Who: Roxy and Mila When: noon-ish, Monday, June 11th Where: D’Onofrio Management office, out and about Status: complete
It had been over a week since Roxy had seen Spence, and she felt like she’d been on pins and needles since then. She’d been trying to keep busy, the house was probably cleaner than it had been in years, and she’d found herself leaving early for her shifts at the bar -- at least the shifts that didn’t overlap with Caden’s. How fucked up was it that it felt easier to work alongside him than to share a house with him now? She hadn’t gotten the courage up to make a move on her plan yet, her brain still grinding gears over Mila’s wedding and being jobless and homeless and trying to get through this breakup without becoming a domestic violence statistic. It was all so mentally and emotionally exhausting already, Roxy knew that she wouldn’t last through the weeks left before the wedding. Especially not without Caden catching on that something was very wrong -- she’d been flying under the radar thanks to his usual neglect, but that would only last so long.
She was going to need help, she knew that. Roxy also knew that if she asked him to, Spence would probably show up to guard her while she packed her stuff up and moved out. But she didn’t want him that involved, not yet. It was safer if it was somebody else, somebody that Caden wouldn’t hurt. Somebody like Mila and Aaron. Besides that, Mila was her best friend in the world, and Roxy really needed support. She hated that, it made her feel weak and burdensome, but she’d been sleeping like shit and stressing out so much, she couldn’t keep it up. This break had to happen very soon, or she was going to lose her shit completely.
Roxy didn’t have a shift that day, and she’d been out running a couple of errands a little before lunch. It seemed as good a time as any to connect with Mila, so as hunger started to make her already-nervous stomach hurt worse, Roxy sent a text to her friend.
Out and about... want to grab lunch w me? My treat.
Roxy's text was definitely welcome. With summer starting to kick in, she felt busier than ever because Anthony and Caius were busier than ever. There was a lot to do and she was doing her best to keep up without overworking herself. It helped that most of her morning sickness had passed so she wasn't running off to the bathroom every hour or so. Her appetite was definitely growing though and when Roxy texted, Mila had been contemplating where to go for lunch.
definitely! anywhere in particular? that new burger place opened near the boardwalk. I heard they have a burger with 2 12oz patties
Mila sent the message, winced and then quickly added, not that I want to eat a 24 oz burger. but their menu looked tasty?
Mila’s second text made Roxy laugh a little, which felt good to do. At least she still could. You eat whatever you and that baby want lol she sent back. Be at your office in 10 mins. Roxy set her phone down and started her car up to drive over to the D’Onofrio Management offices. It was close enough that they would probably walk to lunch, which was fine by Roxy. The weather was good for a stroll. She just hoped Mila had at least an hour to spare. Roxy parked in the lot and got out to walk into the building to meet her. She felt a bit out of place in the plush lobby as she stepped inside, just in jeans and sneakers, but her top was fairly cute and she had big sunglasses in place to hide her puffy eyes, so whatever. Roxy headed for Mila’s desk.
Mila definitely thought that they could walk, since the office wasn't too far from the marina. And with the weather so nice, she wanted to get out and enjoy it while she could. Mila saw Roxy heading inside so she grabbed her bag and set the phones to send to voicemail while she was gone. "Hey," she said, smiling as she rounded the desk to greet her friend. "I'm so happy you texted. I'm starving. Do you want to walk?" She noted the sunglasses, but it was a nice day so she didn't think much of what they were hiding, especially as she was pulling her own sunglasses out of her bag to slip on her face. "Anthony is gone for the next couple of hours so I can probably stretch my break a little." As long as she wasn't super late getting back, she didn't think Caius would mind it that much either.
She looked lovely as usual, and Roxy leaned in for a quick one-armed hug, aware they were still in a professional setting. “Yeah, let’s walk,” she said. Eager to get back into the fresh air, she turned to lead the way back to the door. Roxy let them get out to the sidewalk and turned toward the marina before she looked over at Mila again and sighed. “So I have an ulterior motive for lunch, even though I love you and I’m starving too,” she said. “You want me to hold off on my bullshit until we’ve got food in front of us, or ...? Just go?” Roxy tried to keep her tone somewhat light at least, like she was handling all of this just fine.
Mila looked at Roxy, one brow arching curiously. It didn't bother her that Roxy had some ulterior motive for wanting to see her. But there was a small part of her that was thinking the bullshit had to do with Caden and it was difficult not to tense at the prospect of spending her lunch hour listening to what an asshole Caden was. There were only so many times they could have the same conversation before Mila began to lose patience. But Roxy was her best friend and Mila loved her and wanted to make sure she was okay, despite her personal feelings on the matter. "If you want to unload your bullshit now, I say go ahead. Otherwise your food might get cold if you wait to talk about it then."
Roxy gave a soft snort, but that was probably true. She knew that Mila didn’t want to hear her complain about Caden anymore -- there was nobody left in her life who did. She was sick of hearing it herself, really. This time was going to be different, Roxy could feel it in her gut. She wet her lips, her eyes on the tips of her shoes as they walked for a moment before she glanced over at Mila again. “I’ve decided ... I’m going to leave Caden,” she said. It was a quiet declaration, but it felt definitive on her lips, even if saying it out loud made her heart race. “And I’ll definitely need your help. And Aaron’s, if you think he will.”
