Page 20 of Destroying My Ex

“Leo, I didn’t….”

“What the hell are you doing?” He looked from her to me and back as if not sure what to do next.

“Hi, Dad. Sorry, I just dropped in without calling first."

"Nonsense, this is your home. You don’t need to stand on principles. What brings you here?”

“I’m engaged and thought you should hear it from me first.”

“Oh? I didn’t know you were seeing someone. Who is it?”

“No one, you know. Just a boy I met at university.” Lacey entered the room just in time.

“What, boy?” She was giving me the evil eye.

“Like I said, no one you know. Anyway, I’ve said all I came to say.” I picked up my purse with my ring showing again and proceeded to leave.

“He gave you the ring. I guess that was the right decision after all. This way, it stays in the family.”

“How can you say that? What about our daughter? Shouldn’t she get a ring, too? It’s been more than twenty years; why do they still hate us?”

“Not now, Janice. I’ll walk you out, Lily.”

“That’s fine, Dad. I know the way.”

“What, boy? What ring?”

“Your sister is engaged. Your mother is upset because my father gave her the ring she wanted.”

“She’s too young to wear that ring.”

“That’s funny. Weren’t you even younger when you broke up…. I mean, when you and Dad got married? I thought you just said that this was the ring you wanted. Isn’t that why you attacked me and tried to slap me before Dad came?”

“You did that? After everything I’ve told you?”

“I…. you’re just here to start trouble. Why don’t you just leave?” Janice screeched.

“Sure, and Dad, I’ll be sure to tell my grandparents what happened here today.”

He hissed something at her, which I didn’t hear, but I did hear her say, ‘So now I have to live in fear of that little bitch?’ Lady, you should’ve been living in fear of this little bitch a long time ago.

“Oh, Dad, before I forget. Gran told me to remind you that they’re going to be gone this weekend.”

“Yeah, sure, I remember.” I could already see the wheels turning.

GRAYSON

What the hell set her off this time? I can’t wait for this all to be over so I can cut this toxicity out of my life. If I’d known sooner that I was going to meet the love of my life, I would’ve walked away from my old life a long time ago and just lived my best life away from all this drama.

It's getting to the point where I hate the constant interruptions because the very sound of these people’s voices fills me with anger. I thought this would be easy, and it has been to a certain point, but now I find that they’re just getting in the way of my happiness. Each second I have to take away from my life to deal with their bullshit is a drain.

I guess I’m salty because I miss my girl. That always puts me on edge until I see her again. I didn’t know it was possible to miss a person this much. I can barely sleep when she’s not there, and now we go to bed at night with our webcams on, watching each other until one of us falls asleep.

It’s the only way either of us can function in the morning since we’ve been forced to stay apart to carry out this farce. Some days I just wanna say screw it. The truth is, I no longer care, not as much as I used to. But then I remember the stories she tells about her time with Lacey and her mother, and my anger is revived. It’s a vicious cycle, that’s for sure, and sometimes, like now, I have to fight to carry on because the balance has shifted.

I can’t grab her at the last minute and go somewhere and just sit and talk and look at each other for hours, not unless we go out of town where we don’t stand the chance of running into someone either of us knows. I was sitting here thinking about that and reminiscing about the good old days when Lacey called, screaming and crying so loudly that I couldn’t understand a word she said.

I guess she was expecting me to drop everything and run to her side, but when I told her I had to finish what I was doing here, she freaked out even more until I just hung up on her. I’ve lost all respect for the girl I used to call my friend. This is someone I thought would be in my life for the rest of it; now, I can’t wait to see the back of her.

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