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I ran a hand over my face. “I don’t even know where home is anymore, Tay. I can’t go back to the apartment.”
“Why not?”
“Bernard is the one who rented it out for us,” I reminded her with a quick look over my shoulders. “Since he and I aren’t on speaking terms right now, it feels weird to stay there.”
And I had no idea whether or not he expected me to move out.
Granted, I knew he wanted to be closer to Ron, and it wasn’t fair to uproot him again, but I didn’t want things to be even more awkward between us. Moving into the apartment when we had a healthy relationship made sense. Now, when he was on a business trip with no clear return date, it didn’t make sense for me to return there.
Not with Bernard around every corner.
He was in every nook and cranny and every memory we had there.
Staying there was too hard, especially when I came out of the apartment every morning, half-hoping to see him and half-dreading it. As far as I was concerned, a little time and distance were exactly what we needed.
What I needed to be able to pick up the pieces of my life.
“You can always move back in with me,” Taylor offered after a lengthy pause. “You know I would love to have you guys back.”
“You finally got your life back, Tay. I’m not going to do that to you.”
“Babe, it’s what friends do,” Taylor argued. “I don’t want you to feel like you have nowhere to go.”
“I have a whole week to figure things out.” I pressed my face into the glass and peered at the world outside, bathed in purple and pink hues as the sun dipped below the horizon. “Being here is what I need right now.”
“If you’re sure…”
“What aren’t you saying?”
“What happens when Bernard gets back?”
I stood up straighter and cleared my throat. “Has he called you?”
“No, but you know he will when he can’t find you or Ron.”
“He probably won’t be back by then.”
“Are you sure about that?” Taylor’s voice drifted off before it came back on, clearer than before. “Look, I know he hurt you, and he messed up, but he’s going to worry about Ron.”
“I’ll tell him we’re on vacation. He can’t stop us from going away.”
Nor did he get a say in the matter.
Not when he had made it clear that he had more important things on his mind.
“He can’t. I know that, but what do you want me to tell him if he calls?”
“Nothing. Just tell him that we went on a vacation, and we’ll be back soon.”
“You don’t want him to know where you are?”
I shook my head and moved away from the balcony door. “No, I don’t think I want him here.”
Having him here was only going to make things harder for me.
And more confusing.
I knew that if I had any hope of leaving Bernard behind for good, I needed to be far, far away from him. A week in a cabin overlooking the beach wasn’t a magical cure, but it was a start. At least while I was here, I had plenty of time to think about what I wanted to do next, including finding another job. Given that Bernard had paid me generously for cleaning his house, I managed to save up enough money. I had every intention of using that money to tide us over until the next opportunity arose.
