by Lulu Pratt
His words feel like a shot to the chest and I just keep my eyes on the houses passing by the window.
By the time the car pulls to the curb in front of my house, I feel no more weakness, only vindication and strength, like I’ve broken through a glass ceiling of numbness after not dropping another tear from his words that tore through my heart.
I may have lost the two people I thought I loved most, but at least I got to tell Logan how I really felt. And now was my opportunity to give Petra the lashing she deserved, as I notice her Mercedes in the driveway.
“Here,” Logan hands me my purse.
“Thank you,” I say in a tight voice before nodding to the driver and thanking him for the ride.
Without another glance in his direction, I walk out of Logan’s life without so much as a goodbye.
I thought it was a forever type of love I’d never have to live without, but he’s just who Petra warned me about.
Taking a deep breath, I unlock my front door, ready to face the woman who has just destroyed my dream.
Chapter 38
Ava
There’s a loud shuffling as I climb the stairs to see Petra moving about as she throws things into a suitcase. The anger boils over as I approach her bedroom.
Glancing up, she doesn’t even hesitate when she sees me walking into her bedroom, brushing right past me on her way to her closet.
“What did you do?” I ask through clenched teeth, ready to give her a piece of my mind just as I did Logan.
“I did what you should’ve done weeks ago.” She chuckles, shaking her head as she dumps random items into the open suitcase.
“What, Petra? Swindle some man out of something?” I say to her. I roll my eyes in disgust, although there should be no shock.
Petra has always been a user – every one of her friendships is about what the person can do for her. You must have some utility to be in Petra’s life, because she doesn’t respect love or appreciation. No, that’s not good enough for her. To be valuable in Petra’s book, you need to get her free drinks, or sneak her into clubs, anything to show you’re worth keeping around. We weren’t even friends until she realized we were studying the same subjects and interested in the same careers, and for the first time I see how she used me to open the practice she couldn’t afford on her own.
“Ava baby, he ain’t gonna miss this,” she looks at me with sympathy, and my blood boils as she calls me the nickname Logan gave me.
“Miss what? The brooch you stole from his house like a fucking scavenger?” I yell after her as she walks to the closet before spinning on her heels from my accusation.
Her eyebrows rise, and if I’m not mistaken, there’s pride in her eyes as she walks so close to me I can see her chest rise and fall.
“The baby girl has finally learned to cuss. Listen, Ava, Logan won’t miss that brooch either, so you’re barking up the wrong tree if you’re looking for some remorse,” she says to me before returning to her closet as I closely follow behind her.
“That was his grandmother’s, Petra! Give it back, because you may think all he cares about is money, but he can’t buy another one of those,” I plead, my heart still wanting to make what I can right, despite her carelessness.
“I don’t care about that brooch, Ava, I can buy a hundred of them now,” she says, carrying a load of clothes to her bed before dropping them into the suitcase.
“What are you talking about?” I yell, the frustration boiling over as she goes on about her business like she hasn’t just ruined everything in my life.
It’s the twilight zone, watching a girl who looks and acts like a stranger, although I’ve known her for years. We’ve spent so much time together, and I’ve ignored so many signs and red flags about who she really is because I accepted her without question.
All this time she claimed to be teaching me how to spot the deceitful people in LA, when it’s her I should have been looking out for. A thief and a liar living right in my home, working together every day as she took advantage of who knows who else.
“Ava, have you checked your jewelry box lately, sweetheart?” she asks in a tone that mocks my own.
The room feels like it is spinning, as everything comes together right before my eyes. Petra cashed the check from Logan. That’s why she mentioned it earlier. That’s what Logan got a call, and that’s why he dumped me at my house without so much as an apology.
“You cashed the check.” It’s more of a realization than a question, and Petra nods slowly like I’m late to the party.
“There you go,” she says slowly, bumping by me on her way to the closet.
“And where are you going?” I ask, glancing around the room, confused as to how she thinks she’ll get away with this.
“Wherever the hell I want, Ava. I’ve told you over and over, when opportunities come, you seize them! You could’ve cashed that check weeks ago and took yourself on a trip instead of waiting for Logan to give you what he feels like, when he feels like it. You wanted to be naïve like he could really care about you, when he doesn’t care about anyone! So, I did what needed to be done,” she says as she raises her hands as if the explanation makes everything okay.
“Petra, I knew you stole that brooch weeks ago, but I never crossed you. I lied to the man I love to protect you, because I always wanted to look out for you, but you don’t give a damn about me. You ruined the only thing I wanted for some money? Some money that he would have given you without a question asked,” I say to her as I shake my head at her short-sightedness.
For me to be the green one, as she calls me, I can’t wrap my head around her ridiculous plan. And to know that she is the reason Logan cannot trust me, while I risked everything to protect her, shifts my feelings from hot anger to raw hurt.
“Ava, you may think that, and I think it’s great that you see the good in people. One day you’ll understand that there are just some bad people, and Logan is one. He’s a dog, and the only way we could have ever got anything from him was to use him, like I tried to teach you. And don’t come at me with your loyalty argument, you were supposed to protect me and lie to him. That’s what friends do.”
