Chapter Fifteen
Ivy
February 2023
“Are you okay in there?” Cam’s worried voice breaks through the barriers of the door as he jiggles the knob. “Iv, open the door! What’s going on in there?”
Groaning, “Go away,” as I rest my head back across the toilet where I’ve been for the past ten minutes.
“I will not go away.” He says.
A few moments later, he’s waltzing inside.
Lifting my head up, I see him standing there, “How did you get in here?”
He answers, “I picked the lock,” very nonchalantly. “Actually, I used a butter knife to slip in between the latch on the door and gave it a little push. Now, what is wrong with you?”
“I think I have a stomach bug.” I groan again as another wave of vomit pushes past my lips, just making it in the toilet.
“Oh, you poor baby.” Cam says, leaving for a minute before he’s sitting beside me with a red cup. “Here, drink this, but only tiny, little sips.” He instructs.
Eyeballing the cup suspiciously, I ask, “What is it?” But before he has time to answer, I take a little sip. “Wholly shit.”
“It’s salt water.”
“Clearly.” I gag. “Why did you put so much salt in there?”
“Are we gonna sit here and talk about how much salt is or is not in there, or are we gonna go to urgent care to see what’s wrong with you?” He asks.
“No, I’ll be fine. Like I said, it’s just a stomach bug or something.” I say, attempting to get up. “Will you help me get in bed?”
“I don’t think you should go lay down, you need to go get checked out.” He urges, coming up behind me. Effortlessly lifting me up, he carries me out of the bathroom. “Now, don’t get mad, I did try to get rid of him, but his dusty, trifling ass wouldn’t take no for an answer.”
“Camden, what are you talking about?” I ask, laying my head on his chest as he walks me to my room.
“Your ex-boyfriend had the audacity to come here to ‘drop off’ some stuff he thought you’d like to have.” He scoffs, “I told him to shove it up his ass.”
“You did not.” I say, throwing my head back laughing.
“You better believe I did. It was about to get real ugly when I heard you throwing up your life in here and had to come investigate.”
“You’re being dramatic again, and it’s not a good look on you.”
“You’re a horrible liar. Everything looks good on me.” He flips his imaginary hair off his shoulders before taking a detour.
“You are seriously deranged.” I say, noticing the frown on his face. “What’s wrong? Did I hurt your feelings?”
Very carefully, he puts me down on my feet in the hallway before we get to the living room. “No, I just, are you mad because I didn’t immediately toss him out?”
“Camden, I would never get mad at you for making a decision you thought was the best. This is your home and if you want to allow him to come in, I’m totally okay with that.” I smile, caressing his face. “I love you with every fiber of my being. Just tell me you have money to put on my books after I murder him.” I smirk, trying to hold in my laughter.
“Shit, she’s finally done it. She’s cracked up.” He laughs, backing away from me.
“Nah, not yet. I’ve made peace with what he did to me, because at the time… It was exactly what I needed to hear to get me where I am now.”
“Where’s that?”
“Knowing my worth.” I say, watching his eyes gloss over before his bottom lip begins to quiver. “Don’t you dare start crying.”
“I won’t, it’s just… I love you.” He says, pulling me flush against his chest and wrapping his arms around me in a tight bear hug.
“I love you, too. Now, let’s go in there and see what he wants.”
“You still look pretty sick but more beautiful than you ever have.” He sniffs. “I hope he sees that.”
“I could care less if he does or doesn’t.” I say, smoothing out my baggie sweatshirt and tying my sweatpants. Cam, fluffs my afro out some and stands back to admire his minimal handy work.
“You’re practically glowing.”
“Thank you.” I blush. “Ready?”
“Absolutely.”
Hand in hand, we walk in the living room, when Jake stands up and rushes over to me. “Oh, Ivy, I’m so happy to see you.” He gushes, wrapping his arms around me so tight, he’s cutting off my air supply.
“Uh, you can let go now, Jake.” I whisper, unable to catch my breath.
“Oh, sorry.” He says, releasing me. Holding me at arms length, he looks into my face. “Wow, look at you. Y-you look beautiful.”
“Thanks, but I know you didn’t come all the way over here to tell me how beautiful I am.” Rolling my eyes is an understatement. I don’t know what possessed him to come over here just to tell me something he should have been telling me the whole time we were together.
“No, that’s not why I came.” He takes a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. I recognize this nervous gesture of his. What does he have to be nervous about? “I’m sorry for breaking up with you. I realized how much more you meant to me than Jane. When I finally figured it out, I broke up with her.”
I’m getting dazed, the lights start to blink, and I’m feeling lightheaded. Thinking quickly, I flop down in the chair closest to me, because if I don’t, I think I might slug him. “You did what?”
“I said-” I held up a hand, stopping him.
“No, I heard what you said. It just doesn’t make any sense to me as to why you did it.”
“What doesn't make sense? The fact that I made a mistake or that I want you back?”
I laugh. “Want me back? Want me back?” Rising from my seat, dizziness be damned, I begin pacing the floor when I stop in front of him, wagging my finger in his face. “You have the audacity to come up in here, telling me you made a mistake, and that you want me back?”
Nervously looking around, he says, “Well, yes.” Like I’ve just been sitting around waiting for him to come back and scoop my pitiful self up because I’d still be waiting for him.
“Jake, are you delusional?”
“Delusional? What do you mean, Evie?”
