29
DAWN
I told Victor the truth. I finally told Victor the truth I’d been holding back for ten years.
And he didn’t believe me.
A few minutes after I made my full confession, he pulled to a stop in front of my home-shaped prison and signed for me not to forget my bag. And that was it.
Our surprise mini-vacation ended with me grabbing my Aggretsuko tote from the back seat and him driving off before the rear door was fully closed.
So I guess he hated me again. I wished, not for the first time, that it was as easy for me to hate him back.
The rest of the day passed by without a peep from Victor—no surprise there.
And, you know what, it didn’t matter that he’d disappeared. Again. That he didn’t believe me. Again.
In fact, this was probably better.
Ten years after the first time he ghosted me, I knew exactly what to do when the silent beast bounced without a word of explanation. Keep it moving, Dawn. Don’t dwell on it. Just take the L and move on.
I focused on my work, just like I had before we agreed to that stupid game of pretend. I threw myself into getting everything ready for my soft presentation the next day and decided being alone was for the best.
With his intense presence and silent refusal to believe me, Victor would have only been a distraction.
And how had I expected the conversation to end anyway? I’d known he wouldn’t believe me. I’d known that for ten years. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be here. I was lucky I got out of that car without him threatening to kill my whole family again if I tried to make excuses for why I’d worked with my father to destroy his.
Still, the disappointment dogged me as I put the final touches on my presentation. And hollow loneliness set in when bedtime rolled around, and Victor still didn’t show up—just like I knew he wouldn’t.
It took me forever to fall asleep. And after I finally did, I tossed and turned and dreamed of terrible things I couldn’t remember the next morning when I woke up. Alone.
Still no Victor, so I didn’t bother with making us the kind of brunchy Sunday breakfasts I’d been going all out for over the last few weekends.
Again, this was for the best. I always got so nervous before speaking in public anyway. The last thing I wanted was pancakes and fruit compote coming up because I was trying to impress my monster of a husband with my breakfast-making skills.
I made myself some coffee, went over my notes one more time, and started setting up the presentation.
I positioned the projector and placed all the extra chairs I could find in the living room so people would have places to sit other than the floor.
I did a dry run of my presentation to make sure everything worked. It did. Still, my stomach was flip-flopping. I was trying my best not to miss Victor, but it was getting kind of hard.
He’d been weirdly good at reassuring me when I started fretting about whether I’d ever get Love Origins to where I wanted it in time for the presentation. Also, he’d brought me tea and snacks whenever I had to stay up late to get some class assignment or my part in a group project done on time.
And you know what feels really great when you’re bleary-eyed at two in the morning and seriously questioning your decision to become an animator in the first place? Tea and snacks.
But we were just pretending to be a real couple. I reminded myself that for the umpteenth time since he ditched my ass at the front gate. Me depending on him for emotional support was not how our relationship worked. And we could pretend all we wanted to. But when things got real, he disappeared. I needed to remember that. At least until May 26th.
My secret phone rang in my tote just as I was wondering if it was too early to put out the Costco trays of veggies and fruit to go along with the pizzas I had ordered.
See? Another good reason I should be glad Victor wasn’t here. He was the last person I wanted to know about my secret phone. And if someone had called while he was here, I would’ve had some explaining to do.
I pulled out the phone and frowned when I saw the name on the caller ID. Not Byron or mom, but someone who had never actually called me directly before, even when he wasn’t working.
“Dad, is everything okay?” I asked as soon as I picked up.
“Everything’s more than okay, sweet pea,” he answered with a wry laugh. “I’m calling with some good news. Your mom and I are moving to Virginia—near the D.C. area. I decided to transfer to a desk job at the DEA.”
