This might be a shitty day, but at least I’m not alone.
“I’m leaving now. Good luck, Elliot. I really do wish you the best.” I turn my back on him, strutting down this hallway as if I don’t have a care in the world, as my flimsy robe flutters around my thighs.
I might be losing a fiancé, but relief fills my body as every step takes me further away.
I’ve experienced loss. This feels like freedom.
“I’ve been fucking the wedding planner,” he yells pathetically down the hallway as I enter the elevators.
A puff of laughter escapes me. “Fuck you.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Liv
“Honestly, I’m fine. Or, I was fine until I sat next to Kate on the way home,” I laugh-cry into a tissue, curled up on the couch in my living room.
“You’ll be fine, Liv. You have plenty of time to start a family,” Callie says. All the girls have stayed by my side since this afternoon, and now it’s late into the night as I drink away my sorrows.
“I know. I know. But now I have to start all over…”
“Jesse and I got pregnant before we were technically married. You don’t always have to follow the perfect timeline.” Thea looks at me pointedly because she knows about my stubborn life plan.
“That’s different, you and Jesse are…”
“Soulmates?” She says teasingly, and it brings a wave of sadness over me. I guess I do still believe in soulmates.
“Everyone is going to think badly about me now. A failed engagement,” I sigh, shaking my head.
“No, they won’t,” Natalie says, coming to kneel in front of me. “You are an awesome person. You’re an admirable woman, and whether you’re married or unmarried is the leastinteresting thing about you. No one will judge you. They’ll see the strength that it took to make the right choice for yourself. Especially when most people could never be that brave.”
“Are you sure you’re a chef and not a therapist?” I wipe fresh tears from the corner of my eyes before they fall.
“That’s just what a life of trauma does for a person. It really shapes you,” she laughs, and it steamrolls a giggle fit among all of us.
We’re still catching our breath when someone knocks on my door, and everyone’s eyes go wide.
“Are you expecting someone?” Thea asks.
“No.” I see the worry on her face, and I realize how screwed I am in the head because she’s thinking of my stalker, but I’m hoping it’s someone else.
“I’ll check.” Callie grabs something from her purse and tiptoes to the door.
“Does she have a gun?” Natalie whispers.
“My brother has turned her into GI Jane,” Thea whispers in exasperation, but her eyes are still wide with worry as she texts on her phone. Most likely to Jesse.
I never had that type of relationship with Elliot. He wasn’t the person I’d call in distress. He wasn’t my person.
“Oh, it’s Jo.” Callie flings the door open, tucking her gun behind her back nonchalantly as she smiles. “Hi!”
“I came as soon as I heard.”
I felt bad not being able to invite her to the wedding since she’s technically a client and that’d be frowned upon. Now I’m just glad I didn’t waste another person’s time.
“Are you okay?” She sits on the coffee table in front of me, offering a tender smile.
“I’m fine. I feel silly canceling the wedding at the last minute, but I know it was the right choice.”
