Page 89 of Rich Girl
“Fuck!”
I jump when I walk out of the bedroom. Hayden is sitting on the couch in my small living room, looking like a statue. Her hair, makeup and clothes still look as perfect as when she picked me up from the county jail.
“You’re still here.”
When she moves her head to look at me, I realize that she doesn’t look as perfect as I thought. Her eyes are too big in her face, and there are lines of strain around her mouth. The redlipstick she had on earlier is gone, probably from her chewing on her lips like she always does when she’s distraught.
I’ve never loved her more. It physically hurts that I have to let her go.
“You didn’t want me here?”
She doesn’t sound as confident as I’ve learned to know her. There is pure fear marring her features. She knows this is over between us.
I walk around the couch and sit down in the chair Alex was in earlier.
“I figured you’d be on your way back to Boston by now.”
She nods and looks away. I continue staring at her. Seeing that she actually cares makes it so much harder to break things off with her. Not like we were planning on anything long term anyway, but this last month gave us the illusion that we were a real couple.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t say that,” she whispers, real tears running down her cheeks.
She looks broken, but I refuse to believe I did this to her. She started this mess we’re in. She created a weird bubble of fake happiness for us both. And now we’re both paying for it with a broken heart.
“Hayden…” I sigh and run my hands up and down my face in frustration. “What happened here with your friends was fucked up, you agree?”
She nods without looking at me. “Yes.”
“You also have to agree that we have no future together,” I continue. “We both got on theHolidatesto find someone for one stupid date. One,” I repeat. “Now, we’re a month in, and it’s all fucked up. It fuckedusup.”
She nods again. “Yes.”
I can’t stop talking now that I started.
“This is just an illusion, and you know it. I know who you are. I’ve known almost from the beginning.”
She looks shell-shocked. “You never said…”
“I figured you were a rich girl looking for some temporary fun. Had I known that I’d end up in jail because of you, I’d have sent you packing on the night you showed up with the three hundred dollar plate of food.”
Hayden presses a hand to her chest. “You knew who I was from before I told you?”
I laugh at that. “Let’s be honest, Hayden. You didn’t really tell me who you were, right? You gave me some information, but not how big of a deal you were back home.”
I sigh again and run my hands through my hair, wanting to pull it all out.
“There are a lot of pictures of you online if you look up your name.”
She doesn’t look surprised by that. She knows who she is and why people want to see what she’s up to.
“You know what I am pissed off about the most?”
She shakes her head.
“I saw the pictures with your fancy boyfriend. And when I pulled up at the service call the other night, I didn’t recognize him.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” Hayden protests. “We broke up…”
“I would’ve beaten him to death had I recognized him. Just for touching you before me.”
