“I didn’t ask if you were fine, Piper.”
The ice cube clinks in my drink as I swirl the water around, hoping it will swallow me down.
“I broke up with Cash.”
The gasp from her is audible, causing me to turn and look at her. “What happened?”
My lip quivers, tears gathering in my eyes.
If I never cried again, it would be too soon. Every day after work, I go home and slip into bed with nothing but tears to keep me company.
I spend all my energy keeping it together during the day, so I have nothing left for the rest of the night.
“It wasn’t real.”
Mom sets her wine glass down, pausing the game in front of us with the camera zoomed in on Cash. He looks so angry, he could spit fire.
“Piper. What are you talking about, it wasn’t real?”
“It was all a PR stunt to fix his reputation.”
I gulp down the rest of my drink and head back to the kitchen. If I’m going to have this conversation right now, I need liquid courage.
Mom stalks after me, not letting me pour the bourbon into my empty glass.
“I saw the two of you together,” she tells me. “How could what the two of you hadnotbe real?”
“Because it wasn’t!” I snap.
I bury my fists into my eyes. Every single thought has been consumed by Cash Williams. His scent that still lingers in my apartment. The Post-It note he wrote me that is still stuck to my fridge. Hell, I can’t even get away from him while watching my team play.
“Piper, look at me.”
“No.” Because if I do, I’ll burst into tears. Not that I’m doing that good of a job of keeping it together.
“Honey.” Mom pulls my hands down and forces me to look at her. I am her mirror image. From the blonde hair and the blue eyes right down to the smile and dimple on the left cheek. “Tell me what happened. Because if you broke up with him for the reason you said you did, you wouldn’t be this upset.”
The tenderness in her words has the dam breaking. “I…I…”
“Oh, sweetheart.”
She pulls me in for a hug and holds me as I cry. Buckets of tears fall as I try to suck in deep breaths to no avail. Mom strokes my hair, holding me close.
The only thing that calms me down is the faint scent of strawberries from the lotion that Mom always uses.
“Deep breaths. Deep breaths,” she whispers into my ear.
I nod, sucking them in the best I can. Mom guides me back to the couch and pulls me down into her arms.
“Can you tell me what happened?”
And I do. I spill everything to her.
“In the span of a few months, I went from having a boyfriend, to him cheating on me with my roommate and dumping me, to actually finding a boyfriend that I love when it wasn’t supposed to be real and then being threatened by the ex’s current girlfriend that she’ll ruin everything if I don’t break up with Cash so Duncan doesn’t want me anymore.”
It comes out in a rush, but it’s the only way I can get it out.
“That’s a lot to unpack there.”
