I almost tripped over a crack in the sidewalk. “Why was your ex-boyfriend at The Burrow Café?”
“I don’t know.” Macey shrugged. “He was being weird, and Britney kicked him out.”
“Weird?” I pressed. “Weird how?”
Macey swung her arms back and forth as we crossed the street. In the distance, someone cursed out a car that ran a red light.
“Congratulating me for reaching half a million followers while insinuating I used you and him to get those followers,” she answered. “And he had the audacity to imply you’re a liar.”
Despite the sun warming our skin, I felt very, very cold.
“Don’t worry,” she continued, reaching to squeeze my bicep. “I know you’re not.”
Any thoughts of croissants left my head as nausea rolled in my stomach. Parts of the complex situation floated through my head like jigsaw pieces, and I tried to put them together. So far, I was hitting mismatched pairings.
“Thanks.” I had a bad feeling about this situation. “You’ve never really talked about him before.”
Some of the light left Macey’s eyes. “His name is Kyle Arnold. Maybe you know him. He cheated on me, then begged for me to come back. When I said no, he told everyone I was a nobody. Hurt my reputation almost as much as he hurt me. Then he had the nerve to say I was lucky to have dated him because I got some followers out of it.”
My feet froze in the middle of the sidewalk. Or maybe that was my calf muscles. Either way, I was incapable of walking.
I did know Kyle, albeit not well. We ran in similar groups. I faintly remembered Kyle mentioning he went on a few dates with a writer atRoamer’s Digest, but I had no idea of the full story. Didn’t really care to know, considering he dated a lot of people.
Now I wished I had asked for more information so I could at least try to understand the audacity he had to treat her like shit. To make her feel subpar.
Kyle must have never experienced what I’d incurred these last few months: the way that air rose out of my lungs when I looked at Macey for too long, the itch between my fingers when her palms were close to mine, the sense of emptiness when we parted ways.
The Macey of today paused a few feet ahead of me. With the setting sun, she looked ethereal—like an angel of good fortune.
“You okay?” she asked.
“Yeah.” I found my footing again and caught up to her. “I know him. I thought he was an okay guy, a little desperate for fame, but apparently, he’s an asshole.”
“Oh, he is. Let me tell you about the time he…”
Macey recounted an old story about Kyle as dread pooled a hole in my stomach. It felt like all the progress I made these last few months came to a halt.
I knew how much it killed Macey that her ex-boyfriend lied to her, and here I was, doing nearly the same thing.
23
MACEY/NOAH
Macey
Since I left the apartment so early this morning, I beat the rush and didn’t have to elbow fight with anyone on the street. In fact, I made it to the office in record timing. I spent the whole entire walk to work internally reviewing my blog strategy and also the write-up for a local restaurant review I needed to finish forRoamer’s Digest.
Things were busy but good. So good that I was able to easily put the image of Kyle’s face out of my mind. There was no point in letting an encounter with my ex-boyfriend ruin my mood. Not when I finally felt like things were coming together.
The office was quiet when I dropped my bag off at my desk and powered up my computer. It was acting extra slow today. I gave it a loving pat on the side, hoping that would stir it into operating faster.
“Macey?” Victoria called from her office. “Is that you?”
“Yes!” I yelled, a quick glance proving we were the only two here.
“You’re here early,” she said. “Can you come into my office?”
I rebooted my computer, hoping that would fix the issue, andheaded into Victoria’s office. In one hand, the latte Britney made me. In the other, my notebook. I felt ready to take on the world.
