Page 37 of The Lake House

I laugh at myself, rinsing off, but I really want to cry. I haven’t been touched by a man in so long, and I miss that so much.

I finish up in the shower before something else happens and grab my pink terry-cloth robe, then wrap myself in it. I run a brush through my wet hair and then add a dab of mousse. I leave it hanging down to dry.

Walking out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, I then pull out a pair of panties and bra and place them on my bed. It’s going to be another hot day, so I need to find something light and comfortable to wear.

I finish toweling off, apply some lotion and then put on my underwear before walking into the closet. Deciding on a pair of denim blue jean shorts and a soft white cotton T-shirt, I then step out of the closet and get dressed.

I grab my phone off the bed to head out into the living room but immediately notice I received a message on Facebook Messenger while I was in the shower. I freeze once I realize who it’s from.

Todd.

My heart stops beating and I’m hesitant to open it and see what it says. From the preview, all I can see is him asking how I’m doing, but is there more?

Reluctantly, I tap on it, allowing the application to open up in front of me.

Hi Giulies, how are you doing?

He’s the only one that calls me Giulies, and every time I see it or hear it, it grosses me out. Everyone else calls me Giuliana or Giules. Giulie even.

But Giulies? That’s not my name. And Todd knew I didn’t really like it. But he didn’t care. He always called me that whenever he wanted to get under my skin.

Like now, I suppose.

I swallow thickly. Now that I’ve opened it, he’ll know I saw it. Fuck. Unless I can mark it as unread really quickly and pretend I didn’t see it. I think I’ll do that.

I back out of the message and mark it unread as soon as I can, but another message pops up from him once more.

Giulies, don’t you want to say hi to me?

What the fuck? Did he see I read his message? How? I was super fast and careful about it. Does that mean he was in the conversation the whole time, waiting for me to see it?

I slowly plop down onto my bed, staring at the unopened message from Todd. Now I feel like I have to respond. But I don’t owe him anything, not even an explanation why I’m not responding. He’s the one who ended things. He’s the one who wanted to end the marriage by cheating on me. So now why is he still trying to talk to me?

I suck in a deep breath and open the message.

Hi, Todd.

Not even two seconds later, I see the three dots moving, indicating he’s composing a reply. A few seconds after that, his message comes through.

There she is. My Giulies.

I’m not his anything. He should know that. He angers me. But I guess that’s what he’s trying to do… get under my skin, so I give in to him. But I won’t let it happen this time.

When he sees that I don’t say anything more to his reply, he sends another message.

What are you up to, Giulies?

His words irritate me. Why does he care what I’m up to now? When he was supposed to care, when he was my husband, he didn’t. Now that we’re divorced and I’m finally moving on with my life, he wants to know about me?

Todd, is there a point to you messaging me?

Just want to see how you are doing, love.

He’s pushing it. I feel my nerves tying up into a knot.

We really have nothing more to discuss. I have a ton of things that require my attention right now, so I need to get going. Thank you for checking in on me, but I’m fine and you no longer need to do that. Have a great night and a great life. Goodbye.

I close out of the message and just as I’m standing up to go downstairs, another message from him comes through.

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