Short Stories - Romance

#13 - Not His Type

"It was just a stupid date and a stupid kiss." I mumbled to myself, but the tears I'd been secretly wiping at so people wouldn't see, said otherwise. I had no right to feel jealous or hurt, but the betrayal clawed at my heart after watching Ethan lock lips with that witch barely moments after rocking my entire world. Everything had been perfect. From the way he'd looked at me, how he'd caressed my soul with only his lips, invading my mouth so desperately and making me believe I was all he needed to survive. What a fool I was to believe any of it...

"Miss, are you sure you are okay?"

"Oh yeah, fine. Just something in my eye." I smiled at the hotel's doorman, hoping he'd finally let me walk away before Ethan came out of the hotel too. That was if at all he even remembered my actual existence. More tears prickled at that.

"I could get Mr. Easton's driver for you. I think he may not have been aware that you would be departing so soon."

"Oh, that's fine." I waved the man away, but he didn't look convinced and I knew he would be going to Ethan or Craig the moment I turned around, which left me with barely a couple of minutes to hail a cab and disappear.

"Need a ride?"

"Chad?" I would know that voice from anywhere. Drying my eyes quickly, I dropped my head to look at the person who'd made the offer and came face to face with my ex, grinning from behind the wheel of his old faithful car. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I was in the neighbourhood." Him being here at a time when my world was falling apart felt pretty much like déjà vu. Something that made me think I could just be imagining things. "Are you okay?" The familiar concern in those piercing eyes of his scraped off my theory of imagination. Chad was really here and as he stepped out of the car, I couldn't help think of the first time I'd met him.

"In the neighbourhood?" I croaked out.

"Right on time again? Told you I was forever your guardian angel." The oddness of that left me floored and flinching when Chad reached out to cup my cheeks just as he had the first time. "Come on, I'm not gonna bite." His shoulders sagged a little as obvious disappointment crossed his face, but I was not going to fall for his pretentious self again. I knew how easy that was in my current state.

"I'm fine. Thanks for the offer, but no thanks." I stepped back, my eyes going back to searching for that cab.

"Oh don't be like that. Let me do this. For old time's sake. I will take you wherever you want."

Wherever I wanted? Now that Chad mentioned it, the reality of my situation hit me like a bus. I had nowhere to go. Moving to the Easton mansion, I never thought that it would one day turn out to be such an inconvenience, but then again, I had never thought I would be dating my boss.

"Linda?" Speaking of my boss, I froze at the sound of Ethan's breathless voice. Had he been running? A part of me felt elated at the thought of him coming after me, but all that went down the drain when I turned around and came face to face with Claire standing beside him, looking all smug. "I'm sorry." He meant it. It was written all over him, but maybe I was not ready for it. For all I knew, I was seeing and hearing only what I wanted to.

"Don't wait up." I slipped into Chad's car without thinking and before the tears spilled. "Chad?" I called after my ex who'd stood watching our little exchange with my boss.

"Got to go. The lady awaits. Nice meeting you man." I hated how Chad sounded as if there was something between us, but I didn't bother to correct him as right now I needed him to rescue my bleeding heart. However weird that was, I needed him.

"Linda, wait! Talk to me damn it!" My heart ached at Ethan's desperate tone, but I couldn't stop. What was there to talk about? I was not his type or class. Never was, never would be. The earlier I accepted that, the better off I would be. I leaned back in my seat, heart heavy with sadness and disappointment in myself as Chad drove away. How the hell had I gotten here so quickly?

"So, was that my replacement?"

"I'm not talking about him with you." I sighed.

"Fair enough." I felt Chad's gaze linger on me for a moment, before he concentrated on the road again. "How have you been, Linda? You stopped picking my calls."

"You cheated on me and we were done. There was nothing left to talk about."

"Ouch. I deserve that." He deserved a lot more, but I'd been done with him for a very long time to care. "Coffee?"

"Sure." I figured I could use the time to think of where I'd spend the night. My old apartment being my first option. With no money on me, it would be the only place I could be accommodated without paying upfront. Deciding to text my former landlord to check if it was still vacant, I opened my purse, but my hands froze at the sight of everything in it. "What the hell?" Had I picked someone else's purse while I ran out of the hotel?

"What? Is something wrong? Do you need me to stop?"

"I think I may have grabbed someone else's purse." I cursed. But that couldn't be right as our table was nowhere near any other for me to make such a mistake. I peeked a second time in the purse and something caught my eye. A little piece of paper bearing my name next to a brand new phone.

"I'm sorry I touched your stuff...again." It read. "But you have to agree that that model belongs in a museum somewhere. P.S. If you still need it though, I promise it's safe and will be returned... but only after a very serious talk."

I couldn't help laugh at the last bit, my laughter turning into sobs when the phone's screen lit up, revealing a photo of Ethan and Liam spotting goofy grins as the screen saver. I couldn't tell when exactly the photo was taken, but could tell that it was recent by the speech bubbles at the top saying 'welcome to civilization', an invitation that felt so much more than what it was. And right there, I realized how I'd gotten to this place so easily and how stupid I was to not have even tried to fight for them. For him. I'd never seen Ethan look so carefree. So happy.

"I should totally turn around." Chad mumbled.

"I should have talked to him." I sniffled even as something shiny in my purse drew my attention.

"Woah! Should I even be offering to buy you coffee? You could probably buy a private island with whatever is on that."

"Well, you already offered," I said as I put back the fancy looking card I had no intention of using.

"I'll be right back in that case." Chad stopped at a car park in front of a coffee shop and while he was gone, I stepped out to get a breath of air and also to scold myself for letting the witch run me off like that.

"We meet again!" I'd barely taken a whiff of that fresh air when a familiar unwelcome voice sounded from somewhere behind me, making all my hairs stand on end. "It's Linda, right?"

"Gerald." I acknowledged the creep from Liam's school, albeit flatly.

"Oh, you remembered. Must have made quite the impression." He grinned as he drew closer. Something was off with him as before and instinctively I searched for Chad, but my ex was still inside the coffee shop. I considered going into the shop too, but before I could even take a step, Gerald blocked my path of escape, a bright smile on his face that would obviously make us look like two old friends to anyone watching. Of which there weren't many people around. And there would be no witnesses if anything happened to me! Panic settled in me at the thought of that and I regretted having stepped out of the car.

"Would you care for some company? There is this party... it's private and it's something that you are clearly dressed for." The creep ate me with his eyes, making my skin crawl. "No touching. Just a little dance and display." I knew what he was asking for because I'd gotten many such offers before and unfortunately for him, I was no longer that little girl who needed her mother's spiteful tongue to fend off vultures like him.

"How about you go to hell?!" I elbowed the guy and made a run for it, but I was yanked by the hair and I fell back into some stranger's arms.

"You won't escape me so easily this time, little flower."

This time? What the hell was he talking about? "Ouch!" Something sharp stabbed my neck and I felt myself drowning. "What did you do you je..."