Eastern Lights (Compass 2)

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 seemed real. He seemed really into me. He gave me all of his time and attention at the beginning.”

“Love bombing—it’s one of his specialties with his new girls. He floods them with time and attention, making them feel like they are the most important thing in his world. Then, he slowly starts to shit on them, to make them feel unworthy of him.”

I huffed. “So, I was just another one of his targets. His whole persona changed when we moved in together.”

“A fraud can only hide its true colors for so long. The mask always falls off.”

Before I could reply, my cell phone began ringing, and Katherine’s name popped up on the screen. “Hello?”

“Hi, Aaliyah, it’s me, Katherine. From downstairs,” she whispered, making me snicker a little.

“Yes, I know—your name popped up on my screen. What’s going on? Why are you whispering?”

“Oh, because I don’t want anyone to hear me, but I needed you to know Jason is on his way up to you. Like he’s on the elevator. Like, right now.”

I stood straighter, alert. “What?”

“I just wanted to give you a heads up since I know you’re packing and all and—oh! Got to go.” She hung up the phone, leaving me there as if I were a deer in headlights.

“What is it?” Connor asked.

“Jason…he’s here. He’s on his way up now.” I locked eyes with him, alarm shooting out of every inch of me. “You need to go.”

“What? Where?”

“I don’t know, but you being here will just make it awkward. And I’m freaking out and sweating, and I, uh, I don’t know. Can you go into, like, the spare bedroom for a bit? Because I can’t face him and then also have him asking why you’re here. It’s all too much.”

Without any more commentary, he headed to the spare room and closed the door behind him.

Within seconds, the front door opened, and I was face-to-face with the man who’d stood me up on the most important day of my life. As he stood there, staring at me, he looked weak. Pathetic. Like someone I never truly knew.