Page 107 of Definitely Not Him

Not What I Thought

Tyler

Seattle, Washington

Two days later

There were no phone calls or text messages from Chloe, no emails either.

For the first time in weeks, I rolled over in bed without her in my arms, without her jump-starting my day with her raspy laughter.

She didn’t mean to break up with me.

In denial, I refreshed all our threads, thinking she was simply having an emotional moment about us not being together. That she would come to her senses and see that this was all fixable with time.

“Have you sent out my letter to the newspaper editors, Dillon?” I looked at him from my desk.

“No,” he said. “But I did have one of your actual employees do it.”

“Good.” I nodded. “Well, now, our main problem should be fixed and Chloe will come back, right?”

He didn’t answer that. “Do you need me to do anything else for you today?”

“Outside of finding Chloe, no.”

“Very well.” He stepped back. “I’ll return when you need me.”

“You already know where she’s staying, don’t you?”

The look in his eyes confirmed it, but he left the room without another word.

I immediately picked up my phone.

Me:Where are you living now? Tell me so I can come over and talk to you.

Me:I’ve called you five times. Per hour. Pick up.

Me: Sending your best friends over to retrieve the last of your books is a bit dramatic, don’t you think?

Me: How much longer do you expect me to be okay with not talking to you? Do you honestly think co-parenting can work in the future if we don’t speak?

She didn’t respond.

I thought her behavior would last a day at most, but another day passed, then three more.

And before I knew it, a full week and a half had gone by, and the only thing she sent me was a screenshot from her ‘What to Expect’ app.

She’d completed regressed into her masterful ghosting mode that hurt like hell.

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