Addicted(92)

I mean, why torture myself? Whatever’s in there can’t solve the problems Ethan and I have, so why bother with it when I’m sure I’ll like it? Why torture myself when I have no plans to accept another gift from Ethan, ever?

Once the post office opens, I’ll send it back to him just like I have all the others. I should probably just start refusing them—this mailing them back is wreaking havoc on my budget. But Tori keeps beating me to the door and she’s always “very happy to accept a package.”

“I need to get dressed,” I tell her, finishing my scalding coffee in one long, painful sip. “I have an interview in an hour.” For a waitressing job at a place that requires the skimpiest uniforms ever. Not that I’ve told Tori that. She’d have a fit, demand that I stay and worry about paying the rent later. But I’ve been mooching long enough, and now that I’ve walked away from my internship with Frost Industries, I need to do something. Not just for the paycheck, but for my own peace of mind. Sitting around here and staring at the walls for the last six days has made me more than a little stir-crazy.

“And that’s another thing! Giving up this internship when you worked so hard to get it? What about law school? What about your future?”

“Now I’m the one getting whiplash. Aren’t you the one who told me to just quit, that this internship wasn’t important?”

“That was before you convinced me otherwise. A girl is entitled to change her mind.”

“Exactly.” I send her the best fake smile I can muster. “Which is exactly what I’ve done. Waitressing job, not internship.”

“You’re an idiot,” Tori tells me, leaving her coffee untouched as she shoves back from the table.

“No. I was an idiot. This time I’m being a realist.”

“Don’t you think there’s enough realism in the world? Ethan was giving you the fairy tale, Chlo. You should have grabbed on with both hands—it’s what any Disney princess would have done.”

“And look where it gets them.”

“Happily ever after?”

“More like being chased by the big, bad wolf. Or the sea witch. Or—”

“God, you’re so depressing!”

“That’s because I’m depressed.” I start down the hall toward my bedroom.

“Exactly! And if being with Ethan will make you less depressed, I think you should go for it!”

“Being with Ethan is what made me depressed in the first place.” I ignore the fact that she’s followed me to my bedroom, and start pulling clothes out of my closet, trying to figure out what one is supposed to wear to an interview at a place that is one step up from a titty bar. I can’t believe they’re the only place around that’s hiring.

“You’re impossible!” she says, throwing her hands up in the air.

“Impossible. An idiot. Wow, Tor, tell me how you really feel.”

“Believe me, I will.” She snatches my one and only mini-skirt out of my hand, tosses it on the ground. “You don’t want to do this.”

I deliberately misunderstand her. “I don’t want to interview for a job?”

She just rolls her eyes. “You know what I mean. Why don’t you take Miles up on his invitation to come visit him? He seemed sincere when he called to check on you yesterday.”

“Why would I want to go back there? Going to see Miles means going to see my parents and I’m so not up for that.”

“So just see your brother, then. Surely he doesn’t still live at home.”

“No, but my parents will find out and I just can’t face them.” Not now. Not after the huge mess I’ve made of everything.

“Well, then, I’ll come with you. I can be your bodyguard, keep them away.” She flexes her tiny arms. “I can take them.”

“I have no doubt that you could. But I don’t have any desire to see that.”

“You don’t have any desire to do anything these days, Chloe. That’s the point.”

“And you suddenly are full of ideas of what I should do and where I should do it! For someone who almost never goes home herself, you’re suddenly full of reasons as to why I should go back to Boston for a visit.”

To my surprise, Tori hems and haws, stumbles and stutters, all while turning a truly interesting shade of pink. She finally settles on, “That’s not true. I just know you’re hurting here and I don’t want to see it get worse.”