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My problem was the lack of closure. We didn’t even have a real breakup. The son of an actual bitch just went MIA on my ass, and I had no idea what the hell had happened. I’d read about people being ghosted, but I never thought it would happen to me. I took every precaution. I tried to get out of the relationship train so many goddamn times, but John insisted this wouldn’t happen. How selfish and deluded do you have to be to drag someone into something so messy, knowing you don’t have the balls to stand up to your parents?
He knew this would happen all along, and he did it anyway.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
It was one of my two days off, and I’d spent the better part of the day getting drunk and wallowing in self-pity, so I wasn’t sure how I felt about someone standing unexpectedly at my door.
I got up from where I lay on my back in front of the fireplace on my aunt’s lush carpet, set my glass of whiskey aside, and widened my eyes to focus them. I probably shouldn’t have answered the door, but I didn’t give a shit about who was on the other side at this point. Serial killer? Fine, please do me a favor and put me out of my misery.
“Hey, Mickie,” Ashley said with a cheerful smile.
“We brought liquor,” Avery said, holding up a bottle of wine, both wearing cheerful smiles.
“Too late,” I said, drunker than I realized. “I’m already two hours into my aunt’s twenty-year-old single malt.”
“That’s why they brought me, honey. I’m Natalia,” another woman said. She was a total smoke show with perfectly smoothed blonde hair and bright blue, seductive eyes. “This place is gorgeous,” she said, looking around before returning her focus to me. “Babe, you look like shit. When was the last time you drank a glass of water?”
“I haven’t drunk anything that isn’t brown for a few hours,” I answered with a shrug.
“May we come in?” Ash asked, laughing at me.
“Yes, of course,” I slurred.
“Damn it,” Natalia said, walking in behind me and the other two ladies. “We’re too late, and you’ve given yourself to the hard stuff.” She smiled in a sympathetic way that made me smile in return. “However, it’s why we’re here.”
“Who sent you?” I asked, completely confused as to why my two newest friends had shown up unannounced with a stranger.
“No one sent us,” Avery grinned, looping her arm through mine. “We were at dinner with the men tonight, and they talked about what has happened with your ex. After listening to that shit all night, there was no way we weren’t coming to check on you.”
“What if I’d been at work?”
“That’s where we went first,” Natalia said, spinning around with a smile. “Booze and all, sweetheart.”
“So, this is Nat,” Ash said. “She insisted on joining us, and I hope you’re okay with that?”
“I’m too wasted to care. I could pass out right about now and not care if you stole everything my aunt owned.”
“I’m so sorry about what John has put you through,” Avery said. “These rich pricks always pull this shit, worrying only about their selfish, entitled selves.”
“Sadly for you,” Nat spoke, “I know all too well about the position you’re in with your guy.”
“Did yours do what mine did, too?” I asked lazily, leading the women into my aunt’s sitting room where all the booze in the world was at our disposal at the bar against the wall.
“No,” Nat said with a smile, “my guy had his mother put behind bars for the psychopath she was. She was a wretched bitch who took to threatening everyone, but she forgot how smart he was.”
“Oh,” I said in defeat. “Am I the only one whose guy couldn’t stand up to his parents?”
“Pretty much, but that’s not the point,” Ashley said. “The point is, it doesn’t matter if they can’t stand up to their parents or anyone else, for that matter. They shouldn’t put themselves in a position to push away the person they love because they have the emotional immaturity of a mountain goat.”
“Look at it this way,” Avery said, uncorking the wine she brought. “We’re here to let you know that we understand what you’re going through. We’ve all been in your shoes. And at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if it’s mommy and daddy issues, business issues, or status issues; they’re all just excuses.”
“Right,” I said, feeling a headache coming on. “God, I think I’m too drunk for this. This is embarrassing.”
“Oh, honey,” Nat said with a daring smile that probably made men fall at her feet, “you’re not drunk enough if you ask me.” She chuckled, “You’re not falling all over the place, and you can still talk normally, so there’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Now,” she looped her arm through mine, “tell me where the kitchen is in this place. I know it has to be just as impressive as the rest of this fabulous house. We’ll get you some coffee and help you get your equilibrium back.” She smiled at me, leading her down the hallway toward the kitchen at the back of the house, “And before bed, you’re going to want to drink a gallon of water because a brown liquor hangover is not the business, let me tell you. No man alive is worth a woman putting herself through that kind of pain.”
“True,” I half-heartedly agreed. “Can I ask how you know the girls?”
“I’m married to Jim’s friend, Spencer,” she answered casually. “Hot damn, this kitchen is something out of nineteen forty-three. Jesus, look at this.”
