Call Out The Cheater

[Tabitha’s POV]

When I reach the apartment that was sent, I begin to bang on the door until a disgruntled Anthony, shirtless and covered in hickies, appears. As his brown eyes find mine, they widen, and he looks down at his bare, muscular torso and then back up at me.

"T-tabitha," he stammers, shoving his blonde locks out of his face. "Why are…"

"Who is it?" A bubbly voice asks, just as the woman in the photo appears. "Hello!"

"Hello," I say slowly, snapping my gaze from hers to Anthony’s. "Care to explain what’s going on here?"

"I’m sorry," the woman says, drawing my attention back to her. "Why exactly do we need to explain, as you’re the one who suddenly showed up here?"

"Am I?" I repeat, smirking. "Anthony, would you like to explain this situation before I do?"

Growing quiet, I wait as he seems to consider what to do before fixing his gaze on mine.

"Isn’t it obvious?" He asks, taking me by surprise. "This is Holly’s home, and I’m here spending the night with my girlfriend."

Holly… So the bitch's name was Holly. And Anthony was actually sticking up for her instead of me.

"Right," I say slowly, fighting the urge to throat-punch the bastard. "You’re here with your girlfriend instead of with your other girlfriend."

If he thought that I was going to be made out to be the crazy one here, he had another thing coming. I would play at his game and make sure that he was seen as the cheater that he was.

"Excuse me, Holly," I continue, turning my gaze to hers. "How long have you been dating this man?"

"A year," she responds, giving me a look of confusion. "But I don’t see how that’s any of your business."

"Well, I suppose you wouldn’t since it looks like he was playing us both," I giggle, pulling out my phone. "But don’t worry, I’ll show you exactly why it is my business."

As I speak, I begin to show her all the pictures of Anthony and me together. Every. Last. One. Of. Them. Down to the ones of us getting down and dirty.

"Do you see now?" I beam, snapping my gaze to Anthony's, to find that his face is turning red with anger. "It looks like you’ve been made out to be a fool just like me."

Fuck, this morning was turning out to be the absolute worst, and I still had to go into work, where I was sure many cases were waiting for me to look over.

"Now, it is up to you whether or not you want to stay with this asshole." I continue, "But I personally just came here to let him know that he could lose my number and the key to my apartment because we’re done."

"I should be the one saying that," Anthony snaps, finally shaking off his daze. "Who the fuck would want to stay with someone who is more interested in their job than their own boyfriend? No wonder none of your other relationships lasted longer than..."

I don’t give him the opportunity to finish his words before my fist connects with his nose, cleanly breaking it on impact.

"Have a good day," I beam, blowing a kiss. "Oh, and don’t be late for work!"

As I leave, I can hear the sound of Holly beginning to attack Anthony while he desperately tries to explain, but I don’t bother looking back as I can feel tears beginning to prick at the corners of my eyes.

"Fuck," I hiss when I reach my car. "That fucking bastard. How could he?"

A bubbly sob escapes me as I clutch my steering wheel, collapsing against it as all the pain I tried to keep at bay when I confronted Anthony starts to overflow.

I don’t know how long I stay there, crying and cursing Anthony with everything I have, before my phone begins to ring.

"Hello?" I ask, pulling it from my purse. "This is Tabitha."

"More like latitha," Bonnie, my assistant, chirps. "Where the hell are you?"

"Shit," I hiss, checking the time to realize that I’m already ten minutes late for work. "I’ll be there in ten."

When I arrive, Bonnie is waiting for me with a look of annoyance on her face, but the minute she takes me in, it shifts to one of concern.

"Tabby!" She gasps, rushing forward and grabbing my wrists. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Not here," I respond, looking around at the eyes of the nosey assholes who are waiting for me to explain why I probably look like I scratched my eyes too hard. "Come on."

Not waiting for a response, I start to pull Bonnie until we reach my office, and only when we are inside do I begin to spill my guts.

"That bastard!" Bonnie growls, her green eyes flashing with rage once I'm finished. "I oughtta."

"Do nothing," I counter.

"But why?" She pouts. "Let me at him; I’ll cut his dick off!"

Giggling, I find myself wishing that I could do that myself, but then I’d end up being a resident of Boston P.D. instead of a worker.

"Just let him be." I sigh, leaning forward on my desk. "After all, it is partially my fault that he decided to go find someone else."

As much as I hated to admit it, I did give most of my time to my job due to my desperate need to find the ones responsible for my brother’s death. However, I thought Anthony, of all people, would understand my reasoning. I guess I was wrong, and in the end, he did the same thing all the others did—hightailed it to someone new—while I was left broken and bruised.

"Don’t you dare," Bonnie warns, jumping up on my desk and crossing one slender leg over the other. "Don’t let him make you think you're the problem. Instead, forget that piece of shit and come out with me tonight to eat, drink, and be merry. Maybe even find someone or two to fuck to forget him; what do you say?"

Honestly, I just wanted to go home and curl up in my fuzzy robe with ice cream and sad movies, but that wouldn’t do me any good.

"Where do you have in mind?"

"Morte Diem," she announces, naming the newest club to open up in downtown Boston. "I’ve been dying to go, but you always refused because you thought Anthony would get mad. Now that he is history, you have no excuse."

"Alright," I sigh, sitting up. "We’ll go, but before that, we need to at least do some work before the chief kicked us to the curb."