“Petra, I didn’t need to use Logan, because he loved me. He would have given you money to make me happy, just as he’s tried to spoil me. I don’t want his money, because that’s not what matters most. You’re so money hungry you can’t even see when someone truly cares about you. From the moment I told you about Logan, you knew I liked him, but you were mean and nasty about it, speaking down on someone you don’t even know.”
Petra continues grabbing clothing from drawers and shoving them into her suitcases.
“It makes no sense how angry you are at a stranger, Petra. You’ve let your anger destroy a friendship, a partnership that truly meant something. I would have done anything for you! But it’s out of my hands now. You’ve ruined my relationship with Logan, but at least I know the truth. Good luck making it anywhere with that money, because Logan’s security is gonna be on your ass, but I guess you know that, which is why you’re rushing like the thief in the night that you are. Enjoy your life on the run, bitch.”
I turn to leave, accepting that there’s nothing more I can say or do to help or change the way she sees things. Petra is just an unhappy person, and she always has been. My emotions are so scattered, I feel myself shaking as I make it to my room, looking around as I begin to wonder what the hell I’m going to do with myself.
Petra is leaving, which means my life as I know it is done. She’s half my business, and I can’t continue without her. I won’t even be able to afford rent without her living here with me. That, in addition to losing Logan, is almost too much to bear.
My hands cover my eyes as the tears build, but they refuse to fall. My body is wrecked with hurt, and maybe there’s too much pent-up aggression to be sad any longer.
Sitting on the edge of my bed, I feel frozen in time, as if everything is moving around me, but I’m paralyzed, just watching it withou
t any say in what happens.
That’s been my life since I moved to LA, but especially since I met Petra. She’s taught me how to dress, where to go, who to date and everything else. I trusted her and she betrayed me in a way I thought was utterly impossible.
Just as the sadness begins to flood through me, I hear her footsteps in the hallway as she makes her way to my bedroom.
My heart is racing and my hands grow sweaty preparing for another confrontation. I’ve said everything I have to say to her, but it seems she’s still not satisfied.
Well, she’s got another thing coming if she thinks I’ll be the victim she’s used to, ready to sit and hear what she has to say like her kid sister.
No, there will be no more of that.
Rising to my feet, I cross my arms defiantly, preparing for my door to fly open, and when it does, I’ll look her straight in her eyes, because the words are eager to spill from my mouth.
Chapter 39
Ava
“Relax, please just let your guard down. I don’t even know where this angry woman inside you came from, but I guess I’m partly to blame,” Petra says as she opens the door with a smile, and for the first time in weeks, I feel like I’m looking at my best friend.
“I guess I’m just sick of being taken advantage of.” A tear falls down my face as the boldness melts away quicker than it formed.
“I swear I didn’t mean for you to get involved in any of this. I should’ve just left you at home that night, but it was so last minute, and everything just happened so fast.” She looks up at the ceiling, recalling the memory.
“What are you talking about?”
“Ava, I knew Logan when I was little,” she begins, and my heart drops. My instincts told me there had to be a longer history between them, but I couldn’t figure out how.
“My mom worked for his family as a maid at their Bel Air estate when I was younger. Logan was a spoiled brat, and he always treated me like shit whenever I came around. His parents were complete assholes, and would yell at my mom whenever she had to bring me to work with her, threatening to fire her although they knew how badly she needed that job, and they barely paid her anything to begin with. One day, his mom claimed that someone stole a diamond pendant from her, and because my mom had cleaned her room that day, she fired her on the spot without even allowing her to explain herself. I was there, Ava, and I watched her humiliate my mom in front of all the other workers who were my mom’s friends.”
The hurt is evident in Petra’s eyes, and a tear even rolls down her cheek as she remembers her mom’s embarrassment.
“Two weeks later, Ms. Draper found the diamond. She announced it to the whole staff, but claimed someone had put it back, trying to save my mom’s job. No one had put it anywhere but her. She had so much money and jewelry she couldn’t even remember what she did with it. But my mom was out on her ass because of that misplaced diamond pendant. We lost our apartment and had to move in with my aunt, before getting kicked out of there and living in a shelter. When the other workers told Ms. Draper, she swore it was none of her business, but she was the one who told all her friends my mom was a thief, making it all but impossible for her to find another job.”
“Petra, I’m sorry that happened to your mom. You never told me any of that. I didn’t know you had such a tough childhood.”
“Logan grew up to be a dickhead, no shocker there,” she sighs. “I would hear stories about him wrecking a Range Rover in the school parking lot, and showing up with a new one the next day. He was a dog to girls, never respecting anyone because his parents didn’t teach him to care about anything but money. When I got the call from Johnny that he could get me in Logan’s charity event, I saw it as an opportunity to finally get what my mom deserved. I didn’t mean for you to get caught up in it, Ava, because never in a million years did I think you would meet Logan there. I didn’t even think he’d be there! And then you liked him, like you really, really liked him and I knew he was a bad guy, but you just wouldn’t take my word,” she says as she shakes her head as mine begins to hurt.
