Tease Me (The Macintyre Brothers 2)

ELLA: Hey, Mom. I need to get away for the weekend. Is it okay if I come home? Just until Sunday night? I won't be home until one in the morning so don't wait up.

MOM: Nonsense. I'll be there to pick you up. I don't want you taking a taxi home at that hour.

ELLA: No seriously. I'll be fine. I've been living in Manhattan and can take care of myself. Go to bed. You know you're useless after ten at night.

MOM: If you say so... I don't like it though. If you change your mind, I can come and meet you at the bus station.

ELLA: No, really. See you in the morning, okay?

MOM: Okay. You do know that your father is in Washington for a meeting.

ELLA: I know he's away.

MOM: Is there something wrong, dear? This is kind of out of the blue.

ELLA: It's good actually. I just need to get away from the bustle of the city for a few days.

Then, I thought better of it.

ELLA: Oh, hell. Yes, something's wrong. Someone told me that Josh cheated on me with an old girlfriend. Or maybe he never stopped seeing her. I don't know which. Regardless, I saw pics of him with her a week ago when he was at the funeral of his friend from the Army.

MOM: Did you ask him about it?

ELLA: What's he going to say? Yes?

MOM: He might say no. That your source was wrong.

ELLA: The pics don't lie. I will talk to him about it, but now, I need some time away to get my mind straight.

MOM: Oh, dear. It sounds like you're in far deeper than I suspected. You really care about Josh.

ELLA: I thought I did. I thought he cared about me, but if this is true, I guess I should swear off men altogether.

MOM: Oh, sweetheart, no. Don't say that. You just have to find the right man. You will. Give it time.

ELLA: Whatever. I have to go back to my apartment and get ready. See you in the morning.

MOM: I love you, Ellie.

ELLA: Love you back.

I sent Sharon an email saying I'd developed a crushing migraine and needed to take the rest of the day off. She was fine with it and hoped I felt better. I knew she'd be generous and let me leave early.

I debated whether to call Reg and ask him to take me home, but I just didn't want to risk running into Josh. I didn't want to have to see or talk to anyone. I just wanted to go somewhere and be completely alone.

So, I left the building and didn't bother to call Reg for the car. I certainly didn't tell Josh. I didn't want to have to confront him about this Penelope woman.

How could he do it to me, knowing what I'd gone through?

I left the building through the back entrance and walked to the subway, then made my way to my apartment in Chelsea. When I got inside, I quickly packed an overnight bag with enough clothes and personal effects to take me through to Sunday night. I grabbed my laptop and case and left, taking the subway to Penn Station.

I felt a heavy weight of sadness descend over me as I waited for the train. I could have confronted Josh, gone to his office and demanded he tell me about Penny, but all I really wanted to do was cry.

I wasn't going to do that.

I was not going to cry over Josh. Instead, I'd go away for a few days and get my head clear.

The trip from New York to Boston took four and a half hours. It was more than enough time for me to worry that I'd made a mistake and shouldn't have run off so quickly. I wasn't going to change course and go back. I told myself that it would be a nice break from the daily routine. I told myself that I could get away from everything for a couple of days, recharge and the go back and face Josh and learn the truth about Penny.