Victoria's POVIt had been a week since Mike stood me up and I was still really bitter about it. I deleted his number and our conversation in an attempt to make it feel better about myself. Maybe if there was no evidence of his existence I could delude myself into believing that the horrible incident never happened.I got home that Saturday, wiped the makeup that I had spent hours on away and climbed into my bed. I cried my heart out into that pillow. The only reason that I agreed to go out with Mke in the first place was because I was trying to prove to myself that I could like someone that wasn’t Caleb.The realisation that I still had feelings for him after all this time scared me shitless. I acknowledged that I had subconsciously been measuring every man up against him but I was trying to change that. That is why when mike came along, I did not think too much of it. I decided to go against my instinct and it had come to bite me in the ass.The worst part was, I couldn’t talk to m
Caleb's POVI was finally going home! I had signed all the papers at work and made the transfer official. It all still felt surreal. Brianna was still upset so I had done a lot of ass-kissing before I left. I spoiled her with flowers, candy, shoes, and countless reassurances that nothing about our relationship with her would change and l was still eternally devoted to her.She was not happy about it but she gave me her blessing eventually and I was thrilled. The only aspect of going home that I was dreading was seeing Victoria again. Now that I was going to be in Arizona permanently, we could not continue avoiding each other for good.There was no way that was going to work. I owed her an apology but the idea of actually executing it did not come easy to me. I didn’t even know where to start and more than that I did not want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she was right about my girlfriend being a terrible person.I knew that letting my pride get in the way of apologisi
Victoria's POVI had gotten through the weekend. I probably hadn’t taken the most mature approach to the situation. I met up with Alice the next Monday after work to shop for groceries and the first thing that she asked me was, “how did this weekend go?”“Jeez Alice, you could at least pretend to be interested in how I’m doing or how my day was before you go fishing for tea, you know? Like civilised members of society.”“Fine. Hi Tori! It’s wonderful to see you. Blah blah blah! Now spill!”I had not talked to her all weekend and the suspense was obviously killing her. I thought of milking it a little more but the angsty look in her eyes told me that that might not be the best idea.“It was fine. It came, it went. That’s what’s important,” I said and rolled my cart down the produce aisle.The next thing, I knew I was being yanked back by the collar of my shirt.“Ow!” I exclaimed.“I’m sorry but is that really all you’re going to give me? I need details woman!”I rubbed my neck and scow
Caleb's POVI had been living in Arizona for a month now and it had been absolutely incredible. I loved my new job. I got to make calls about how the paediatric department was run and had even managed to start some initiative that I had always thought about while I was still in Los Angeles. For example, every month, we would do at least one pro bono surgery for a kid who needed it but could not afford it.Everything from the diagnosis to the surgery and even the post surgery care would be catered for. I had expected a lot of resistance from the board of directors but to my surprise, they were completely on board with the idea and the first one had already been approved.I had settled into my new house nicely. I had gotten to know some of my neighbours and they seemed like very lovely people. My dad, Eric Gloria and Melissa had all come to my place for a ‘house warming’ of sorts. Victoria’s absence was glaringly obvious but no one commented on it. Brianna and I were doing well all thi
Victoria's POVIt was finally the Labour Day weekend. Mrs. Pullman had given me some time off which I was grateful for. I had the entire weekend to just sit indoors and be a bum and no one could say anything. To be fair, it’s not like there was anything better to do.Alice and Ben had gone to visit Ben's parents for the weekend, Sam wasn’t going to be able to come home because she wanted to spend the extra free time working on her designs for her clothing line. Mom and Gloria had gone to Prescott for the annual Stallone family camping trip so I had no one else in Sedona that I could talk to.“I desperately need to make more friends,” I said to myself for the umpteenth time.Deep down, I knew that it would never happen. The thought of having to socialize with strangers gave me so much anxiety, I knew there was no way I could do it but still, a girl could dream. I had come up with a plan for that weekend, I would stay at home and bake. Maybe read a book or two or catch up on the shows
Caleb's POVBrianna woke up first that morning. She hated waking up early so the fact that she woke up before I did attest to how badly she wanted to leave. We woke up and started to gather up our things slowly. Once we had taken everything out of our time, I instructed Brianna on how she would take down the tent.Nice she got the hang of it, I left her to go inform dad and Eric that we were leaving.I started with dad because I figured that it would be easier. He was an unbelievably light sleeper so he heard my footsteps before I even got to the tent and called out, “who’s out there?”“It’s Caleb. Hey dad, could you come out here for a second? I want to talk to you.”I heard some shuffling in the tent before he finally emerged from within it. When he got out, he saw Brianna taking down our tent and looked very confused.“What's going on?” he asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.“We have to leave.”“Oh! That’s a shame. Is everything okay? Can we help?” he asked genuinely. “Bri
Victoria's POVThe labor weekend was finally over.Mom and Tom came back from their camping trip in foul moods. According to my mom, Eric was taking everything that happened even harder than Tom was because Caleb had not even bothered to inform him that he was leaving. He just up and went. I was still peeved at Caleb but I decided to stay out of it.As defensive as I felt about Eric and the rest of the gang, I was not a Stallone and this was a family matter. I kept to myself for the remainder of the holiday and before I knew it, Tuesday finally rolled around.Over the weekend, I had done some thinking regarding my future and the plan that I had for myself. I had been working at Mrs. Pullman’s bakery for a few months now, and I loved it. I loved waking up early and spending my mornings surrounded by the sweet smells of baked goods.I loved chatting with the regulars who came in every day for their morning pastries and the joy of watching them take the first bite of their tasty treat. A
Caleb's POVIt had been a week since the camping trip and a week since I had spoken to any member of my family, excluding my mom. This was the longest I had ever gone without talking to either dad or Eric. It felt horrible like I was going against the very nature of who I was and in truth, it sucked. My family didn’t do this sort of thing. Whenever there was an issue, we never stayed mad at each other for this long.Dad had tried to reach out on the first two days but I didn’t pick up his calls. After a while, he gave up completely. Eric, on the other hand, had not talked to me at all which informed me that he was pissed. I reckoned, the next time we saw each other, he would have some choice words to say to me.In hindsight, I could have handled the whole thing better. I should have at least given my dad a chance to defend himself or allowed him an opportunity to talk to Brianna before we left. This could all have been one big misunderstanding.“Or maybe it was all a lie.” This though