Always next to you

Chapter Twenty-Three

NICOLE

The cold city air fanned my face as I ran out of the bar. I couldn't stop the tears streaming down my face and I prayed Aiden didn't come after me. I knew I had no right to be upset with him.

However, even if we were just friends, the way Aiden treated me was not acceptable. I knew all of this was my fault. I fell for him without realising it, and I had fantasies about him. I should have stopped myself, but I got too excited.

"You're so useless, Nicole," the voice inside my head taunted. "Just look at you. Running away in tears again,"

From the light inside the building, I saw him and Jonas running toward me, but I could not let them catch me. I started walking away from the building while reaching my hand out for a cab.

I wanted to go far away from here. I didn't know if I was going to go home, but none of it mattered. After a while, an empty cab stopped in front of me and I ran inside.

As I sank inside the cab, the weight of the pain in my chest became more apparent. I wasn't so sure of what I wanted from Aiden before now. Even when he said we should be friends, I wasn't comfortable, but I kept it in.

I was in love with Aiden, and he was going to marry another woman. There was nothing more painful than realising my second attempt at love was a failure. If he was going to marry someone else, then he really saw her as nothing more than a sleep partner.

Then why was he here? Did he come to apologise because there is no need for him to do that? The damage has already been done. I have been here before, so all I have to do is take care of my heart.

"Where to miss?" the driver asked.

I wiped my tears but I couldn't speak, so I opened my phone notepad to show him my address. I froze as a text message popped up on my screen. It wasn't the text message that scared me; it was the sender.

"Tell the driver to pull over," the text read.

It was from my mom. She was here in New York and she has been watching me the whole time.

Did she see me cry?

"Driver, please pull over. I'll get off here," I said.

I quickly cleaned my tears and reapplied my lip gloss. Thankfully, I applied a bit of makeup I hope was still intact from the tears.

Before I could get out of the cab, someone knocked on the window of the door and stepped back. My heart raced in my chest as I saw who it was. She still looked the same as the last time I saw her.

I could name the brands she was wearing by just looking at her, even though they had no labels. She still looked stunning and beautiful in her own blackness. I got all of my black genes from her, but I hoped that was the only thing I got from her.

"Miss, are you ok?" the driver asked.

He could probably see me shaking. How could I not? This woman was responsible for most of my trauma and I haven't seen her in over four years.

"She's my mom," I replied before leaving the car.

The driver refused to collect any money from me after I got out of the car. I accepted his kindness and turned to face my mother, but she ignored me and walked into her car behind the cab.

Our family butler, Curtis, opened the door beside her for me, but I ignored him and entered the passenger seat. I didn't feel safe next to me.

"Hi Curtis," I greeted when he entered the car.