“It all started last year when…”
She’s a witch. A sorceress whose power is to suck truth and secrets from unwilling prey. Thirty-five minutes tick by and my tongue works overtime, not taking a single break as I disclose every single salacious, scandalous, and deadly detail of my life. Safia merely nods and hums, and occasionally blinks, but she doesn’t utter a single word. She doesn’t comment. She doesn’t ask for clarification. She does nothing but sit there and listen.
When my throat is dry, and I’m out of breath, she tilts her head and says, “You seem to underestimate the toxic people in your life.”
I blink. “I’m sorry?”
“First with Damon.” I open my mouth to protest but she doesn’t let me. “He stalked you, blackmailed you, forced you to quit your job, quit dancing. He was possessive, angry, and displayed violent tendencies. Yet, you fell in love with him and thought he would never leave you.”
“He’s not?—”
“And then there’s Antonia.” My heart clenches. “She kidnapped you, chained you, hurt you, vowed to get revenge, and yet you deemed her…not dangerous? Is there a reason you seem to fall in love with people who hurt you?”
I balk. “I did not love Toni.”
“Love comes in all shapes and sizes, Miss Jones. It’s not a one-glove-fits-all situation. Whether you admit it to yourself or not, you loved her. You loved her and she almost killed you.” A breath. “You loved Damon.” Shecorrects herself before I have a chance. “YouloveDamon, and he’s abandoned you after promising never to leave. What you’re feeling is normal, Miss Jones. You feel betrayed. You feel betrayed by the people who you gave the benefit of the doubt. You chose to see the good in them, and in turn, they showed their true colors.”
I shake my head, frustration oozing. “You’re wrong. Damon… Damon is good. He’s a good person. He-He’s been through so much. He just… He can’t handle it. He doesn’t know how to process his emotions properly. His leaving wasn’t showing me his true colors. He left because… He left because he wanted to protect me. To?—”
“You seem to make a lot of excuses for him,” she muses. “Would he make the same excuses for you? Would he rationalizeyourpoor choices and behavior?”
My mouth gapes open. “This is ridiculous. You don’t know what you’re talking about. You don’t know him. You’ve never even talked to him. How dare you sit there and make assumptions about the type of person he is?—”
“And what kind of person is he, Miss Jones?” Safia asks, an air of nonchalance about her. “Tell me. Who is Damon Cavanaugh?”
I abruptly stand up, hands vibrating with rage. “We’re done here.” Without looking back, I storm out of Safia’s office, dialing Amir’s number as I march through the halls toward the exit. He answers on the third ring. “Your sister is a fucking bitch! I can’t believe you suggested I go and talk to her. She’s impossible.”
“Uh oh…” He chuckles faintly. “What happened?”
I huff, the spring breeze greeting me as I step onto the sidewalk. “She said that I underestimate the toxic people in my life and that I feel betrayed, and that Damon showed me his true colors, basically saying that he’s not a good person and?—”
“Well, I mean, no offense to Damon but he’s not.”
My rage intensifies. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not saying he’s abadperson, Emery, but Damon isn’t a Boy Scout. We both know that. He’s volatile and destructive, oftentimes self-inflicted, but he’s always been like that. But you knew this. I know you did. So maybe what Safia meant to ask was… Why are you so drawn to people who…” He pauses. “People who have the potential to hurt you?”
I grit my teeth, turning the corner down a busy street littered with cafés. “Because no one is entirely good, Amir. Not Damon. Not Toni. Not me.”
Amir’s response fades out of existence as I freeze outside a restaurant. I tilt my head and stare through the window.
Seated at a two-person table in the back is Damon.
And he’s not alone.
My gaze floats to his hand resting on the table. And then toherhand. Holding it. Stroking up. Touching it. And then she smiles at him. And he…he smiles back. It’s faint, the corner of his lip lifting a mere millimeter, but it’s a smile.
A smile that was once reserved just for me.
Anger explodes through me like an atomic bomb, fragments of shrapnel bursting outwards, every single nut and bolt that kept me together gone.
Fucking gone.
“Never mind,” I whisper to Amir. “Your sister was right.”
He’snota good person.
And I’m done making excuses.
