JAKE
Isaw red.
Words came out of my mouth in a flood. The dam was broken, and I didn’t know how to close it. Gabi stood there, staring up at me with her lips pressed together in such a fine line that they had almost gone invisible.
When I was done and the word vomit left me panting for breath and lightheaded, I realized I had no fucking clue what I’d just said to her.
But I knew one thing.
It hadn’t been kind.
“Are you finished?” she demanded.
I raked my fingers through my hair and turned my back on her. Stepping back into my house, I muttered over my shoulder, “You should go.”
Something metallic hit my back and fell to the ground. When I turned around, I found her Lambo keys at my feet.
Gabi pointed an accusing finger up into my face. “Fuck you, Jake Cassidy. And congratu-fucking-lations for convincing me that you actually had a heart under all your bullshit. Shame on me for believing you. I don’t want this job or your bribery money. Nothing is worth putting up with your temper tantrums.” She spun on her heel and began marching down the driveway, stomping right past her yellow Lambo.
Shit.
I jogged after her. “Gabi, wait.”
“No. I’m done listening to you. Apologies don’t make things better when you continue to engage in the same bullshit behavior, Jake. I’m not your mother, or your father, or your brother, or your ex-wife, or any of the people that have hurt you in the past.” She rounded on me, and I drew to a skidding stop to avoid bowling her over. “All I’ve ever done is try to be there for you. Try to make this work. And the worst part?” Her bottom lip trembled, and her chin puckered. The pain in her eyes tore the breath right out of my chest. “I gave myself to you on Saturday night. I trusted you with my most vulnerable self, and this is how you treat me afterward?”
“Gabi, I…”
“I don’t want to hear it. I’m out.”
She marched off, and even though I wanted nothing more than to chase after her, I knew I’d only be digging myself a deeper hole. She’d made up her mind and set her boundaries.
I was all out of chances.
She disappeared around the first bend of my driveway.
“Fuck,” I growled. “Fuck!”
I threw my glass of whiskey, and it smashed on the driveway, bursting into shards of glass that turned white in the sunlight.
Everything I touched always turned sour. Why did I think things would be any different with Gabi? I should have let her walk the first time she tried to quit her job all those weeks ago. What was I thinking? Clinging to hope like that, thinking maybe I could turn a new leaf and stay good, like good was attainable for me—like I deserved someone like Gabi in my life.
Sighing, I turned my face to the sky and let the sun warm my skin.
Everyone always walks away from you eventually.
My eyes fluttered open. I shielded them against the sun as I crossed the driveway, crouched down, and began picking up the broken pieces of glass. I dropped them into my palm one after another. Out of the corner of my vision, the yellow Lambo taunted me.
Now Gabi had no wheels. I’d scrapped her old car and she’d walked away from the new one. That was how much she hated me. I wasn’t even worth sticking around for a two hundred and thirty thousand dollar luxury vehicle.
Then again, I knew that to be the case. Gabi wasn’t motivated by money or material gains. All I had to do to get her to stay was be kind, and I couldn’t even manage that for longer than a month.
Maybe this is for the best.
Now I could hire someone I wouldn’t become emotionally attached to. Someone consistent, steady, and less Gabi.
When I heard a car coming down my driveway, I stood, the shards of glass prickling in my palm, and peered around the bend. Had Gabi hailed a cab and decided to come back here? Did she want to talk things out? Did she want to yell at me some more?
My brother’s truck came around the bend.