Drifting Deception

Chapter Two

The pavement started to fog up as my eyes filled with tears, my vision becoming more and more impaired as I increased the distance between us. Did he really not want to be with me anymore? If I'd said yes, we wouldn't have been any different than what we were at the start of the night. Two lovers. Navigating this world together.

I continued walking until I couldn't no more. I lived twenty minutes from the city, but my feet were swollen, and blisters threatened to ruin the next two weeks for me.

I ordered an Uber and sat on the edge of an abandoned storefront. I laughed sarcastically. The storefront represented me in the current moment. Rejected and alone.

***

Two weeks later

"Come on, pick up," I said as I tapped my foot against my bedroom wall. I was starting to think this would be the third unanswered call, and I was feeling desperate.

Just when I'd almost lost all hope, my brother's voice seeped through my headphones.

"God Syd, I'm here. I'm here," Theo laughed. His warm voice immediately relaxed my nerves—not that I needed to be nervous. I was just calling my brother to let him know the news. I'd allowed myself to grieve for the past two weeks, and now I was ready to move on with my life. At least that's what I was telling myself.

"Oh, phew. I was worried you'd had an accident or something," I said.

Theo chuckled. "Way to be so grim." I heard some quiet rustling on the other end. "What's wrong?"

I snickered. "What makes you think something's wrong? Can I not just call my lovely brother because I want to have a chat and gossip."

Okay, you're beating around the bush now, Sydney. Not funny.

"Yes, but you usually Facetime me for that," Theo laughed. 

Shit. That was true, but I didn't think he'd notice. I hadn't left the house all week, so I was not looking presentable. And I know what you're thinking, "Wtf, but he's your brother." That is exactly the problem. He's my brother, and so he will completely mock me if he sees my tired state.

"Okay fine," I sighed. "Jeremy uh...Jeremy broke up with me."

It was silent on the other end for a few seconds, before I heard my brother sigh.

"I'm really sorry, Syd. I know how much he meant to you."

He did mean a lot to me, which was why I wanted to fight for our relationship.

"Did he give a reason?" Theo asked. I could tell he didn't want to pry too much, but he also wanted to look after me. It had been just the two of us for quite a long time. Theo and I had the same mum, but my father passed away nineteen years ago when I was just five. Our mother remarried five years after that, and around eight years ago, she and her third husband went sailing around the world and haven't turned back. It's been a few years since I've seen them, but we've kept in touch the old-fashioned way—letters and postcards.

"Uh." I played with the cord of my headphones as I figured out a way to articulate my next sentence. "He didn't like that I rejected his proposal."

"Proposal to invest in his company?" Theo asked. He knew that Jeremy and I were having problems with his addiction to work. One of those problems was him asking me to invest in this new crypto website he'd been developing for half a decade. It made sense that this was Theo's first assumption.

"No," I continued. Just say it, Sydney. "His marriage proposal."

I was met with silence for another moment before Theo laughed. "Did he really? No, he didn't." Theo laughed again before lowering his voice. "Did he actually?"