Blinking slowly, I begin to put together all the pieces of the puzzle. Petra set all this up on purpose, because she wanted to get Logan back about something his mom did when he was a child? Everything was a lie. The party wasn’t random, she didn’t just happen to drive down that street, and she went in there with the intention of stealing something, which is why she left me the second we got in.
All those awful things she told me about Logan were complete lies. Rumors she’d heard about him from high school. Petra always told me that LA was a small town, and now more than ever that was obviously true. She’d been jealous of him her whole life, for something he couldn’t even help. That’s why she told me to cancel all my clients for him. Not because she knew I liked him, but because she wanted to swindle him for as much money as she could to make up for her mom losing a job twenty years ago.
“So, let me get this straight,” I step forward, closing the distance between us before continuing. “You’ve been lying to me about everything. You knew about that party before we even left the house, and you never really thought working with Logan was good for my resume. You were afraid that Logan would recognize you, which is why you ran every time he came around, making yourself look like a lunatic. It never even occurred to you that he was just a kid when your mom worked for him, and there were plenty of other kids, so you weren’t even a flicker on his radar. And you did all of this in some masterful plot for revenge, completely disregarding your friend, roommate and business partner who was unknowingly wrapped up in the middle of it.” I squint my eyes trying to make sense of her ridiculous plan and illogical behavior.
“Ava…” she begins and I cut her off.
“You left me out to dry, Petra,” I say, my hands balling into fists as my chest heaves with anger.
“You were collateral damage,” she says with a shrug.
It’s not the words that enrage me, and it’s not her careless attitude either. What pushes me over my limit is that she thinks it’s okay to talk to me this way.
She sees no threat in me, and finds the courage to say these things with confidence, because she’s certain I won’t do anything about it. I’m flabbergasted by her audacity and complete lack of respect for me. It’s like she only kept me around for a time like this, when she saw me as useful, and she could take advantage without any remorse for how my life was affected or destroyed.
Before I know what’s happening, I lunge at her, my closed fist connecting with the side of her left cheek as she stumbles backwards before I pounce, launching on top of her.
My fists wail hard and fast with no regard as I yell at the top of my lungs, every ounce of kindness disappearing from my body.
“You ruined my life over some fucking revenge?” I yell, raining blows as Petra covers her face with her arms, but I’m not giving up.
There’s been enough of my kindness being confused with weakness, and now I’m at my wits’ end, exploding with rage as she screams beneath my fists about how Logan deserved it.
Even hearing her speak his name infuriates me. She doesn’t know Logan, and never has. She’s a psycho to hold a grudge for this long, and I’m not stopping until she understands that.
Chapter 40
Logan
“Go! Go!” Rodrick yells as we climb the steps as fast as possible.
Ava is on top of Petra, her hands coming down so fast I can barely grab her, and even when I do, she continues swinging as I wrap my arms around her shaking body.
“Ava baby, calm down,” I say, never having seen this side of her.
I thought her fit in the car was the worst of it, but she’s got an even colder side to her. I needed her to be mad at me so she would look out the window, not paying any attention to me. Pissing her off seemed like a good idea at the time, but after I planted the recording device on her purse, I realized she was really hurt by my words, although I never meant any of it. I even cursed at her, but I didn’t
think it would upset her so much. She’s such a good girl, her heart couldn’t stand so much betrayal and devastation in one day.
“Logan?” she says, confused as her eyes come into focus. “What are you doing here?”
“Petra Morgan, you’re under arrest for grand larceny, wire fraud, mail fraud, and extortion. Anything you say…” The police officer escorts Petra out of the room as Ava looks on in confusion.
“I’m sorry, it was the only way.”
“What was the only way?”
“Rodrick found the connection between me and Petra, and we knew she had perpetrated the theft at the party. She was working with a valet and one of my guys in security, who tripped the surveillance system so she wouldn’t be on camera going in or out of the area, but from process of elimination, we knew it was her.” I struggle to simplify such a complicated investigation.
“Logan, I didn’t know anything about it. I swear, I didn’t. I would never steal from you, I don’t even care about your money,” she says, and I smile at her sweet little voice returning, after having to say goodbye to a side of her I never want to bring out again.
“I know, baby, I always knew you had nothing to do with it,” I say. My grin spreads, watching her nose scrunch up as she tries to understand.
“So why did you say those things and get so mad at me?”
“When Rodrick called with the alert that the check I sent you had just been cashed, I had this idea for you to get Petra to confess. We’d discussed it before, but Rodrick thought you were too nice. I felt like you could do it, but knew you’d get too anxious if it was staged. I was mean to you because I wanted you to shut down and move away from me. It hurt to see you like that, but I planted a recording device on your purse while you weren’t looking. We’ve been outside listening to this whole thing.” I swallow hard, knowing this is what I feared about the entire idea, whether she could forgive me again for manipulating her, and taking advantage of her kind nature.
