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“You’re a fucking monster,” I said. “And one day, she’ll see it.”
14
SCARLETT
I texted Axel a couple times.
No response.
I refused to believe he really wanted a breakup. Something had spooked him. Or he’d spooked himself. When I went to his place, I thought I could fuck him into thinking logically, but the next morning, he was back to his cold distance. I stormed off and expected him to come after me or text me, but he did neither of those things.
I’d never chased a man before, and it didn’t feel good to chase the same man over and over, to convince him to stay with you when he should want that himself.
But something still didn’t feel right. Like I had a puzzle with a missing piece. Like I had a research paper without the footnotes. A situation without the context. Axel wouldn’t lie to me, but it felt like he was lying to me now.
I was in the office when my father walked in.
“Hey, sweetheart.” He was in slacks and a button-up shirt, looking more like a banker than a criminal.
“Hey, Dad. Sorry, I’m almost done.” I was way behind schedule, so distracted by my situation with Axel that I couldn’t focus on anything.
“There’s no rush. I came here to invite you to dinner tonight.”
“Oh.” Normally, I would jump at the chance, but right now, my life had become hectic.
“Let’s go to La Fornaio. I know you love that place.”
“I do, but…”
“Do you already have plans?” He slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers.
The only plans I had were trying to get Axel to talk to me, but I’d grown tired of the cat-and-mouse game. “Um, sure.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up at six forty-five.”
“Alright.”
He smiled before he walked out of the room.
I tapped the screen of my phone, hoping there was a text from Axel, but there wasn’t. He ignored me.
I didn’t put as much effort into my appearance as I normally would. I didn’t have the energy, the ambition. The hollow pain in my stomach had become permanent, and everything seemed to take far more energy than I had. When I looked in the mirror, I saw a face I didn’t care for, and no amount of mascara and eyeliner would change that.
What if Axel dumped me…because he wanted to?
What if he really had grown tired of me?
What if there was no bigger reason?
I slipped on my heels just as my father knocked on the door. I dreaded this dinner, didn’t have the desire to sit there and chat over food when I didn’t have an appetite. I loved my father and he was my best friend, but even his company was undesirable.
I grabbed my clutch and opened the door. “Hey, Dad.”
“Hey, sweetheart.” He touched my arm then leaned in to kiss me on the cheek. “You look beautiful.”
“Thanks.”
He held the door open for me then walked beside me in the hallway. “What are you going to get?”
