LOVE'S SECOND ACT

CHAPTER FOUR

I took what was left of my pride that I had left in me and walked back out of the room and moved on autopilot to the elevator, pushing the button for ground floor and just leaning on the wall as I felt it move downwards. On getting to the ground floor, I moved numbly towards the double doors, my mind in a blank haze. All I wanted was to get home and just lock myself up for the rest of my life.

I got out and hailed a taxi. After getting in and giving the driver my number, I laid my head on the window and closed my eyes, my mind trying once again unsuccessfully to try and remember what had gone down yesterday and how I had ended up with Mr. Rhodri last night. Everything was just a blur.

Finally, I got home, shutting the door behind me and falling down to the floor as soon as I got to my room. Once again, I cried.

I cried for the loss of my mother. I cried for the terrible luck that life had allotted to me. I cried for the loss of the only thing that had ever made sense in my life, the one thing I had managed to get right, the love of my life. I cried and cried and cried until I had run out of tears to cry.

Slowly, I felt the waves of sleep washing over me. It was exactly what I wanted. I slowly welcomed the warm, gentle hands of sleep as she lulled me into the land of Nod, where her dreamless slumber provided me with perfect escape from the horror that was the story of my life.

I was awoken by the shrill ringing of my phone on my bedside table. Groggily, I reached out for it, swiping to answer the call without bothering to check who the caller was.

“Hello?” damn, my voice was so croaky.

“Oh! Thank you, Jesus, you are alive. Hey baby girl”, the lively chatter of my best friend s***h favorite colleague echoed from the other end of the phone, immediately making me feel so much better.

“Hey Alex, what’s up?” I asked as I slowly sat up on the bed.

“My goodness#, why do you sound like you swallowed a frog? Wait, where are you? You had me all worried when you didn’t call last night to tell me when you got home and this morning. I have been worried sick. Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you or something?” he asked as he went on and on.

“It’s fine, Alex. I am fine and I am at home. You can stop worrying about me now, thank you.” I said as I padded my way to the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of #water from the fridge.

“You sound sick. That’s it. I’m coming over.” He said before hanging up, making me laugh.

Typical Alexander, always coming to my rescue whenever I was down or needed a break from the outside world. I went to the sitting room where I put on a random cartoon to pass the time before he got here.

Thirty minutes later, the doorbell rang. I stood up and trudged to the door, opening it to reveal a very relieved Alex and two bags in each hand. He raised them up as his smile widened.

“I brought your favorite snacks”, he said as he walked past me into the sitting room.

“You are the best”, I said as I followed him and sat down while he emptied the bags on the table. He had bought my favorite ice cream, a truck load of different candies, some M&Ms, lots of chocolate, a few plates of takeout and, of course, a bottle of wine to end the night.

We quickly sat down to eat and devour all the goodies he had brought while we watched Orion and the Dark.

“So, are you ready to talk about what happened last night and why you didn’t call?” he asked as we dug into our ice cream.

I sighed, dropping my cup on the table, my mood dampened as I recalled all that had happened this morning. “You don’t have to tell me if you are not comfortable yet”, he said. But I needed to talk to someone about it. I needed to get it off my chest and have someone console me. And Alex was the only person I new who would be able to do just that.

So I explained everything to him, in clear detail, watching as his facial expressions shifted with each scenario. After recounting it, he looked down and sighed.

“So you and Fred are broken up?” he asked.

“Unfortunately, but that will not stop me from going after him. I will explain my side of the story and make him believe me. I’m not giving up on us”, I said, my resolve intensifying.

“Don’t you think it is time to let him go?” he had got to be kidding me.

“What?” how could he say such a thing as that?

“I mean, you have been with him for a while and he just left you. I think it’s time to let him go”, he said.

“What the f**k are you talking about?” I asked. I was getting angry.

He sighed and looked at me, taking my hands in his.

“Look, Elena. I know that now is definitely not a good time but I don’t think there will ever be a perfect time, so im just going to come open with you right now.” I was confused. “I love you, Elena”

Say what now?

I was dumbfounded. I couldn’t form words once again as my mind went blank for the second time today.

“Alex….”

“I know this is coming as a shock to you and with all that just happened, this is definitely a terrible time, so I’ll just leave you to think of what I just said and give you time to get yourself together.” He said before he packed up his stuff and just walked out the door like he had not just dropped a bomb on me with his confession.

Slowly, I snapped out of the shock, a new determination in me. I was going to meet Fred and make sure he listened to me and understood me. Yes, that was exactly what I was going to do. I quickly got up and arranged the room before heading to the shower to take a much-needed shower and get ready.

Soon, I was ready and out of the house, quickly hailing a taxi and heading down towards Fred’s apartment. I took the stairs two at a time as I practiced my speech over and over again. By the time I made it to his apartment, I was breathing heavily. I bent down to take a breather before punching in the code to his apartment and going in.

I heard shuffling in the living room and quickly said a thank you to the higher powers that he was home. It would be awkward sitting and waiting for him to come back. I quickly rounded the corner to the living room.

“Babe, we need to talk –“

Nothing could have possibly prepared me for the sight in front of me.

There, on the couch, was my boyfriend, butt naked as the day he was born, with my stepsister, Charlotte.