Page 69 of Forgettable in Every Way

His audacious comment didn’t surprise me or even sting. What really surprised me was, “Aren’t you dating Penelope?”

He shrugged. “It’s nothing serious.”

“Well, I’m very serious about Simon.” I hoped that would put an end to this ridiculous conversation.

Unfortunately, while conversing with the idiot, I didn’t notice Penelope had returned and was now marching up the stairs with fire blazing in her eyes.

I had a feeling I would burn soon. I wonder what excuse she’d made to Simon and Jack so she could ditch them and come torment me.

Sean casually pushed off the railing. “Hey, babe,” he called out to Penelope.

She sneered at him. “You can leave now.”

I guess Sean wasn’t the dutiful boyfriend she’d expected.

“Good luck,” Sean warned me before sauntering off back into the house.

I stood tall, waiting for Penelope while my heart raced. I knew sooner or later we were going to have it out. Later would have been preferable, but I knew I couldn’t shy away from this. This moment was going to define how our relationship went from here on out. She had to know I wouldn’t let her walk all over me. Yes, I would respect her role as Jack’s mom and even Simon’s ex-wife, but she needed to show me the same deference.

I clasped my hands together to hide how badly they were shaking. Confrontation was not my strong suit. In fact, if it were up to me, I would keep it permanently out of my wardrobe.

“You just can’t keep your hands off any of the men I like,” Penelope lit into me as soon as she stepped onto the deck.

Was she serious? “I think we both know it’s always been the other way around. And what do you want with someone like Sean, anyway? Don’t you remember how he cheated on you? You deserve better than that.”

For a fraction of a second, she looked taken aback that I showed any concern for her. Admittedly, it was mostly for Jack. I wanted him to have good role models in his life, both men and women.

Sadly, that didn’t win her over. She skipped right over my comments about Sean and went straight for the kill. “You deserve better too, you know,” she said in her sickly, sweet, I’m-going-to-wreck-your-world voice. “That’s why I came back. I needed to talk to you and get this off my conscience.”

I knew how she operated, and I wasn’t falling for it. “Goodbye, Penelope.” I walked past her, intent on finding Simon and Jack.

“You remember that photo album you made for Simon?” she hissed.

That got my attention. I stopped at the top step, hating myself for it, but I had often wondered what happened to it. What Simon thought of it.

“I thought so,” she said with an air of superiority. “You should know that day in the coffeehouse, after you left, Simon flipped through your little photo album, and what a great laugh he had,” she relished saying. “At first, he thought it was a joke. He knew you had a crush on him, but he had no idea you were so deluded to think he might want you too. He said, and I quote, ‘I could never be with someone as dull as Jules.’ I’m pretty sure he just threw the photo album in the trash on our way out. It’s why I was so surprised to see you together.”

I grabbed my midsection, begging myself not to cry. I would not give her the satisfaction, even though her words were slicing and dicing my soul into pieces. Every insecurity I had was bubbling to the surface. I didn’t want to believe her. I tried hard not to, but the young woman who gave Simon that photo album wanted to wither in shame. She believed every word. The woman I was today felt foolish. So foolish. Simon lied to me. He said he didn’t know how I felt about him all those years ago.

“He cared so little about you. He hardly ever mentioned your name the entire time we were together.” She felt the need to hammer the last nail into my heart. “Do you really want to be with a man like that?”

I spun around, hell bent on keeping my dignity. “I’ll tell you what I don’t want, and that’s being associated with you for the rest of my life. I am so ashamed I let you push me around for so long. But no more,” my voice cracked. “You can live your miserable life without me as your punching bag.”

She stomped her foot. “I’m not miserable. Look at my life. I have everything I’ve ever wanted.”

“But none of what you need. Goodbye, Penelope.” I ran as fast as I could down the stairs, reaching into my pocket for my phone. I was going to order an Uber or have my mom pick me up. All I knew was I wanted to get out of there before I lost it. Before I had to face Simon. How could he lie to me? Worse, laugh at my tender feelings and then discard them so ruthlessly. It’s no wonder he never brought up the photo album. I had to wonder what this last month even was to him. Why did it feel so real? Or was it really just a dream? That thought unfortunately opened the gate to tears. A steady trickle streamed down my face as I rushed to find my way to the front of the house.

Before I could exit the backyard, Penelope screamed out, “You’re not his type. You never will be. He’s used to glitz and glamour and hanging out with the rich and famous, even royalty. You’re none of those things!”

Little did she know, I never cared about being any of those things. If she only knew how many famous people I dealt with. So many of their lives were train wrecks. Wrecks that I sometimes helped clean up. No. I did not want that life. I would take being invisible over that any day.

When I finally made my way to the front yard, I realized I’d made a grave error. The pony parade was directly across the street. Some force outside my control had Simon and me locking eyes. Even from across the street, I could tell he knew something had happened. Yeah, the ugly truth came to call. He plucked Jack off the pony and bolted my way, carrying his son.

I furiously tried to wipe the tears off my face, but it was to no avail. I stood there on the front lawn with nowhere to go, feeling raw and exposed.

“Love, what’s wrong?” Simon set Jack down and reached for me.

I backed away. “Please, just leave me alone.” I didn’t want to say anything to him in front of Jack.

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