Chapter 2 New Beginnings
Three months later
T he house in front of me was desperately ordinary.
Checking my phone again, my shoulders slumped seeing my sister, Monica, still hadn’t sent word that she was on her way to let me in the house.
My temporary home.
I ran away from my last home, tail tucked between my legs and my old friends hiding their pitying stares in my rearview mirror as I drove away. I hated that they pitied me, but if I was being honest with myself, my situation was the textbook definition of pitiable.
I was the girl whose boyfriend cheated on her, left her, and paraded the new relationship in her face for as long as she could physically take until the heartache crippled her soul and dignity almost completely. Staying in New York was no longer an option if I wanted to keep my sanity intact.
So I ran.
I ran as far away as my wallet would take me all the way to where I was now. Chicago, Illinois. Here, where I had no friends, no job, little savings, and even less hope.
At least here, no one knew what happened. No one would give me that look that screamed ‘Oh, that poor girl.’
Finally down the road, I spotted a silver car racing towards the driveway I sat in with a familiar looking brunette woman behind the steering wheel. Turning off my engine, I opened the driver’s side door and dipped out of the car into the almost too sunny mid-July day.
Her car lurched forward awkwardly as she jammed it into park, and I had to smile at her high-strung energy that was low-key present at all times.
Even as kids growing up, Monica was never really a true ‘kid’.
She was overly observant, adored having a meticulous schedule, and was the only child in her kindergarten class to make a request that nap time be banned as it was, in her words, “ A waste of time .”
Growing up with an older sister who’d rather memorize the capital of every state than play cops and robbers with you wasn’t particularly ideal, but she was who she was, and I loved her for it.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” Monica jumped out of her car, making her way up to me. “I know I’m late but I had—”
“Work?”
She breathed out a sigh that was as exhausted as the look in her eyes. “Always.”
My sister’s stare dipped, and her plucked eyebrows furrowed in as she examined the rest of me. “Did you get skinnier? How is that even possible?”
“Break ups will do that to you,” I replied, forcing an edge of humor in my voice.
Monica rolled her eyes back up to mine. “He’s a dick, and my offer to kill him still stands.”
“Much appreciated.”
My entire car was packed front to back with as many of my possessions as I could fit, and what couldn’t was left behind with the rest of my broken heart. Between the two of us, we grabbed as many of my belongings from my car as we could and made our way inside the house.
“I didn’t have much time to pick up between these two cases they’ve put me on at work, and Ethan pretty much never cleans so apologies, but also—” She dropped the bags of mine she’d grabbed against the wall of their entryway. “You’re staying here for free, so I’m not that sorry.”
“And if I haven’t said it a thousand times already, I’m very grateful, and I’ll buy you something pretty whenever I get some cash flowing in again.
” Following her lead, I dropped my belongings against the same wall she had before we both made two more trips back and forth to my car until all of my stuff was inside.
Six trips worth of stuff. One car full of what was left of my life. How sad was that?
“So, this will be your room.” Monica showed me to the first room off to the right, hidden only by a small corner. “I’ve been dying to have a reason to decorate this guest bedroom since I bought the place, but no one’s ever asked to stay before. So you’re the first to break ‘er in.”
The room was simple. Four walls, a closet, a bed, and a window next to the bed.
Thank God I’d brought the couple pieces of bedroom furniture that I could fit in my car. These bare bones wouldn’t do, and that one closet wouldn’t come close to fitting all of my clothes and dance shoes.
“So…” Monica began behind me, and my stomach dipped in response to her cautious tone. I knew that ‘So’ well enough by this point in the breakup process to know what came after it. “Do you want to talk about it?”
No. “There’s not much to talk about really.”
“Is he still dating that homewrecker?”
While I appreciated that disdain in my sister’s voice, I wished she’d picked up on my hint that I did not want to rehash the worst months of my life like it was water-cooler gossip.
“Yup. They tried hiding it, but when he left for California and she disappeared at the exact same time, telling her friends that she was going to see family in Cali for a week, everyone put the pieces together pretty quickly. They came out as an official couple pretty much right after they got back.”
Jonah going on vacation with the girl he cheated on me with less than 24 hours after breaking up with me was only the tip of the humiliating iceberg that had become my laughable life.
“I can’t believe I was ever nice to that asshole. You know I never really liked him, right?” Spinning to face Monica, I was happy with the new direction this conversation had taken. Jonah bashing sessions had become one of my new favorite pastimes.
“Why not?”
She shrugged her shoulders and leaned her weight on the doorframe into my new room. “He just always had this arrogance about him that I never liked. He would talk down to you all the time too. Like he just knew he was better than you.”
I did know. Even at the time I knew, but I’d just accepted the behaviour because I loved him.
Because he had been good to me in the beginning of our relationship, and I always assumed he would be good to me again.
“I made a lot of excuses for him over the years because I just assumed that he was always going to be it for me.”
“Yeah, well fuck that guy and fuck those excuses. You’re better off without him anyway.” It was crazy how many people had actually told me that over these last three months—so many people certain I was better off alone and that I had dodged a bullet and that I should count myself lucky.
I didn’t feel very lucky, though.
Watching the man I thought I’d be spending the rest of my life with find happiness with someone else wasn’t a feeling I’d associate with luck.
Being told by everyone around you that he’d moved on and that I needed to as well didn’t make me feel in any way good.
Having to leave my dance studio—my home—and dream job I’d been striving towards since I was a little girl wasn’t something that made me feel like I had any luck left at all.
My life was a series of misfortunes, and anyone trying to tell me any differently was just being nice.
“Let’s stop talking about my depressing love life and talk about yours, please. Especially considering that I didn’t even know you were in a serious relationship and then I have to find out over the phone like a commoner that you’re engaged to this mystery man?”
Monica cracked a smile I’d only seen her wear on a few occasions before, and even though my love life was in irreparable shambles, I was happy that she’d found love.
“Yeah, it all happened kind of fast,” she admitted with a soft chuckle.
“So, how long have you and this Ethan been dating?”
A bashful tint covered her stare and she hesitated to answer.
“Just over eight months.”
Shock dropped my jaw right open. “Woah.”
“I know.” She sunk her face into her hands, her brunette locks dangling around her and let out the strangest collection of noises.
Yet, when she looked back up to me, there was nothing but excitement on her face.
“It’s not like me to rush into anything this serious, but…
I guess this falls under the whole ‘when you know, you know’ category? ”
She was right. This was totally out of character for her, which must have meant that this guy, this Ethan guy, must be pretty spectacular to have nabbed my sister’s heart like he obviously had in such a short amount of time.
At least one of us got our happily ever after.
“That’s great. I’m really really happy for you, Mon.”
“Are you sure? I know it’s weird timing with, ya know…” she trailed off, looking uncomfortable enough that I felt the need to save her with a touch of unexpected humor.
“My love life crashing down? It’s okay. You can say it.”
Monica let out a thankful laugh that I joined in on, and for the first time in a long time, I felt just a bit lighter. Like I could breathe just a bit deeper.
“So, when do I get to meet the infamous Ethan?” I asked as we both walked out of my room.
“He works late tonight at the firm, but you should meet him tomorrow.”
“Oh, so he’s a junior lawyer, too?”
Monica plopped herself down on the admittedly comfortable looking couch taking over a good portion of their living room. “Not yet. He’s a law clerk right now at my firm. Working his way up slowly.”
I nodded, digesting the information, and settled down next to Monica on the couch with a speck of a smile pulling on my lips.
I was actually quite looking forward to meeting the man that had stolen my sister’s heart.