Page 46 of The Billionaire & the Nanny: Vol. 3

Paisley

T he front doorof the apartment opens, closes, then the locks click. Caitlyn is home .

And so am I .

Except this doesn’t feel like my home any longer, and the pain of being back here is so awful that I want to curl up and sob. But I have no tears left, I’m all cried out .

Since I’ve come back, I’ve avoided her. I haven’t so much as glanced her way, so good thing we’re rarely ever here at the same time. I couldn’t care less if she fell into the river with nothing but her breast implants to help her float .

There’s a knock on my door .

You’re kidding me. I don’t want to talk to you. Go away .

I keep watching the show and pull the blanket closer to my chin. If I ignore her hard enough, maybe she’ll buy a clue and leave. But she knocks again. Ugh. “Who is it?” I mumble, knowing fully well who it is and knowing that she knows that I know .

“Paisley, can I talk to you ?”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Go away .”

She opens my door anyway. Because Caitlyn, the girl who thinks she can do whatever the fuck she wants. “I wanted to apologize. Just give me a second of your time, please?” Then, she actually sniffs the air like there’s something rotten in the apartment. We both know it’s me. I hope she’s completely offended .

“A second’s over,” I say .

“Paisley, I was a shitty friend. I know it, and I’m sorry .”

“You were a shitty roommate. Friends don’t do what you did .”

Her sigh is almost loud enough to drown out the television, which I turn up in order to drown her out. “I don’t know why I did it, okay ?”

“Because you need therapy for your attention-seeking issues?” I say, knowing how cruel I’m being but not quite able to stop myself .

She nods a little. “I know I have some kind of body image disorder, and I guess I overcompensate for it sometimes .”

“All the time,” I mutter. They go to commercial. There’s a new chicken taco fiesta at Taco Bell. Food—meh .

“I don’t know about all the time, but — ”

“All the time,” I interrupt, shooting her a glance. Staring at the taco is making me hungry and I’m determined to go as many days as possible without eating or drinking. I hope they find me dead in a few days. Then, maybe, Logan will be sorry. “You do it all the time. Wherever we go. You have to be the center of attention, you have to get all the guys to notice you, flirt with you. You, you, you …”

“I can’t help the way I look, Paisley, if that’s what you’re saying .”

“No, but you can help taking advantage of my departure by trying to get a job with my former boss who also happens to be the guy I was seeing .”

“I wouldn’t exactly call it seeing , Paisley. You never even went out on one date .”

Ouch. This is why she’s a bitch and I hate her .

“According to you,” she adds like that makes any difference. Another sigh droops her shoulders, and she’s definitely not herself. More like a Caitlyn who actually has been mad at herself for a while now. “Look, it doesn’t matter. The fact is, you guys were seeing each other, and I shouldn’t have interfered. I’ve just…I’ve liked Logan Raider for so long. And when I first found out you’d gotten the interview with him, I was super jealous. I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe you weren’t all that crazy about him either .”

“You thought you could do a better job than me .”

“I had an opportunity, so I took it. At your expense. I’m sorry.” Her lips press together in regret. “I have a lot of insecurities, you know .”

“How is that even possible? Have you ever looked at yourself in a mirror ?”

“Yes. And I don’t like who I am, Paisley. My face, my body, it’s all guys ever see, so I learned to focus on what works for me. I don’t actually know how to do anything. If I was disfigured in a terrible house fire right now, I’d have no skills. None. Zilch. Nothing going for me .”

“That’s not true. You went to college .”

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