Done With My Ex, Moving To The Next

CHAPTER 26: Distance Amidst Chaos

Chapter 26

RHYS

Two weeks and a day. That was how long it'd been since Stella and I last talked. The morning I dropped her off at the academy.

She no longer allowed me to give her morning or evening rides, or respond to chats, or even give me attention.

She avoided me in every manner.

I begged Sophia to get lost but she insisted on staying, for reasons I couldn't fight against.

“We have a deal, remember?" Sophia flashed her eyes at me. My chest tightened, she was right. I couldn't breach it.

A deal.

"Yes, but—”

"There are no buts, Rhys” She cut me. "Canada is not so different from London.”

I moved closer to the railings on the rooftop, allowing the breeze blow through my armless top.

“Then, I'm no longer interested in the company. Do whatever you want with it!" I flung my hands in the air, my tone already giving up on the argument.

She smiled, amusement splashing across her face like she was watching a madman display. “You really don't mean it, do you?"

I said nothing. The company would be given to Dylan in the next few months, if I failed to react and resume duties.

“You'd better hold it tight. Not everyone gets to rule a billion-dollar company”

“Stay elsewhere. Not around me, Sophia" I brought the discussion back to the root.

“You know I would never do such, Rhys" She smiled. “The world knows we're together"

“Thinks—" I was about to correct her, but I held my words back.

“Whatever." She poured a glass of juice for us but I ignored it even as she stretched it towards me.

Stella hadn't turned out the lights in her room. I waited, checking the watch on my wrist to confirm the time. It was 11:30 pm.

She probably stayed up late for something.

A minute later, her lights turned off one after the other. From the living room to the bedroom.

I had tried to reach out since then, not mentioning Sophia but she ignored my messages. Every One Of Them. At one point, they were only getting delivered. She no longer read them.

Sophia and I weren't what it seemed.

I didn't want to talk about Sophia and I. It'd lead to discussions that would birth secrets. And I didn't want that.

My mind couldn't stop bringing her up. Somehow she was always in my head.

We barely saw each other last week and when we did, she'd only given me the cold shoulder as she walked past my car like I didn't exist.

She left no chance for a physical conversation between us. After classes at the academy, she was either flocking with other fashion students or completely out of sight.

“Are you even listening?” Sophia brushed my arm. I didn't realize Sophia had been yapping all while.

"Who's she?” She asked, raising her head towards the guesthouse. She joined me at the railings, offering me the juice for the second time.

I waited, forcing myself to take a sip. I racked my brain, trying to think of a way to say something about Stella without dropping the tiniest hint.

"You met her, didn't you?” I asked, not moving a single muscle. I knew Sophia better than anyone else.

"Yes, she came looking for you some weeks ago” She answered maliciously.

"Yet, you said nothing about it” I found out she'd met Sophia, with instincts and not Sophia saying it directly.

"You didn't seem so concerned. Is she that relevant? " She rolled her eyes.

My fist folded at that statement.

I didn't want to lose it.

“Sophia, do not bother her. Stay here if you have to but on no account should you cross paths with her" I didn't care about how I sounded, I had to make myself clear to avoid being crossed.

I hadn't reached out because I didn't know where to begin—there was a lot to explain.

Was it the succession?

Was it about Sophia, with all the world said about us?

Was it about the life I'd abandoned that was slowly beginning to haunt me?

Was it the past that would eat us both?

That night at our old apartment, I had told her about the succession only…my story was unworthy of her attention. It was dirty.

“How about you tell her the same?" Sophia retorted.

I bit my words back, summing them up to a phrase. "Dare me”

I got up. That was another day ending, making it two weeks and two full days since Stella and I had talked.

With Sophia being around, I knew she was up to no good. She had never been.

Even though the public called her name as my girlfriend, only those who were close to me knew the real truth.

She had a name to stay beside me…a reason, a spot to hold but the more I thought about it, I couldn't find a solid excuse to put Stella beside me without exposing her to the world.

There was a clear difference between wanting to protect someone and wanting to show someone to the world. I was caught up between both.

Every morning for the past two weeks, I'd drive out casually, hoping she'd smile at me so I could initiate a conversation. I was simply avoiding forwardness.

The next morning, I did the same but it went as it'd always gone.

She had ordered a cab and when our eyes met, she only flashed a fake smile before she proceeded to fake her distraction.

I didn't try to bring the connection. The reporters were around like Sophia said and anything bringing Stella and I together, would only drag her name in public.

I didn't want it for her.

There was no way I could help it. She probably had the illusion of an affair going on between Sophia and I, but it was nothing like that.

Moreover, did she want anything real with me?

Did she actually see me as someone she could be with?

Considering all she'd been through, she didn't deserve a person like me. She deserved a better man and I was nowhere close to being that man.

What was she going to think of me, the second my secrets were all splashed in her face?

Did I even hold a place in her heart currently?

Seeing her with other men made me ache in ways I would never admit, not even thinking about who they were. No matter their age.

I knew what all men wanted. And they were f*****g free to have it elsewhere, as long as it wasn't the same p***y I would die to have another taste of.

Last week, she'd actually gone on a date with Louis Albert, that motherfucker who had fourteen ‘baby mamas’ spread across Canada and the States.

I tried to play like I didn't notice but the moment I set my eyes on him as he opened the car’s door for her to step out, his fake personality stirred something dark deep inside my chest.

God. Her presence was all I wanted again. To inhale her apple scent was a f*****g privilege I'd never underrate.

The way her tiny eyes would fold at every joke, or random conversations….I hadn't gotten to call her ‘Blaze’ and watch her facial expression.

I couldn't help the imagination of my c**k in her again, watching how smooth her face blended the pain and pleasure.

Her moans always worked me up, electrifying every muscle in my body in ways I never knew I'd ever experience.

Fuck. Blaze was going to be the end of me.

The way she took my fingers in.. how could I ever get enough of it?

How could I ever get enough of her wetness for me?

The way my fingers slid inside her tight hole and she moaned my name. God damn it!

I hated that I was never perfect. I hated that I'd ever given her a reason to be distant.

I hated myself for that.

But one thing was final in my heart: If Sophia ever tried to play funny around her, then I'd take it as an invitation to send her heart through her mouth.

I f*****g meant it. No one was meant to toy with her. Not me. Not anyone. Not even—

I would never let it.

Mr. Shawn was calling again, as soon as Sophia left the rooftop.

I hesitated for a few seconds before I finally answered it.

“The board has agreed to give six months." He didn't wait for the usual greeting. Impatience was carved into the words he said.

I didn't thank my stars yet. I knew he still had more to say.

“On one condition" I listened carefully, my chest slamming against my ribs.

“You'll resume as the CEO there"

I could not scream. “Are there repercussions, Uncle?" I wasn't trying to manipulate it. He was my Father's most trusted friend.

“Rhys," He calmed his tone. “You really have to begin by Monday or it'll really slip away. You have wasted enough time."

I released my breath. That was it….the height I didn't want.

"The headquarters will be moved to the London branch, for your sake.”

God damn it.

"Be careful around that girl. Now that she's there, rumours will begin flying around again”

My fist folded tight as my jaw clenched. Oh f**k it!