him, he gave her nothing but lies. Sweet lies that felt so real.
Tears refused to fall, no matter how long she wallowed in self-pity.
Maybe her aurawaspeaky.
No. She couldn’t do this. Just no. On the first night, she changed the sheets and gave the entire apartment a good scrubbing. It failed to clean away the memories that clung to the walls, choking the air. She couldn’t stay here now, thanks to Tomas borrowing money and doing stars knew what with it.
Looked like she was getting a fresh start in a new apartment, complete with a new bed.
Being conned out of her money was hard enough, but her mother kept snatching at the air around Mari’s head to clean the negative energy...
So embarrassing.
She wanted to hide away in her apartment until people aboard the station got bored or the next juicy bit of scandal happened. It was a busy station. Someone had to be doing something worth gossiping about.
The pressure would ease when they reached the resort. Stations were confined spaces, no matter their size. People got weird when locked up together for too long. At the resort, Mari would be a stranger. She could lounge on the beach or the pool. She could hike the hills and discover the island. The brochure boasted about ancient ruins. Those might be worth exploring.
Mari couldn’t shake the feeling that she should be sadder. Heartbroken. She had been ready to pledge herself for life to Tomas, so why did she feel embarrassed and annoyed, rather than devastated? Had she been so desperate to marry that anyone would do? Or had Tomas been particularly charming? Shouldn’t she be sobbing on her best friend’s shoulder instead of holed up in her cabin, hiding?
Mari just didn’t know anymore, and she wanted to be away from all those sympathetic people with their pitiful eyes and empty words of comfort.
She hated this. All of this. The self-doubt. The moping. The sleepless nights. No amount of mindful meditation helped ease the tension twisting inside her.
That fresh start sounded so good.
Now she needed to scrape together enough credits for first and last month’s rent for another apartment in the station. The lower levels were cheap, but she didn’t have the credits even for them. Joseph still lived in the family’s accommodation, where Mari had lived only six months ago. She’d have to move back until she got the money together for her own place.
She shuddered. For a woman who built a career on mindfulness, inner peace, and harmony, Valerian embodied chaos. Growing up, Mari never knew how long they’d be in any one place. Being a constant outsider made it impossible for her to make friends. Just when she got over her shyness, it was time to move again. Mari hated the uprooted, drifting sensation of starting over.
Age had not mellowed Valerian’s natural chaos. Working and living with her mother would be too much. A little Valerian went a long way, but Mari knew that wasn’t the issue.
Her pride.
She didn’t want to slink back to her mother’s house with her tail between her legs, so to speak. Bad enough that everyone knew she fell for a sweet-talking con man. She didn’t want to be the thirty-year-old loser who got evicted from her apartment.
Correction: the thirty-year-oldhomelessloser.
Fine.
She’d talk with her mother. Soon, no doubt. Valerian had this weird knack for picking up on Mari’s moods. No third eye or sensitivity to auras necessary, just a mom knowing when her kid was upset.
Mari left the bed to fetch her abused tablet, opened the mail program, and flicked through the unread overdue notices and threatening messages. Some could be contested. She hadn’t married Tomas, so she dodged being legally tied to the crook.
As the bills grew, Mari could only assume that he had opened credit lines at every store and bar in the station. Clothes? Apparently, he bought an entire wardrobe and enough shoes to never wear the same pair twice in a month. Restaurants? Only the finest cuisine. She had loved those meals, the splurging for a special night out. She had no idea she’d be stuck footing the bill.
Day spa to get a facial. Hair salon. Manicure.
Mari paused, wondering if all the grooming was to prep for the wedding or to charm his next victim, presumably Sandria. Regardless, she wouldn’t pay for the man’s vanity.
At the bottom of her inbox, she found a message from Celestial Mate.Congratulations on your nuptials! Please take our six-month survey and tell us about your match!
Those tears she couldn’t find? The dam broke. Her chest tightened as her breath grew shallow with sobbing. Tears blurred her vision and her nose dripped. Blindly reaching for a tissue, she attempted to clean herself up.
