Artificial Love (The Goodbye Trilogy #2) Read Online Free Page B

open the door,” Michael demanded. “You will not disrespect me at my work place nor in my own home.” The more words that came out of his mouth, the louder they got. I closed my eyes against his anger and pressed my two fingers to the pulse vein in my neck. Why was I so nervous? Did I think he was going to hurt me?
    I climbed on to the bed and dialed information for Julia Delaney in Merrimack, New Hampshire. While Michael continued to scream demands and obscenities at me, I spoke with Julia’s mother, who seemed like a robot as she gave out a number for either a manager or a guy named Johnny Lennox. She must have given the number out a million times a day because she didn’t even seem pleased that I, Julia’s childhood best friend, was calling.
    The word “bitch” came to mind and I widened my eyes at my thought. Wow, that was not very nice at all. Why would I call her a bitch for giving me a phone number? I shook my head from that thought.
    “You better open this fucking door, Emily, or I’m busting it down,” Michael screamed.
    I ran across the room and unlocked the door. When I opened it with a smile and slowly passed him with grace and dignity, he watched with intensity. I was gutted. I had nothing inside. But no there was no way in hell I was going to show Michael the putrid thoughts that were streaming through my mind.
    “What are you doing, Emily?” Michael asked calmly. He eyed the little duffel bag I picked up on the way out to grab my toiletries from the bathroom.
    I let out a deep, relieved breath. He isn’t going to yell anymore. Thank God.
    “I’m going to head to New York City to see an old friend,” I said haughtily. “She’s expecting me any hour so I have to get on the road.”
    “And which friend is this?” Michael inquired, with an incredulous smile on his face. He acknowledged I didn’t have any friends in New York City or anywhere else outside this godforsaken town. Just by his manner of asking, he was putting me down. That was certainly not very nice of him. I had friends… I thought. They were decent friends but yeah, the more I thought about it, they were probably likely to have been friendly with Michael, too. I needed to get tested for sexually transmitted diseases once I found out exactly what I was going to do with my life. I had only ever envisioned a life with Michael. This turning point was sure to set everything upside down and backwards but no way, mister! I was sick of being nice and pliable and a fucking doormat.
    “An old friend and that is none of your business, mister. Go. Go be with Terry or Theresa or Trina or Taylor, whichever T girl it is for Tuesday night,” I shot back at him, flailing my arms all around like a monkey in a cage.
    “I’m not going to be with another woman, Emily. We are going to go to a therapist and work on loving each other again. You are the one I want,” he soothed as he tried to move closer.
    “Oh yeah? Do you think a therapist is going to make you fall in love with me? From what I gathered at the office, I don’t think you ever fell in love with me in the first place,” I snorted and it wasn’t in a nice way. I sounded like a child having an argument in the halls of school. I immediately thought about Julia again and the ways I could find her. If I had her manager’s number, they could certainly get a message to her and maybe if her band wasn’t playing too far away, I could meet up with her there. Something good had to come out of this horrendous day.
    Michael sighed heavily and put his hands on his hips. “Actually? Yes, I do think that I could fall in love with you. We need to talk about my sexual needs, because men enjoy sex. All types of sex. It isn’t just you. I’ve been careful not to scare you with some of my bedroom ideas. You are perfect in every other way…but you just aren’t willing to try,” he deadpanned.
    I laughed so loud, I was sure it was echoing down the street. I didn’t notice that he had slipped