Mila had to admit she had been waiting for Roxy to say those words for a long time... and mean them. She studied Roxy silently for a few moments before taking a breath. It would be inappropriate to cheer, but she celebrated inwardly. Caden was going to be her brother in law soon. Her baby's uncle. She didn't want to drive a wedge between Aaron and his brother but she knew that both Roxy and Caden would be happier apart. "You know I'll help you," Mila said finally, slipping her arm through Roxy's. "And Aaron will do whatever you need him to do. When?"
She hugged Mila’s arm to her side, grateful for the contact and the way Mila didn’t make any judgement calls in any direction. Not out loud, anyway. Roxy knew she’d said she was doing this before and backed out, more than once, but she felt like this time would be different. The desire for Caden to actually hear her pleas, to straighten up and get some help with her so they could actually have a healthy relationship, had faded down to nothing. Maybe it was seeing everything she’d ever wanted coming true for her best friend, then getting a glimpse of the life Spence was trying to offer her ... she just couldn’t wait anymore. Nor could she make Caden want something he didn’t. It was time. “Soon,” she said, her tone a bit apologetic. “Maybe before the weekend, so he’s got a lot of shifts at the bar to distract him? Or at least keep him ... y’know, occupied. And I hate to do it before your wedding, babe, I struggled a lot with the timing, I don’t want to ruin anything for your day ... I just don’t think I can wait that long, now.”
Mila blinked in surprise behind her sunglasses, because that was soon. And maybe that meant Roxy was serious about it this time. She thought about having to tell Aaron, asking him to help Roxy, whether it was getting her stuff moved out, or just being there so Caden didn't get violent. The mention of her wedding prompted Mila to glance at Roxy in confusion before she quickly shook her head. "No, Roxy, I don't want you to worry about the wedding. I want you to do what's best for you. We'll deal with the wedding later." Maybe Caden would be okay and accept the end of the relationship and they could both be at the wedding without it being a Thing. That was likely wishful thinking but Mila had to cling to some semblance of optimism. "What do you want me to ask Aaron to do?"
Roxy had known that would be what Mila said about the wedding, but it was still a relief to hear. She wasn’t blood kin to Mila or Aaron, but Caden was, so if anyone needed to bow out of the wedding party to keep the peace, Roxy was preparing to be the one to do it. It would break her heart a little, but it would be better than letting Caden make a scene. But hell, maybe it wouldn’t come to that. Maybe she would leave him and he wouldn’t even care, or he’d be over it by the time the wedding came around. Fucked up as it was, that idea hurt. Roxy would cross that bridge when it came. “I just need Aaron to be there, when I tell him. Just to make sure he doesn’t kill me,” she answered. “And if you don’t think he would, or he says no, maybe Adrian would? I know I don’t know him well, but ... I would just feel a lot better with another man there, and I think Aaron would keep him more ... restrained, you know?”
Mila inhaled sharply at the mere possibility that Caden could, or would, kill Roxy. It made her want to drag Roxy to her home now and pack up all of her things while Caden was at work. "Aaron won't say no," she told Roxy firmly. "He'll be there. So will I. Do you want to get all of your things before you tell him?" What if Caden threw her out and then burned all of Roxy's stuff in the yard? There were so many ways this could go, most of them pretty bad, and Mila wanted to try and make it as easy on Roxy as possible. It was always safer to prepare for the worst. Mila wanted to think maybe Caden would surprise them all by being agreeable and understanding, but that was extremely doubtful.
Part of her wanted to protest Mila being there, but she didn’t want to come off as too dramatic. Caden would never hurt a pregnant woman ... would he? Especially his future sister in law? Surely not. It was all the more reason for Aaron to be there to make sure nothing went sideways. The question made her sigh, her brows drawing together over the rims of her sunglasses. “I don’t know,” she said. “I mean ... maybe I should? I feel like he’s gonna flip out no matter what, so it’s probably best to get clear of him as soon as possible, right?” On some level Roxy didn’t want to do that, she wanted closure for both of them and that would require an honest conversation, but she also knew that she probably wasn’t going to get that out of Caden. He would either lose his shit on her, or he would just shut down and block her out. At this point she didn’t know which she preferred, but she didn’t want to get hurt. She’d had enough of that. “I just ... don’t really know where I’m going yet either,” she added. “I saw Spence again and he’s got space, but that’s so fast, right?”
Mila thought the quicker Roxy got her things out of that house, the better. "Maybe you should clear out while he's at work, then have Aaron there when Caden gets home. That way you don't have to go back after it's done, you know?" Being on the outside of the relationship, Mila honestly didn't care if Caden got closure or not. It served him right if he suffered, honestly. She knew he was going to be her brother in law and she knew Aaron loved him, but Mila felt very few warm feelings toward Caden. Looking at Roxy again, Mila raised a brow. "You saw Spence?" Maybe that was what was prompting this decision. If it was, Mila was more than okay with it. She had always liked Spence and she knew how much Roxy had loved him in high school. "I can't tell you if it's fast or not, Rox. Aaron and I are getting married and having a baby and we haven't even been together for a year. But I think if he's offering you a place... you know if it's the right thing or not. The house might be a bit crowded, but you know you can always stay with us too."
