The CEO's Secret

Chapter Seven - Heartbreak

“Let's go home and talk about this.” Colt said as quietly as he could.

“No. We can talk about it here.” I said.

“Okay. Fine. We're not exclusive, Taylor. I don't know where in that crazy obsessive head of yours you came up with the idea that we were exclusive. It was never said or talked about. You just assumed we were in a relationship like that without any kind of communication.” Colt said.

“What do you mean, Colt? I met your parents. We practically live together. We're together every day. We text every day. You send me flowers all the time. Was I supposed to think in all of that that we weren't exclusive?” I said.

“You just pushed your way into my life. You got closer and closer without ever checking in with me. I don't feel bad about this. You're the one who got it in your own head that we had this relationship that wasn't the case and that is not my fault, it's yours.” Colt said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. There was no way that all of these months of pure bliss and love were all in my head. There's no way I read the signs wrong. We woke up together every morning and went to sleep next to each other every night. We were in love. I'd met his parents. We'd had conversations about marriage and kids in the future.

“That's not true. You were just as into it as I was.” I said.

“I just didn't want to hurt you.” Colt said. “I've never loved you. We had fun for a while but now you're just acting crazy. If I'd known you'd get the impression we were in this relationship where we were practically married, I would never have let this whole thing continue so long.”

“So I can date anyone I want right now?” I challenged him.

“I don't really give a s**t what you do Taylor. I gotta go.” Colt said.

He stormed out of the bar. All eyes were on me. I stood staring at his empty table for several moments. I felt Megan and Ashley finally come over and pull me away. I was crying. I was frustrated, confused and hurt. I knew Colt was just making excuses for his behavior.

Logically, I knew I had not imagined our relationship. I knew I had not imagined or misread the nights he held me in his arms while we talked quietly into the night. I knew I had not imagined the times we'd shower together after a long day of working where we'd tell each other about our day and laugh. I knew I didn't imagine the nights we ate dinner together watching a TV show and talking about our future.

There was no wrong way to take text messages sent throughout the day to remind me that I was the only one he needed. There was no other way to imagine what “You're all I'll ever want” meant. I wasn't wrong at all, Colt was just being an ass.

Logic always goes out the window when you're hurting, though. My heart broke into a million pieces. I cried the entire way back to the apartment. My friends tried to validate me and make sure I knew that all of the things that logic were telling me were true. I hadn't misread. I hadn't made anything up. I wasn't crazy.

On the inside of my heartbroken brain, though, I was a mess. I searched through all of the what ifs. I wracked through every conversation, every evening, every morning spent waking up together. I should've seen this coming, I told myself. Moving as quickly we had was a red flag. He had woed me so quickly. We had gone from strangers to lovers in a matter of days and within months, we acted like a married couple. We did in months what it took many people years to do. I should've guessed it was too good to be true.

Did I really imagine all of that? What if I hadn't gotten so attached? What if I hadn't believed everything he'd said? What if I never felt better?