Jacob begs me to spend the night as we unload suitcases from the car. The only thing I want right now is my bed. And some space. Xavier and I have spent the last two days of the cruise trying to pretend everything was normal, carefully avoiding any risk of having to truly interact with one another.
“Buddy, I have to go pick up Brody from the dog sitter. I think he misses me.” At least I’ll still have him when this is all over. Then again, with as much time as he’s spent alone, and now five days at the kennel, I wouldn’t be surprised if my dog turns his back on me, leaving me completely alone. “But I’ll be back early tomorrow morning, okay?”
Jacob’s face contorts as he thinks about whether this is a satisfactory compromise in his opinion. It’s amazing how much he’s changed since I met him. He’s like this mature little man, thinking about everything he’s doing, asking questions as to why things are the way they are.
“I guess,” he pouts. Less than a minute later, he’s running through the house, his disappointment forgotten.
After Alyssa is settled in for the night, I excuse myself. I’m already pushing it to get to the kennel before they close for the night. I could leave Brody there until morning, but after I talk to Stacey, I’m pretty sure I’ll want him curled up in bed next to me tonight.
Hoping to get this over with as quickly as possible, I reach into the bottom of my purse for my phone. Stacey’s number is programmed into speed dial, so I’m able to connect without taking my eyes off the road.
“Hey, hot stuff!” she answers before the first full ring. “How was the trip? Man, I think I’m in the wrong line of work, I need a rich family to take me on a freaking cruise in the middle of winter!”
Knowing what I do now, it amazes me how Stacey is able to go on with her days, acting as if she wasn’t single-handedly responsible for causing me years of turmoil and heartache. If it hadn’t been for her, I would have at least found closure, but she robbed me of that. I’m tempted to scream at her for what she did, but I bite my tongue. She’s not going to get off the hook with nothing more than a tongue lashing, I want her to look me in the eyes when she tries to justify what she’s done to me. “It was interesting, that’s for sure,” I respond, hoping my voice is steady. God, I hate that she knows me so well. “Can you meet me at my place in about an hour?”
It’s going to be cutting it close to head to the outskirts of town and make it back to my apartment in an hour, but I don’t want to put this off any longer. I would rather she be waiting for me when I get there than pace around my living room waiting for her to show up. I hope I have a bottle of wine ready for when she finally leaves.
“Yeah, you sure you don’t wanna head out? You’re always working, even more than you used to. Are you getting paid for all this time?” I’m not, but that doesn’t matter to me. I don’t spend extra time with Alyssa and Jacob for the money, I do it because they need me. There’s no sense pointing that out to Stacey because she’s the type of person who only goes above and beyond the bare minimum expected of her if she’s well compensated. For the past forty-eight hours, I’ve been trying to figure out how we stayed friends as long as we have. We have nothing in common and most of her personality traits are more grating than endearing.
“No, I want to chill at my place. You know how it is when you get home from vacation.”
Stacey pulls into the apartment complex parking lot at the same time I turn in. I’m shocked she’s already here. Luckily, I have the time it takes me to go up to my apartment from the underground parking garage to compose myself. Now that this is really happening, I’m not feeling nearly as brave as I was an hour ago. I hate confrontation.
“Hey, chicka!” she squeals, running across my living room as she opens the door. Mental note, get locks changed tomorrow morning.
“Hey,” I say unenthusiastically. I toss one arm limply over her shoulder when she hugs me as if this is the first time we’ve seen one another in decades. I shudder, wishing I hadn’t touched her. Bile rises in my throat as I get ready to jump into what’s bound to be an epic blow-up for us. I motion for her to take a seat on the couch as I curl up with Brody in the papasan chair. “So, I have to tell you something…”
Brody climbs up my chest, giving me kisses which does help ease my nerves. At least he still loves me. “I’m working for Xavier.” I’m surprised Stacey’s head doesn’t spin out of control with how quickly she turns to look at me.
“What in the fuck are you talking about? I thought you got that stupid fucker out of your system years ago,” she snaps. Her nostrils flare as she lets out a deep breath, her loathing of the man still quite evident. “How in the hell did he even find you?”