“That’s different,” I whisper.
I can feel Willow slacken with defeat. “It’s not. Trust me, it’s not.”
“You’ve never seen him like I did, Willow. It’s over. Trust me.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I hold my head high and sniffle. “I’ll prove it to you. Give me your phone.”
Without arguing, she hands it over.
I put in my own number. As my thumb hovers over the call button, I look at Willow and whisper, “If he picks up, then we’ll turn around right now and head back. But if he doesn’t…”
Disappointment soaks her features. “Liya, listen to yourself!”
“You’ll see what I mean.”
“All I see, Liya, is you trying to make him be the bad guy so that you can feel good about leaving.”
Ouch.
No, I won’t get sucked into that rabbit hole. She knows the kind of man Pavel is. She understands that this life isn’t right for me or my child. She’s probably just scared of what Pavel will do when he finds me.
Because she’s right. Hewillfind me. There’s no doubt about that.
But we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.
I make the call. I put it on speaker and hold the phone between us. Each ring makes my heart flutter in my chest. I’m anticipating his scratchy voice coming through the speaker with all sorts of questions: Where am I? Will I come back? Can he pick me up? What can he do to make things better?
Groveling and begging—are those the things he’ll resort to? Or will he be calm, rational, and charming like I remember?
That familiar scent drifts into my awareness, and that’s when I realize how hard I’m holding the phone. Like it’s my lifeline—like I want to go back.
My throat closes up.Is he going to pick up?
The line continues to ring.Do I want him to pick up?
The line clicks. I perk up.
“Hi! You’ve reached Liya—”
I hang up.
When I hand Willow her phone, she sighs and shakes her head.
“I told you,” I say.
“You didn’t tell me shit.”
I roll my eyes away from her. I don’t want to part ways on these terms. It’s not good for my future. Or hers.
A cold shiver races through me. I hug my shoulders while waiting for Willow to rub more salt into the wound. She’s usually right about these things—but not today. I gave Pavel a chance, and he didn’t answer the phone.
That means he let me go.
I worriedly pick at the sweater sleeves.For now.
“I have to head back soon,” Willow whispers. “I told my dad I wouldn’t be gone longer than a week. You know how he is. Especially now. And Pavel will probably trace my phone too. You know, once he sees the call.”