Now, here I sit, Sunday afternoon, and I’m just angry. Sure, I was hurt and upset Friday night, but now? I’m furious at him. At him stringing me along, and not just recently, but the entire time. Looking back, I see it now. The rose-colored glasses have come off, and I can see, plain as the nose on my face, that I’ve always been an afterthought. I should have listened to my gut and broke it off with him a few months back when said gut was telling me something was off.
But then he asked me to move to North Ridge with the intention of moving forward with a life together at some point.
And that’s just it.
At some point.
He knew what I needed to hear, even if he didn’t mean any of the words he said.
So, I moved, relocated to Cooper Town, took a job, and signed a one-year lease for a cute little rental house. I’m here for a year, whether I like it or not.
The problem is, I do like it.
I like Cooper Town.
I like working at the clinic.
I like my little rental house with the fenced-in backyard and the flower gardens.
I like spending time with Allison and getting to know the others I work with.
I was really looking forward to last night’s paint event at The Tipsy Lizard, but thanks to my douchebag now-ex-boyfriend, I didn’t feel like going out. Instead, I gathered up every item I had at my place that belonged to Lance—which, surprisingly, wasn’t much, considering we’d been together on and off for six years—and I went and dumped it all out on his Welcome mat. I woke with a one-word text.
Mature.
Mature? Fuck him and fuck maturity.
But that’s par for the course, really. Lance did everything he could to blame me for his wandering eye—and penis—as if it were my fault he cheated.
The only silver lining to the entire blow-up was Sabrina ended up leaving, breaking it off with him too, since he had told her he broke up with me months ago.
I don’t wish her ill. The poor woman was strung along and lied to as well, but that doesn’t mean I want to get together with her and chat over iced coffees and cinnamon rolls. Fortunately for me, she works at the hospital in North Ridge, and while I work for a clinic under the same hospital, neither of the cheaters work in Cooper Town with me.
Thank God for small favors.
My phone chimes with a text, and I pray it’s not from him. Not that he’s messaged me since yesterday after finding his crap piled in front of his door, but whatever. Since I’d rather he not contact me at all, I’m relieved when I see Allison’s name on the screen.
Allison
Hey, just checking on you.
Me
Doing fine.
Allison
That’s good.
Me
How are you feeling?
Allison woke up yesterday morning with a bad cold, complete with head congestion, sore throat, and low-grade fever. She was disappointed to have to give up her seat at the paint night, and even though I didn’t have a plan to tell anyone about Lance, I ended up spilling my guts via text message after asking her to cancel my seat too.
Allison
Much better. I think the fever is gone, and I’m taking OTC meds for the congestion and sore throat.
