Page 8 of Unravel Me

“You stupid bitch! You’re not leaving me!” he yells.

“Yep, you’ve said that already. Fuck off, Brooks.”

“You think you can just leave me, Ivy? Where ya going to go, huh? Zoe’s couch? You think you can do better than me? No one’s going to love you. You’re a closed-off fucking ice queen. Why do you think I was fucking other people? You’re just something pretty to keep and have on my arm. You fit a fucking check box. That’s all. You aren’t fucking leaving me, Ivy.”

He managed to hit a nerve after all. A deep one. I’ll be damned if I end up like my fucking mother.

While I’m frozen in place, he takes the opportunity to approach, grabbing my face and kissing me hard. He holds me firmly between his hands and forces his tongue past my lips and into my mouth. The smell and taste of old coffee mixed with the smooth skin of his mouth pulls the dry heave I was holding back up my throat, and a nasty-sounding gag comes from deep within me. He jerks his face back in fear of being puked on, and I use that free moment to drop my bag and grab both of his shoulders. I bring my knee up between his legs as hard as I can, relishing in the feel of his balls being crushed between his body and my knee.I’ve always wanted to do that, and as the pain contorts his face, he yells.

“Damnit! Ivy, you bitch!” He releases me and immediately drops to the floor, clutching his crotch.

I shake my hands at my sides, quickly stepping away from him.

“This isn’t over, Ivy!” he yells through his agony, his face crimson, eyebrows knitted together in pain. While I want to forget him entirely, I hope I remember the look on his face for eternity.

I grab my bags and hustle out of the apartment, letting the door slam behind me. Once I get to my jeep, I throw everything in and settle into my seat.

“Goddamn it to fucking hell!” I scream. “This will not break me. You will not break, Ivy. You can handle anything,” I repeat to myself.

I pull out my phone to text Zoe and update her while my body comes down from the shitstorm that just went down.

Me: I’m omw back. It’s over.

Zoe: How’d it go?

Me: Nightmare. He came on to me, forced a kiss on me and got my knee to his ball sack.

Me: Dropped like a sack of potatoes and let out a cry like a tiny child. It was glorious.

Zoe: Holy shit you’re a goddess. I wish I could have seen it.

Me: I’m glad it’s over. We’ll talk later.

I take a few moments to steady my breathing and recenter myself. I’ve never seen him behave like that. He was aggressive, pushy, and demanding. Was I blind? I throw my busted-up jeep into drive, hightailing it out of the parking garage, and drive back to Zoe’s. My phone goes off a few times, but I wait until I get into her house before digging it back out of my purse.

Plopping down on Zoe’s couch, I pull a pillow into my chest, hugging it.

I have a missed text from Zoe telling me she loves me, six from Brooks, and one from Brooks’ mother. I open up his texts first to see what angry garbage he’s decided to throw my way.

Brooks: This isn’t over Ivy. You’re mine and you can’t leave me. I won’t let you.

Brooks: Everything I’ve done has been to make sure you’re mine. How do you think you ended up moving in with me so quickly?

My stomach cartwheeled at that one. Did he have something to do with us getting evicted? There’s no way.

Brooks: You can have tonight but then I expect you home. You have no one and nowhere to go. You need me. See what happens when you mess with me Ivy.

The rest is more of the same and gives me a terrifying glimpse into the life I could have had with him if I hadn’t caught him cheating. How did I miss so much? I open his mom’s text next and my heart sinks into my stomach. While I didn’t expect to keep my job, I didn’t imagine it would end this way.

Tina: Ivy, we are disappointed to hear that you and Brooks are no longer together but given the circumstances, we understand why he ended things and support his decision. Due to your indiscretions, we have deemed you untrustworthy and no longer a good fit for our restaurant. Your employment with us is terminated effective immediately.

Well, isn’t that just fucking lovely. Psycho ex-boyfriend, homeless, and unemployed. I clasp my hands together so tightly my nails leave half-moon imprints and I struggle to catch my breath. I close my eyes and inhale deeply, filling my lungs and holding it.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

I release and count to five again before repeating the process until I feel my heart rate slow and the pain in my chest subside.

Fuck.

---