It felt so sneaky, in a way, planning to get all her stuff out and on a truck before she even told Caden what was happening, like he would be blindsided by it all. The empathy Roxy still had for him didn’t like it, like there was something cruel about it. But Mila was probably right, it was best for Roxy not to have to go back afterward. She’d already thought about the stuff she would probably have to leave behind, furniture she didn’t have any place to store, the things she would surely forget. They’d lived together for years, it wasn’t going to be easy to extract one half of that life in a rush. “Yeah ... I saw him last week,” she answered. Comparing her and Spence to Mila and Aaron felt like comparing different planets, but it was so hard to explain that. And even harder to explain that she feared the judgement of immediately moving in with another man, even if she wanted to. Not to mention how Caden would react when he inevitably heard about it. “But I might need to stay with you, if you don’t mind ... not for long, maybe just a few days to clear my head, you know? I’m going to have to find another job and everything ...”
"Yeah, of course." Mila doubted Aaron, or Adrian, would have an issue with Roxy staying for a few days. She wanted to make sure Roxy knew she had a place to go, which might have kept her from leaving in the past. "We'll find you another job too. Somewhere you can make some decent money and not have to rely on tips every night." She could ask Anthony if he knew of any openings. He had plenty of contacts in town, surely he could help. Mila shifted her purse on her shoulder as they neared the pier. "I know it might be hard to reconcile this, but you did everything you could, Roxy. You tried, okay? And you deserve to be happy."
Roxy was still scared, but getting such support from Mila was making it easier to bear. She’d known that her best friend would help in any way she could, but it was one thing to know that and another to hear it when she needed it. New job, new relationship status, new place to live ... it was like she was being given an opportunity to build a whole new life, and it was exciting and terrifying in equal measure. She just hoped she got to see it through. Before they started down the pier proper, Roxy stopped and touched Mila’s arm to get her to stop too, then moved in closer to hug her tight around the shoulders. “Thank you,” Roxy murmured, her throat a little tight. “I did try, really hard. And I’m just ... ready to move on.”
Mila returned Roxy's hug, a somewhat sad smile on her face. "I know you did. And I know moving on is probably really scary, but you have people to help you." She just needed to make sure Roxy followed through and didn't let Caden bribe her with a wedding date or promise of kids or something. "And it's the right thing to do," she murmured before pulling back to look at Roxy. "No matter what happens, we're going to be okay too. We'll figure things out with the wedding and all that stuff. I don't want you to ever think you can't come around if Caden is there, you know?" It wasn't just weddings. It was birthdays and family things. Roxy was her best friend and that wasn't going to change just because Caden was a dick.
She did have people to help, Mila was right about that. It was hard to think those people could really protect her, but Roxy tried to remind herself that Caden wasn’t some demonic monster. He was just a man. A human man who’d been broken by a truly shitty childhood and family, but refused to start picking up his pieces to try to fix himself. Roxy hated that she would be adding pain to his life, but Mila and everyone were right -- she had to start taking care of herself first. And herself would be happier without Caden. She hoped, anyway. What if she was too broken and just ended up miserable without what she’d known for so long? There were so many possibilities to be afraid of. Roxy tried to lean on the strength and conviction she saw in Mila’s face. She nodded a bit, swallowing thickly and squeezing Mila’s arms. “Yeah, it might just take some time to uh, blow over, I guess,” she said. “But you’ll always be my best friend, he can’t take that from me.” Roxy gave her a little smile. “I love you so much.”
"I love you too," Mila said, hoping that Roxy believed her when she said nothing would change. Maybe that wasn't entirely true. Some things would change, but hopefully for the better. Mila was already planning on asking Roxy to be her daughter's godmother, though now wasn't really the right time for it. But soon. It would be so much easier to be okay with that decision knowing Roxy was with someone who loved and cherished her properly. Mila was of the mind that someone like Caden should never procreate and Mila definitely didn't want him to raise her baby if something ever happened to her and Aaron. "And just so you know, I'm going to try really hard not to let him take anything away from you."
Even if Mila had said so, Roxy would’ve known better about things changing. Things were going to change for sure. Some changes she desperately wanted, some she was afraid to face, but it was comforting to have someone at her side through it. Someone who didn’t want anything from her except for her to be okay. Spence was wonderful and Roxy knew in her heart they would end up together after all this, for better or worse, but her connection to Mila was different. Roxy nodded, that small smile still on her face, and gave her one more quick hug before she let her go. “Come on,” she said, then gave a watery little laugh. “I need a drink.” Roxy linked their arms and started walking again. Mila was still on her lunch break, so they needed to get moving if they wanted to eat.