Page 52 of About Last Night

“What?”

“Break up with me. That way you can say you were the one who tossed me aside instead of the other way around.”

“But you’re who I want.”

“If I was the one you wanted you wouldn’t have cheated on me multiple times.”

“Those women didn’t mean anything to me.”

“Well, they meant something to me,” I shout.

“Calm down, Audrey.”

“Oh my God,” I say, and walk away. I see Toni, Willa, and Greta standing close enough to hear, but far enough to not interfere. Seeing them standing there, supporting me, steels my resolve. I hold my hand out to make sure they don’t move closer because this is my fight. I turn around. “How did you know where I was?”

“I knew where your new project was, so I guessed.”

“You guessed I’d be at the warehouse? On a Saturday at four p.m.”

Shae’s face goes blank. She’s obviously trying to think of a lie.

“Are you tracking my phone?” I ask.

“No. You changed all your passwords.”

“So you tried.” What in the hell could she be using to track me? A chill goes down my spine. I’m staring at her Mercedes, bought from the same dealership as mine, containing the same software. I gasp. “You’re tracking my car. That’s low, even for you.”

“I’m going to kill her,” I hear Willa say. I don’t turn around. I have to hope that Toni and Greta will hold her back.

“I’m sorry, Audie. I had to talk to you. I want another chance.”

“I’ve told you no a hundred times.”

“Why not?”

I’ve told her why a hundred times. Maybe a hundred and one will be the magic number. “Because you’re a cheater, a manipulator, and a gaslighter and I’m done. Really done this time.”

“I’m none of those things.”

I shake my head and try to walk away. Again. She grabs my elbow. I wrench it from her grasp, and cross my arms over my chest.

“I mean, I know you believe that,” Shae says. “Which is why I’m going to therapy. To really interrogate myself on why you think these things about me. I’ve been three weeks in a row. I’m really excited about this therapist. She gets me, you know.”

We’ve been here before. Too many times to count. She promises to change (though she never admits to being at fault or having a fault), goes to therapy for a few sessions, loves the new therapist. She made it to the sixth appointment once, which was a record. As soon as the therapists stop listening and start digging, asking Shae to be vulnerable, to admit some part in our problems, Shae leaves and never goes back. And then she cheats. Even Freud wouldn’t be able to get Shae Baker to make it past six therapy appointments.

Why didn’t I leave earlier? I don’t like to fail, that’s one reason, the reason all the other reasons stem from. Shae knows me so well that she was always able to push the buttons that would make me doubt myself, the comments, turns of phrase and the subtext that would make me believe that the real problem was I wasn’t trying hard enough to make our relationship work. I knew it was a lie. I knew she was manipulating me. But she wore me down. Every time. And I stayed.

This time, it won’t work. I’ve had a glimpse of other possibilities, other futures. It’s time to end this once and for all.

Shae looks over my shoulder and smirks at Toni, Willa, and Greta. Willa’s expression is thunderous. Toni looks angry and gobsmacked. Greta’s brows are furrowed as she types something on her phone.

“Back off, Willa,” Shae says. “This doesn’t have anything to do with you.”

“You did not just say that to me,” Willa says, and lunges forward.

Greta holds my sister back and Toni moves closer, an extra layer of protection between Willa and Shae.

“You need to leave, Shae,” Toni says in a firm voice.

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