THERAPY Ever After: A Novella (Excerpt)

Part 6

"Hey, what a nice surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear from you until later today after class."

He's chipper. I'm pissed. I bounce back and forth in my mind between just hanging up on him and yelling at him. Ultimately I choose neither.

"We need to talk," I bite out.

A brief pause happens as I am sure he's processing the unpleasant tone of my voice.

"Okay, what about? You alright?"

"Victoria," I say her name. No need to tip toe around this. "Are you still in contact with her?"

I hear him sigh. This isn't a good sign. My heart rate kicks up a notch or two.

"Why are you asking about her?"

When he asks me this it really pisses me off. "I asked you a question, Jace. I need you to answer my question with an answer, not another question."

"I've talked to her since the divorce, yes."

He must be crazy if he thinks that answer is going to suffice. "When is the last time you spoke to her?"

"Jess, what's going on here? Has Victoria done something?"

My attempt to remain calm flies out the window and I raise my voice a level. "Why are you avoiding answering my questions? Maybe I should ask you what's going on here. All I know is that bitch knows things about me that she shouldn't know and she says you, Jace Collins, are the one who filled her in on my life. She also knows we're dating as short-lived as that may be. So again, when is the last time you spoke to her and why are you talking to that evil woman about me?"

Another sigh penetrates the phone into my ear and I lean  my head back against the headrest of the seat in my car. My head hurts. My heart aches.

"I talked to her yesterday," he deadpans.

Yesterday. 

I let myself absorb this disturbing fact for a moment and then say, "Why? Why in the world are you talking to her? What aren't you telling me? And most importantly why would you not tell me about this?"

"I should've told you. I guess I was afraid to put a damper on things because we were doing so well."

"This is bad, Jace. Really bad. We've barely started seeing each other again and you're already being sneaky about something you clearly should've been upfront with me about. Again, you're treating me like a piece of glass."

I look down into my lap and reach up with  my free hand and pinch the bridge of my nose in frustration.

"Can we talk about this in person?" he asks, desperately. 

I let out a breath and reply, "I don't know. I really don't know. This is precisely why I wasn't sure about the two of us dating again. I don't need or want this kind of stress."

"I only need the chance to explain. Once I explain if you don't want to see me anymore I'll understand. Just give me a chance here."

Leaning forward, I rest my forehead on my steering wheel and squeeze my eyes shut. He's so fucking frustrating. Why is it so hard for me to tell him no? Why is it so hard to tell him to go to hell? 

"How many chances am I suppose to give you in this life, Jace? Huh? Tell me that."

"Enough," he whispers.

"Enough? What the hell does that mean?" My words are clipped and angry.

"It means never giving up. It means I screwed up, again and it probably won't be the  last time. It means enough to make this work because I know there's not an amount of times in this world that I wouldn't give you another chance if I were in your shoes. I'm not perfect and will never be. We aren't perfect together. We're just wrong apart."

"You're so incredibly full of shit, Jace and I have to go now," I tell him in a fit of anger and hang up.