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Reading this, I suspected Seb would have been a double standard kind of guy, in that it wouldn’t have been right formeto miss any family time.
But obviously it would have been okay forhimto miss key moments like changing nappies and night-time feeds because of work.
Sexism was alive and well and living in the veins of my ex-fiancé.
Ofcoursehe was worried aboutmeworking too much.He hadn’t been concerned when I’d worked twelve-hour days in hotel kitchens, though.Apparently, his concern had limits.Of course it had limits.
I made myself continue reading.
I love your passion for making and creating, and I never meant for you to lose that.I only wanted you to take some time for us, and then later, I’d have funded that shop for you.
I scoffed.Now that I had some distance, I realized that he’d always thrown his money around like this, showing off with fancy dinners out and such, and I’d been too busy with my work to notice.
Had I loved him?Or had he just beenthere,and I’d been flattered because he was good looking and charming and he made time around my hectic schedule?
I was starting to think I’d loved theideaof him.
Especially since meeting Rick.
Being with Rick was easy, and more, Iwantedto be with him.
If I couldn’t see Seb due to work commitments, it hadn’t been a big deal.But you know what, it should have been.I should have missed him.
He’d been wrong for me, and it took an event like this for me to see it.
Come home, please, and we can talk about this.
Your mother returned the engagement ring to me.A little presumptuous, don’t you think?We had one fight.
One fight thathehad very much instigated.
Your parents seem upset.
Of course they seemed upset, because theywereupset.They’d found out that their daughter was engaged to a Class A douchebag.
My parents were pleased I was taking some time out for myself to figure out what to do next.
I picked up the letter and started to tear it, but my phone buzzed in my pocket.I fished it out to see Seb’s number and pressed END before even thinking about it.Imagining his frustration across the pond should have made me smile, but actually, I felt…
Nothing.
I still didn’t want to speak to him, though, so I immediately switched off my phone.
* * *
An hour later, my feet still achy from the long shift atCake Away,I walked over to Aunt Laurie’s house.The evening air hung with the promise of summer.It had taken almost all my mental effort not to knock on the door of Rick’s house and throw myself at him.
My aunt answered the door wearing a plaster cast and a smile.The cat wound itself around her legs as she stood on the porch.
I enveloped her in a gentle hug.“How are you feeling?”
“Ugh.Looking forward to my own bed.When you get to my age, even one night away from your orthopedic memory foam mattress takes years off your life.”
I snorted.“As if you’re old.My mum says hi.You hungry?”
“Hungry for anything that doesn’t involve mashed potato.Is hospital foodmeantto make you feel worse?”
I followed her through the house and into the kitchen, where the mess made it apparent that she’d been trying to make things too complex for people with the use of only one arm.“I’ve only been hospitalized once and I have to say, I did feel that the catering staff were actively trying to kill me off.”
