But every time you hurt me,
the less that I cry
And every time you leave me,
the quicker these tears dry
And every time you walk out,
the less I love you
Baby, we don't stand a chance,
it's sad but it's true
I'm way too good at goodbyes
— Sam Smith, Too Good at Goodbyes
TYLER
I couldn't believe this was happening. Not now. Not after three years of living my life without her. Yet here she was, right in front of me where I could touch her to know that she was real. She looked at me with those blue-green eyes beneath her long lashes, and I suddenly felt like a seventeen years old boy who was completely in love with his three-years girlfriend.
"What are you doing here?" I caught her arms and helped her get up on her feet.
She smiled and put her forefinger up, pointing at the ceiling. "I'm going to the club. They have the best margaritas here. What about you?"
"I'm going home. I was just from there." Although I was there for work, a completely different reason than her. I stared at her beautiful eyes and still couldn't believe I finally met her.
Faith Gauthier was my girlfriend for three years. She used to live across the street with her grandparents while her parents lived in Toronto. The first time I saw her was when I was helping her grandpa with their fence.
She just moved there for two days and hardly knew anyone around. We had a lot of things in common so we connected almost instantly. She was the nicest person I've ever met and there was absolutely nothing that I wouldn't do for her. It was embarrassing to admit but I really was head over heels for her.
Just like any teen relationship, it ended with a broken heart. One day she decided I wasn't the one she was looking for and broke things off. She didn't say goodbye nor did she leave any message. She simply left. Packed her bags and moved to Toronto to live with her parents. I've never heard of her since.
Her brows lowered in confusion. "So soon?" Her confusion cleared and she smiled. "Ah. There's someone waiting for you at home, isn't it?" She clasped her small purse in her underarm and smiled knowingly. "Go. Don't let me keep you."
She was right. There was someone waiting for me at home, someone who found out about my lies and demanded the truth. Ten minutes ago, I would've run home, ignoring everything else to reach for Autumn. I would've tried my best to get home quickly so I could explain to her why I lied. Yet right now, meeting Faith, has changed everything.
I pressed the call button. "I could use a drink." I shoved my hands into the pockets of my jeans and looked directly at her.
Her brows lifted up her smooth forehead as she stared back at me. "Are you sure?"
Am I? "Yeah." The elevator opened and I held my hand to keep the doors from closing. She stepped inside and I followed close behind.
Faith hit the rooftop button then leaned against the mirrored wall. "So, tell me, what happened to you since high school?"
I chuckled. "What do you want to know?"
She grinned and the smile reached her eyes. "You know me." She gave her shoulder a little shrug. "I wanna know everything."
I slid my gaze across the shoulder of my navy blue jacket and straight into her eyes. Her eyes were blue in the center and surrounded by green, reminded me of the blue sky and the green forest.
I swallowed hard. She looked exactly like she was three years ago. Except that she was no longer a seventeen years old girl, she was twenty years old now. Her lips were no longer bare, they were painted bright red. She looked grown up. I dropped my gaze on the floor and let out a deep sigh, secretly hoping that I wasn't making a huge mistake now.
* * *
It was almost eleven PM when I finally realized I was spending too much time chatting and drinking when I should get home and face the problem instead of delaying it like a coward. I grabbed my jacket from the back of the sofa beside me and stood. "I gotta go now, Faith."
She put her half-empty glass on the table and stood. "Okay." She reached for her purse and dug around inside. "Here," said Faith, putting a piece of bubblegum onto my palm. "Don't want to get you in trouble. Whoever's at home probably doesn't want to see you drunk."
I looked at the piece of bubblegum in my hand and smiled. It reminded me of those high school days when we sneakily broke in her grandparents' liquor cabinet and got ourselves drunk. I had those days when I wanted to get drunk and blame my father for everything while she blamed her parents for ditching her to live with her grandparents. Back then, she always had bubblegums handy and gave me a piece so I could chew it on my way back.
"Safe trip home, Ty! Call the cab, you may not fully drunk but I don't like the thought of you driving!" shouted Faith as I walked toward the exit.
I laughed and yelled back at her, "You're not the boss of me!"
She rolled her eyes. "You wish!" Typical Faith for always wanted to have the last say. I pressed the call button on the wall and stared at the spot between my shoes as I waited for the elevator to come.
* * *
AUTUMN
"Thanks for the ride home." I adjusted the handle of my bag and looked up to meet his eyes. "Again." This was the second time Phraser has sent me home but the first time he actually sent me to the right building. I was being silly for the first time and made him drop me at the hotel a few buildings from here.
