Travis turned to her and raised a brow. “You do realize, Ms. Caldwell, that you actually brought me my coffee today.”
“Don’t get used to it,” she mumbled over the rim of her coffee before taking a careful sip.
Travis smirked as he said, “You have eclectic reading tastes. I think you have everything from the classics to non-fiction to do-it-yourself books here.”
Ally shrugged uncomfortably. “I like to read.”
“What’s this?” Travis asked curiously, pulling out a plain, bound manuscript.
She leaped forward, trying to pull the bound sheets from his fingers. “Nothing of interest,” she told him adamantly. “Give it to me.”
“It has your name on it. Did you write it?” There was no scorn in his voice, only curiosity, as he held the manuscript out of her reach.
“Yes,” Ally answered irritably.
Setting his coffee down on one of the shelves, he flipped through the pages. “You’re a writer?”
“I’m an assistant and a secretary. And I’m a bartender. Writing was just a dream.”
“Why?” Travis’s gaze locked with hers, his dark eyes questioning.
“Because I wasn’t good enough to be published. I have the rejection letters to prove it,” she answered, annoyed. “Rick told me to quit dreaming and work harder at something that actually paid a wage. And he was right. We were tight on money. I needed an extra job where I actually got paid—”
“Is this a fantasy novel?” Travis interrupted, his concentration on the manuscript.
“Yes,” Ally admitted. “Young adult fantasy. It’s a series. I never quite finished the second book.” Not that she wasn’t itching to write the story, but there was just never a moment where she had the time to write. Someday she would finish the series, even if she couldn’t get it published.
“I’d like to read it,” Travis said thoughtfully, closing the manuscript gently and placing it next to his coffee. “So the bastard basically took everything away from you,” Travis stated quietly, his voice low and dangerous.
“What do you mean?” Ally asked, confused.
Travis crossed his arms in front of him and his brows narrowed, spearing Ally with a dark glare. “He made you quit school so he could finish. Then he made you give up your writing to work even more hours at a goddamn bar in a shitty neighborhood. He shamed you into doing exactly what he needed. Did he ever give a damn about you, what you wanted? Obviously not, or he wouldn’t have been hopping into another woman’s bed.”
Ally opened her mouth, wanting to tell him that Rick hadn’t technically hopped into another woman’s bed. He’d used theirs. But she wasn’t so sure her slimy ex hadn’t done some hopping, too. “It wasn’t all him,” she admitted reluctantly. “I wanted security, too. That was the plan. To finally have a life that wasn’t chaos, a life where I didn’t have to worry about pinching every single penny I had.”
“And was your life always so chaotic?” Travis asked as he stepped forward, stopping a few feet away from her.
“Yes. I grew up with one parent, and she was an alcoholic, drunk more often than she was sober. So yes, I wanted a normal life.” Ally’s heart was racing, and she took a deep breath and let it out. It wasn’t that she didn’t know that she was a codependent mess sometimes, but it wasn’t a topic she really wanted to discuss with someone like Travis. Actually, she didn’t really discuss it with anyone.
“So you busted your ass to make the wrong guy happy, a man who didn’t give a shit about what actually made you happy,” Travis stated flatly. “So when is it your turn, Ms. Caldwell?”
“I’ll have my chance as soon as I straighten everything out,” Ally argued.
“Will you? I wonder?” Travis said hoarsely.
“I can’t change the past. Yes…I was stupid. Yes…I was gullible. I need to learn from my mistakes and move on,” Ally said hesitantly.
“You’re a pragmatic organizer on the surface, but a dreamer inside,” Travis observed. “But one thing I don’t understand is why you took his shit for so long. You’re not the type of woman to put up with crap from anyone. I should know. He must have been one hell of a manipulator.”
Ally shifted uncomfortably. “He was.” Rick was never openly hostile or angry. Ally could have dealt with that by kneeing him in the balls and walking away. But he had a way of making her feel guilty and responsible for everything, and he’d played on her vulnerabilities. “He was very good at it.” Ally sighed. “I guess I wanted the dream, and I had everything planned out perfectly. It just didn’t work out exactly the way I had planned.” She’d dealt with everything Rick threw at her just for the possibility that some day she might have a normal life, making excuses for him just like she’d made excuses for her alcoholic mother all her life. She told herself life would get better, that Rick would be a better man once he wasn’t under so much stress. It wasn’t until the moment she’d seen him screwing another woman that she realized that she’d been the one living a lie. He’d always been an asshole. Seeing him with another woman had finally shaken her into reality.