Broken Lovers

Chapter 14

Lena was a lifesaver. I had to vacate Liam’s apartment, and as the owner of the Blue Ocean boarding house where I used to live with Mom pre-Liam, she let me stay there until I could find a job and start paying her.

Although I was never in love with Liam, I felt hurt and betrayed when I went round to hand him the keys of both the apartment and the car he’d gifted me because Cynthia, my supposed friend, answered the door. And what’s more, she was only wearing a towel. Remembering our conversation, I wondered how much she’d had to do with Liam finding out about my blackmailer-c*m-lover. But by that time, it was all just so much water under the bridge.

Liam came to the door when he heard my voice. He, too, was wearing just a towel.

"I am sorry for the interruption,” I said. “I came to give you the keys."

"Where are you staying now?" he asked, and I could tell by his expression that he regretted asking.

"None of your concern," I replied in as bright a manner as possible. “I’m fine. Everything’s okay.”

"In that case, you’ve left the keys, so you can go," Cynthia said, sounding both triumphant and bitchy at the same time

I cried a lot that night, and every other night after that day. Nobody was interested in my résumé. It was like all doors were closed to me. After a month of being at the boarding house and not being able to pay, Lena had to give my room to someone who could. I had nowhere else to go, so with luggage in hand, I started walking the streets, not knowing where I was headed or what to do.

I stayed at the train station for a few nights, and when I woke up one morning, it really hit home what had happened to me. I felt nauseous and weak. I started vomiting. The thought of my mom came to my mind. I was missing her so much, but at that moment, I was relieved that she was dead and couldn’t see how low I’d sunk.  

I went back to the Blue Ocean and begged Lena to at least let me sleep in a corner of the living room. It was there that I met Carlos. He was a doctor and he was renting a room while waiting for his house to be built. He said I looked unwell and insisted on checking me out. He couldn’t find anything wrong, but suggested I took a pregnancy test. I seized up. Pregnant? I felt my world, such as it was, collapse. That was the last thing I needed… another person to look after when I had no job and no house.