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“Oh, Tara, don’t act so surprised. You knew it was happening, so much that you’ve turned your attention to other men. We’re not good for each other. Never have been. I’m just sad it took me this long to figure it out.”
As he walked away, Tara grabbed onto her husband’s arm. “Stop! I’m not seeing other men. I’m not even interested in them.”
“Really?” He nodded his head toward her cup, Declan’s number written in large letters across it. “Say hi to Declan for me, and let him know how full of shit you are.”
“HEY, WAKE UP, SLEEPY HEAD!” A pillow landed on Tara’s face the next morning. She groaned and pushed it aside, her head pounding from the bottle she drank directly from last night.
After Rowan left her, he forced her to move out. She tried to fight it, but eventually had to accept that since she didn’t have a hand in paying for any part of the house, she didn’t deserve to keep it. Nor did she get to keep all the gifts he had gotten for her. Not the designer shoes. Not the luxury handbags. Not even the Gucci dresses taking up residency in her closet.
Though, she did manage to convince him to let her keep her camera setup. She needed her equipment more than she needed anything in her life. More than she needed him. And she wondered why he threw her out.
Luckily, her roommate from college was able to take her in, temporarily anyway. She was getting ready to move to San Francisco soon, but offered to help Tara find a place before she left. Ashley Simms had always been a party girl, taking Tara out right after the breakup and ordering her an entire bottle service before taking her back to her place and letting her crash on the couch. And though it was usually more than Tara could handle, it sure beat crying over a man and sleeping on the street.
“Are you ever going to stop throwing pillows at me? We’re not in college anymore.”
Ashley paused for a second. “Hmm, nope!” And she threw another one, this one much rougher than the last.
“Ouch! Dude, that hurts!”
“Oh, stop being such a baby. Come on, get up. It’s way past noon. Let’s go get some food. Sleeping all day isn’t going to make all your problems go away.”
“No!” Tara grabbed her blanket and pulled it over her head. “I’m not sleeping. I’m mentally preparing for my stream later tonight. I need to get ready to tell my followers about my divorce.” She yanked the blanket up further. “Ugh!! It’s too stressful.”
Ashley sat down beside her and tried to tug the sheet off, but with no luck. “Hey! I have an idea. Why don’t you not stream for one night, especially not about something as personal as a divorce? I always thought Rowan was an arrogant jerk, and as much as I hated him, he does have a point. You spend way too much time broadcasting your personal life. Maybe keep a few things private.”
That’s when the sheet shot off. “Time off? Time off?! You’re just like him. You don’t understand. None of you do. This is my lifestyle! I’m an influencer, remember? I have to stream and go live every day, share my life even if I don’t want to. It’s my livelihood. If I don’t, I lose it all. You just don’t know what it’s like having the world follow you. It’s a lot of pressure.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “Whatever, Tara. Not my thing, and will never be my thing. It’s just not real enough for me.” Then she jumped on top of her friend. “But you know what is real? That stack of pancakes waiting for me at Denny’s. Come on, let’s go!”
