Free The One by Violette Paradis Page B

.”
    I’m sure I didn’t look as bad as I felt.
    “No, I’m fine,” I lied. I looked up in the direction
of Jason’s office where I could see his desk through the clear window. There
was something unsettling about it. “I’ll see you later Dana.”
    “Bye. I’ll let Jason know you stopped by.”
    “Yeah, you do that.”
    I stumbled backwards into the elevator and got
out of there as soon as possible. There was something strange about being in
Jason’s office under these bizarre circumstances.
    As I stood in the elevator, I thought about
what else I could do.
    He left.
    That was the only thing I retained from that
interaction. Jason was gone and he didn’t want me to reach him. The knowledge
of it was a punch to the gut.
    Without knowing where else to go, I went to
Ellie’s place. Ellie had multiple heartbreaks over the past few years and if
anyone could offer me advice and a shoulder to cry on, it was her.
    Ellie opened the door. Her wild hair was tied
in a bun on her head, looking like a crow’s nest. I knew she was working as she
had a little cushion tied to her wrist along with a number of pins.
    As soon as she saw me her smile disappeared. I
couldn’t help but start crying right away.
    “Oh honey, what’s wrong?” She pulled me in for
a hug so that I was sobbing onto her shoulder.
    “Jason,” I managed to say through sobs. “He
left me.”
    “He what ?” Her shock was so intense I nearly fell off the front stoop.
    I pulled back and looked at her through my
puffy, swollen eyes. I sniffled. “Jason left me.”
    The shock was evident on Ellie’s face. She
furrowed her brow, her eyes full of understanding. “Come on in, honey. I’ll get
a pot of coffee going.”
    As I sat on Ellie’s couch, sipping on a cup of
coffee, I relayed the story to her. I told her about Luke and how he forced
himself onto me, and how Jason was there to see Luke kiss me.
    I sniffled and Ellie passed me the tissues.
    “I just — don’t — know — what — to do.” I said
between sobs.
    “Oh, there, there, honey. I can’t believe that
Luke. The nerve of him!”
    “And the worst part is I feel like I was
actually enchanted by him for half a second. Can you believe it? I have the
world’s most amazing guy wanting to marry me, and here I am getting myself
mixed up with a loser from Maine.”
    “Well, he is a surgeon, honey.”
    I gave Ellie a stern look.
    “And an asshole,” she
added.
    I nodded.
    “Listen, can’t you explain to Jason everything
you just explained to me? Just tell him you were getting cold feet about the
wedding and that you saw someone from your past. Tell him the loser forced
himself on you. You’d be telling the truth.”
    I shook my head. “There’s no hope. I tried telling
him that but he wouldn’t listen. He was too hurt. Even if I wanted to tell him
now, I have no clue where he is. He’s gone, Ellie. Gone!” I buried my face in my hands again, sobbing uncontrollably. Ellie patted my
back soothingly.
    “What are you gonna do?” Ellie asked.
    I sniffled. “I don’t know.” I looked up. “This
morning my future was all wedding planning and spending time with Jason. Now
it’s — it’s…” I shook my head, numb by the shock. “I can’t live in the
penthouse suite anymore. Living there without Jason would be too painful. And I
can’t live in my old place next door — I’ve already rented it out.” The
realization that I might be left to find a new home — or worst, live with my
mother — made my heart deflate .
    “Oh, honey, this can’t be easy. Look, you’ll
move in here and sleep in the spare bedroom until you get things in order.”
    I sniffled. “Really?”
    “Sure! I have a spare bedroom. Plus, I spend a
lot of time with Ty anyway so you’ll have this place to yourself most of the
time, at least until you get back up on your feet.”
    The prospect was daunting. Ellie rubbed my
back again.
    “But you don’t have to worry about that for a
while. Just bring