Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 91536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91536 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
"Give it a few days."
"I'll dye my hair."
"You'd look cute with a pixie cut," she says.
The car slides onto the freeway. It's already afternoon. The road is jammed.
It won't be a fast trip into the city.
More time to talk. More time for this to sink in, I guess.
"What did he say?" she asks. "When you talked to him about it?"
I clear my throat.
"Ivy."
"What?"
"You didn't talk to him."
"We talked, yes,," I say.
“What do you mean, ‘we talked, yes’? Did you explain everything or not?”
“You didn’t see his face, Mer. He was so disappointed. Like I broke his heart.”
“Maybe you did.”
My stomach sinks. Maybe I did. But if I broke his heart, that means I had his heart. And maybe that means I can have it again.
I look out the window and watch the cars stop and go. We're not close enough to see the city yet. When was I last in New York City? In any city other than Los Angeles?
Maybe Meredith is right. I need a vacation. To get far away from the place where everyone knows everything about me. To leave the place where I failed at all the things I wanted to do.
“Are you going to reach out?” she asks.
I should. I know I should. But it’s scary. "He knows how to get in touch. He hasn’t.” I hold up my cell phone as proof.
She looks at the screen. "It's still on airplane mode."
Damn, she's right. "But if he hasn't, then…"
"Then you can still be the one to reach out to him and say, hey, can we talk?"
Technically true. But it means something, doesn't it? If he hasn't tried to talk to me.
I unlock my phone. I stare at the airplane mode icon like it has the power to change my entire life.
Finally, I press the button.
A flurry of texts arrives.
My parents.
A few coworkers.
Cynthia.
Nothing from Rome.
I shake my head.
Meredith squeezes my hand. "I'm sorry, babe." She gives me a minute to take it in. "But that doesn't mean he hates you. It can mean a million things. You should talk to him."
"To his brother's fiancée," I say.
"It's a start," she says. "Are you sure you're a therapist?"
"We're the worst clients. Everyone knows that." I check my message from Cynthia.
Cynthia: Hey, I saw the article in the Register, and I noticed you ran off. Are you okay? Do you need to talk?
Ivy: I'm okay, thanks. Just a little overwhelmed.
She replies a minute later.
Cynthia: Thank goodness, I was getting worried. Danny said it's probably nothing. It's not like you're going to drive off the pier. But you never know.
Ivy: I went to see my friend. In New York.
Cynthia: Ah. How's that?
Ivy: Traffic full. How's Rome?
Cynthia: A little shell-shocked, I think. Danny put things together pretty fast, but he was really cool about it. Impressed actually.
Ivy: Impressed?
Cynthia: Yeah, he said Rome's numbers are fantastic, especially for a new business. Rome has natural talent. Beyond his natural talents. Honestly, I'm not sure I've ever seen him talking about Rome this way, like they're equals, like he's excited to start the business. I think, Danny finding out Rome is an escort is the best thing that could have happened for them.
Ivy: Damn.
Cynthia: Yeah.
Ivy: Did Amara figure it out?
Cynthia: No, she doesn't follow the news or listen to podcasts. And I don't think anyone would know enough to tell her. You know? Her friends won't have the same details you would.
Ivy: She knows about his birthmarks, but her friends don't?
Cynthia: Basically, yeah.
Ivy: Is he mad at me?
Cynthia: I don't think I've ever seen him mad. Now is no exception. But he is…
Ivy: Disappointed?
Cynthia: Bingo.
Ivy: Do you think he'd forgive me?
Cynthia: I think he really likes you. And he knows the truth has a tendency of coming out. I don't know what you told him before. Only that he didn't realize you had a podcast. I think, if he is upset, it's not because people are starting to figure out who he is.. It's that you used him.
Ivy: But this was his idea.
Cynthia: Huh?
Right. I guess that detail isn't exactly in the story. She doesn’t know we were faking a relationship, so how would she know the fake relationship was his idea.
He begged me.
I tried to say no, really. I wanted to say no. Even though I wanted to have sex with him again.
Does that make it alright I said yes and didn’t tell him about my podcast?
It doesn’t feel quite right either. But I can’t ask Cynthia about this. She thinks we were together for real, that we went from client to girlfriend, or something like that.
Ivy: The sex-experimentation thing. That was his idea. That we’d spend time together, that way.
Cynthia: And I'm sure it was good for business. I'm sure he accepted his payment for a while?
Ivy: For a while, yeah.
Cynthia: And then he fell for you. And he thought you fell for him. But now, he's thinking you were using him for material. Something like that. I'm not sure. I'm not saying it's logical. But you know better than anyone. When is love logical?