Chapter 5
MIA
Three days. It’s been three entire days, and I have seen no sign of Grayson.
That’s what he wrote on the back of the card.
Grayson and a phone number, not the same that’s on the front of the small paper.
His personal number, I noticed, and the thought of it made me blush so hard Kennie saw right through me.
“Really, Mia,” she says while we eat lunch in the back of the store. “The man clearly has an obsession. He thinks I don’t notice, but I know he waits for me to leave just so he can talk to you.”
“Nonsense,” I reply, half-heartedly, because the thought of someone like Grayson being head over heels for me makes me blush like a schoolgirl.
“Nonsense for sure. He’s, like, fifty? And he’s chasing you like a romance hero.” She grins, pointing her fork at me. “You, girl, have bewitched the man. Body and soul.”
I chortle at her Jane Austen reference. “Well, someone’s been reading the books I recommend.”
Kennie waves a hand in dismissal before spearing a piece of chicken with her fork. “Hell no. I watch the movies with Amanda. She’s so into romance she watches anything, even the hetero couples.” Kennie shrugs. “She’d be out of movies in two days if she only watched lesbian romance.”
I press my lips together. This is so screwed up.
Kennie and Amanda have a beautiful, healthy relationship.
Why don’t they get as much recognition as straight couples do?
For every bad romance movie out there, where the abusive guy gets the girl, I think they should make two queer romance movies.
Where the couple ends up together, not where one of them dies, please.
Kennie points at me with her fork again. “Go on. Tell me about the other day again.”
“What day?” I try to be coy, pretending I don’t know what she’s talking about, but we’ve known each other forever. It’s impossible to deceive her.
She rolls her eyes. “The day Grayson Cox, one of the most eligible bachelors in town, came up with a delivery next door, then told me I could go home earlier. That day. He wanted to get you alone and since you didn’t call me and the cops haven’t taken him in, I’m guessing something good happened.”
Heat spreads across my face. “Well, yeah, we kissed. But that’s that.”
Kennie narrows her eyes, then widens them again, and a smirk stretches her lips. “Oh yeah. Just kissed. Sure, sure.” And something in her smirk tells me she knows I’m lying. It only makes it worse.
“Look, I don’t know, Kennie. He is much older than me and he has money. That’s a recipe for disaster.”
Kennie dramatically crosses her legs. “Well, you have a point. We all know many older men pursue younger women because the girls will be impressed and easily manipulated... But I don’t feel that vibe coming off Grayson.
I’ve been working here for years, and I never even heard about the man dating anyone. He’s focused on the job.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s innocent.”
“Definitely not. But I’m getting a vibe from you.
” And she motions with a hand in my direction.
“Something tells me you’re going through some PTSD shit.
Did something happen and you’re comparing Grayson with your ex?
” she asks, and I swallow hard. Kennie squeals in victory.
“That’s it, isn’t it? Grayson said something, and it reminded you of that dickhead. ”
“Grayson was pretty possessive, you know? We were making out, and he made me pick up a call from Trey, and then he said he wanted to make sure I knew who I belonged to.” And I curl my nose, making a face.
That’s what happened, yeah, and it dampened the mood for me.
My ex thought I belonged to him, too, and it didn’t end well.
Kennie nods slowly. “I see.” She eats two forkfuls before she speaks again. “I think it was in the heat of the moment, Mia. He didn’t mean it like you being an object. He meant it like sexually.”
He definitely meant it sexually. I remember his eyes burning with lust. “I don’t like it either way.”
Kennie meets my eyes and cocks her head. “Did you tell him that? He can just, you know, respect you and stop.”
I chew on my bottom lip, my gaze fastened on my food. “No. I didn’t have the chance.” Before I ran off.
Kennie mutters. “Look, Mia. Just compare the way he makes you feel to the way your ex did. Your ex manipulated you into thinking you needed him. He liked to say you would never get another person if you broke up. He wouldn’t let you go places by yourself, and you always had to let him know at what times you would come to work.
Remember when he started telling you to turn on geolocation? ”
The memory makes me shudder. God, my self-esteem was so damn low I didn’t see the signs.
I didn’t see it happening. All I thought was that my ex was giving me a chance, and I should be grateful.
That only allowed him to step on me, to treat me like his object.
It’s what allowed him to use me, to steal my money, to take out that loan and leave me with it.
And Kennie is right. I’m afraid. I’m afraid this might go down again, and it hurt so much when it happened.
I cried, and I despaired. For a while, I didn’t know what to do.
My self-esteem got even worse because now I knew he was only using me.
Those were hard days, covered in cloudy skies and helplessness.
Slowly, and with my friend’s help, I grew out of it.
I learned how to identify an abusive relationship, I heard about it from other people, and I identified what I could have done differently.
Everything took so much work. The loan can’t be unmade, but I can make sure this never happens again.
And the thought of Grayson using me and screwing me over brings out fear so raw and so intense I don’t know what to do.
But is this fear going to freeze me? Is it going to stop me from having another chance at love?
Kennie reaches out and holds my fingers. Her lips stretch into a soft, reassuring smile. “I don’t want to force you into anything, girl. All I want is to make sure you’re happy. Talk to him. Things might get clearer if you two talk.”
Her words resonate with me. My ex never wanted to talk. He thought discussing the relationship was something women only wanted to do to annoy their men. I nod at Kennie. Yeah, maybe if I ask Grayson to talk through it, I’ll learn if he truly wants me or if this entire thing is just another fluke.
Picking up my phone, I search for the number he left me. I open a new message and type, Are you free tonight?
And I’m ready to put it away because my ex would see my messages and then take forever to reply to them. Instead, three dots appear next to Grayson’s name, and I’m left gawking at the screen for a couple of seconds before his reply hits.
For you, I’ll make time.
My stomach churns, somersaults as I reread the text. Butterflies set flight inside me, and I can’t eat. The smile on my face is impossible to wipe out. I’ve never felt like this. And it’s all because of Grayson.