The Ex

The police assure Cassie that the red material splattered on the door of Bookland is paint, not blood. Maureen, the unhoused woman who lives outside Bookland, claims not to have seen anyone, but Cassie believes she’s lying. Cassie wonders who would be interested in defacing her store. Since her first date with Joel, she cannot shake the feeling that someone is following her. She cannot imagine why anyone would follow her, given how boring her life is. She decides to accept the police’s explanation that it was simply a random act of vandalism.

The Ex continues to stalk Joel and his new girlfriend, whom she nicknames Olive because of her olive-colored skin. While following Olive, the Ex learns that she owns a struggling business and that she visits the same coffee shop around lunch most days. She is secretly grateful that Lydia is refusing to see her, knowing that she’d admit her stalking and that Lydia would tell Pete, who would tell Joel. Despite her grandmother’s attempts to set her up with other men, the Ex remains obsessed with Joel.