As an up-and-coming social media influencer, Sadie Dwyer has had enough of the expectations thrust upon her and is finally ready to start living life on her own terms. Goodbye cushy corporate finance job, goodbye Los Angeles, and hello fresh start...
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"Are you sure you want to do this?" Whitney asked as she helped me fold and pack up some of my clothes. Not all of them, but enough to last me at least a week. "I know living above Dawson's is probably not the greatest situation for you right now—" I snorted and she rolled her eyes. "—but it's not like you've run into Rhett since you left his place last Friday. Right?"
I shook my head, confirming that no, I hadn't seen him at all over the past week, but it was only a matter of time.
Once our parents had left on Saturday, Whitney stuck around for a few hours and, over a shared bottle of wine, I spilled the beans around the whole Rhett ordeal. How we'd continued to hook up and grow closer over the past couple of weeks, how it had felt like we were on the same page and on the path towards something real, and then how he had blown it all to pieces.
Whitney had stayed supportive, not minding the tears of frustration and anger that were shed as I vented out my emotions, and once I was done, she'd poured me more wine and offered me the spare bedroom at her place for a little while if I wanted to get away. The idea had intrigued me, but I wanted to give myself some time first. Time to wrap my mind around things and, even if I hadn't wanted to admit it, time for Rhett to come to me and apologize. But as the days passed and he didn't show—not a peep or a text—I figured it couldn't hurt to take her up on her offer.
It would be good to have a change of scenery.
"Are you asking because you've changed your mind and don't want me staying at your place?" I asked, wondering if I'd overstepped my boundaries.
"Don't be silly." She grabbed a shirt from the pile in front of us and threw it at me. "You're welcome at my place any time. I just want to make sure that it's actually what you want and you're not just using this as an opportunity to run away."
"I'm not running away," I said, dropping my eyes to my bed. "Over the past week, I've been flip flopping between wanting to avoid Rhett at all costs and wanting to hear him knock on my door to apologize, and that's been hard. But if he really isn't going to apologize—if he possibly meant those words he said to me—I want to be able to get away from a place where I find myself thinking about him. I want to get over him. So for right now, I'm going to stay at your place for a week and see if that pulls me out of my funk. And from there... well, we'll see."
When I zipped up my suitcase and flicked my gaze back up to hers, I saw her examining my expression before she offered me an understanding smile. "Okay then," she replied, grabbing the suitcase. "I'll head down to put this in the car and then come back up to help with your camera equipment."
"Thanks," I said softly.
As I turned to start decommissioning my tripod set-up, Whitney walked across the apartment and opened the door. But there were no footsteps that followed.
"Uh, Sadie," she said, her voice wary. Eyebrows scrunched, I glanced over my shoulder and felt my eyes widen when I saw Rhett standing there, his hand frozen mid-air and poised to knock. "I think you have a visitor."
