“This is Ava,” I said.
“Hello, Miss Leary. It’s me again, calling from Save the Date.”
I couldn’t even remember the woman’s name, but I recognized her voice.
“Oh, hey there. How are you doing?” I asked. I took a step away from Logan and turned my back to him.
“Swimmingly. I just wanted to call and let you know that all your paperwork got processed.”
“That’s great news. Thank you so much,” I said.
“In fact, your paperwork was so well-received and had such glowing comments that we want to film your testimonial.”
“You what?”
“Yes. From what we can see and based on the surveys filled out on both sides, it seems as if the night was a smashing hit. And when things go over really well, we enjoy filming those testimonials for things like promotional products and videos for the investors.”
“I don’t want to be on a website or anything,” I said.
“Don’t worry. Your video is strictly for the investors. You know, to smooth things over for the chunk of money we absorbed for our mistake.”
“Makes sense. I’m sure they aren’t the happiest about that.”
“It’ll only take ten minutes of your time this Friday afternoon. Could you come by my office, say, around four thirty?”
I drew in a deep breath before I let it out through my nose.
“Sure. That sounds great. I’ll be there,” I said.
“Fabulous! Thank you so much for allowing us to travel this journey with you. We’ll be in touch!”
“See you Friday.”
I hung up the phone and placed it back in my purse, then turned around to face Logan. But I didn’t even get my mouth open to respond to anything he had said before his cell phone rang. He eyed me carefully before he slipped his hand into his pocket, and I took the moment to walk away and remove myself from the situation. To get myself out from underneath the presence of the one person who could wear down the walls I’d tried to throw up after my painfully truthful encounter with Camilla. I wondered if it was the woman from Save the Date. I wondered if they were calling to ask Logan the same question they had just asked me.
I didn’t want to stick around to hear it. I didn’t want to stick around at all. Being in his presence hurt, even though I knew I was doing what was best for us both in the long run.
At least, I thought I was.
Logan
As I was cleaning up my apartment after the meeting with Ava’s company that morning, I came across a few of Camilla’s things. Even though she had picked up a massive box of stuff a couple weeks ago, I knew I’d still find shit of hers buried within mine. That was how she was. She burrowed herself into someone’s world before turning it inside out. She did it with me. It seemed as if she had done it with Ava, and she would do it with this new boyfriend of hers.
I tossed everything into a plastic bag. There was a random tank top, a brush, a toothbrush that had been hers at one point, a random flip-flop, a stick of half-used lipstick, her fucking bra. How the hell did that get stuffed underneath my mattress?
It felt like spring cleaning all over again, like I was cleansing the evil spirits from my soul. After going through all my rooms three separate times, I thought I had everything of hers in the palm of my hand, and I felt lighter for it. The idea that I could have brought Ava over and spent time with her while still surrounded by the hidden ghosts of my ex made me nauseous. Ava deserved better than that. I wondered how she was doing.
Sending Camilla a final text message, I told her she either needed to come get her things or I was going to throw them out. I sent a picture of the plastic bag, and within minutes she told me she was coming over. Wonderful. The final send-off for the most toxic woman I had ever come across. Part of me wanted to hang it on the knob of my condo door and leave it at that. But I had some questions I wanted to ask her.
A knock at the door soon came, and I swung it open. I shouldn’t have been shocked at who was standing there. There was Camilla, her neck riddled with hickeys and her hair mussed from having it fisted, and standing next to her was the new man in her life. He was older, much older in fact. He had gray at his temples and bright red hair like her. He had gray and black stubble on his chin and lean muscles that looked as if he ran a little too much. Camilla chewed on a slab of gum, smacking her lips to try to conceal why her lower lip was so swollen.