Her phone started ringing again. Amanda. Again. Fuck.
Snow let it ring. A few moments later, she got a notification saying that she had a new voice message. She tried to fight her curiosity, but eventually it overwhelmed her. Snow opened the most recent voice message.
“Snow, it’s me again. Please, please, just talk to me? Let me try to explain. Can I see you? Any time is fine, I’ll drop everything. Just don’t cut me out like this. I’ll do anything. Please, I’m begging here. Let me make it up to you.”
Snow almost dropped the phone in surprise. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but it hadn’t been that. She had thought Amanda would deny she’d done anything wrong and imply that Snow was being the unreasonable one.
She wondered if she was thinking too harshly of Amanda because of what had happened. Until yesterday, she had thought that Amanda was a wonderful, kind person. The Amanda she knew wouldn’t hold her pride above her relationship with someone she cared for.
The Amanda she knew also wouldn’t just let Snow rush out of the room without following her, trying to explain or trying to defend her.
Now, Snow didn’t know what to think. Which Amanda was real? The one she had thought she’d known, or the one who had revealed herself during the fight?
She decided that people were revealed to be at their truest nature in times of stress. Sure, Amanda could be sweet and kind when she wanted to, but if she wasn’t willing to show up for Snow in a difficult situation, then she wasn’t the kind of person Snow wanted to be with anyway.
Snow deleted the voice message and all the others Amanda had sent without listening to them. She even went so far as blocking Amanda’s number. She didn’t want to hear anything else Amanda had to say.
Snow decided to go through her emails, which had been backing up over the past few days. She was busy responding to various requests when she got a new email—from Amanda.
Snow grimaced, debating deleting it without reading it, but it had attachments and she was curious.
She opened it.
Dear Snow,
I just thought I’d update you on how our Christmas cards are doing. I’ve attached some photos of the latest batches I’ve sent out to clients.
Could you come over to do some more photos for me? Please?
We need to talk. I know I fucked up, and I’ll do anything for a second chance. I just want to try to explain. If you still hate me afterward, I promise I’ll stop bugging you.
Yours sincerely,
Amanda
Snow couldn’t denythe temptation she felt when reading the email. What if Amanda really could say something that would explain everything? Snow desperately wanted things to be okay with Amanda.
No. No, she wasn’t going to be that stupid again. Amanda had taken her in once, and maybe it wasn’t Snow’s fault that she’d been fooled, but if she allowed it to happen a second time, that would certainly be on her.
She spent over an hour composing her response.
Amanda,
If you would like any more photos taken, please contact the agency and they can assign you another photographer. I won’t be taking any more photos for you.
I would also like to end the deal we have where I receive half of the profits from the Christmas cards. I have instructed my bank not to take any more transfers from your account.
Please do not contact me again.
Snow
She clicked send before she had a chance to rethink it. The email was very short considering how long it had taken to write. She wiped tears off her face. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to stop crying.
She had truly thought that she’d had something special with Amanda. Having it ripped away from her before it even had time to flourish was devastating.
“Snow? Honey, can I talk to you?”
Snow sighed. She had known this was coming. Daisy had given Snow her space when she first came back from Amanda’s, but she was worried, and Snow couldn’t bring herself to turn her mother away.