Page 2 of My Spanish Love Affair

My expression grows sombre. “I know you do. And trust me, I feelexactlythe same. You don’t need to worry about me ever even considering going back there. It’s never going to happen.”

“Thank god for that,” Laura huffs.

“Honestly, he’ll be lucky if I so much as acknowledge his existence again. He’s pretty much dead to me already.”

“Have you answered any of his calls or texts?” she prods.

“Nope,” I confirm, popping thepfor emphasis. “And I have absolutely no intention of doing so.”

I’m actually quite proud of myself for point-blank ignoring Liam. The thought of answering a call or responding to his grovelling messages by telling himexactlywhat I think of his lying, cheating ass is tempting, sure; but I refuse to allow myself the momentary satisfaction.

Knowing him as well as I do -which apparently doesn’t count for much, since I never saw this coming- I know that harsh words won’t hurt him. After all, he’d still be getting my attention and energy that way.

No; my disappearance from his life and my lack of response to his attempts to reach out will be what hurts him most.

“Thank god for that,” Laura comments. “Although he deserves for you to read him to filth as an absolute minimum, honestly.”

“As much as I would really love to, it’s not worth it,” I explain. “He’s a man-sized toddler, and any attention - be it positive or negative - is still attention. He thrives on it. It’s better to take it away from him altogether.”

Laura eyeballs me for a moment before smirking. “Clever,” she says. “I like it.”

“Well, you know me,” I tease.

“That I do. And you know, as much as I know that this hurts like hell right now, he actually did you an enormous favour here. Right? Because imagine an alternate reality where you moved in with him. Where you started an actual life together -fuck,even one where you actually had a family with him priorto him pulling a stunt like this?”

“That’s a very good point,” I tell her. “I didn’t even think about that.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” she smiles, breaking apart a spring roll. “All that being said… how are youreallydoing?”

I shrug, stabbing a piece of chicken with my fork. “I’m fine.”

Alright, perhaps I stabbed the chicken a little too forcefully for that to be believable.

Laura raises an eyebrow, her expression skeptical. “Liv, come on. You walked in on your boyfriend of almost two years cheating on you. Like, dick-inside-another-woman cheating,” she says, as if I need reminding. “That’s not something you just bounce back from.”

“I know,” I admit, leaning back into the couch. “I’m… angry. Of course. But I’m obviously really hurt, too. More than anything, I feel kind of - stuck, I guess. Lost, maybe. Like, what do I evendonow?”

Laura chews thoughtfully. “You could key his car.”

I let out a snort of laughter. “Tempting, but no.”

“Fine,” she says, grinning. “In all seriousness, I can’t even imagine how this must feel. Fucking hell - you were supposed to be moving in together in a couple of weeks.”

“I know,” I frown.

Silence passes between us for a few beats. The comfortable kind, of course - it’s always the comfortable kind with Laura.

“You know what? Maybe this isn’t a bad thing after all,” she says suddenly, breaking the quiet that had settled around us. “I mean, come on, just look at you already. You’re young, beautiful, and you’ve got no ties to that loser anymore, thank god. Plus, we both know you’re miserable in your job. The firm has gone to shit ever since Rob retired in the summer. Maybe this is your chance to have a fresh start.”

A fresh start.

The words hang in the air like smoke.

“Hm,” I say - just so I can say something.

After all, I don’t really know how to respond.

“Want to watch something?” Laura asks, reaching for the remote and cutting off my thoughts. “Maybe it’ll help to take your mind off of everything.”

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