My best friend's ex(4)

The next morning I woke up very early and rushed to work. Miss Anderson had practically no memory of yesterday. She quietly fills me with new errands to run minding her own business. She seemed distracted. That's good for me. Jenny comes over to chat with me and apologizes for the day before, “I had too much to do”

Giving her a warm hug I replied, “But no need to apologize. It was a super cool party.” We talk for a few more minutes and depart.

That's great. Today, everything's going to be alright. All that's left is to sort out my relationship with Ron. But I'll give it time. He has been making an effort, calling me every day, asking how my day was and so on.

The days go by and I continue to throw myself into work and forge close relationships with the crew. We have a couple of dinners, go to swanky restaurants. I'm becoming part of the group and honestly, I'm enjoying it. They are a fun bunch to hang out with. I have the occasional drink with Jenny, we're friends as always. I don't have to explain anything to her. Everything's going along just fine and dandy. Ten days after that terrible day, I took a walk in that park I discovered the day after that night with Zac. I started feeling guilty and decided it was time to tell Ron about that night. We both had a moment of weakness and got into the temptations but now we’re both out of it and will stay committed.

I gave him a usual evening call to ask how his day was, that I was missing him and will come down to meet him this weekend. He picks up the phone and I squeal with excitement, “Hey baby, how are you puppy?”

Instead of a male voice, I hear a female replying, “You really should stop and get a life of your own.” The voice somehow sounded familiar, WAIT! It was the same female voice from that night!!! My blood boils as I splat back, “Who the hell are you to tell me what I should be doing? And why are you picking my boyfriend’s phone?”

“He is not your boyfriend anymore Haley, he is with me now! He has always been mine!” she cockily laughs as though she was trying to prove a point.

Having none of this shit anymore I conclude, “If so then why has he been begging me with non-stop calls and messages to take him back?

“You’re lying,” she yells back, adding expletives.

“You know what? Keep him, both of you arsoles deserve each other!” I shriek and slam the bloody phone, tears welling up in my eyes. Those words are like a knife to my heart. I was frozen, everything was clear but I still chose to wait for him blindly. Thinking we could talk. It was all my fault.

“What do we have here? Look, a little cat is crying!!” I hear suddenly behind my back. I look up and see two older men staring at me. I was so engrossed in that name-calling match that I did not realise I had taken a wrong turn leading me around a dark alley.

Before I could walk away, one of them approached me fast, grabbing my arm, “Hey beautiful...Why are you so sad? Let us take you to a happening pub and have some fun!? He pulls me along, as I yell at them, “No, Let go of me!”

“Please, leave me!” I yell, shoving his hand away, shouting for HELP with all my might. He doesn’t give up, smirking at me he says, “C’mon! No ones gonna hear you!! Stop struggling so hard, Come on, come with us!”

He and his friend started dragging me forward, I screeched kicking and screaming for help, but it was already dark and late, no one was around to hear my silent prayers or so…when suddenly I heard a voice behind me sharply say, “STOP! Let her go!” 

I turned around to see who heard my prayers. A tall, sturdy boy started walking in our direction, I couldn’t see his face clearly. As he approached, a flickering tube light threw light on his face. It was Zac!! I heaved a sigh of relief, crying to be out of their grasp. He gets me up off them, shields himself in front of me, and warns those two to get out of our way. They laugh elbowing each other, “Brother, it was a joke.”

He had this menacing look on his face that I had never seen before. Even I was intimidated watching him snarl at them warning, “Well, that's enough.”

“Oooh, you like her and wanna fuck her all alone, huh?” One of them grins trying to mess with Zac. He lunges at us as Zac lands a lightning punch on his jaw while kicking the other guy and they both land on the floor. I stood blinking, shocked to see Zac fighting like the karate kid. The other guy, wanting to avoid trouble, pulls him and they run away heckling.

When they are both far enough away from Zac, they turn around and shout, “You little turd! You just wait and watch..you’ll hear from us.” And they scurried away.

I am still shuddering with shock at all that just happened. I subconsciously hugged him tightly crying, “Thank you, Zac, thank you so much for saving me, I don’t know what would have happened otherwise!” He does not hold me back. As I pull away looking at his face, he appears to be furious.

Clenching his jaw hard, he yells at me, “What are you doing here, at this time it's late and unsafe, don't you know it?” I stare at him, shocked and mutter out that I had something on my mind and didn't realize the time.

Making a puppy face I request, “Can we please leave from here before we run into more shady people?”

He stays still, silently looks at me for a good few minutes sighing, “It’s good to see you, Haley.”

My stomach rumbles and I break into an embarrassed smile, “I'm hungry.”

His face softens as he holds my hand walking towards the main street, “How are you, Haley? I heard you broke up with Ron…”

Tears started piling up from the corner of my eyes as I tried to hide them, “I'm fine Zac, thank you for asking, I’d like to go home now please”

“Don't change the subject...You’re such a bad liar Haley, and even worse at hiding tears. You’re here, crying, all by yourself, and that’s because of Ron…” he grumbles, wrinkling his forehead.

I couldn’t help but break out into soft sobs, trying to get my act together but Zac’s words hit me hard.

Cupping my face, he shushed me, “Baby don’t cry! Did I do something wrong?”

“He told me to believe him, that we will make long-distance work, so I believed him blindly. No matter what happened, even when he usually didn't text me back…The moment I left he cheated on me that very same day. I still forgave him when he apologised repeatedly when he begged and begged that it was just once, that he'll never repeat it again and today! TODAY I realised it was all one big lie. He was never faithful to me!!!” I broke down sobbing uncontrollably.

Wiping my tears gently he consoled me saying, “C’mon! Don’t be silly…he is a prick to let go of you! You should stop thinking about him! You’re in LA now…”

He tilts my face upwards forcing me to look into his eyes, “And, the first thing you should not do is, going to the fucking park at night! You should be more careful.” 

Nodding my head I agree, “I know! I know! I'm not made for this place! I made a big mistake moving here!”

Looking at me deeply he reiterates, “No, you didn't...you came here to realise your dreams! You're just upset...Let's go to my place and get some rest.”

Like a child, he holds my hand and I quietly follow him. The silence between us is painfully awkward. We met on a couple of occasions because he was my best friend’s boyfriend who I did not even like. After a few months, we never spoke nor saw each other again and now I suddenly find myself en route to his house. Life can be so strange sometimes! After a brief walk, I find myself in front of a beautiful house. Hippy!!! Incredibly. All carpets, poofs, plants and drapes on the walls have floral and intricate woven patterns. Zac the cool guy hides a New Age soul. But who would have thought it?

Anger was still written all over his face. With a stern voice, he tells me to lie down on the sofa and rest!

“I'm fine, Zac! You can relax now!” I assure him propping my feet up on the feathery light kip

“You're fine!!? Stop pretending like it wasn’t a big deal, do you have any idea what could have possibly happened to you?? That was a fucking close call!” he barks exasperated as though I put him through the abyss.

Confused, I retort irritated, “But why the hell are you mad at me? I appreciate your help, but if I'm bothering you…”

He interrupts me midway, looking intensely, “You couldn't possibly understand?

“No, I don’t,” I reply bewildered at his sudden parenting concerns.

“I got scared!” he blurts out.

This was getting beyond a point of his business, I squealed back at him, “But why do you care?”