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Austin Carmichael is right. I am a walking disaster.
I’m still in my slutty magician’s assistant outfit because my clothes are in that bedroom with a gigantic, fuzzy spider.
I laugh sardonically and then I’m on the verge of tears again when Carly dings me.
My heart races as I read.
Shit happens. We’ll figure it all out. Don’t sweat, Jada. You’re not homeless. I’ll call you tomorrow. I’ll text Austin now and tell him you can stay. Aiden is calling his bank now. We’re not upset. We’ll figure this out. Don’t worry! Just sleep. Take a bath in the master and use some of my lavender bath bombs. They’re truly magical and have Epsom salts which will relax you and help you sleep. Hang in there. I’ll message or phone you tomorrow. Everything will be okay. Ok? Hugs.”
I blow out a breath.
How magical are these bath bombs? Magical enough to un-fuck my life? To undo tonight? I’m not about to go find out with that spider in there.
Thank God Aiden Carmichael just married Carly. She’s angelic. And she might be my only friend in the world right now.
Lord knows my brother is not my friend. My brother… I know he’s sick, I know he needs help, but he’s really screwed things up on me this time.
And I’m really really angry with him.
I text back.
Thank you, Carly. From the bottom of my heart. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.
I put a bunch of hearts and type congratulations again.
And I flop. Relieved. I don’t have to walk the streets aimlessly tonight.
6
Austin
I get to the apartment and see a lump under a blanket on the couch. The lump snores.
“Wake up.”
I kick the couch and the thing moves an inch.
She startles and sits up straight, fast, gasping for air, then grabs frantically for the blanket she’s got on and covers her chest. Too late, I already saw most of her boobs spilling out of that tuxedo top.
She’s still wearing that ridiculous getup, all but the glittered little hat that sits on the coffee table. Her large eyes are wide on me and I see she’s washed all that black makeup off her face and her hair is now down, falls just past her shoulders, straight, shiny, a dark blonde, verging on light brown.
Despite that she looks like a different person and the place looks cleaner, my foul mood of last night hasn’t cooled much at all.
I barely slept three hours.
She seems disoriented. Probably jonesing, ready for more drugs. She doesn’t look like the type today, but I’m not convinced she’s not a pill popper or something in that vein.
“Deal with the spider?” I demand, arms folded over my chest.
She shudders. “I… I can’t go in there. I have to tinkle, sorry…”
I watch as she stumbles toward the hallway then to the bathroom. I roll my eyes and sip the coffee I brought. I stare at the back of the closed door after she goes inside.
I immediately hear her breath hitch and then she’s blowing her nose and sniffling.
Sounds like she’s crying in there.
Fucking hate seeing or hearing a woman cry. It grinds my gears especially when I’m fairly sure it’s fake. This chick probably gets what she wants by turning on the waterworks like many of them try to do.
I move to the kitchen cabinets and open a few of them before I grab down a large glass salad bowl, then head down the hall past the bathroom to the master. I open the door and look inside, ready to try to trap it under the bowl. A quick look around and I don’t see it.
She clearly hasn’t been in here since last night, the room is still a sty. That’s one of the many differences between my brother and me, he’s happy to live like a pig but I hate mess. I like order. It must be my numbers-oriented brain. The sight of this room? I wouldn’t be able to sleep in a room like this, I’d have to clean it before I could rest.
I got to the hotel last night, unpacked my stuff and threw out my shoes. I had two other pairs of shoes in the suitcase as well as a suit and some casual clothes and the case is a Samsonite so nothing inside was soiled. I cleaned the suitcase with hand soap in the bathroom and then left a note to housekeeping asking them to sanitize it for me, leaving a tip with the note. I’ve got enough stuff to get by until more of my clothes get here. My delivery was supposed to arrive today, but I checked tracking and my stuff is delayed.
It’s just as well, I want her out of here before my shit arrives and I move in.
I’m dealing with this shit today, getting this chick out of Aiden’s place and having it cleaned professionally as well as – looks like calling pest control for a giant spider. I’ll move here in a couple days when I’m satisfied the place hasn’t got bed bugs, lice, or some other parasite problem.
