I read that note over and over:I’m coming for you.And he will, and I’m going to send him away, no matter how much I hurt all over again.
My first Tuesday without Nick…
I wake in a hotel room and order room service. When my coffee and omelet arrive, I eat it alone. Alone is safe. I forgot that. I won’t forget again.
Bill tries to call me about a dozen times. I ignore him. It’s probably not fair, but I feel angry at him for telling me what I needed to hear.
My first Wednesday without Nick…
I don’t order room service, but I walk to work and stop in at Rebecca’s and get coffee. I carry it with me to my desk at Allure. I drink it.
Alone.
I end the day with a text from Josh. He’s wiring me my twenty thousand dollars minus his fee. I don’t reply. Bill calls me. I don’t reply. When he sends me a text, Idoreply:I need time.
I say nothing more.
My first Thursday without Nick….
I have settled into my hotel, bought a frugal wardrobe and found an apartment a few blocks from the gallery that has an upstairs perfect for a studio. It’s an expensive rental, but I need a space that I can make mine.
I’m about to leave for the day, when I get a strange phone call. “Faith Winter?”
“Yes.”
“Names Ned. I’m your broker.”
“I don’t have a broker.”
“You do. You invested sixty thousand in a hot stock. I want to cash you out.”
“Nick did this, didn’t he?”
“Yes. He did. Good fucking news for you, too. You’re up a hundred and fifty thousand but you need to get out while you’re on top. Do it?”
I’m stunned. Blown away. Confused.
“Do it? Snap. Snap. This is time sensitive.”
“Yes. And send the money to Nick.”
“Can’t do that. He put it in your name. You have to send it to him yourself. Gotta go. Toodaloo and all that shit.” He hangs up.
My first Friday without Nick…
I start the day feeling Nick’s silence. I don’t want to feel it, but I do. I comfort myself by putting the down payment on my apartment, but by evening the idea of a weekend alone is pretty much gutting me. I need things to fill my apartment. And when Bill calls, I answer. I agree that we need to meet. And I decide to rent a car and head to Sonoma for the weekend, talk to him, check on my house, the winery, Kasey, and gather some of the leftover personal stuff I still have there.
Because being alone is not better, even if it is safer.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Nick
My first night without Faith…
Hell.
My second night without Faith…