Page 106 of Interference
“Babies cry all night long. They smell and take up space. It’s not happening. You need to move out.”
Oh god, the only name on the lease is hers. When we decided to move in together, we decided that it would be best because I was waiting on another place to open up.
“Just now remembering you aren’t on the lease? You have no rights. You have to leave whether you like it or not. Ariel is going to move in. I already talked to management about it and got her added to the lease. They already drew up the paperwork, and she’s signed it. You have until the end of the month,” she says, making my heart drop.
“Are you fucking serious?”
“As a heart attack, so you better get packing. Oh, and don’t even think about taking anything that’s mine. I’ll know if you do.”
“Trust me, I don’t want any of your cheap shit!”
“Cheap? The only cheap thing in this place is you! You fucking whore!”
Something in me snaps. “For the last time, I’m not a whore! I can’t be when in the last three years I’ve only slept with one man. ONE! Last I checked, that doesn’t make me a whore, a slut, a floozy, or whatever other fucking names you want to call me.”
As I walk up the steps toward her apartment, I hear yelling. Frowning, I rush to the door.
“Or whatever other fucking names you want to call me!” Emery yells.
Opening the door, I step inside.
“Yeah, well, your current state says otherwise. Did you poke holes in the condoms to trap him? Did you see him as a payday?” Ashley spews.
Emery’s head jerks back. “You fucking cunt!” Emery hisses.
“What the hell is going on here?” I yell, making them both look my way.
Emery’s head whips toward me, and her face pales. “Brett…”
“I was just telling this skank that she needs to find somewhere else to live because I won’t let her raise her bastard in my home,” Ashley sneers.
My hands clench at my sides. Never in my twenty-two years of life have I wanted to hit a woman until today. The amount of grief and heartache this bitch has done to my family is insane, and all because she’s jealous.
I move to Emery’s side and face Ashley. “First, my child is not a bastard, and she’s not a skank.” I look down at Emery.“Second, she will be moving in with me, so they won’t be any concern of yours.”
Emery’s eyes are filled with questions.
“Brett,” she whispers, but I shake my head, turning my attention back to the woman who’s caused us nothing but hurt.
“Are you going to tell her?”
Ashley’s head jerks back. “Tell her what? I don’t need to tell her anything. If anyone owes her any answers, it’s you. You’re the one who let me crawl into your bed.”
“Tell her why you did all of this.”
“Because she deserved it!” Ashley yells.
“You did it because you’re jealous,” I spit back at her.
Ashley scoffs. “Jealous? Of what? A washed-up has-been? No fucking way.”
“You were jealous of Emery’s success. You were jealous that she could balance school and practice when you couldn’t. You hated the fact that she succeeded where you were failing. You know, I talked to Irina,” I say, making Ashley pale.
“Irina? Our trainer? What does she have to do with this? What the hell is going on? Why are you here, Brett?” Emery asks as she rubs her temples.
I hate that I’m causing her pain and that she’s stressed, but she needs to know. She needs to hear all of this.
“I ran into Irina at the rink. She asked me how you were doing, and she told me something interesting. Apparently, our girl Ashley here couldn’t hack it. She’s been failing all of her classes. Not just failing to where she’s not eligible, but failing to the point that she might be kicked out at the end of the semester. As if that wasn’t juicy enough, Irina told me that Ashley here wasn’t good enough for the Olympics and that the coaching staff refused to put her name down as someone to enter the trials. Irina told me that she was worried about you, and when I asked why, she admitted that they told Ashley that she was not you.That if she wanted to even think about making it to the trials, then she needed to start skating like you.”
