Page 142 of No Such Thing as Serendipity

“Oh, okay. I can ask my Realtor to look for something else.”

“I don’t want something else. Not in New York. Not anywhere.”

My stomach dropped. “You won’t even consider it?”

“No!” Robyn slid off the bed. “I knew I shouldn’t have started this.”

Her words cut me. “Don’t say that. It’s not like I bought anything, but I thought it would give you—us—options.”

She’d moved across the room to her dresser. The distance between us seemed greater than the distance from here to my penthouse in New York City.

“I don’t mean I regret our time together, but maybe I’ve given you a false impression.” The chill in her tone caused me to shiver.

Part of me wanted to take back my offer and pretend it never happened if it could get her to stop talking.

“I’ve really enjoyed the last few weeks,” Robyn said. “But we’ve always known it wouldn’t be anything more than what it is. Remember, no strings attached.”

How had I misjudged everything so badly? All the oxygen in the room disappeared. I wanted out of her bed, out of this room, but I sat staring at her.

“If you’d like, we can stay in touch. Call each other now and then. Text.”

Her voice was like a jackhammer in my skull. Text? What the hell did that mean? I could send her funny memes every oncein a while. Anger rose inside of me. “Hey, better yet, what social media platform do you use? Maybe we can follow each other.”

She paused. Had she flinched, or did I imagine it? “I try to avoid social media as much as I can.”

I gave her a nonchalant shrug. “Oh, well, I guess that settles it then.” My body finally moved off the bed, even though I wasn’t sure how I was propelling it. I regretted having put on my clothes already because it would have given me something to do other than awkwardly stand and stare at her.

“Are you upset with me?” Robyn asked in her calm facilitator voice.

Hearing it, something inside of me cracked. “Why the fuck should I be upset with you?”

“There’s no need to swear.”

“Isn’t there? How about yell? Is there any fucking reason to yell?” I knew I was out of control, but I wanted her to react. Show some fucking emotions. Instead of her stoic calm.

“There is no reason to yell, either.” Her tone softened, growing quieter. “I’m not certain what you expected from me.”

“I expected you to give a damn. To care that I’m leaving.”

“I do.” Her expression remained blank and her tone low. “I just don’t believe overreacting is going to help the situation.”

“Over-fucking-reacting. Is that what I’m doing?” The vein in my neck pulsed. I’d come here after Terrence had thrown me to the curb. Here I thought I’d healed—changed—but I was back to where I started, being thrown out by someone else.

I expected her to take a step toward me. To calm me, but she stood next to the dresser with her arm draped on top of it, making no move toward me.

“What do you want me to say?” she asked.

Good question.“Nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, I wish you’d just stop talking. There’s nothing left to be said.”

“Okay. If that’s what you want.”

Her calm voice was grating on me. How could she be like this when I was falling apart? My humorless laugh held contempt, but I didn’t care. I stomped from the room in a blind rage. I needed to find my shoes.

Millie was snoring in her bed when I entered the living room. Seeing her tore at my heart. I took a deep breath, hoping I wouldn’t hyperventilate. The last thing I wanted was to pass out.

I didn’t know Robyn had followed me until she said, “Are you leaving now?”

I spun around. My anger boiled over. “You got what you wanted from me, so why would you care?”