The future was up in smoke. My most recent and only long-term employer wouldn’t be a great reference. Oh yeah, Elena Julian was great. Too bad she screwed the married boss and had to quit on the fly in a heap of disgrace. Nice girl, though.
Meanwhile, he was a thousand miles away, soaking up rays with his wife while I was left holding the bag. He’d return and be a dog in the eye of some, but likely get scooted over to Chicago early, rewarded for bedding me while raising profits.
Anger roared to life as I pulled into the lot, storming up to my apartment without waiting for Lee. She was right. I needed a plan. A plan that involved getting the hell out of Ithaca for good.
Elena
Two hours.
That was all it took to pack up life in the city that broke me. I wouldn’t be a doormat for its misery any longer.
Lee wrangled Jesse and a few of his friends to help, clearing my apartment as I scrambled to shutter my life in the city. I closed my lease early and canceled utilities, taking a hit more than once. Thankfully, I still had some savings to raid.
Little by little, my apartment became an empty cavern of memories, Hank's meows echoing from his temporary bathroom jail cell. Any furniture would rest in Lee’s basement until I was situated, Dad’s cabin too small to house anything extra. I packed the essentials, stuffing things into suitcases and eventually trash bags when I ran out of room. It was a flashback to my exit from the condo with Justin.
This time was different-raw, stinging, and painful. The lie was more disgusting than Justin's cheating, robbing me of pride. Jason forced me to be the other woman, knowing damn well the scenario ruined me before.
He played me, and I was done being a toy for anyone. It was time to take back control, and I did, deciding to end the cycle once and for all. So what if I would spend the foreseeable future in my childhood loft out in the middle of nowhere? I had a lot of learning to do, something I could only do away from it all.
I glanced at my phone, wiping sweat off my forehead from my latest mad dash with bags, a stark contrast to the crisp air outside, fresh sleet falling. I had a narrow window to make my escape. Jason was on his way back from Florida, likely oblivious to being exposed as a liar and a cheat. I had to be on the road as soon as possible.
“I love your hair like that!” teased Lee, appearing with another load of bags, gesturing at my octopus-like topknot. “Total hottie.”
“Thanks,” I breathed, a small smile peeking through. I’d stripped out of work clothes for something comfier, settling on leggings and a hoodie for the long road ahead.
Unlike her typical self, she didn't smile back, her heart just as broken as mine. Even she knew this was different. Anger was replaced with sorrow, a final scene to a horrific chapter of my life.
This was the end of things, the end of Ithaca. We were together through the birth of some of her babies and had girls' nights aplenty at Crow Bar. She was there for every tear. Every laugh. Every meltdown. She was absurd and obscene but always steadfast in her loyalty, and I repaid her by lying to her. I didn't even trust her enough with the biggest, baddest secret of them all. I didn't deserve her.
As she stuffed those last few bags in the backseat, she turned to look at me, lip quivering. All that was left to grab was Hank in his carrier.
Lee was the first to break, a slight whimper escaping. “Ugh! This is such shit!” she cried, rubbing at her eyes.
“I know,” I breathed, trying to avoid a full-blown meltdown all over again. “And it's all my fault!”
“Shut up!” Lee snapped, hurrying over and pulling me into a hug. “Shut the fuck up right now! This is not your fault!”
I melted into sobs, clutching my best friend close.
“You fell in love, and that's never stupid or anyone's fault! Ever!” she ground out, squeezing me tight. “This is another hiccup, and we will get through it!”
“I love him!” I admitted, my heart breaking for the hundredth time that day. “I still do!”
“I know, baby, I know.”
“But I was so stupid!” I cried, reeling. “I should have known! No guy like that is single! There's always someone somewhere! Always! He screamed douchebag for a reason!”
“He's a creep. Not to mention I kinda egged you on about what a hottie he was.”
I pulled away, looking at my friend with a watery smile. “He is a hottie, but he's also a total asshole.”
“Yup, and one day we’ll look back at this when we’re old with wrinkly titties and laugh about the time you fucked our super sexy boss.”
“It could be worse,” I surmised. “I could have a whole wedding to call off. Again.”
Lee grinned. “Very true,” she sniffled, wiping her eyes. “At least I don’t have another dress in my closet I don’t need.”
Jesse appeared with Hank's carrier in hand, his hulking friends in the backdrop, squirming in the presence of two distraught women. “Someone's being a drama queen,” he announced, gesturing at the vocal feline who was letting his displeasure known. “He screamed the whole way down.”
I smiled, Hank glaring my way from behind the metal bars. “That's my boy.”
“Where do you want him?” Jesse asked, holding the carrier out as Hank erupted in a round of fierce hissing.
“The backseat is fine. If I put him in the front, he'll stare me down and shout cat expletives for the next seven hours.”
He chuckled, plopping the carrier in the back as ordered. “He’s feisty.”
“I think your wife rubbed off on him,” I teased. “He’s got a mouth on him.”
“She rubs off on everyone,”
