“You slept with him?” Casey asks looking at me shocked. “I thought you said you weren’t going to spent time with him anymore.” She says her eyes bulging at me. Her eyes zero in on me from her kitchen; I’m sitting on her sofa a few feet from the kitchen.I was dreading telling her what went down with Knox and I but I have to tell her. She’s been there for me when I was struggling. Knox’s heart break did a number on me and she’s the one person that took care of me. She never judged me; she just made sure that I don’t go insane.“I know.” I say feeling so guilty. I went back on my own word and I feel bad. It’s even worse because she and I were trying to get rid of Knox together.  She walks to where I’m sitting and hands me a glass of wine. She stands there looking at me for a long moment.“What about Michael?” She asks sitting down, I frown at her. “What?&rdqu

I look up as Samantha open the private study room at the library. My eyes open wide when she looks at me. I don’t think I’ve seen her this disheveled, she looks like she hasn’t taken a long time.“Hi” Samantha says sitting down in front of me. I look at her shock; she looks like she hasn’t slept in a year. Her eyes are all puffy and red.  Her face has tear lines and her lips are swollen. I stare at her feeling all types of guilty because I know why she’s like this.“Are you okay?” I ask already knowing the answer. I can’t tell her I know why she’s sad and I can’t just ignore her too. This is bad, really bad. She doesn’t deserve what Knox is putting her through. And I help but feel like I’m partly to blame for what she’s going through.She was probably crying the whole weekend while Knox and were having sex and avoiding the world.“Yeah, I’m fine.&rdq

I listen to Samantha put her keys in my apartment door and unlock it. I’m sitting on my couch looking at the door. I take a deep breath and watch the door open; I see her walk in slowly.As soon as I see her walk in so many emotions flood through my mind, I have to stay as calm as possible. Whatever she says I’m not going to react, I don’t want to give her any ammunition against me. I know she wants me to do or say something she will blackmail me with.I have to play this game the right way. My main priority is to get Samantha and my mother as far away from Melody as possible. And for me to do that I have to keep this one happy.  I don’t care what I have to do; I just need to play along until I can find a way to get out from under their thumb.This is not going to be my reality forever.“He’s not home yet.”  She says switching on the light. “What the hell?” She says when she sees me sitting o

5 years later I listen to the sound of her heels hit the floor as she come closer and closer to where I am. She keeps calling my name over and over. I close my eyes leaning into my chair. She knows not to disturb me during my meditation. This is my hour to reset, plan and hopefully forget my worries. Her coming here at this moment is throwing all that into chaos. And she knows it. We’ve talked about her letting me have this one luxury in life but she can’t seem to let me have it. All I ask for is an hour where I can sit and not be bothered, but of ‘course she just has to do something to disturb my peace. I sit there until I hear her stop in front of my chair. She sighs audibly so I can hear that she’s annoyed, if only she knew that I’ equally annoyed with her right now. “Didn’t you hear me call you?” She says when I don’t open my eyes or acknowledge her. I slowly open my eyes and look at her. “I’ve been walking around this house calling your name like a mad woman. Why didn’t you a

“Hello Penthouse apartment.” Casey says excitedly when I open the door. I smile and go in for a hug. It feels so good to see her, we haven’t seen each other in so long. I missed her so much. Life has been so busy that we haven’t had time to link up. What they don’t tell you about adulting is that the days get shorter and relationships are harder to maintain. It’s so hard to keep in touch when you are trying to keep your shit together. “I think I chose the wrong career.” She says when she walks into my apartment. “We do the same thing. What are you talking about?” I say laughing. We walk into the kitchen and sit at the island. She touches the marble top, smoothing it out. I look at her funny, we work in the same industry and we make about the same amount of money. She’s acting like she can’t have this if she wanted to. “I chose the house, white picket fence and the 2.1 kids. I didn’t stop to think that maybe I could want this.” She says gesturing to my place. “This is bomb af, pent