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I'd said some pretty nasty things to Raymond all because of that woman. Only to discover now that she wasn’t even romantically involved with him.
I groaned and punched my pillows in frustration.
"Why did he leave? Why couldn't he wait for me?"Because you pushed him away yourselfthe little voice in my head supplied unhelpfully.
Questions swarmed in my head seeking answers. My tired brain had no responses to give and everything just served to make me weary at the world. I felt wounded, and I needed time to heal before I faced the mess of my life.
Times like these, I missed my best friend. If Kaitlyn was here, she would know how to make it go away. She was a fixer. She was so adept at fixing up my life way better than I was. She would have told me the exact things to do and say and whenever I followed her advice, I usually ended up a lot better than I was. She helped me build up the courage to break up with Eric after months of contemplation. She was there to cry with me when I had my first breakup and when the ex before Eric cheated on me, she convinced me to go with her and we slashed his tires in the middle of the night.
I'd known her all my life and she'd been the one constant figure after my parents. Watching over me and protecting me from my poor choices in men.
For a wild moment, I considered texting her, but I discarded the idea immediately. I didn't need to start running to Kaitlyn every time I had issues. All I needed to do was just disappear and the world won't even notice I'm gone.
I could play dead and stay in this bed forever.
That wasn’t really feasible, though. With a sigh, I sat up and grabbed my phone. I'd placed it on silent earlier to get some sleep. There were a few missed calls. Two from Mom, one from Dad and five from Kaitlyn. Weird.
She'd dropped a text, too.
WYD?
Nothing. In bed, why?
She replied instantly like she'd been waiting for my response.
I'm downstairs, come and open up.
My jaw fell ajar. She had to be joking.
Stop playing.
Fr, girl don't keep me waiting!
I jumped off my bed with a new burst of energy and flew down the stairs. My best friend was in Malibu, how?!
I opened my front door and there was Kaitlyn standing right there looking like the cavalry that she was. I almost burst into tears.
"Babe!!" I exclaimed drawing her close to me in a long, tight hug. "I've missed you so much. Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Malibu?"
"Tried calling you but you weren’t answering."
"I'm so sorry, I put it on silent earlier. Come on in." I ushered her into the house while I deliberately avoided looking at Raymond's villa. Everything seemed to remind me of him with painful clarity. Even my kitchen.
"You okay?" She asked, studying my face with a knowing look. I avoided her gaze and mumbled something that could pass for yes.
"Did you come here for a work trip?" I asked curiously, guiding her inside and walking towards the kitchen. I looked in the refrigerator searching for a drink to give her, I settled on diet soda and closed the door gently. She sat splayed on the couch in the living room, giving a sharp nod to my question.
"Yes. A client I work for is throwing a big party in Villa Rosalia next week. A fundraiser for the turtles in Malibu."
"A party?" My brows furrowed in confusion, "Here?"
She nodded a yes.
"How come I never heard about it. Knowing that it's even for turtles?? That's weird."
"What's weird is that your social life is nonexistent. Why do I come to Malibu on a hot beautiful summer afternoon perfect for showing off tanned legs and summer bodies expecting to see you having the time of your life just as I imagined, only to discover you indoors. On your bed!” she said, the last bit like I'd committed the greatest sacrilege on earth by sleeping in on a hot summer afternoon.
"I'm not in the mood for that, Kaitlyn."
