Page 6 of Unravel Me

“I won’t make you repeat it, I promise.” Penny holds up her hand like a Scout's honor and I muster up a tiny laugh.

“Jackson accidentally dialed me last night. During sex—”

“Wait, wait, wait! What do you mean—” Penny jumps straight up off the sofa, nearly splashing espresso on her shirt. Squeezing my eyes shut, I hold up my hand but she is enraged. “I’m going to kill him, Audrey. I will literally get rid of his body. Okay?”

“That’s a lovely offer but please don’t.” I scrunch my nose at her, and she throws her hands in surrender, sitting back down and smoothing her blond ponytail around her shoulder.

“Okay, go on. I’m sorry.” Penny grabs a velvet pillow and places it on her lap, like it’s a giant stress ball. But first, I reach for the remote on the coffee table, and point it toward the window, lowering the shades a bit. Hangovers and morning sunshine do not mix.

Deep breath.

“I’m just going to start. I heard everything…their names...I can't go into detail. It was awful. It was the worst twenty seconds of my life,” I mumble quietly, a pit forming in my stomach just talking about it.

“I’m in complete shock…I’m so sorry. Do you know who it was?”

I nod reluctantly. “Yeah, it’s Kelsey.” This time, Penny slams her mug on the walnut coffee table and jumps up, red creeping up her neck.

“Kelsey? The Kelsey who works directly under him?” Her nostrils flare as I nod slowly. “The girl who came to your housewarming party with her annoying attorney boyfriend?”

“That’s the one.”

“How freaking cliche of the bastard. He is screwing his coworker? May as well get a tattoo that says ‘stereotypical douchebag’ across his forehead!” Penny paces my living room, looking like she wants to smash something. I drop my face into my palms and inhale slowly, before lifting slightly to look at my fuming best friend.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this…but in all honesty, I’m not even mad at him anymore.” I carefully choose my words as Penny balls her fists, her eyes widening. “Perhaps it’s because deep down, I'm not surprised.”

She nods, still pacing in front of the fireplace.

“How did the phone call end…did you call him back?”

Tears sting my eyes as Penny rushes to my side, wrapping her arms around my hunched shoulders. “At first, he denied it, but after less than two minutes of me begging him to be honest, he was. He said he was sorry, and without even prodding, he admitted it’s been going on for six months.” I rub my hands down my legs again and again. “He sighed after telling me, like it was a weight lifted off his fucking shoulders.” Penny’s brown eyes grow wide in horror as she waits for me to continue. “I calmly told him it’s over, and all he said was I’m so sorry but that was it.” Snot ran down my face as I wiped my nose across my robe sleeve like a child. Tears run down both our faces now, as Penny empathizes with me. “We exchanged a few texts right before I passed out, but he barely had anything to say to me.”

I shake my head, leaning on my best friend's shoulder.

“The worst thing is he didn’t even fight for me. I wouldn’t have gone back, but am I not worth fighting for?” Lifting my head to look at Penny, she takes my face in her palms, forcing me to look at her.

“You are worth so much more than he could ever give you.”

“I just don’t understand. We’ve been planning a life together since we were twenty-one. Five whole years. And he threw it all away.” A shrill chuckle escapes my hoarse throat as my shoulders hunched further. “The wedding is planned. The renovations on the house he insisted we buy are only weeks from being complete.” My chest constricts as I rattle off the failures heavy on my heart. “I feel like he ripped the rug out from under me, and everything is crashing down. All the plans we had…all the plans he made for us.” Glancing down at my empty ring finger, I ball my hand into a fist. “All I know is the engagement ring sitting on my nightstand represents the end of everything, not the beginning.”

Penny squeezes her arms around me tighter, handing me a tissue from her purse.

“And now, I have to call everyone and explain to them the engagement party is off, the wedding is off…that I fell for a no-good cheat, and I have to...” My voice trails off as she grabs my hands, bringing my spiraling thoughts to a halt.

“Audrey, listen to me. You are allowed to feel all the things you feel. Hell, I want you to be madder than you are but that’s a different topic. Jackson screwed up everything. But life is not over. Just imagine if you didn’t find out about his true identity until it was too late.”

“Yeah…no, I know you’re right.”

“And stop worrying about everyone. I'll help you get the message out and cancel things. Jackson Tippins doesn’t need protection. He did this. And you are a newly single woman, who will now be free on October twenty-first.”

Groaning, I comb my fingers through my greasy hair.

“Promise me, on October twenty-first, we will have an anti-wedding celebration. Get drunk and carve pumpkins or something.”

Penny laughs and nods.

“I could never survive without you. Seriously. Can we just be single, and buy a beach house, and shun men forever?” I add and she hugs me.

“Of course, babe.”