Free Fade Into Me by Kate Dawes

looking out his office window. “Go do what you need to do. Take the rest of the day off.” There was sympathy in his voice. I knew he was being genuine.
    “Thanks. And I’m sorry.”
    Kevin just shook his head. “Go.”
    I turned to leave the office and thought about Kevin’s phrase: “…do what you need to do.” Hell, I didn’t know what I needed to do. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, either. What I really wanted was for none of this to happen. I wished I had never gotten involved with Max. Wished I had never trusted him. Wished I had never let my feelings for him grow.
    When I got outside, he was standing next to my car.
    “Get out of my way,” I said.
    He didn’t move. “So you know.”
    “Of course I know. And you want to know how? My fucking boss saw a fucking picture of us in fucking New York, then he showed me the picture of you and your pregnant…girlfriend or fuck-buddy or whatever she is.”
    “Olivia, calm d—”
    “No! You don’t get to tell me to calm down. You don’t get to tell me anything ever again.”
    I pushed at him, moving him out of my way so I could get into my car.
    “Jesus, Olivia. Let me explain!”
    I didn’t respond. I closed the car door, locked it, put the key in the ignition, threw the car into reverse, and tore out of there as fast as I could.
    Fuck him and his lies , I thought.
     
     
    TWELVE
     
    I was so glad it was Friday and I had the whole weekend to stay in the apartment and not have to go anywhere. This was supposed to be a romantic stay-inside weekend alone with Max, and now it had turned into a stay-inside lonely pity party. Amazing how things can change in the blink of an eye.
    I was pretty sure I’d have the place to myself. It was the weekend and Krystal would be off doing…whatever it was that she does. And, frankly, I didn’t care.
    I didn’t sleep much. I spent a lot of time lying on my bed, looking up at the ceiling, wondering how much worse my trust issues would be after Max. They were already so damaged before he came into my life, and now he would be leaving my life, a path of emotional destruction in his wake.
    I don’t even think I could have sorted out how much of my feelings were from anger and how much came from sadness. It was all a horrible blend.
    I turned my phone off when I got home and left it off until Saturday afternoon. I expected Max to be knocking on my door, but that never materialized. Maybe he’d just given up altogether. Maybe it would be better that way.
    Saturday morning, I did a Google search for Liza Carrow. She was an up-and-coming star in the soap opera world. I never watched them so I had no idea who she was at first. Her IMDb page listed no other credits. But there were lots of photos, and she was stunningly gorgeous. My heart wrenched when I thought of Max on top of her, fucking her the same way he did me, or her on top, riding him.
    She was four months pregnant, so there was a possibility that Max hadn’t slept with her since that time, well before we met. I’d have no way of knowing, no matter what he said. Was he with her in public simply because he was the father? Or was he still sleeping with her?
    I could find no other stories from the rumor mills pointing to anyone else as the father.
    I wanted to vomit, but luckily I hadn’t eaten anything all day.
    I closed my laptop and lay on the bed, once again staring up at the ceiling. I needed to close my eyes and go to sleep, but any hope of nodding off into escapism vanished when there was a knock at my bedroom door.
    “Olivia?”
    It was Krystal’s voice.
    “Yeah?”
    “Can I come in?”
    Shit. No, I need to be alone right now. That’s what I should have said, but I’m not sure it would have made a bit of difference. When I didn’t answer, she said there was something she needed to give me.
    I got up and opened the door. Krystal stood there looking rested and nicely dressed. I hadn’t been expecting that. She handed me a large manila envelope with my