I sat in my car and drove aimlessly, trying to figure out where to go. My first thought was Luke's, even though Leila was there to keep me company, I knew it would be the first place Jared would go looking for me.
My vision was blurry from the tears that wouldn't stop sliding down my cheeks. How could I have been so stupid? The signs were all there, but my infatuation for him blinded me. I spent weeks believing in a reformed Jared, when all he was giving was another Oscar winning performance.
My attention was brought back to the road when I heard a car rush past me, honking its horn in a long, steady blow. I was zigzagging on the road and didn't even realize it. I pulled over by the shoulder, turned on the hazard lights, and looked straight ahead, while hyperventilating. Blinking a few times to release the new tears that were forming in my eyes, I focused on my breathing and tried to calm down. I needed to let reason speak to me again if I didn't want to end up sleeping in my car, in a parking lot somewhere.
I decided on the second most oblivious option, and headed to a small b&b I stayed at when I was house hunting three years ago.
"Good evening, miss, do you have a reservation?" The old lady greeted me with a kind smile.
"Good evening, ma'am. No, no reservation. Do you have any rooms available?" I asked her gravely, while she tried to read into the horrific state of my face.
"Well, yes. It's been a bit slow lately, and we've been able to accept most walk-ins that just pop up." She explained, and I half smiled at her, not really interested in what she was saying. "I need your ID, and contact information, please."
"I was hoping you'd believe me when I told you my name is Sarah Perkins," I said, staring intently at her with my red eyes. I wanted to give Jared no chance to find me.
"Tough day?" She asked empathically. I nodded, as my eyes started welling up again. "Well, dear, I'm sure we can make an exception tonight. You're not a criminal, are you?" She questioned with a frown.
"No, ma'am." I responded, shaking my head, but with a smile. She handed me a key, attached to a wooden key chain, with a number carved on it, and gave me directions to my room.
As I walked up the stairs, I opened my purse and reached for my phone to look at the time. The notification light was blinking with four missed calls, and two texts.
'wнere тнe ғυcĸ are yoυ? wнy нaven'т yoυ coмe нoмe yeт? wιll yoυ pleaѕe jυѕт leт мe eхplaιn?'
They were from Jared. So were the missed calls.
'ι'м parĸed oυтѕιde yoυr aparтмenт, and ι'м noт leavιng υnтιl yoυ coмe нoмe. pleaѕe leт мe eхplaιn.'
Was the following text. Explain what, exactly? How you fucked my best friend in my own house? How both of you stabbed me in the back, and ripped my heart out?
I shoved my phone back in my purse, and slid the key into the lock. I walked into the cozy room, looking around at the perfectly comfortable space, and relaxed in the silence that consumed me. My thoughts had been so loud up until this moment, I forgot what it was like to actually make sense of them. It was almost six p.m., and I let my body fall to the mattress, as I stared at a vase with carnations sitting by the window. My brain wouldn't stop. It just replayed the scene of Jared fucking her over the sheets that I had gotten for my birthday.
I lay there, flat on my stomach, for a long time, thinking that I should've put a stop to it, and before I knew it, I was sleeping.
I opened my eyelids slowly, as a hint of sunlight appeared in the sky. My neck was stiff from sleeping so long in the same uncomfortable position, so I crawled toward the pillows, and tucked myself under the covers, with my head pounding, and my nose still stuffy.
