“Potential isn’t something worth staying for because it may never come. Plus, it’s not my responsibility to tame a man.”
She released a heavy sigh. “Maybe if you meet with him. Maybe if you talk in person…” She was spiraling, and it was all becoming a little too much for me. When would she start connecting the dots that whatever it was Jason and I had shared was nothing more than a made-up story? There had been a point when I’d thought what we had was real, but it was wishful thinking.
He wasn’t the only one in the wrong for what had happened. I had make-believed for too long in the situation. I was in a rush, trying to settle down before my time ran out. I wanted a family so much I fell into the arms of a man who was never strong enough to hold me.
I took the blame for the mistakes I’d made, trying to create love in a place where it was never meant to grow. I owned up to my flaws, and I’d have to deal with them in my own time. But I knew for certain that going back to Jason would never, ever be a situation I’d fall back into.
“If he wanted to meet with me, Marie, he could’ve, but he doesn’t, and I don’t want to meet with him either. I’m moving on with my life. I’m moving out of his place this Sunday, and I will be leaving the key at the front desk for him whenever he’s ready to return. It’s over.”
“You can’t truly believe that, Aaliyah. After everything we’ve been through…” The tears fell from her eyes and she wiped them away, only to have more begin to fall. “You’re our family.”
I hated that she was crying. I hated that I was the reason behind her hurting. She’d come into my life at one of my lowest points, when I was scared and alone, and given me comfort, not to mention all the medical expenses she and Walter had covered for me without a second thought. They truly had been my family for a short period.
But if I stayed in her life, I knew it would become toxic. I didn’t want that for either of us.
I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed my to-go cup of coffee. “Maybe some things just aren’t meant to be forever. I’m sorry, Marie. I have to go pack.”
“Where are you moving to?” she asked.
“I don’t really feel comfortable telling you that information.”
She combed her long straightened black hair behind her ears and shook her head. “You’re making a huge mistake, Aaliyah, by walking away from my family.”
It was already happening. She was beginning to shift blame to me, as if I were the one who’d caused the current issues. She made it seem as if I was the one who had called off the wedding and was severing our connection. That blame would only build over time, making me the villain in the story. Leaving now was the best option for everyone involved.
I cleared my throat and stood from the chair. “I wish you the best, Marie, but please, to make this easier for everyone…stop calling.”
I hadn’t received a message from Marie since I told her we needed to cut all ties. Therefore, my attention was completely on packing up my things and moving on from Jason’s world.
Connor went above and beyond to help me with the move. When I tried to talk him out of hiring movers for me, he told me he wouldn’t take no as an answer. “It’s a good reason to get together for an interview session,” he’d said, giving me an excuse to have him help me pack up my boxes.
I took him up on the offer. The sooner the boxes were packed, the sooner I could be out of Jason’s place.
“You’re a collector,” Connor commented, taking my snow globe collection off the bookshelves in the living room.
I looked up from the box of dishes I had sitting on the kitchen countertop. “I like things to look back on. Each snow globe has a story behind it.”
He arched an intrigued brow and lifted one up. “What’s this one from?”
After setting the plate inside the box, I walked over to Connor and took the snow globe from his hand. It was a woman sitting at a desk writing. My lips turned up at the memory that came rushing back to me.
“I got this one the day I graduated from college with my journalism degree.” I placed the snow globe into the box.
“What about this one?” he asked, lifting up another globe.
The moment I saw it, my smile evaporated. I took it from Connor and stared at it. There were two ice skaters at Rockefeller Center right in front of the holiday Christmas tree. I shook the snow globe and watched the snowflakes fall over the couple.
“Jason got it for me after his family took me ice skating for the first time,” I explained. I walked over to the trash bin in the kitchen and tossed it inside. “I’d rather not hold on to that. Plus, looking back, it was actually his mom who pressured him to get it for me. He didn’t even spend his money on it.”
Connor crossed his arms. “For some reason, that doesn’t surprise me. His parents are gems.”
“Yeah. I figured over time, he could become more like them. Are you two close? You and Jason?” I asked. I’d been wondering about their relationship, about Connor’s thoughts on the subject since it took place.
He laughed. “Close? No, not at all. Jason and I haven’t always seen eye to eye. Not only on the business side of things but on the lifestyle side, too.”
“Everyone said he was a party animal before me.”
“That’s true.”
“I don’t know why I thought he’d change for me…I don’t know why I thought I’d be the one to tame him, but when we were together at first, it
