Chapter 4

Jess and I moved to a quiet little bar.

Without the music pounding in my ears, my feelings slowly settled.

Jess looked at me, worried. “Nora, you really scared me back there. I’ve never seen you like that.”

I sipped my cocktail and laughed at myself a little. “I guess I’ve just been holding it in too long.”

“You should’ve done this ages ago!”

Jess slapped the table. “You can’t give a guy like Adrian an inch! You put up with way too much before. That’s why he thought he could push you around.”

I watched the liquid swaying in my glass and didn’t answer.

If I hadn’t had just over two days to live, I’d probably never have found the courage to say those things to Adrian, or do any of what I’d done.

It turned out death was the best cure there was.

It had cured me of being weak, and small.

My phone buzzed. A text from an unknown number.

Nora, don’t think playing hard to get is going to bring Adrian back. I’m the one he loves. It’s always been me.

Sienna.

I snorted and deleted it.

A little while later, the phone rang. A call this time.

I answered and put it on speaker.

“Nora, have you no shame?”

Sienna’s shrill voice poured out of the speaker. “You knew Adrian was there, and you showed up dressed like that on purpose. You were trying to seduce him! Let me tell you something—in your dreams!”

Jess was fuming beside me. She grabbed for the phone to tell Sienna exactly what she thought of her, and I stopped her.

I spoke into the phone, perfectly calm. “Sienna, first, I didn’t know Adrian was there. Second, even if I had, I have zero interest in seducing a man I don’t want. Third, please keep your man on a leash, so he stops buzzing around me like a fly.”

“You—you called Adrian a fly?”

She was beside herself.

“I was just making a comparison.” I laughed softly. “But if you think he is one, then I guess he is.”

“Nora, you bitch! Just you wait, I’m going to make your life hell!”

“Oh? And how exactly are you going to do that?”

Now I was interested. “Get Adrian to cut off my alimony? Take back the house? Sorry. We’re already divorced. That’s all mine by right. You don’t have the standing, or the authority.”

On the other end, Sienna couldn’t come up with a single word. In the end, all she could do was hang up on me.

Jess gave me two thumbs up. “That was amazing! Nora, you’re my hero today!”

I smiled and knocked back the rest of my drink.

[61:12:45]

There wasn’t much time left. I had to hurry and get to the next thing I wanted to do.