Page 13 of Ever After

“Do you need help with your bag?” Jay asks.

“Yeah. Thanks.” I thought he would stay in the car. Do uber drivers help people with their bags?

“Who is this?” Aiden asks, staring at Jay with a smug look on his face.

“An Uber driver,” I say sternly, watching Aiden give Jay a dirty look. “How else do you think I’m going to get to the airport? Walk?”

“I would’ve taken you. We could have gone together.”

“No thanks.” I shake my head at him, making it clear I don’t need his help.

Jay is back in the car when I look over. The door to the back seat is open. I don’t know how real it would look if I got in the passenger seat. Aiden grabs my door before I can shut it.

“How am I going to get home?” he questions.

“I don’t know. Try your hardest.” He looks at me, baffled. I shut my door and Jay drives off.

While Jay drives back to his hotel, I rest my head and look out the window. My clammy hands stop sweating and shaking. It’s easier for me to relax now.

We haven’t spoken a word since we left the Hilton. I’ve been lying on the bed thinking and processing everything when I feel the bed dip in a little. Jay lays down next to me. Both of us look up at the ceiling.

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asks quietly.

“It’s hard for me to know what to say or how to process it. There are still a lot of things I am trying to process." I’m trying to figure out if Aiden has always been this stupid, and I was just too blind to notice it. You always hear how love blinds you. Am I one of those people? “He thought we would try to work it out.”

Jay turns to me with raised eyebrows. “Lindsee thought the same.”

“Who?”

“Lindsee. My ex. That is her name.”

“Oh.” I guess I never asked what her name was. Unless I forgot. I was pretty intoxicated last night. “Did you ever feel like love blinded you?” I turn my body over to the side facing Jay and place my hands under my head as if they were a pillow.

“Yes, love gets the best of us. Why do you ask?”

“Just everything that has happened. I wonder if it’s been going on all along, and I was too blind to see it because I wanted to see the best of him and us together. He thought we would work it out and was stunned when I told him no. Has, he been that stupid all along and I never saw it? He thought he deserved a second chance…it blows my mind. In his head, he doesn’t think I’ve already given him chances.”

I’m embarrassed just talking about this to Jay. I never wanted to be one of those girls who was so blinded by love. Was it even love? Maybe we stayed with each other for so long out of comfort.

“It shows their lack of respect for the other person. I was blinded by Lindsee, too. When I look back at our relationship, there were times I should have questioned. It gets the best of us when we least expect it.”

“I want to run away and not go back home and deal with everything. How did you get through it?”

“Time. Give yourself time. Work on it each day, keep yourself busy, and do what’s best for you. Eventually, time will pass you by, and you realize how much you’ve overcome. When you’re there in the moment, you think your whole life has ended. You wonder how you will ever go forward. Being with someone for so long, you become one person in a way. You both grow together. When it all comes shattering down, you feel you lost the other half of yourself. Then time goes by, and you realize you’re not the same person anymore. It makes you stronger, more than you ever thought you could be,” Jay explains.

I can’t see why anyone would cheat on him. He’s so sweet. He doesn’t have to be wasting his vacation on me, but he keeps sticking around. Maybe he feels sorry for me. I hope he’s not doing this out of pity. It is nice to have someone to talk to that has been through this. It doesn’t make me feel as naïve. I wasn’t the only one blinded. Love gets the best of us.

I need to tell my mom what's going on. I haven't spoken to her since we landed yesterday. I get up from the bed. “I should call my mom and at least let her know a little about what’s going on. If Aiden goes home and I’m not there, he’s going to be calling her. She will freak out and worry.”

“That’s probably a good idea.”

Sliding the door behind me, I step onto the balcony. I sit on the chair in the corner and wait for my phone to turn on. I hate this. Resting my head back, I think about what I’m going to say. Once my phone is on, I’m flooded with text messages and voicemails from Aiden. He texted me and called me at all hours of the night and day. I decide not to waste my time on them.

I call my mom and explain everything to her. She thinks I’m not in the right state of mind to be staying here alone. I assure her I’ll be fine and will be at the beach most of the time relaxing. I promised her I won’t do anything that could get me kidnapped or hurt. Mothers…all they do is worry.

After hanging up, a ping sounds from my phone. I look down, and it’s another message from Aiden.

Aiden: Please let me know when you get home. I worried about you all night and day.

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