“Because you’re you, Colin!” I dropped my arms to my sides and wanted to scream. “You’re an arrogant asshole who has always mocked me for your own entertainment. I’m sure you thought it was hilarious that I was lying about my job, so you probably shared the story with your douchey country club friends over golf and caviar or something.”
He looked stunned by that. “Is that really what you think of me?”
“For sure it is. Just wait till you tell them about last night, right? Your dad will probably call you a chip off the ol’ block and buy the whole place a round.” I jerked the sheet around my body and said, “I’m going to shower. Please be gone by the time I get out.”
* * *
? ? ?
I SLOWLY OPENED the bathroom door and listened.
Nothing.
All was quiet, which meant that Colin had left, thank God. I’d held it all in while I showered, just in case he was still there and wanted to talk, but now that I had visual confirmation of his absence, I lost it.
I broke down into full-out ugly crying as my quiet apartment forced me to face all of the terrible facts. I’d lost my job, trusted a jerk, slept with said jerk, and now I had furniture that I couldn’t afford on the way and a fab new apartment that was way out of my price range.
Which was zero, by the way.
I pretty much bawled for the next hour, overwhelmed by everything I’d just lost.
Then I got pissed.
Because almost as bad as the ruination of my burgeoning career was the thought of Colin in one of his fancy suits, tipping back martinis with women who looked like Harper and saying, “I know the girl who writes that. She’s the one who burned down her apartment—remember her? Yeah, she’s a total screwup who doesn’t even have kids.”
Insert a fancy lounge full of rich professionals laughing.
Shit.
I stripped the bed of Colin’s sheets and jammed them into a trash bag. At first I was going to leave them on his doorstep, but knowing my amazing luck, Jack would find them and I’d be totally hosed, so I decided not to. Ultimately I took the bag down to the dumpster and threw away a perfectly lovely set of expensive linen sheets.
By late afternoon I was out of emotion. I got in that sterile, detached mood that always hit after saying, Screw everything. I applied for a few content jobs and sent an email to one of the online companies that’d offered me freelance work before I’d been hired by the Times. They were all crappy, creativity-free positions, but they’d at least pay the bills.
I walked down to the market on the corner and purchased a dinner of hot dogs, a box of Frosted Flakes, and Diet Coke, and once I got home, I didn’t know what to do with myself. It was such a quiet apartment with no TV, and I was getting sick of mindlessly messing with my phone. I had a bed and two barstools—that was it.
Empty, like me at the moment.
I kept thinking Colin would text an apology, but of course not. He probably didn’t even care.
Jackass.
I forced myself not to think about the night before—no good could come of that—and after lying on my bare mattress for an hour with no sleepiness to be found, I sent a text to Mr. Wrong Number.
Me: I know we don’t know each other, but we DID have an actual friendship and you could’ve at least said goodbye. Right now everything in my life is in the trash and I’m kind of alone, and I could really use an anonymous friend. Sucks that you suck so badly.
I plugged my phone into the charger and shut off the light.
Screw him, too.
Boys sucked.
But then my phone buzzed. I looked down at it in the darkness.
Mr. Wrong Number: I can’t tell you why I disappeared, but it was nothing you did and I’m so sorry for leaving you alone. I know you’re mad, but if you need to talk, I’m here.
I wanted to stay mad but the truth of the matter was that I needed to talk. I desperately needed to talk to someone who didn’t know me or my situation. I turned the light back on.
Me: What would you say if I told you that I slept with my brother’s best friend, got fired from my job for lying, then found out that my brother’s best friend was the one responsible for airing the secret that got me fired?
Colin
I stared down at the phone in my hand and didn’t know what to do. Hell.
Because I was torn between feeling really bad for Liv, and being really pissed at her. It sucked that she got fired from a job she loved, especially when she was so good at it. I knew her well enough to know she was hurt and also stressing the hell out over paying rent on the new apartment.