He scratched the side of his head and looked at the ground. "Anytime."
I nodded and turned around but he caught my hand, surprising me altogether. I looked at his hand holding my wrist and then looked at Corbin who was still inside the car. The blonde guy blushed as he was caught staring and slid his eyes to observe the car ceiling. "Phraser." I tried to pull my hand from his grasp but his hold was too strong.
He looked up and there were worries on his face. "Are you gonna be alright?" A hint of British accent slipped into his voice.
I frowned and lowered my brows. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" I tried to pull my hand again and this time he let go.
He briefly nodded as he pressed his lips tightly together. "Just making sure." He turned his attention to the crowded sidewalk and moved back to his car. He opened the car door and looked at me over his shoulder one last time before he got inside and drove the black vehicle off into New York's heavy traffic.
I stood on the sidewalk for a couple of minutes, wasting my time as I tried and failed to figure out what was all about.
* * *
I told myself that I wasn't one of those clingy girlfriends who had to be with their boyfriends twenty-four-seven. I pride myself on being independent. Everyone expected me to be a brat since I was the youngest child, but I didn't want to live up to their expectation.
I walked to the couch across from where I was sitting, lifted the pillow, and grabbed my phone. I purposely put it there so I wouldn't be tempted to call Tyler every five minutes. I've sent him half a dozen texts so far and if I sent him a dozen more, I'd look more like a creepy stalker than a girlfriend.
The first text was telling him how I hated liars. One more text saying that we needed to talk, two texts asking where he was, and then two more askings if he would come home tonight. None was replied to. I tried calling his cell twice but both were sent to voicemails. I didn't bother to leave voicemails because I really didn't see the point. If he didn't feel the need to read my six messages, why would he even listen to my voicemails?
I stared at the screen. It was a quarter after eleven. My last text was an hour ago. Where was he? I closed my eyes and prayed to God that he'd be alright. I knew he lied to me today, but I didn't want anything to harm him. I loved him. I still loved him even when he lied to my face and hid something from me.
I was about to press call and dial his number when I heard the lock on the front door being turned. With my phone in one hand, I stood and walked to the front door. It swung open and Tyler stumbled his way in. He sloppily took off his shoes and put them carelessly in the shoe cabinet.
I took a deep calming breath. "Where were you?"
Calm down, Autumn. You're his girlfriend, not his mother, I told myself repeatedly.
Tyler shoved the side of his body against the wall and leaned as he looked up to meet my eyes. I didn't need forensics to know that he was drunk. Hell, I didn't even need to smell his breath to figure that out. I could simply tell.
He sighed. "I was with a friend."
I knew it was close to midnight and probably wasn't the right time to ask him about his lie but I didn't care. I needed to know.
When I was sitting there, waiting for him to come home while counting the hours, I realized that he lied that night when I got home from the party too. There was no way it took him four hours to get to Phraser's home and then go back to our place. He even said that he was halfway there when he saw my message telling him not to pick me up. So where was he that night? I needed to know and I needed to know now.
I took another calming breath. "You lied to me." I didn't realize I was hurt that much until I heard it in my voice.
He pushed himself off the wall and took a step forward. "I can explain."
"Oh, really?" I folded my arms in front of my shirt and lifted my brows. "Then tell me, why did you lie about having an additional class?"
"I didn't—"
I raised one finger and cut him off. "Not another lie, Tyler. I met your friend Corbin and he said there was no such thing as an additional class. This is the first week of school. Don't you dare think that I'm so stupid that you could say this kind of bullshït to my face and I would simply believe them?"
His body went perfectly still. Only the light in the living room was on but I could see his face turning pale. We both knew I was hitting the right nail. "I'm going to make this easy for you." I took one step closer, still keeping our eyes locked. "Where did you really go today?"
He cleared his throat. "I went drinking with a friend." He ran one nervous hand through his hair. "I've told you just now, I was with a friend."
I hated having this conversation as much as he but it was unavoidable. "Which friend? And don't tell me it's Corbin because I met him and he had no plan on meeting you."
He remained quiet for a good two minutes before he finally opened his mouth to answer. "Faith."
I frowned. "Who?"
"Faith." He said a little louder.
I rolled my eyes frustratedly. "I heard you the first time, I'm not deaf. What I mean is, who the hell is Faith?"
"My ex-girlfriend."
I stared at him with my jaw dropped on the floor. I knew I was expecting another girl as part of his answer but I thought it would be a new girl, not one from the past. Especially when I knew that he only had one ex-girlfriend. "That ex who broke your heart years ago? The one that made you move to the U.S.?" I asked him in disbelief.
