The Curvy's Pretend Holidate

ON THE SECOND DAY OF CHRISTMAS MY CHEATING LOVE GAVE ME A STRENGTHENED RESOLVE

(Aaliyah)

I don’t know how long I sat on the edge of the couch in the living room, entirely lost in it, but I recall staring at my wretched reflection on the flat-screen TV that was currently off.

I was just so lost in my own thoughts, lost in the cruel replay of Logan’s face, his smirk, his smugness… all charming little pieces of him that I had once found adorable, but now found completely appalling.

Seriously, how had I even for a second thought that he was the one?

How had I let someone like him crawl his way so deeply into my life? Into my mind and my heart?

I thought back to when we first met.

It was somewhere in March, and one of the girls in my friend group, Nadia, had just gotten a marriage proposal that was basically every girl’s dream… I won’t bore you with the details, but it had been perfect, and absolutely romantic. I had been happy for her, truly, I had been, but this time, my pang of jealousy had burned a bit brighter than usual, and I had pulled away from the celebration, briefly wondering when the same would happen for me, too.

Perhaps, Logan and I’s introduction story had been romantic too.

I bumped into him accidentally, lost in thought, and spilled his coffee all over him, to my absolute horror. But the man had been so charming and cool about it, and after pulling him into a mall nearby for a new shirt, I had insisted on replacing his coffee as well, and he had amusingly agreed. We had spent the entire day at the coffee shop, bingeing on coffee and pastries, and just talking, and even then, there was no denying that our attraction to each other had been incredibly off-charts. The moment had been so perfect that we didn’t even notice that it was dark outside until a barrister came to inform us that they were closing.

At that point, it was clear that neither of us wanted the night to end, and so we stepped out into the city, getting to know each other more, and before midnight, Logan had kissed me passionately and told me he knew it was a crazy idea, but he wanted us to go out some more.

I’d been a mess of insecurities back then, still reeling from tearing myself away from my controlling family and how they always made me feel small, and inadequate… and Logan had been the first person of the opposite s*x to make me feel seen.

He made me feel special.

In my defense, he was such a good f*****g actor, and like he rightly said, I had been incredibly needy back then, so I had completely fallen for it, and Logan, damn him… he’d been so charming, so attentive. His smile had warmed me like sunlight, and I’d been desperate to soak it all in.

I fell for him hard.

Fast, only to find out that it was a lie.

It had all been a lie.

All of it.

The constant flowers, the sweet words, the promises of forever—just a carefully thought-out plan for his monetary gain.

Our plans for the future?

Lies.

The love he swore he had for me?

Another lie.

A strong burst of rage and bitterness hit me like a tidal wave, and I stood up abruptly, stalking over to the bedroom that had just been desecrated. Logan’s things were still there, still all around the house, taunting me, his scent lingering on everything in there.

Not anymore.

I grabbed fistfuls of his clothes, his shoes, every trace of him, dragging them out through the hall and foyer and hurling them out onto the driveway where they belonged.

Jackets, pants, shirts, ties, every f*****g thing he owned in the space we shared—I wanted them all gone.

I paused at a pair of cufflinks I’d gifted him on his birthday, somewhere in September.

They were expensive. Elegant.

And he no longer deserved them.

“f*****g mine now,” I muttered under my breath, pocketing them with a twisted sense of satisfaction.

If he had dared to lie to me for months, I could at least keep a few valuables as well.

Once I’d completely purged the house of his presence, I felt a tad bit better. I made a quick call to Joe, my family’s handyman and a father figure to me where my own father was not.

Old Joe was the kind of guy who asked no questions and worked fast, and while I might have left my family’s suffocating control behind, I didn’t mind tapping into their network of reliable helpers every now and then.

“I’ll be by your place first thing in the morning to take care of the locks, Peach…” He promised me, but I was having none of it.

“Tonight, please, Joe. You know I wouldn’t call if it wasn’t urgent,” I pleaded, letting out a sigh of relief when he agreed.

“Oh, and Joe… please get here quickly, because I might need your help for other stuff.”

********

It was somewhere around 10 pm when I heard the faint jingle of keys outside, followed by the rattle of my newly installed front lock.

Logan was back, and way quicker than I had expected.

My pulse quickened, but I didn’t hesitate. I walked to the door and unlocked it to find him standing there, his face a mix of confusion and fury.

“Can I help you?” I asked sweetly, leaning against the door frame like I didn’t have a care in the world.

His nostrils flared. “What the hell is this, Aaliyah? Why won’t my key work? This is my house too, you know? And you’re being ridiculous.”

“Well, I may look ridiculous to you, but make no mistake, Logan… this is my house, and I have the papers to prove it.” I gave him a saccharine smile. “You must have missed the memo, because I was serious about never going back to a cheating lowlife like you, Logan.”

“You’ve lost your damn mind,” he barked, stepping forward, but I didn’t flinch.

“No, Logan,” I said, my voice icy. “I’ve actually found it.” I corrected him proudly, “To paraphrase my favorite song from Rihanna, ‘I’ve got your stuff packed sitting on the driveway, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay the hell away from me.”

The dude was stressed!

It seemed that he had noticed that his little pompous attitude wasn’t going to work, and the revelation had mellowed him real quick.

“Come on, Aaliyah,” He pleaded. “Things don’t have to go this far. What happened between Shayna and me was a lapse in judgment that is never going to happen again, I swear on my life. It was totally unfair to you, and I feel like the lowest piece of scum for breaking your heart and blatantly hurting you like that. I just don’t know what came over me, I swear,” The words came out in a rush, but they didn’t even move me…

Not a f*****g inch.

I may be desperate, as he said, but even I knew that I deserved better than a cheating man.

I reached for the envelope on the foyer table and tossed it at him. He caught it, brows furrowing in confusion. “What’s this, Aaliyah?”

“A restraining order.” I hit him with the words, enjoying the stunned look on his face.

“Yes, Logan. See, you may know my family… but here’s where you went wrong. You assumed that they were going to do away with me if I left you, when in reality, they don’t even f*****g know you exist.”

I took a menacing step closer, “Now that you know who I really am, if you think for a second that you can intimidate me, I dare you to go ahead and try. I’ll be f*****g ready for you.”

Logan stared at me, his jaw tight, his fists clenched at his sides. But for once, I saw uncertainty flash in his eyes.

He was terrified.

Well, good.

“But, I have nowhere to go, Aaliyah…” He looked up at me with sad, puppy eyes, hoping to buy my sympathy, but I smirked at him, not buying his act for a second. “Come now, Logan… what are you talking about?” I feigned innocence, “You have a mistress, don’t you? Now, let’s see how well she puts up with you full-time.”

Without another word, I shut the door in his face and locked it.

Logan banged on the door, for about fifteen minutes, loudly begging me to take him back, but I drowned his noise with sound from the TV.

After a while, I didn’t hear anything anymore, and I peeked through the curtains to find the driveway empty.

I opened the door to confirm it, and true to my suspicions, every piece of his trash was gone, almost like he’d never been there at all.

I guess he had a place to go to after all.

I closed the door, leaning against it as the weight of everything crashed down on me, and I don’t know, it must have been the adrenaline finally wearing off, but finally,

The tears came.