Behind Closed Curtains (Desires of the Forbidden)

Chapter 22

This conversation needed to be over.

Tearing my gaze from the floor, I forced myself to focus on Kaleb's gaze that held so much pain... so much angst.

"Sorry," I mumbled out, the effort in my apology obviously lacking.

Kaleb's stare flashed with sympathy as he shook his head.

"I tried to get to you... I tried but-"

"It's fine," I snapped, my eyes pinned on his bitterly. "Nothing actually happened so it turned out you didn't need to come at all."

With that, I was done. I was done talking about it; dancing around the subject. I just wanted to be by myself. So as soon as I finished speaking, I started walking my way towards the theater doors and past Kaleb.

Not without protest from him though, of course.

"Leah, stop," he tried. But as I found out last night, saying stop doesn't really have much of an effect.

I kept on and so did he.

"Leah, we need to talk!"

"No, we don't," I called back to him as I approached the theatre doors.

"I heard, Leah!"

My feet stopped in their place. Every muscle in my body tensed as the world around me came to a screeching halt. My breath stuck in my throat, the effort to breathe taking a backseat to the horrifying revelation of Kaleb's that pierced through my ears and stabbed its way through my chest and directly into my throbbing heart.

Slowly, I turned on my heel to face him.

My eyes were wide and filled with apprehensive terror as they settled on Kaleb's crestfallen features, drifting to his soft lips as he spoke, confirming my absolute worst fear.

"I heard everything," he bit out, his words chopped and heavy with contempt as his mournful stare bored into mine.

He heard...

My phone must have never shut off after Zach slapped it out of my hand while I was talking to Kaleb, leaving it perfectly open and receptive for anyone on the receiving end of the phone call to have a front row seat to witness every agonizing minute of my torture last night.

I hadn't considered this and I didn't know what to think, how to handle it, what I should be feeling.

I searched deep within myself as I recalled the one emotion that had been my only friend in the last 24 hours. I latched onto it desperately, feeling the loathing seep through my soul as my stare morphed from shocked and frightened to cold and bitter.

"Hope you enjoyed the show," I said with a disgusting amount of sarcasm weaved into my words.

Kaleb's head reared back with appall written clearly over his face.

"No I didn't fucking enjoy it, Leah. I wanted to tear my goddamn ears off the entire time! It was the worst 8 minutes of my entire life... listening to that... to you."

"Well that makes two of us."

And there it was again. Silence.

The moment was too emotionally pungent for either of us to comprehend what to say next. I personally was deflecting every ounce of emotion Kaleb was trying to throw my way, determined to allow only the hardened disdain control my emotions and thoughts from that point on.

Kaleb let out a deeply frustrated sigh as he drew both of his hands up into his raven hair, running his fingers back through his thick locks several times at a rapid pace, telling me exactly how his hair got in the mangled state it was currently in.