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“Fuck you and fuck your apartment, you asshole.” I opened the door and stormed out. My life had completely fallen apart, and I didn’t know what to do.
* * *
I lightly knockedon my cousin Matt’s apartment door. My eyes were red and swollen from the sobbing I’d done in the back of the cab on the way over.
“Willa? What happened?” James, Matt’s husband, asked when he opened the door.
“Liam broke up with me.” I sobbed.
“Oh no. Come in.” He took my bag, set it down, hooked his arm around me, and led me to the couch. “Matt should be home any minute. What happened, darling?” He handed me a tissue.
“He got a promotion and is moving to Connecticut. He said he was unhappy, and then he just broke up with me. He said he’s been thinking about it for weeks.” I sobbed.
“Come here.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into him. “Shh. It’s going to be okay.”
“No, it’s not, James. My whole life is unraveling. I got fired from the firm today. Matt broke up with me, and our lease ends at the end of the month. What am I going to do?” I cried into his chest.
The door opened, and Matt walked in. “What happened?” He ran over to the couch.
“Liam broke up with her. He’s moving to Connecticut.”
“Oh, sweetheart.” He grabbed me and pulled me into him. “I thought he was proposing to you?”
“I guess that was all a fantasy in my delusional little head.” I sniffled.
“You’re more than welcome to stay here. Right, James?”
“Yes. Of course.” James softly rubbed my back.
“That apartment isn’t in your name, right?” Matt asked.
“No.” I shook my head. “Remember, Liam already had it when we met?”
“I just wanted to be sure he didn’t add your name to the lease when you moved in.”
“Why?” I asked.
“When is the little wormhole moving to Connecticut?”
“He said he’ll be out of the apartment tomorrow afternoon,” I replied.
“Good. Then you and I are going to do a little redecorating.” He grinned.
After climbing out of bed the following afternoon, I grabbed my duffle bag and returned to the apartment. When I walked through the door, the warm and inviting place I called home for the last year and a half felt cold and empty. I went into the bedroom and opened his drawers, finding them empty, as was his side of the closet. Walking into the bathroom, I flipped the switch and stared at the holder on the sink with his missing toothbrush. Tears sprang to my eyes as the ache in my heart gripped me.
After a couple of hours of wallowing in self-pity, there was a knock at the door. Getting up, I opened the door, and Matt stood on the other side, holding a hammer and smiling.
“Shall we, darling?”
“We shall. Come in.” I gestured.
I opened the kitchen drawer we used for miscellaneous items and pulled out a pair of kitchen shears.
“Oops.” Matt smiled, hitting the living room wall with the hammer, causing the drywall to crack.
Taking the shears over to the couch, I stabbed the arm and sliced the fabric, then one of the cushions. Matt walked around the apartment, hitting the walls and creating holes the size of a quarter. With all the damage we’d done, Liam would get a hefty bill from the landlord above and beyond his security deposit, which he wouldn’t be getting back.
ChapterThree