When The Day Met The Night

15

"Hey Brendon, how was your date last night?" Zack asks me as he comes into my apartment because we agreed to hang out today. I groan and throw my head back. "That bad?" He asks, looking surprised.
"Well her friend from work was there and he was drunk off his ass, telling her how he was in love with her...so you tell me?" I tell him.
"Oh damn, so what'd you do?" he sits down across from me.
"I told him to leave her alone, apparently I was being mean to him so Rion made me leave. She hasn't texted me or called me all day" I sip on my beer.
"You need to make sure she knows you're sorry dude. Don't let her leave that easily."
"I've been thinking about it though, maybe I'm moving too fast. I just left Sarah less than a year ago." I shrug, telling the truth. It just seems so crazy that like 4 months ago I was married and in love and now I'm divorced and all ready to move on from her. Sarah was the love of my life, sure she hurt me and really bad but I can't just jump to the next person I see...no matter how much I like her, no matter how amazing I feel when I kiss her or even see her.
"Brendon you really like Rion, any blind person can see that. You were so willing to go out with her just last night and now that one time didn't work out you want to cut and run. It doesn't matter if it doesn't seem right to move on so soon, if you feel you should move on then you should. Sarah fucked you over and you deserve to be happy." he explains.
"What if I don't feel ready to move on entirely, like how I thought?" I ask.
"She sure is...I went to hang out with her the other day and she seemed pretty cozy with that guy she was with. She said she was ready to marry him even" he tells me and my blood starts to boil. How could she do this? Was I even important to her?!
"Fuck it, I'm going to get Rion back." I stand up.
"That's right man!"

After I've gotten ready and bought a ton of flowers I head over to Rion's with confidence. I need to show her that I'm a great guy.
I knock on the door and soon I am greeted by a messy haired Rion, tying her robe rob around herself.
"Hey Brendon" she says breathlessly, pushing her hair past her face.
"What were you doing? Working out?" I laugh, handing her a vase of flowers.
"Not exactly" she sighs. And then I see it, a guy I don't recognize coming up to the door, naked.
"Rion...who's this?" he asks, putting a hand around her shoulder.
"Ian...this is my friend Brendon" she looks from me to him. Ian? Her ex-boyfriend. I furrow my eyebrows as I feel the air being knocked out of me.
"Hey dude" he goes to fist bump me but I ignore it and turn on my heels and walk back to my car. How could this happen?
"Brendon! Brendon, wait!" Rion calls but ignore her. Her hand is on mine and she turns me to face her.
"What do you want Rion? I came here to talk to you about maybe trying to go on another date and I find you here with...your ex?" I gesture to him as he looks at us.
"He just showed up this morning. He said he wanted to try again and after a lot of convincing...I agreed." she shrugs like it's no big deal.
"What about us Rion? We were suppose to go out." I tell her.
"Well...we can still be friends Brendon, I have a right to be able to try it out one last time." she sighs.
"He's going to cheat on you Ri...just like he did before. He doesn't love you, he doesn't want you. I want you" I grab her hand but she pulls her hand back.
"You need to go Brendon, I'll see you later" she tells me and walks away. I watch as Ian pulls her in, kisses her and then closes the door. A second or two later the vase of flowers I gave to her is set outside. I run up to the door and grab it, gripping it in my hand angrily. I throw it on the ground really hard, the vase shattering everywhere. I run back to my car and get in, driving away without looking back. I hate this, I hate everything.
Instead of driving home I drive to the closest bar and go in, sitting at the bar and ordering a shot of whiskey, I just want to forget about tonight.

Forgetting about last night was exactly what I did. I wake up, passed out in the back of my car. A police officer knocking on my window. I groan at the light from outside and sit up. What the fuck did I do?
I step out of the car, sleepily and stare at him as he asks what's going on.
"I...I got wasted officer. Instead of driving, I passed out in my car. I'm sorry, I'm going now" I tell him, pulling my keys from my pocket.
"Well alright, as long as you were safe. I appreciate it" he tells me and walks back to his car. I get in my front seat, looking around for my sunglasses and then sliding them on, sighing in relief.
When I get home I go back to my bedroom and fall asleep on my bed instantly.

When I actually wake up, I feel slightly better but this time it's because there's a knock at my door. I sit up, rubbing my head and then going to my door and opening to see Rion standing there looking concerned.
"Brendon, I've been calling all morning. Why didn't you answer your phone?" she walks straight through into the living room.
"Why does it matter to you? Shouldn't you be with Ian?" I question, folding my arms across my chest.
"He left an hour ago to go back to Washington. That doesn't matter Brendon, what matters is why you acted like that last night. We're suppose to be friends" she looks at me.
"Yeah and I thought we were going to be more than that but looks like that didn't happen either." I point out.
"Brendon, I know you wanted to try and date but not everything works out that way. When Ian showed up, we had a long talk and I realized I'm still in love with him, I know he fucked up but he is so great to me." she explains, I throw my head back with a groan.
"Rion I like you a lot and I would never hurt you. Ian already did and you took him back. He's just going to hurt you" I explain again.
"No he isn't, why can't you just be my friend and support me on this" she asks.
"Because!" I shout. "I can't just be your friend Rion." her face falls and she nods.
"So that's it then?" she looks at me.
"I guess...but I promise I will be here for you as soon as he hurts you again because that's how much you mean to me." I move forward and she just shakes her head.
"I can't believe you're acting like this. We were so great and now you're telling me because I don't want to date you that we can't even be friends?" she looks sad.
"But you do want to date me Rion, you did before Ian showed up. And now that he's back, you think that he's right for you but he isn't."
"So you're saying that if Sarah came back and told you she still wanted to be you with that you wouldn't take her back?" she asks.
"No, I wouldn't because...when someone has the intention to cheat they're going to do it, over and over no matter how much they promise they won't. Sarah hurt me and that's something I will never be able to forgive her for...I'm not stupid enough to go back to her" I shrug. She looks angry for a second and then stomps her foot.
"You have some nerve Brendon!" she yells and then pushes me before leaving, slamming my door.