SO COLD (18+) currently editing

Chapter 56

SO COLD

I WAS IN THE COMPANY of silence and obtrusive thoughts that made my temples ache. It was gone three in the afternoon. The burning gaze of the sun hid behind white blinds and the high temperature caused for sluggish limbs and sweaty skin. I was sprawled across a sofa in James' living room. He asked no questions when I knocked on his door with a change of clothes, a case with the gun Cole's father gifted to me and a toothbrush. He had told me to throw my belongings in a guest bedroom and to then join him for dinner. He received a phone call later that night from Oscar who was wondering where I was – much to my dismay. Oscar offered a crash pad. James glanced at me, repeated the caller's words, I shook my head, James passed on the message and then cut the call. I thought he'd furrow his brow in suspicion and ponder why Oscar cared enough to disrupt his night to find me but he simply tossed his phone to the side, stretched and yawned, and then sleepily said a 'goodnight' before heading upstairs to crawl under his covers.

Now James was out of the house, driving to a sitter's home to collect his son to then drive out of town to take his boy back to his mother's – a few days early, he remarked disgruntledly. Cebrián had spoiled his plans and he was not pleased. He started the day in a sour mood and his bad mood was likely going to rot in the day's unbearable heat.

The doorbell chimed loudly.

Motionless, I favoured the idea of ignoring the visitor until the chimes rang again. Slightly irritated, I got up and ambled out into the hallway. I unlocked the front door and twisted the door handle.

Oscar stood on the top step with a sheepish grimace and a pretty bouquet of soft-yellow lilies and pastel-pink roses. He shifted slightly from one foot to the other and began sincerely, green eyes wide and bright. "I want to apologise for the way I've been behaving towards you lately. It's unacceptable and I understand if you don't want me to be anywhere near you. I didn't mean to hurt you or to put you in uncomfortable situations. I don't know what's wrong with me. Normally I show a lot more restraint than I have been doing these past few days and I don't act so..."

I suggested, "Piggish?"

"Yes," he held out the bouquet, anxious. "Forgive me?"

"No."

His face fell at my blunt response. Unhappy, he tried again. "I'm sorry, I am, Shay. I don't know what more you want me to say,"

"How about 'I'm leaving to blow my brains out and I'm never returning'? I would love to hear that rather than a shitty apology. You should go, Oscar. I have a list of things I need to do and you're interrupting my busy schedule of doing absolutely nothing." I tried shutting the door and his arm shot out, hand against the door and he took a step forward, mouth grim.

"At least accept the flowers."

"No,"

"Accept the fucking flowers."