JENNIE

I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy. I was fucking Nancy

Lisa's words echo in my head over and over long after she's slammed the door and marched out of my life forever. I try to calm myself down before having to go down to meeting everyone.

I should have known Lisa was toying with me, I should have known that she was still messing around with that skank. Hell, she was probably sleeping with her the whole time she was "dating" me. How could I be so stupid? I almost believed her last night when she said she loved me—I was thinking, why else would she drive all the way to Seattle? But the answer really is: because she's Lisa and she does things like that to mess with me. She always has and always will. Confusing me is this guilt I feel for blurting out that I kissed that guy, and the way I basically blamed Lisa for last night when I know I wanted it just as much as she did. I just don't want to admit that to her, or to myself, not really.

Thinking of her and Nancy together makes my stomach churn. If I don't eat something soon, I'll vomit. Not only from my hangover but from Lisa's confession. Nancy, of all people . . . I despise her. I can picture her, with her stupid smirk, knowing that her sleeping with Lisa again would torture me.

These thoughts circle around me like vultures until, finally, having pulled myself back from the abyss of a total breakdown, I dot the corners of my eyes with a tissue and grab my purse. In the elevator I nearly lose it again, but by the time I reach the bottom floor, I've regained control.

"Jennie!" Taehyung calls from the other side of the lobby. "Good morning," he says as he hands me a cup of coffee.

"Thank you. Taehyung, I'm so sorry for Lisa's behavior last night—" I start.

"It's okay, really. She's a little . . . intense . . . ?"

I almost laugh, but the thought of doing this makes me nauseous again. "Um, yeah . . . intense," I mumble and take a sip of my coffee.

He looks at his phone then tucks it back into his pocket. "Kimberly and Christian will be down in a few minutes." He smiles. "So . . . is Lisa still here?"

"No. And she won't be coming back." I try to sound like I could care less. "Did you sleep well?" I ask in attempt to change the subject.

"Yeah, but I was worried about you." Taehyung's eyes travel to my neck, and I move my hair to cover where my mark maybe is showing.

"Worried? Why?"

"Can I ask you something? I don't want to upset you . . ." His tone is cautious, and it makes me a little nervous.

"Yeah . . . go ahead."

"Has Lisa ever . . . you know . . . she hasn't ever hurt you, right?" Taehyung looks at the ground.

"What? We fight a lot, so, yeah, she hurts me all the time," I answer and take another gulp of the delicious coffee.

He looks up at me sheepishly. "I mean physically," he mutters.

I snap my head to the side to look at him. He didn't just ask me if Lisa puts her hands on me? I cringe at the thought. "No! Of course not. She would never do that."

I can tell by the look in Taehyung's eyes that he doesn't mean to offend me. "I'm sorry . . . she just seems so violent and angry."

"Lisa is angry, and sometimes violent, but she would never, ever hurt me like that." I feel an odd wave of anger toward Taehyung for accusing Lisa of such a thing. He doesn't know Lisa . . . but then again, neither do I, apparently.

We stand in silence for a few minutes, and I ponder that until I spot Kimberly's blond hair coming toward us.

"I really am sorry. I just think you should be treated much better," Taehyung says quietly right before the others join us.

"I feel like shit. Absolute shit." Kimberly groans.

"Me, too—my head is killing me," I agree as we all walk down a long corridor toward the conference center.

"You look so good, though. I, on the other hand, look like I just crawled out of bed," she says.

"You do not," Christian says and kisses her forehead.

"Thank you, babe, but your opinion is quite biased." She laughs and then rubs her temples.

Taehyung smiles and says, "Looks like we won't be going out tonight." Everyone readily agrees.

When we arrive at the conference, I go straight to the breakfast bar and grab a bowl of granola. I eat it much faster than I should, and I can't seem to shake Lisa"s words from my mind. I wish I had at least kissed her once more . . . No, I don't. I must still be drunk.

The seminars go by quickly, and though Kimberly groans as the keynote speaker's voice booms far too loudly through the room, come the lunchtime break my headache is almost completely gone.

