Mr. Mitchell Billionaires' Club Book 2 - Raylin Marks Page 0,162
you have it all figured out, right?”
“Goodbye,” I said, spinning around and walking out the door, feeling absolutely nothing—total numbness.
There was nothing left to say. This ended the way everything else in my life did—horribly. The real fool in this situation was me because, for a while now, I’d believed this life was something real. What an idiot I’d been to think anyone on the outside could understand my life.
Chapter Forty
Avery
It had been a month since I’d heard from or seen Jim. Luckily, I managed to find a decent-paying job as a receptionist at a dentist’s office in Anaheim, and since I’d opted for a month-to-month contract with the apartment I’d rented near Jim’s office, it wasn’t a problem to move out and rent a new place—a much smaller studio apartment—not too far from my new job.
Addy wasn’t thrilled about leaving her preschool or moving away from Jim, but she adjusted quickly and was excited to be able to see her papa more often. Larry and Annette were both retired, so it was convenient for them to watch Addy on the three days a week that she didn’t attend her preschool.
Many times, Addy had questioned not seeing Jim after we moved. Being a three-year-old, I didn’t want to saddle her with the details, so I explained that since we moved, Jim lived too far away, and that was why we didn’t get to see him. Luckily, her papa was there—as he always was when my life seemed to crumble—so he filled the gap, thank God.
Even though I cut off all contact with Jim, I was still in regular contact with Ash. We chatted about how her pregnancy was going and how busy her gallery had been lately, and we had the inevitable conversation about Jim and me.
Ash wasn’t judgmental of any aspect of my situation—from my past issues all the way up to Derek. I told her what Britney had said to me after the breakup—and what seemed to be one-hundred percent accurate—Jim or no Jim, I needed to deal with my Derek issues.
The way I saw it was the way it always had been—Derek was the root of every problem in my life or any other life that he touched with his addict bullshit. I was made out to be the bad guy in Jim’s eyes because of that piece of shit. Larry and Annette had been turned into horrible enablers because of their son’s manipulative personality. It was fucked up all the way around, and the source of all the chaos was always fucking Derek.
Ash listened to everything I had to say, and she convinced me to go to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting to hear stories from people who’d lived through similar situations and managed to get sober. I knew that a lot of my defensiveness came from a place of knowing I wasn’t able to share my experiences with anyone who could relate. Perhaps this might change that. All I knew was that it couldn’t hurt to see.
I pulled my hair into a ponytail and fastened my hoop earrings before I headed down the outdoor steps of my apartment to where Ash waited for me in her car. I walked by my Aston Martin and couldn’t help but laugh at how fucking stupid it looked here, entirely out of place. It was a stark reminder of the image of mine and Jim’s relationship. What a fucking joke.
“Hey, Ash,” I said, sliding into the passenger’s seat of a brand-new Mercedes, happier to see her glowing and pregnant self than I thought I’d be.
“Hey, you. It feels like it’s been forever, right?” she chirped. “You hungry?” She grinned, remembering well how I loved food more than anything.
“I already stuffed myself before I got ready. Didn’t want to risk there not being any snacks.” I laughed. “Look at you. It’s almost baby time, huh?”
“I should probably say how glorious it is to be pregnant, but I’m ready to have this little man out of me.”
“I feel you on that,” I said as we left the apartment complex and headed toward the freeway. “You should’ve let me drive. Jesus. I’m sorry I didn’t think of how uncomfortable this stage of pregnancy is.”
She arched an eyebrow at me. “Hence the reason Jake insisted on buying me this car. I swear, I don’t adjust to such expensive things very easily. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate it wholeheartedly, but good grief with that man sometimes.”