t home, staring blan

from the tension

d myself by watching eve

t, but my last thread of reaso

ed open the front door. "Sti

phone and walk

him, some hotel body wa

h, I swallowed the

onight, but she wasn't at the shop. She told me

, shrugging casually

ed me a designer gift bag. "To ma

de me

y picked by someone else, an

nd, he'd have seen the mockery in my eye

ssly. "I'm beat from toni

t, driven by anger, I unl

food delivery apps, everyth

lecom app and pulled

the most minutes

found Hailee's alternat

ng to dream of love, Hailee and I l

aring boldly, "I'm going to

"Fine, I'll be the first to c

nt had a profile picture-a sc

rly thirty years, from childh

clean, but staring at that pr

ross my face, Hailee's was a kni

e tore open

their transaction history,

sfer dated back

and distracted I didn't ev

d in guilt and barely spoke

retense of looking after me, star

truly shattered, the

the transactions wi

twenty thousand for holidays, a few thousand

every single transac

hat a university profess

nsation, that mu