Noon. Lisa would be back home by now, probably with Nancy. She probably drove straight to her place just to spite me. Have they already slept together in our room? I mean, our old room? In the bed that was meant for us? When I remember the way she touched me and moaned my name last night, my body is replaced by hers. All I can see is Lisa and Nancy. Nancy and Lisa.

"Did you hear me?" Taehyung asks and takes a seat next to me. I smile apologetically. "Sorry, I was out of it."

"I was wondering if you want to grab dinner tonight since everyone's staying in." I look into his shining blue eyes, and when I don't immediately answer him, he stutters, "I-if you don't . . . want to, that's okay, too."

"Actually, I would love to," I tell him.

"Really?" he breathes. I can tell he thought I would turn him down, especially after Lisa's behavior toward him.

For the next four hours of talks, I let it warm my heart that Taehyung would still want to take me out even after being threatened by my crazy ex.

"THANK GOODNESS THAT'S OVER. I need sleep," Kimberly groans as we get into the elevator.

"Looks like you're just not as young as you used to be," Christian teases, and she rolls her eyes and leans against his shoulder.

"Jennie, tomorrow we'll go shopping in the morning while these two are at meetings," she says and closes her eyes.

Which sounds great to me. As does a nice quiet dinner in Seattle with Taehyung—in fact, it sounds amazing after my wild night with Lisa. I'm a little uneasy about my behavior this weekend already, kissing a stranger, basically forcing Lisa to have sex with me, and now going to dinner with a third guy. But the last of these is the most benign, and at least I know there won't be anything physical involved.

Not for you, sure, but for Lisa and Nancy . . . my subconscious throws in.

Man, she is getting on my nerves.

At my door, Taehyung stops and says, "I'll come get you at six thirty, is that okay?"

I answer him with a smile and a nod and go inside to the scene of the crime.

I was going to try to take a small nap before my dinner with Taehyung, but I end up taking another shower instead. I feel dirty from the events of last night, and I need to rewash Lisa's scent from my body. This time two weeks ago, I had thought everything would be so different right now, with Lisa and me getting ready to visit her mother in Thailand for Christmas. Now I don't even have anywhere to live, which prompts the thought that I need to call my mother back. She called me multiple times last night.

After I get out of my shower, I start reapplying my makeup and hit her number.

"Hello, Ruby Jane" she says in a clipped tone.

"Hey, sorry I didn't call you back last night. I'm in Seattle for that publishing conference, and we were talking to clients later over dinner."

"Oh, that's right. Is she there?" she asks, and I'm a little stunned she would even ask me that.

"No . . . Why do you ask?" I say as nonchalantly as possible.

"Because she called here last night trying to find out where you were. I don't appreciate you giving her this number—you know how I feel about her, Ruby Jane."

"I didn't give her the number—"

"I thought the two of you ended things?" she interrupts.

"We did. I did. She probably just needed to know something about the apartment, or something," I lie. She must have been really desperate to get hold of me if she called my mother's house. That thought hurts and pleases me at the same time.

"Speaking of which, we can't get you into a dorm until Christmas break is over, but since you'll be off of work and school for the week, you can just come here."

"Oh . . . okay," I agree. I don't want to spend my break at my mother's, but what choice do I have?

"I will see you Monday. And, Jennie If you know what's good for you, you will stay far away from that girl," she says and hangs up.

Spending a week at my mother's house will be hell; I don't know how I lived there for eighteen years. Honestly, I never realized how bad she was until I got a taste of freedom. Maybe since Lisa is leaving the country Tuesday, I can stay in that motel for two more nights and go to the apartment while she's gone. As much as I don't want to ever go there again, it is still my name on the lease, and it's not like she would ever know.

Scrolling through my phone, I see that I have no new messages or calls from her, though I knew that I wouldn't. I can't believe she would sleep with Nancy and throw it in my face like that. The worst part is that if I hadn't blurted out that I kissed someone else, she would have never told me. Just like with the bet that started our "relationship." And that means I just can't trust her.

I finish getting myself ready, deciding upon a plain black dress. My days of woolen, pleated skirts seem so long ago. I apply another layer of concealer to my neck and wait for Taehyung to come. True to his nature, he knocks on the door at exactly six thirty.