Page 76 of Grumpy Billionaire Seeking Wife

“Or anyone, girl. That sucked. I'm sorry, but he is not trying to be a writer or anything, is he?"

"No, I told you he's not."

"Thank the Lord for that. Because if you told me this man was trying to be a poet or a writer, I was going to have to tell you he's not going to make it, girlfriend."

"Oh, my gosh, Sabrina, that's so mean."

"I'm just keeping it real with you, Erica. I love you, but we've already been on a shitty date, and I’ve got to tell you, I'm not feeling that excited about Thunder after that poem."

She stares at me, blinking. "Okay. I'm going to admit it. I was not that impressed by the poem, but he seemed really excited about me. And when he said it was inspired by our conversation, I figured, you know what? It's kind of sweet. Even if the poem sucks, at least he tried, right?"

"I mean, yeah, I guess he tried something."

I giggle. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be mean. I really like it when guys put in an effort and try to be unique."

She starts laughing then. "Oh my gosh. This is why I love you, Sabrina, because you're always honest with me."

"I try to be, but hey, I really should get going." I look at my watch again. I only have an hour and a half to get to the pawnshop to sell the locket, and I don't want to miss them as I need the money. I stand up. "I'll speak to you later?"

"Sounds good," she says.

"Text me when you get home."

"I will." I head out of the restaurant and to the train station. Wes calls me, and I try not to roll my eyes.

"Hey. Are you there?" he says as I don't answer.

"Sorry, I was just running to get on the train. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I have to go out of town for a couple of days."

"Oh, okay." Disappointment floods me. I'm surprised by that as I'd gone a year without seeing him and hadn't felt that bad about it.

"When will you be back?"

"I'm not sure yet. There's a project in New Mexico that has hit some unexpected bumps in the road, and I'm going to see if I can figure it out."

"Okay, sounds good. I'll see you when you get back."

"Sounds good," he says. "Bye."

"Bye." I hang up and feel suddenly deflated, but it's for the best. I need time to really figure out how to ramp up my obnoxious behavior so that he wants to kick me out. I arrive at my mom's house with the money, and she's watching TV and crying.

"Mom, are you okay?" I say as I walk over to the couch and sit down next to her. She sobs.

"I'm okay. It's going to be okay," she says, wiping her eyes.

"Mom." I pull out the envelope and hand it to her. "This is for you."

"What's this?"

"It's for rent. You can pay your landlord. It should cover two months, and then I'll see what else we can figure out. Maybe you'll get a new job by then, but..."

"It's just so sad. I'm just so sad. How could this happen? He just doesn't deserve..." She starts sobbing again.

"Oh, my gosh, Mom. What is it?" I rub her back and feel like I'm about to cry, as well. I hate seeing my mom upset.

"Are you sad because of Dad?" I pull her to me and rub the back of her head. She's crying desperately now.