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I couldn’t believe that I had fallen for his game. As an almost-therapist, I should have known better. I should have seen through his tricks and his manipulation. Instead, I fell for his sob story and his green eyes, and he got me into bed.
Well, into a chair.
Groaning, I pushed my blanket off me and decided to go to the grocery store to buy some things for Thanksgiving. It wasn’t that far off, and I’d never made a turkey before. I never had a place of my own to host before. I was still in university housing, but it was a house with a kitchen, and my mom and brother were going to visit.
Obviously, I wouldn’t see my dad.
I got dressed and brushed my teeth with that empty feeling in the pit of my stomach that one gets after being used the way I was.
I wanted to have a good cry, but I didn’t want to give Robert exactly what he wanted. Or what I thought he wanted, anyway. I had to assume that was what he wanted – to hurt me. He and Jeremy must be laughing it up about how he got into my pants.
I spit into the sink and looked at myself in the mirror. Well, he wasn’t going to get the satisfaction. I’d had enough of Robert Hastings. He was going to wish he hadn’t messed with Delia Sturgess.
I didn’t know what I would do yet, but I wouldn’t go quietly.
A knock at my door snapped me out of my foolish daydreaming about revenge – something I knew I’d never get anyway – and I walked to open it. It might be Kassandra. We had said we’d cook together today, and I had woken up pretty late after my long night.
I checked my phone for texts from her and saw none. There was a good chance she’d had just as long a night as me after leaving work that night. She might even be hungover. I still needed to tell her about the crazy man who had followed me to my car.
So much was happening in my life. I couldn’t keep her up-to-date even if I was up for telling her about Robert, which I definitely wasn’t. And she’d thought he was so nice, too. Maybe she would have fallen for it just like I did, but I was too ashamed to tell anyone.
I looked out my peephole and saw Jeremy standing on my doorstep, looking around anxiously. I sighed. He was always on edge when he was at my place, like it wouldn’t be normal for him to be seen with a student at all. His paranoia made me feel so shitty.
I opened the door and leaned against it with crossed arms. I assumed he already knew all about how Robert had gotten me into bed. He must be here to gloat. I had no idea why they wanted to ruin my life so badly.
What had I ever done to them?
“Hey, Delia, can we talk?” His eyes flickered across my makeup-less face, and he asked, “Long night?”
Was he pretending not to know, or did he really not know?
“I’m kind of busy…” I trailed off, looking back behind me at my empty kitchen.
“Well, this’ll only take a second,” he assured me, stepping past me into the living room.
“Sure, come in,” I said sarcastically, closing the door. “Is everything okay? Am I still on track to graduate in May?”
“What?” Jeremy was looking around my house like he was looking for something, but he looked up at me as he sat on my couch. “Oh, everything’s fine with that. I was just wondering if you were okay.”
“Why?” I asked warily, imagining the conversation he must have had with Robert.
“I know you said you’re safe at work, but I keep thinking about you taking those self-defense classes,” he said, and I felt frustration mounting in my chest. I still cared about Jeremy, but I couldn’t talk about work and my safety right now with him. Or ever, maybe.
That had been traumatic, being followed after work and watching Robert choke him out. It was too much to even think about, let alone tell Jeremy about. It was weird, but even though I knew I would tell a client that it wasn’t their fault, I felt a sense of embarrassment about it, like everyone had been right and I’d ignored the red flags. I hadn’t seen any, but maybe I should have.
“I’m fine,” I said finally, knowing it didn’t sound convincing.
Jeremy nodded slowly, his eyes piercing into me. “And the way you left so early that day…are you okay with me teaching those?”
His question caught me off guard, and I was grateful for the distraction from the subject of work. “The self-defense classes? Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Just seemed like maybe you left because I showed up,” he said gently.
I shrugged. Guilt started to tear at my throat. I hadn’t left because he’d shown up. I’d left because it was too much to face him after what I’d done with Robert. And now, the way he was talking, it was starting to feel like whatever game Robert was up to wasn’t planned with Jeremy.
“You can do whatever you want,” I finally managed to say. I had to mean that. I was doing whatever I wanted, even if it hurt him. He deserved the same.
“Yes,” he agreed, smiling weakly. “Uh, but is it okay with you?”