“Story. She’s been fucking Jason for a fucking year the fucking cunt! I need to disappear. Like, yesterday!”
“Breathe. On my way.” The line went dead as I stormed down the hall to the office. I aimlessly grabbed all my important documents, putting them into my briefcase, along with my laptop, charging cords, and whatever else I could grab from my desk. I was in a mad dash to get out of there before he could even get here. I was packing all my tech into my case when I heard a shout from the front door.
“Storm? Where are you, babe?” and breathed a sigh of relief once I knew that it was Raven who was there. And not Jason.
“Office!” She came down the hall. I looked behind her to see if her son, Ryder, was with her. I was barely holding back tears, but that was not something I wanted her son to see. They still had a halfway decent home life. I didn’t want to traumatize him with my meltdown.
“Ryder’s at a friend’s house tonight. What do you need?” She said, upon seeing my face and knowing what I was thinking, without having to say a thing.
“Pack my clothes? I’m almost done in here.” She nodded and headed to our—his— bedroom. It was no longer mine, and I wasn’t sure when that had changed in the last year. I was still trying to understand how I had no fucking idea this had been going on, especially since it had been going on for so long and I was apparentlythe lastfucking personto know. I heard suitcases unzipping and hangers clattering while I finished putting the last of my stuff from the shared office into mybag. Moving to the bedroom, I grabbed a smaller suitcase, and moving to the bathroom, I started tossing all my stuff from there into my suitcase. As long as it wasn’t liquid. I don’t want it spilling. I had half a suitcase left when I started throwing in the towels I bought.
Suddenly, an idea hit me. It was petty. It was childish as. But I didn’t care!
“Rave! Packevery single fucking thingI ever bought! I want itall! Even if it doesn’t fit in the car, I’ll hire movers! You want the couch?”
“I’d leave the furniture, sis,” she said, popping her head in the bathroom as I was zipping the suitcase shut. Mostly shut. “Might be…dirty. If you…ya know.Catch my drift.”
A mental image flashed in my mind of them on the couch, our bed. No! A shiver ran through me, and I wanted to puke.
“Eww. Don’t make me puke.” I said, grateful that the toilet was right next to me.
“So, how’d you manage to get away without everyone following you back here?” She called the bedroom as I heard drawers being ripped open, the shuffle of feet, a soft thud, and then more shuffling and a drawer closing, another opening. Rinse and repeat until finished.
I chuckled bitterly at her question. I knew this was also cruel, but we hadn’t been using protection as the wedding got closer because we wanted to try for a honeymoon baby. Now though? I was happy that it hadn’t worked. As far as I knew, anyway.
“I took back the little box that had the watch he’d been eyeing for months. May or may not have told him it was a cuteway for me to tell him I was pregnant. You know he had always wanted a big family, you know we weren’t being safe the last month.”
“So…you’re not?”
“No! Not that I know of. I still haven’t had my period this month. But that’s not due for another couple of weeks,” I said, moving to the closet and taking a duffle from the back of my side, and started putting my shoes in it. I wasn’t leaving a single thing for him to try to remember me by. He had my twin. What did he need me for anymore?
“That’s low. But no lower than what he did to you,” she was done with the dresser and zipped up the suitcases. Getting ready to move them to the living room to be taken to my car as soon as we were ready to leave.
“Exactly,” my voice shaky, knowing the tears were trying to fall. I blinked them back rapidly, because I wasn’t going to cry. Not yet. Raven grabbed my shoulders, making me face her.
“No,” she looked me dead in the eye, “Not yet, Queen. Wait til we get to the hotel. You guys never merged your finances, right?” I nodded, not trusting I wouldn’t cry if I had to try to use words again.
“Good. You run this out to the cars, and I’ll start in the kitchen. You want all those beautiful gadgets, right?” She smirked. “And the black and white kitchen set you just bought?”
“Duh! He doesn’t even know how to use them.” I managed to laugh out. Thank God for putting this true sister in my path. She was the big sister I’d always wanted, the family who loved me. She nodded, grabbing another suitcase and a duffle, passing them to me before she turned to head to the kitchen. We tore through the rest of the apartment, making sure I left nothing that wouldn’t have been…used…by them. Withthe vehicles loaded down with as much as they would haul, we headed out for a hotel at least two towns over. No chance of running into them, or him.
Halfway through packing, though, I had to shut my phone off because it kept going off with either a text from someone or a call that I knew I wouldn’t be answering. I didn’t want to talk to any of them. I didn’t want them to know where I was or where I was going. Fuck them.
All. Of. Them.
They would never see or hear from me again. After checking in and bringing in a bag that had a few days’ worth of clothes in it, Raven took me to get a new phone. We just asked for a whole new one, wanting nothing off of the one I’d had with Jason for the last year. Now it felt dirty. Most of the pics I wanted were on social media. And, most of the ones in that phone were a lie anyway. The whole thing was a lie.
Thankfully, I got a little bit ofcreditfrom ‘trading in’that phone for a new one. Raven’s number was added to my new phone and my boss, Emily’s, number. That was it. Just those two. I had no one else. No family that wouldn’t be on their side. Friends were very limited, and I hadn’t heard from a lot of them recently. Most likely due to the fact that I appeared to be the only blind fool in the room.
Back at the hotel, I needed a shower and a good cry.
“I’ll order room service. Then block everyone on your socials for you. You shower or take a bath, whichever will help you relax more, and if you need a bath bomb or whatever, let me know. I’ll get some from the front desk. We’ll do a spa day tomorrow if you want to.” I almost laughed. I felt a smile trying to tug at my mouth.
“Youneedanddeservea chance to unwind.” She reached forward, hugging me hard, and I let go; of absolutely fucking everything. My knees buckled, and she held me all the way down to the tile floor of the bathroom while I sobbed like a child in her arms. She held me as I asked ‘why me’ over and over.
Not just because she stole him, but because she stole everything. Story hadalwaysbeen the favorite, but I thought, even if my parents knew she was royally fucking me over, they’d have the moral compass to see how wrong that was and do something about it.
I didn’t understand why I wasn’t worthy of them doing that simple fucking thing. Why?! Why couldn’t they support me? Why couldn’t they see how badly she was hurting me? Why am I not worthy of my family’s love? Of Jason’s love and fidelity? I cried and wailed like I was grieving a lifetime of betrayal, disappointment, and neglect.
