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Mollie sets her hand on mine and my whole body feels it. “You don’t have to tell me, really.”
“No, it just irritates me that I fell for all of it.” She pats my hand and moves it back to her lap. “I made an appointment and met with the guy. I should have known it was shady when his office was a single room in a five-story walk-up in mid town. Some offices are like that though so I didn’t think twice. Manhattan rents and all that. He was a real therapist, just had no clients or experience other than from school. I didn’t even think to ask for references because she said he was great. After seeing him twice a week for a month, I felt so much better and Shannon and I were getting serious. I gave her a key to my apartment and she stayed over a couple of times a week. My hours were nuts so sometimes, the only way to see her was to have her meet me at my apartment to have a quick drink, maybe sex, and then sleep.”
“It’s so weird that her boyfriend was just okay with this arrangement?”
“New York can be brutal and I guess some people just do what they can to survive.” As I say this, I don’t believe it. They scammed me and it was wrong. “To be honest, I don’t think he thought we were having sex. I didn’t really talk about her in my sessions because they were friends, and I think she let him think we were just dating casually.”
“Was he the one that encouraged you to quit?”
“Not encouraged, but talking to him made me realize I was wasting my life, and would probably die from the stress if I didn’t make some big changes. That final case just sent me over the edge and instead of scaling back or handing the case to someone else, I quit. The relief I felt was indescribable. I floated out of that office with my box of shit.”
“Not to interrupt but how did you become a lawyer? Or specifically a defense one, I guess I could see you as a family or environmental lawyer, but not defending criminals. I know that’s what your dad wanted but I thought for sure you were going to do something in marine biology or geology.”
“That’s a whole other story for another day but I do feel like I’ve ended up where I’m supposed to be, working with my hands, making useful and beautiful things.”
“I’m happy for you but tell me the rest,” she says rubbing her hands together.
I smirk at her eagerness to hear how I was betrayed. “It was early afternoon and I took a cab home. I tried to call Brian, my therapist, wanting to tell him how I let it all go. He did not pick up. I found out why when I got home to my apartment and Shannon was riding his dick on my couch.”
Her face scrunches up. “Ugh, it was bad enough to find Steven and Val just hanging out at my house, I can’t imagine actually walking in on them fucking.”
“It was weird, like I doubted my eyes for a minute. Once I realized it was them and what they were doing, I lost it a little.”
“What did you do?”
“I guess I walked in, yelled ‘fuck!’ and then locked myself in my bedroom. Brian talked me down through the door. He seemed sorry, but Shannon was not.” I blow out a breath, hating to think about that whole situation. “It’s funny, the first person I thought about after they left was you.”
“Me?” she asks shocked.
“Yes. I thought about the talk we had on your birthday, then I thought about how much worse it felt to be left by you.”
CHAPTER 17
BIRTHDAY BLUES
OWEN THEN
“What’s something you could never forgive in a relationship?” she asks me. It’s Mollie’s birthday and we are laying on her top deck on some blankets playing Truth or Dare without the dares, and stargazing. It’s a new moon so it’s the best time to look for stars. Unfortunately, we live too close to civilization so we can make out the dippers and a few other stars. More importantly, we can just make out.
“It’s hard to explain exactly, but disloyalty. If my partner won’t back me up then it’s over.”
“Even if you’re being a dick or something?”
I squeeze her and she giggles. “That’s why it’s hard to explain. Of course there are things we all should be called out on, but I mean, when it comes down to something important, life-altering, I need to know she’s going to ride at dawn with me.”
“I like that about you,” she says and I am happy she gets me. “It’s not little things that are important to you, and you admit you aren’t perfect.”
“I don’t know if I admitted that,” I say and she elbows me in the gut so I pull her in closer. “I mean, look how perfect your boyfriend’s birthday surprise is.” I gesture to the picnic around us that we tore through. I ordered lobster rolls and truffle fries from Pearl Street and Aunt Lucy helped me bake her a cake. She even hid a bottle of wine in with the bag of food.
Mollie and I aren’t big drinkers but it was nice to have it. I laid out the blankets, candles, and food while she was napping after work. She cried when she saw the setup and it killed me that she didn’t expect anything. Her dad sent a card with money and flowers but her mom predictably didn’t make it down for her big day.
“It is amazing and I love it.” She kisses me and I pull her close.
“So what could you never forgive, Hatchet?”
“Hmm, mine is similar to yours. I couldn’t get past cheating.”
“Definitely a disloyal move,” I say.
