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Chapter1
Dara
There is no way in the world I can face my bank account sober.
But I also need to make sure I can afford to drink before I go into this bar and drown all my problems in overpriced wine.
I take a deep breath as I thumb through my phone. Around me, traffic buzzes along Boylston Street in downtown Boston, kicking up fumes. Young couples sit outside of bars talking in the early evening shade cast by enormous office and apartment buildings, dads push strollers, old people walk dogs, and here I am a few blocks away from where I work sitting on a bench beside a scraggly tree about to find out just how bad my life’s gotten.
Is this rock bottom? Let’s find out.
I unlock my banking app, close my eyes, take a deep breath, and open them again.
Zero dollars stare back. Zero in checking, zero in savings.
My heart sinks into my feet. Zero, zero, zero. Nothing across the board. I knew it would be bad—but this is so much worse than I ever could’ve imagined.
“Lucas, you motherfucker,” I whisper, horror and anger warring against sorrow.
I really wish I bought that drink first.
But at least I didn’t sit through the indignity of my card getting declined.
This wasn’t how I thought today would end. I figured it wouldn’t be great—getting woken up at six in the morning by my roommate and the man I thought I was going to marry, only to find out that they’ve been sleeping together behind my back, and oh, yeah, they’re in love, that’s not easy.
That was a pretty spectacularly horrendous way to start the day.
But it somehow took a nosedive at five-thirty when I was leaving the office, only to get a text.
Lucas: I’m so sorry about this morning.
Lucas: And I’m so sorry about the money and your things.
Lucas: It’s just, I’m in love with Christine, but we’re both broke. You’ll be OK, right? You have that amazing job. You’ll be fine.
I stared at my phone for the five-block walk to a local bar called Trevi’s before I finally worked up the nerve to find out what he meant bythe money.
Which is why I’m staring at a bunch of big, fat zeroes.
I open the messages app and start texting furiously.
Dara: You emptied my bank account???
Dara: And what do you mean my things????
Dara: Lucas, you piece of shit, what did you do???????
I’m in full-on panic mode. I knew Lucas was a monster, but I never imagined he would sink this low. When we met in school, he was a lovable dork, a guy that loved cheap beer, football, and bad horror movies. I fell for him when he rubbed my feet during a marathon of Halloween movies.
I thought he was the one. Lucas isn’t anything exciting, but he’s been dependable, always there for me, always asking how my day went, always offering those lovely foot rubs of his.
So what if there weren’t fireworks? There weren’t nuclear bombs? It was steady. Comfortable.
Now it’s like my skin’s been peeled off, leaving me raw.
I’m about to call my ex when I hear my name called out. I flinch, look up, and find my manager, Johnnie, standing a few feet away flanked by a couple of Patagonia Bros in matching vests I don’t recognize.
“What are you doing all alone out here?” Johnnie asks, flashing me his patented Country Club Smile. He runs a hand through his wavy hair. “Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you outside of work, Dar.”
