Page 55 of Ice
“Iappreciatethat,Ice,butthe part that was enough to lose me my job was the mistake I made by driving under the influence. He can’t say that part wasn’t true. It is true, and it can be easily verified. I made a stupid mistake that cost me my career. Sure I blamed him, and I cursed his name a lot, but they’d have found out eventually. I probably should have told them myself. I’m not making my best decisions right now, clearly.”
He fell silent, and I wondered if he’d gone, or the call had dropped.
“Ice?”
I heard him take a breath, but he didn’t speak immediately. I was just about to prompt him again, when he finally replied.
“Well, I’m sorry to be one of those bad decisions, doc. Let me help you out by fixing that one.” The call ended abruptly, while Istared at the phone in horror. What the hell just happened? He hung up on me? Oh no, he fucking didn’t!
I called him back, and he actually answered.
“Stop making bad decisions, darlin’. Ringing me back is a mistake.” The call ended again. Bastard!
I called again, and he let it ring a few times this time.
“I’m serious. Don’t call again. This is me helping you sort your shit out. Get your life back together. No more of me fucking it up for you.”
He hung up again, and this time my attempt to call him back was ignored. I tried texting back but it was ignored for so long that I gave up waiting for a response, and decided that working my way through my wine collection was the best plan for the rest of my day.
Finally, my phone pinged.
Has-Been:Sorry, love. I tried to talk him into calling you again, but he’s being a stubborn asshole.
Ice had clearly given the phone back to him, but why wasn’t he using his own?
Me:I’ve noticed that about him. Thanks for trying. I can’t keep chasing someone who doesn’t want me.
I held back the words I wanted to add… ‘because nobody ever did’. It wasn’t that I didn’t feel that, so deeply that I could scream. I just didn’t want the wrong attention from the man. Or would it be the right attention, but still the wrong man.
I finished another glass of wine, idly pondering the lack of food in my stomach.
Has-Been:Want me to punch him?
I giggled at the thought. Why would I want that? And did I? A tiny part of me almost wanted to say yes, because he’d hurt me. He’d rejected me, after I literally lost everything for trying to be with him.
Has-Been:Kick him in the nuts?
Has-Been:Twice?
A full laugh surprised me. It must have been a combination of the wine and Has-Been’s attempts to cheer me up.
Me:Three times?
It was just nice to have someone want to actually spend time with me, even if it was only the occasional silly text message from a man I barely knew.
Has-Been:Consider it done. And don’t give up on him. He’s a dickhead, but I think he really likes you. I’ll knock some sense into him for you.
I giggled again, and wondered why the hell I was chatting with Has-Been, when the man I really wanted was his brother.
Twenty-Six
SpendingtimewithHas-Beenhad been weird, but not necessarily unpleasant. Yet again I wondered why the fuck we hated each other. Sure he was a smug asshole, but weren’t all of us at times?
I banged on Reacher’s office door.
“Yeah?”
I poked my head inside. “Got a minute, Pres?”
