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Hours later, I’ve dropped the kids off at school and childcare and finished my first job, but when I check there’s still nothing.
Huh.
Finally, that evening when I’ve checked my phone every ten minutes for hours, Kalli nudges me. “Call him.”
I grimace. “I can’t.”
She rolls her eyes at me. “What’s the point of playing hard to get if it’s giving you no joy?”
I blush. “No, I mean I can’t. I don’t have his number. We met on... an app.”
Kalli is fishing through scraps of fabric, to lay out a patchwork dress for Elsa. When I say this, though, she looks up at me. “What app?”
I squirm. But what’s the point in hiding it? “Monstrous Deals.”
Kalli’s mouth drops open, but then her budding smile turns into a frown. “Oh, but Mel, that means it’s just work.”
I nod. “I said it was complicated.”
Kalli chews her lip for a moment, playing idly with the fabric in her hands. “But he messaged you all day yesterday.”
I nod. “He did. And today, nothing.”
I should be worrying about what I’m going to do about my apartment. If we’ll go back there or if I have to search for a new place. I should be thinking of ways to stop James coming back to bother us again. I wonder if he’d stop if I just stopped asking for child support. He hasn’t paid it in weeks, anyway.
Rin comes home from work, and he and Kalli make cute eyes at each other while pretending not to. Eventually, I go to bed to give them some privacy. It’s clear that’s what they want; I’m only a little bit jealous. Mostly, I’m happy for Kalli. She deserves to have found a beautiful man who dotes on her. Even if her beautiful man is a strangely obsessive oni demon. Still beats James, so who am I to judge, right?
I’m lying in bed when my phone buzzes.
I pick it up and my heart lurches when it’s a notification from the Monstrous Deals app.
A new booking request from Jarradek! When I open the request, something isn’t right. It doesn’t load. An error message pops up. Unable to locate booking.
I frown. Opening a message, I figure I’ll just ask him.
Mel: Did you try to make a new booking?
There’s no reply.
I try to settle to sleep. I’ve brushed my teeth and I’m lying in bed waiting for sleep to come, but it won’t. I’m just drifting. My phone buzzes again.
Bullistic: sorry, My Lady. That was a mistake. Better if I don’t make a booking right now
I can’t understand it.
I don’t even bother to reply. There’s nothing I can say that won’t either reveal the level of hurt I’m feeling right now and make me feel vulnerable, or make me sound like a crazy bitch.
I can’t sleep, though.
Hours later when I’m still trawling through the internet mindlessly, I come across the story.
NEW LOW FOR MONSTROUS MAYOR
Mayoral candidate, Jarradek Tarvost has been caught out again. Everyone knows the minotaur has an appetite for women as big as his assets are rumored to be. This time our sources aren’t sure who his flavor of the month is, but there must be one. Sources we trust say that he’s been booking private rooms at restaurants across town and spending on lingerie and gifts. You have to ask yourself is this monster really who you want as mayor?
God, I feel sick. My stomach roils and I sit, fumbling for the glass of water on my bedside table. Is this why Jarradek didn’t contact me today? Because he’s playing some game? Was he just bored yesterday and today his new girlfriend got back in touch, so now he’s dropped me like a sack of potatoes?
You know what? Fuck that!