He answered me with a nod. "Yeah. Her name is Faith Gauthier."
"I don't care what her name is, Tyler. You lied to me." I hated when someone pointed their finger at me but I couldn't help doing the same to him as I unfolded my arms and pointed my forefinger directly at him. "Is that where you were yesterday night?"
His expression changed. He looked a little confused. "What?"
"Yesterday night. When I was at Phraser's party. You said you'd pick me up but you ended up didn't. I got home faster than you. You were out for four hours, longer than it took to get to the party and go back home. Did you go and meet her too? Was she the reason you've been lying to me?" My voice was getting louder and louder but I didn't care. Tears were threatening to fall and I had to press my lips tightly to keep them from falling. These were angry tears yet I didn't want him to see them.
He evaded my question. "Why? Are you telling me that I can't meet my ex?"
Was he even serious? The problem wasn't about him meeting his ex, it was about him lying to me about meeting his ex. If he told me, I wouldn't be standing here yelling at him.
"I'm not telling you what you can or can't do. I'm not Audrey. I'm not your mother, Tyler." I hugged my body tightly and tried not to break down. "It's about you lying to me about meeting her. Why did you lie?"
"Because I know what you're going to think if you know I'm meeting my ex. You'll get jealous and start yelling at me." He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it on the dining table on his right. "Kinda like what you're doing right now."
"I'm not jealous!" To be honest, I was a little jealous, what kind of girlfriend didn't get a little jealous knowing her boyfriend went for a drink with his ex? But still, this wasn't the time to admit that. It was time to set things right. "I just hate you for lying to me." I eyed him as he moved to the sink and poured a glass of water. "This was the second time you didn't answer your phone when I called or check your phone to read my text."
He turned around and leaned against the counter. "Oh, I got your texts and voicemails." He took a drink and swallowed.
"What?" I raised both hands to the front, palms up. "And you didn't think to return my call or reply to my text?" I asked him incredulously.
He put the empty glass on top of the counter, then folded his arms. "It occurred to me, but by the way you blew up my phone with all your calls and texts, I knew you were going to yell at me, demanding answers. I don't like doing that over the phone."
Holding to my control by a thread, I told myself to stay calm and said, "I was worried. We live in a big city where anything could happen. You should've at least replied to one of my texts."
I took a seat on the stool and leaned forward. "What's wrong with you, Ty?" I looked him in the eye and saw those walls again, the same damn walls he put up every time he was crossed. "What happened to us?"
"Well, I don't know." He merely shrugged.
I closed my eyes for a brief second. It was close to midnight and I was really tired but we couldn't go to sleep without clearing this up. "If you told me that you're going to meet your ex, I would've understood. You lying about it just made it worse." He remained silent but his eyes never left mine. "I thought we agreed that exes were supposed to be in the past."
I remembered us having a conversation about exes before since both of us wasn't the other's first girlfriend and boyfriend. We came to an agreement that it was best to keep our exes in the past so that they would never come between us.
Ty let out a deep sigh. "I really don't know why you're being like this over a small matter." His brows lowered as he stared back at me with annoyance reflected in those dark brown eyes. "I don't even mind if you want to meet Ashton or one of your exes. Hell, I won't even complain if you're going to meet that teacher you used to sleep with."
I flinched. This was too much. He knew how sensitive I was about my past, especially when it came to Ashton and Joe since both men cheated on me with someone else.
Tyler didn't seem to notice the change in my face. He kept on talking while adding salt to my injury. "We just talked. Faith and I were just talking over a drink. What's the big deal? I wouldn't mind you having a drink with your exes as long as you're not thinking of banging them."
I jumped off the stool so fast I was shocked it didn't immediately fall to the floor. "That's it." I grabbed my coat and shoved my purse and cell phone inside its pockets. "Fine. I'll go and see if Ashton or Joe is in town. If that's what you want, then fine. I'll go and have a drink with them so we can call it even." Carrying my coat and boots in both hands, I walked out of the front door.
"Autumn!"
I heard him calling my name but I ran towards the elevator. And by the time he walked out of the door and tried to reach me, the elevator has closed and was on its way to bring me downstairs.
♥
So, my angels? What do you think?
What will happen next?
Will Phraser be in the next scene?
Will Tyler be able to make things right?
Let me know in the comments!
You've probably noticed that I've been updating daily these last few days, I'm thinking of continuing to do that. What do you think? Does it sound like a good idea or will it be too much to read? Let me know!
♥
loads of pizza,
your noob neighborhood author,
agatha x
[for TBCN re-readers:
there's no change in this chapter]