Page 9 of Love Me

I kept seated, afraid that I would actually puke if I stood. “I’m not feeling good,” I said.

“I wouldn’t either. I know you moved here for him. So move back. It’s easier than you’d think. Stay away from him.” Stay away? Those words made me think that she was jealous, that perhaps it was a ploy to trick me. “I’m thinking of moving too.”

It was hard to understand what the hell was going on. Moving too? Where? But I knew I needed to end the conversation before I did something embarrassing.

“Where’s the bathroom?” I asked.

“Down the hall.” She pointed in a direction and I quickly got up. I shoved past a woman in the doorway and she sneered, but as soon as I was in a stall, I started heaving. At least I hadn’t vomited on anyone.

I wiped my mouth on my wrist, then flushed the toilet. The woman I had pushed was now smiling sympathetically, totally understanding why I had pushed her, and asked if I was all right. I could only nod. After I washed my hands, I returned to the dining area, but Coco was gone. Her lemonade was still there, but the folder was gone too.

One look at the lemonade and I held my stomach. I wondered if I had eaten something bad the night before. We had pasta. I didn’t remember it being anything out of the ordinary.

I decided I had one task right now: get over this sickness. Then I could figure out what the hell was going on with Owen and his past.

After I got back to the condo, I slumped into our bed with a plastic bucket next to me. When Owen came home, I pretended to be asleep. He kissed my forehead. I wondered if he had ever shown that kind of tenderness to other women in his past, if he had been tender with Coco, even after he had choked her.

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