His at Night (His #1)

Chapter 26 : Mr. Demanding

There's a slight pause on the other end and I can hear my heart thumping against my ribcage. Then Braden speaks again, ''Maybe you should start with telling me the reason you didn't tell me this.'' His tone is so controlled and so monotone and even, it makes my tears run down my cheeks even faster.

''I'm s-sorry,'' I stutter, not knowing what else to say in this moment. I just know that I want him to stop being mad at me and see this through my point of view.

But Braden still stays calm and collected and so very angry at me, maybe even more. ''Save your apologies for the last, Rory,'' he barks, making me wince again.

I cuddle into my bed, seeking the comfort in my covers, wishing Braden would be here so I could cuddle in his warm embrace where our problems don't exist, but on the other hand, I'm thankful that he's not here with me, seeing me having a breakdown (again). And I don't know if I could be able to stand his accusing eyes and his angry stare. But I would take it. I would take it over this distance that we have on the phone between us now.

''I'm waiting,'' I hear him seethe through his gritted teeth,

''What do you want me to say, Braden?'' I cry out quietly, suddenly not feeling very brave.

''I want a goddamn truth, Rory!'' Braden hollows, making me sink even more into my bed.

I don't even know what I can say so he can stop being angry with me. I know he deserves to hear the truth from me. ''Can we talk later?'' I plead him, not wanting to have this conversation over the phone.

''No. I want to hear your side of story and I want to hear it now.'' Braden's voice doesn't allow any objections, so I suck up the air into my lungs and exhale quickly, trying to calm myself down.

Why did it have to happen this way?

''Okay,'' I exhale, giving up on trying to convince him to talk to him later. I don't even consider not telling him, because once, he already found out and, second, he doesn't deserve me lying to him anymore. ''What do you want to know?''

''Everything. Start from the beginning,'' he says as if it's the most obvious thing.

I settle more comfortably in my bed and start playing with my sheets. If I wished he was here before, I'm now thankful he is not, because I don't know if I could look him square in the eye while telling him the truth.

''I found out yesterday,'' I try to loosen my lie with defending myself, pointing that fact out. Braden stays quiet and I realise he will let me tell him the whole story. ''I went to see where Brooke is working yesterday morning. I thought I won't be able to afford anything from there anyway, but I did find out one or two things I wanted to buy ...'' I murmur, embarrassed to even think about how I probably looked like in that store yesterday. ''Then, when I wanted to pay for the clothes, the saleswoman told me my credit card is denied. She said she tried it for three times. So I returned the clothes and went to the nearest bank, thinking there was some problem with my card.'' Tears well up in my eyes. ''It seems like everything is perfectly fine with it other than I'm completely broke,'' I whisper, not daring to say it louder. It seems so real now that I've told someone. Maybe I thought that if I don't say it out loud and nobody finds out that it wouldn't be true.

I close my eyes, letting the silent tears fall. ''It's my fault ...'' I say in a deep, groggy voice, making it apparent that I'm obviously crying. ''I forgot that Charles, my ex, was assigned as a chartered person who can also withdraw money from my bank account. He did the same months after we started going out,'' I say in my defence, realising how stupid this situation is. ''It's all my fault, really,'' I repeat in a small voice, feeling defeated all of a sudden because I realise that I'm close to hitting my breaking point.