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“Can we meet? I need to see you.”
“Ashley is coming to get my stuff, and no, I don’t want to see you.”
“I won’t give her your things without talking to you face to face first.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t what? I deserve to know what the fuck is going on,” he growls, angry.
“Bye, Alex,” I say, and hang up, silencing his arguing when I press end.
Leaning my head back on the couch, I close my eyes and breathe.
In, and out.
In, and out.
“What did he say?” Ash says behind me, making me jump out of my meditative state.
“Don’t sneak up on people,” I tell her. “And did you even leave, or were you eavesdropping?”
“I left,” she says, sitting down next to me, and I take note of her new outfit. “I’m not that much of a spy. How’d it go?”
“He won’t give me my things unless I talk to him in person. And then he got angry, so I hung up on him.”
Laughing, Ash wraps her arm around my shoulders and pulls me against her. “I love you, Mely. Give him hell, okay?”
“That’s not me,” I tell her.
“It is. I know you better than you may think. You’re a tough as nails bad bitch when you need to be, and a soft, loving, caring person the rest of the time. Give him both. He needs it.”
“Ashley. He–”
“Look,” she says, cutting me off. “He fucked up. He’s a man. They all do. It was inevitable, and you know that. Ryan fucked up, but look at us now.”
“How did you forgive him?”
“We talked. Well, he talked, and he explained everything and how he was feeling. And we worked through it. We were both holding back, and we both had to put it all on the line in order to move forward.”
“But how did you know he was telling you the truth when he explained things? How did you trust that?”
“I just knew. And you’ll know too. You’ll either feel it deep in your heart, or you’ll hear bullshit. Whichever it is, trust me, you’ll know.”
“I don’t know,” I whisper. “I believed him up until now, and look where I am,” I say, spreading my arms out.
“Let’s get you ready, and then we’ll go over there together, okay?”
“I don’t want to see him, Ash. I know he’ll sweet talk his way back into my heart.”
“You have to face this, Mel. You have to face him. Trust in me to know that you need this, okay?”
Looking into her hazel eyes, I see the truth there. I need to gather myself and face this head on. “Okay.”
After showering, I borrow a pair of yoga pants and a t-shirt from Ashley. Combing out my hair, I braid it in a long plait over my shoulder and stare at myself. Dark circles rim my tired eyes, and my skin looks paler. I look like how I did before I came here.
One night of betrayal reverts me back to the old me, and I never wanted to go back to being her.
If Alex doesn’t need me, then I’ll find someone who does.