“Stop calling me Evie!” I growled. “That’s not my fucking name, Jake, and you would think after all this time together… You’d know that.”
“I thought you liked it.” He says, shifting from one foot to the other.
“Yeah, well, I don’t.” I huff. “Is that all you came over here to say?”
“Yeah, Me and Jane are history, and I want you back. That’s, that’s what I came to say.”
He tries to wrap his arms around me again, but I side step him. “You do not have permission to touch me like that. We’re done. You chose someone else over me, and that’s the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. Do you honestly think I’d subject myself to that kind of pain again, when you figure out that she’s the one for you and not me?”
He just stares, blinking at me with his mouth hanging open.
“You’re something else, Jake.” I walk to the front door, with his eyes boring a hole into my back, and open it. “Please leave and don’t you ever fucking come back.” I bark.
Saying those things to him felt great.
I can’t believe he really thought I’d take him back just because he said he made a mistake and that they were no longer together. Who’s to say that when she decides to come back into his life that he won’t toss me aside again?
Fuck that.
I’m not stupid like I once was.
Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Watching him sulk to the door, I look at him. I mean, really look at him.
Sure, he’s handsome in that college, prep boy kinda way with his blond hair and blue eyes, and no fucking tattoos which is a real bummer.
That and him not driving a monster truck are both buzz kills that I should have never entertained with the way I’m completely obsessed with both those things.
Abel doesn’t have a big truck.
He doesn’t need one, the tattoos and bike make up for the absence of the truck.
“Nope, not doing this.” I mumble out loud, watching the way Cam’s face scrunches up. “What I meant to say was, thanks for dropping off my stuff, but you need to leave.” I open the door, waiting for him to walk through.
“Please, don’t do this, Ivy.”
“Wow, you finally got it right.” I scoff, looking him up and down. “Too bad you couldn’t do the same with our relationship.” He steps across the threshold, and I slam the door in his face, locking it behind him.
“Bitch! I’m so fucking proud of you.” Cam says from behind me. He was so quiet the entire time that I forgot he was still in the room with us. “Go best fran, that’s my best fran!”
“Stop it, you’re making me blush.”
“I know someone who’d love to see you blush.” And just like that, the mood is gone.
“Let it go, Cam.”
“No, I won’t let it go, just like I won’t let go of the fact that you need to go to the
doctor.”
I’ve got something that will shut him up. “Okay, I’ll call and make an appointment on Monday. Now, don’t get excited, they probably won’t be able to see me on Monday, but at least I’ll have a set appointment.”
“Good, one issue resolved, on to the next.”
It’s an automatic, “No,” for me.
“What do you mean… No?”
“I meant what I said, Cam, let it go. I don’t want to talk about him.”
Pushing me away from him, he says, “Thank God I don’t take orders from you, Evie.” He snickers, calling me the wrong name like Jake always did. “I want to talk about him and how what you did was beyond wrong and you regret it.”
“I regret nothing.” I lie because I do regret walking out on him. “I want to talk about the fact that Jake was really just here, saying he wanted me back. I mean, how crazy is that? Did he really think I would go back to him after he let his ‘girlfriend’ speak for him? Fucked up is what he got me.” I mutter, thinking how pathetic he looked with his puppy dog eyes, pleading with me to give him another chance.
“Yeah, you really showed him. I’m beyond proud of you for handling it the way you did. I personally think you should have kicked him in the balls and then tossed him out, but hey… That’s just me.”
“I should have kicked him in the balls, huh?” He nods his head yes. “Maybe next time if he shows his face, I’ll kick him in the balls.”
“As you should.”
“What are your plans for the rest of the day? Wanna go down to Daisy’s Cafè for coffee, hit the bookstore, walk around the mall, and then catch dinner and a movie?”
“Absolutely.” I say when it hits me. “Wait, we can’t just leave Travis out.”
“Please. Travis has to work a double, plus he’s on call which means he won’t be back until Sunday evening.” He says, moving past me. “I think we should take a quick nap. After that dramatic little episode of ex begone, I’m pooped beyond belief.”
“You know, I don’t even wanna know how you come up with those little things.” Walking to the fridge, I grab a bottle of water, attempting to quench my thirst. “Why are you tired? I’m the one that should be drained from all the excitement, not to mention this ridiculous stomach bug.” I say, flopping down on the sofa.
“Girl, don’t get me started on that. Are we napping first or jumping right into our fun day?”
“We don’t need a nap, Cam, I’m ready to get out of here and enjoy myself. It’s been too long since I’ve gone out and done something for me. Like, I want to go to the new bookstore that opened up on forty-fifth and Center Street.” I sigh, thinking about all the things I never did when I was with Jake. “I want to go out for coffee and inhale the coffee beans while listening to the tapping of computer keys as people work on their laptops.”
“Okay, shelter in place, we get that you haven’t been out in awhile.” Cam says, looking at me in disgust. “I guess I can sleep later, after giving you a day you’ll remember forever.”
I’m squealing like a little schoolgirl. “Really? You’re okay with that?”
His face morphs from disgust to serenity. “I’m more than okay with it, Ivy. You know I love giving you shit, it keeps me young.” He laughs. “Go get ready. We ride in twenty… Bitches!”
He is hysterical and keeps me laughing with all the crazy shit he comes up with.
Chugging my water, I make a beeline to my room and change out my clothes, putting something more presentable on to step out in.