Race You: An Office-Based Enemies-to-Lovers Romance by Jolie Vines

Author:Jolie Vines [Vines, Jolie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: www.jolievines.com/newsletter
Published: 2019-07-11T18:30:00+00:00

16

My Real Name

Emma

The dog. Mum’s urgent note, left on the kitchen table, asked me to feed their dog.

My limbs tingled, and I wanted to either sink into the ground or dynamite a hole in it. On the lavender notepaper, lit by the worktop’s spotlights, Mum’s elegant scrawl thanked me for popping by, like I didn’t live sixty winding miles away and had a huge day ahead of me tomorrow, then gave instructions on how to feed their pug. They’d gone away on an urgent wedding matter and would be home Friday afternoon, so I didn’t need to wait around. We’d all meet up for a wonderful family occasion next weekend at the party I knew nothing about.

Arnie shifted on the lino behind me, and shame flooded my veins. I hadn’t forgotten I wasn’t alone, but how could I explain their treatment of me to him? After all, I’d needed it spelled out to me, as blind as I had been.

Humiliated, I silently handed him the note and watched his eyes as he read the words.

Before Rick had dumped me, he’d said over and over how bothered he was that even my parents didn’t care about me. How I’d been without value to them as a daughter, and that was a warning sign for him to get out of the relationship.

At the time I’d hated him for saying it, but soon I’d come to see it was, at least partially, true. Small non-events he’d pointed out added up to a broader picture I hadn’t observed. Like a reverse of the little ways you showed people you cared, Rick illustrated all the missing pieces and gave me his unhappy prognosis.

They’d been late to my graduation after getting lost coming from Justin’s new apartment. They’d routinely visit my brother in London and not call in on me, though I did work a lot, then they’d forgotten my twenty-second birthday. I remembered that vividly because my brother had broken up with a boyfriend, and they’d been desperately worried. At the time, I had been concerned for Justin, too, so it didn’t matter, but when my brother realised and everyone apologised, it was Rick who hadn’t let me forget.

It seemed minor, but added together, what he’d exposed to me stood undeniable.

They’d stopped loving me.

Tonight added another item to the awful list, and I should’ve been immune to it, but Arnie being here, playing witness to my worthlessness—that hurt like I’d crushed my heart.

He’d leave, too.

I didn’t know to what extent I’d had him, but sure as sure it was too late now.

His gaze reached the final word, and he paused. I waited for the laugh, steeled myself, but instead he crumpled the letter up in his hand and tossed it onto the counter. His eyes darkened, like he was annoyed. “Fuck. A dog? That’s what they scared you half to death over?”

Muttering, he swung around until he located the silver dog bowl and pouch of food on the worktop. In swift motions, he decanted the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.