“Hellooo?” Kodi bellows through the phone. “Did you hear anything I just said?”
“In an effort to maintain honesty between us…no.”
“I was telling you I saw Mom yesterday. She was asking about you,” Kodi says softly.
Just like that, my happiness bubble pops.
I scoff. “That’s funny. She has my number. She could, you know, pick up the phone and call me.”
“You know how she is.”
“Yeah, I do. I know she’s not happy about me leaving the spotlight and the political lifeshewants me to live. She doesn’t care at all about our happiness.”
“Why do you think I avoid her myself?” Kodi laughs. “She’s a lot.A lot. And that says something coming from me.”
“So, what did she want?” I ask reluctantly.
“She wanted to know when you were planning to come home. When you were done playing the victim. But don’t worry,” she says quickly. “I told her it’s justified because that twatwaffle cheated onyou, not the other way around. In her eyes, everyone deserves a second chance. Blah blah.”
And she’s right.
That’s exactly how my mother is. She’s manipulative and will toy with your emotions so that it always looks like she wins at the end.
“She’s actually crazy,” I tell Kodi. “I don’t plan to come back.”
Kodi remains silent on the other end, and I know instantly that my words hurt her. She wants me to come back. I miss her just as much as she misses me, if not more. Not having my sister here is painful. She’s my rock, my sounding board.
“I don’t mean it like that, Kodi.”
“I know what you mean. I get it. Sometimes I just get sad because I really miss you so much. These phone calls aren’t enough. She might have…brought up Theodore too.”
I wince at his name being brought up.
“I know,” she continues as if she heard me. “He’s not doing good, Blair.”
“What do you mean?”
“His life is quite literally crumbling since you left.”
“Me?” I gasp. “This has nothing to do with me. Our divorce was over long before I decided to move out here.”
“No, no, no. I’m not sayingbecauseof you. I’m just saying in general. He’s been plastered all over the news with scandal after scandal. His approval ratings are shit, and there’s no way he’s going to get reelected unless he gets his shit together.”
There’s a really small part of me that feels bad for him. Areally smallpart. Because no one deserves to be going through shit. But in this situation, Theodore brought it on himself. He’s the reason behind the scandals she’s telling me about because he can’t keep his dick in his pants and remain faithful.
I wait for the hurt he put me through to hit my chest.
But it doesn’t come.
For once, it doesn’t come.
I knew prior to moving here that I'd moved on from him, and there was no chance of ever giving him a second chance. I knew the emotions would come to the surface, every once in a while, as it’s part of the healing process. The memories of my past will always be there as it was part of my life for so long.
At one point or another, they stop hurting.
They stop being painful memories and they turn into just…memories.
“In an effort to change the subject,” Kodi interrupts my thoughts. “I hope you know how happy and proud of you I am for getting out of here and starting a life you deserve.”
