Abby
I stopped in the coffee shop next to my apartment building before work. The sun was shining brightly onto the city, rousing it from cozy slumber. Cars were on the road and people were out walking their dogs. The smell of different coffees wafted under my nose as I entered the coffee shop. I’d woken up with a lot on my mind and was ready to get into work. I was ready to throw myself into the job so I could try to get my mind off of all the things that were spiraling around me.
I grabbed my coffee before a man appeared at my side. Dressed in black and donning a familiar hat, I sighed as he escorted me to the car. I wished I could walk to work and experience Los Angeles in the morning. I wanted to walk by a food stand and get breakfast from the back of a truck. I wanted to get my coffee from a street vendor that made it just a bit too strong. I wanted to take a detour by the beach and take my heels off, digging my toes into the sand just before work.
But Colin had this car waiting for me every morning, and I had no other choice.
The driver escorted me out of the building and off to the side of the car. He opened my door for me and smiled kindly, waiting for me to step in so he could take me to work.
I debated not even getting in until a voice rose from behind me.
“Abby.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Now, all I wanted to do was get in the car and drive away as fast as possible. The driver stepped in front of me, putting a wall between myself and Derek.
I turned around and stepped to the side so I could take my ex in with my own two eyes.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked. “I never called you.”
“Well, I informed your fiancé I was leaving, so I figured I should let you know as well.”
“You informed my fiancé?” I asked.
“Yes. I called him last night.”
My mind flashed to the business call he took and I felt my skin crawling with anger.
“Well, good fucking riddance,” I said.
“He must really love you,” he said.
“What the fuck does that mean?” I asked.
“To pay off your lawsuit. He must really love you.”
“What lawsuit?” I asked.
I watched Derek’s eyes sparkle with delight as I shivered. Whatever the hell he was baiting me for, I’d stepped right into his trap. I dug around for my phone in my pocket, ready to press the speed dial button and get Colin’s ass over here.
Now I was beginning to be thankful for the car he sent for me every morning.
“Interesting. I guess your fiancé must’ve squashed it before it got to you,” Derek said.
“What lawsuit!?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t yell if I were you,” he said, as he nodded across the street. “People are watching.”
Turning my head, I saw paparazzi across the road. I saw them trying to get out into the street, being cut off by cars whizzing down the busy road. The L.A. morning was growing louder and louder and my heart was pounding in my ears. The driver of the car honked the horn, trying to urge me to get in so he could get me to work safely.
“What lawsuit?” I asked, with a whisper.
“It doesn’t matter. Your fiancé paid me off, so I’ll be on my way.”
“He what?” I asked.
I watched as Derek shoved his hand into his pocket, and taking out a check he set it in my hands. Smoothing out the crumpled piece of paper, my eyes scanned the document. It was a check cut for fifty thousand dollars. Paid to my ex by one Colin Murphy.
My hands were trembling as the check fluttered to the ground.
“Anyway,” Derek said, as he picked it up. “Sorry to blindside you. I figured you’d be happy about my leaving.”
“I hope your car runs off a cliff,” I said, breathlessly.
Derek grinned at me before he turned and walked away, leaving me trembling as the mass of paparazzi finally made it to my side of the road. Lights flashed in my face and people were throwing questions at me as I fell into the car. The driver took off before I could even get the door closed, and tears streaked my cheeks as I clutched my coffee.
Derek was trying to sue me? How the hell did I not know this? What the fuck was he trying to sue me for? What the hell did I do to him!?
And how the fuck did Colin know about it?
The driver pulled me up to the back door of Murphy, Inc. headquarters and I slammed through the doors. I headed straight for the elevator, taking it all the way up to the top. I stalked off the elevator and dropped my stuff on my desk, then made a beeline for Colin’s office.
I was furious, and I was done with all of this.
“Abby, good mor—what’s wrong?”
“What lawsuit?” I asked.
“Abby, come sit down. What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Don’t you touch me! What lawsuit was Derek talking about?”
I watched him get up from his desk as his face set itself into stone.
“Derek approached you again?” he asked.
“Answer my fucking question.”
My hands were clenched into fists, trembling at my side as I stared down my fiancé. Who the hell did he think he was? Who the hell did any of these men think they were!? I was ready to end this all. I was ready to throw in the towel, go home to my parents, and find another fucking career altogether. I’d had it with the paparazzi and the cameras. I’d had it with the secrets and the lies. I’d had it with Colin thinking he could buy me, like I was some prize horse to be bought and quarantined for the rest of my life.
But more than that, I felt betrayed. Betrayed by a man I once loved, and betrayed by the man I loved now. I was now staring into the eyes of my fiancé who was apparently able to look me in the face and lie.
“Did you know about the lawsuit when you showed up at my apartment?” I asked.
“Abby, if you’ll just sit—”
“Answer me! And I swear to fuck if you lie to me, I’m done.”
I saw fear run behind Colin’s eyes before he leaned his hip against his desk.
“Yes,” he said. “I did.”
“How?” I asked.
“Abby, please.”
“How the fuck did you know and I didn’t?” I asked.
“A private investigator.”
It was like a punch to the gut. I felt the wind being knocked out of me as I stumbled back. I braced myself against the heavy wooden door of Colin’s office, and I could tell he wanted to approach me. To run after me and hold me close. But the thought of his arms wrapped around me made me sick, and I wanted nothing to do with him.
“You hired a P.I.? To do what? To follow me or something?”
“No. I hired him to make sure there was nothing in your background the media could spin once they found out about our engagement.”
“And you didn’t think to just sit down and ask me?”
“Would you have told me the truth?” he asked.
“We’re engaged, Colin!? How the hell is that even a question if we’re engaged!?”
I felt tears of helplessness running down my cheeks as I closed my eyes. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think straight. I felt like I was falling into an endless abyss before the world tilted upside down and pushed me from the sky. The coffee I’d had earlier was coming up my throat, threatening to spew all over Colin’s office as I closed my eyes.
“Abby, just take a deep breath,” he said.
“Don’t you dare tell me what to do,” I said. “Don’t you fucking dare.”
“I only found out about the lawsuit by proxy. He hadn’t served you yet, and I thought it would be best if I handled it. He was coming after you. He wanted to sue you for whatever it was you would ever have throughout the course of your life. He was going to use the common law marriage tactic to syphon money off you for the rest of your life. The rest of our lives.”
I slowly opened my eyes as they hooked onto Colin’s form. He was gripping the edge of his desk, doing everything in his power to stay rooted. I slid my hand down to the doorknob and opened the door and I saw him push off his desk.
“I have to take a few days off,” I said.
“Abby, please. Just come sit down and let’s talk about this.”
“I’ll be back in a few days,” I said.
“Abby.”
His hand came down onto my wrist and I looked up into his eyes. He was pleading with me. Silently crying out for me to stop. My heart leapt out for him, but my brain was telling me to get out. My gut was churning for him, but my legs were telling me to run.
“I’m sorry,” I said, as tears ran down my cheeks. “I’ll see you later.”
Then I rushed out of his office, grabbed my things, and ran for the elevator as Colin called after me.