“I can’t believe you ran and didn’t even give us the courtesy of filming it,” she says rather than greeting me with a salutation like a normal person.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, but since you broke your contractual obligations, you won’t receive your payment.”
I press my lips together. It wasn’t much, a small amount meant to offset the fact that many of us quit or left jobs behind to be here. Enough to cover some of our lost wages, I guess. But not as much as Dex is paying me to help out with Jack.
I’d like to think that’s not involved in my motivation to convince him that he should keep his son close, but the selfish side of me has to admit some hard truths.
I like it here in Vegas. I like it at Dex’s place. I even like Jack already. We’re bonding even though we just met yesterday. I don’t have anything to return to in Chicago except for my group of friends, and even there we’re losing touch. I only see Ivy a few times a month at best, and she’s my closest friend. The others scattered after we graduated from college.
“If you’re already not paying me, do I still need to do the interviews?”
“Viewers will need the closure to your storyline, and if you don’t do the interview, you’ll look like a bitter little girl who didn’t get her way,” she says.
I’m not sure what prompted me to think we were friends because her words show me how very much we are not. “Fine. Let’s get this over with.”
She nods to the chair for me to sit in, and we have our own little corner where she can fire questions at me with four cameras catching my every move from different angles.
“Why’d you run?” she asks first.
“I was embarrassed that I thought I was in love and said I’d marry him only to have him say no.”
“Restate the question,” she reminds me.
I sigh. “I ran out of the wedding because I was embarrassed that he said no when I said yes. I know now that I was never really in love with him, and I’m not just saying that to save face. I’ve thought a lot about it since I ran out twenty-four hours ago, and the moment I stepped away from the cameras, I realized the truth. He’s not really what I want. I fell in love with the idea of love, and I thought Jordan and I could get there. I thought maybe we’d spend our first year of marriage falling for each other even more, and we’d eventually travel together to our happy ending. But things work out the way they’re supposed to, and I’ve already formed a plan for what comes next.”
“What’s the plan?” she asks.
“I’m going to stay here in Vegas and see what opportunities await.” I look up and feign dreaminess, and I hope that’s all she wrote.
Nope.
She asks me about a hundred more questions, and I’m at the interview for a solid three hours.
Jack will be up by now. He’ll be hungry.
I need to get back…but at the same time, I need Dex to see that he can do this on his own. I just don’t want him to think I’ve abandoned him.
Jen finally gives my phone back to me, and I realize I don’t have Dex’s number to let him know I’m on my way. But the car Milton sent me in is waiting for me, so I hop in and head back to whatever the future holds for me.
CHAPTER 6: Dex Bradley
Peepee Teepee
Where is she?
It’s been ninety minutes since she left, and the kid is going to wake up soon.
I’ve done my best to be as quiet as possible, but I’ve already decided once she’s back and he’s not in his room, we’ll move his room so it’s not so close to my weight room.
I don’t know what else to do with myself, and I still need a solution to this problem. I decide to call my sister—not the one Ainsley is friends with, but Everleigh, the one who’s only a year younger than me.
“Hey Dex,” she answers.
“You sound tired.”
“Thanks?” she says like a question. “I’m not tired, just busy.” She’s firm and to the point, which makes me think she doesn’t have time for this conversation. “What do you need?”
