I shook my head. “Anyway, there has to be something I can do. Something else. Dad looks exhausted from just doing a little bit of work outside. This is ridiculous.” I was angry, and I dried a dish roughly.
She placed a gentle hand on my arm. “You know what I want you to do.”
I did, but I wasn’t ready for the idea of moving back here. I had a business in New York, not to mention a home and a life. I liked the pace there, didn’t I?
“I know, Mom. I just can’t. I’ll do anything I can to help except for that.” She nodded and handed me the last dish without making eye contact with me. I set it in the cupboard. She went to join Dad, and I watched her go with regret in my eyes. I had so much waiting for me in New York, not to mention this other deal going on behind the scenes. That might require me to move even farther away than New York, and I didn’t know what would happen if that worked out.
Fuck. I felt like I was being pulled in a thousand different directions, which didn’t feel good here in North Reed. I was supposed to feel relaxed. I glanced around the kitchen, making sure it was clean, before I headed to my room. I wanted to call Rebecca and talk this out with her, but I’d be leaving Rebecca behind as well. How the hell could I dump this stress on her and then just walk away?
My phone rang in my pocket, and I reached for it, hoping to see Rebecca’s name. I walked into my room, closing the door as I looked down and frowned. Mia? What the fuck did she want?
“Yeah?” I answered, sitting down on my bed and closing my eyes. My head started to hurt, and I pressed my fingers over the bridge of my nose.
“Austin, it’s so good to hear your voice,” Mia purred in that sugary sweet voice that used to work on me. What had I been thinking, getting with her? “I miss you, baby.”
“Why?” I asked abruptly.
She sighed at the other end. “It’s going to be Christmas soon, and you’re not here. The city feels so lonely without you. I don’t have my guy to go to the parties with me.” Her voice was whiny. I rolled my eyes. How I ever found this woman desirable was beyond me. Rebecca was so low key and genuine compared to any of them, especially Mia.
And I was going to leave her here.
“Mia. We broke up months ago. It wasn’t a big deal to either of us then, even though you’ve been stirring shit up with the press.” I could practically see her exaggerated pout. “I know you don’t really miss me.”
“I do. You’re the best man in New York. We had such a good time together,” she continued to whine.
I thought back to the months that we spent together. It was all about sex and spending my money so she could be seen at the best places. Paparazzi always swarmed around to take pictures of us, and I was certain that Mia planned that. Or her agent did. It boosted her career. I remembered her getting a few small parts in some television shows around that time.
“Can you come back early and see me?” she asked.
“Mia, we’re over. It wasn’t that great between us to begin with.” I dropped back against my pillows, suddenly feeling tired. “I don’t know what you remember about us dating, but it seems to be a lot different than what I do.” I chuckled. “You started dating that hockey player pretty quickly if I remember correctly. Did he dump you or something?”
There was silence at the other end. I did the math of when she started talking about reconciling with me. I’d have to check the papers, but I thought that was when her new boyfriend started seeing someone else.
“Seriously,” I said. “What do you want with me, Mia?”
“I miss you. The holidays have me all sappy, and I just want to see you again.” I could hear that she was trying to be sincere, though I knew Mia well enough to see through her lies. She just wanted my money and the notoriety that came from dating me.
“I don’t miss you, Mia.” I heard her gasp at the other end. “I think that you need to call someone else or find someone else. I don’t think that you’ll have a problem.”
“Have you found someone else, Austin? Are you fucking another girl?” I smirked at her crude words. “You know she’s not as hot as I am.”
“Fucking hell, Mia. Listen to yourself.” I wanted to laugh at her narcissism.
“I am all over the runways and magazines, Austin. I’m an actress. Everybody thinks I’m beautiful. I know that you want me.”
“Everybody but me,” I said coldly.
She sighed heavily. “I think I might need to take a little vacation in the sun and get away from this weather. Can you suggest anywhere good?” Mia obviously hinted at going to the Bahamas.
I held in the urge to laugh, not wanting her to pick up on the fact that I was not there at all. “I am certain that you’ll find a place, Mia. I also know that you won’t have trouble finding company. I won’t be back for a while.”
She ended the call, and I let out a low laugh, exhausted from the day. Between my father’s health issues, my mother’s desire to have me move back here, and the constant thoughts of Rebecca in my head, I just needed a break.
I turned on the television and kicked my shoes off, listening as they hit the floor. I wanted to hear Rebecca’s voice and feel her body against mine, but I was so tired. I needed rest and some time to think about all of this.
“Fucking Mia,” I grumbled.
I slipped my pants off and settled in for the night. She was crazy to think that I still wanted her after being in Rebecca’s bed with her. Mia was a fake bitch who manipulated people for her own good, and I was not that man anymore.