Divorced, but Not broken

Chapter 7

I had been working my ass off all week. From morning to late evening, I was looking for an extra job, anything to keep me away from this place.

I stared at the front door and sighed when I walked in, it was evening, and I was back late, just like I had been all week, and I started to climb the stairs slowly, feeling that I was out of breath already. I had been working like a dog all week and had nothing to eat. Some of the girls were nice enough to give me a piece of their lunch some days, but that was it, and today I hadn’t eaten anything.

Fuck, it was hard.

I just panted and was sweating when I walked the last part. I felt like I was a hundred-year-old, not thirty-three; that was my actual age when I heard the music and sighed…. Motherfucker… of course, it was Friday, and he was having people over…. And the music still sucked when I opened the door to the hallway to see people being drunk and high, making out and having a good time, so nothing had changed then, status quo.

I just walked past some of his friends, they stopped laughing when they saw me, and I just rolled my eyes, so it was that bad then. I guess he had told the whole neighborhood about my stand-off with him. Well, at least my life was funny for some people because, for me, it just sucked!

I unlocked and walked inside, slamming the door behind me, not caring what anyone was thinking about me being a b***h. I sat down in the kitchen and just stared out the small window. Two more days were all I needed to grit my teeth through, and I was almost there. On Monday, I would get paid, and then I would be able to eat again.

I stared at the tap, and after five minutes, I got up, poured myself a glass of water, and drank it slowly; if I closed my eyes, I could pretend that it was coffee or something else…. f**k… I just put the glass down, frowning when the music got louder, and I gritted my teeth more. Was he doing this on f*****g purpose!? He was, wasn’t he?! This was his way of getting back at me for making him look bad in front of his latest girl. I just walked over to my old stereo and pressed play, I didn’t even know what I had in it, but it couldn’t be worse than what they were playing on the other side. I started to smile when I heard that it was maiden. Oh, thank god, I couldn’t f*****g take one more minute of some remix s**t they got from an eighties power ballad and made it even worse. I don’t know how but they did.

I sat down on the chair again with my legs crossed and held my glass of water in my hand, smiling when I increased the volume. Maybe I was going to play Megadeath for the following hours, spice things up a bit, when I cranked the volume to max and just sat there feeling so f*****g good hearing people banging on my door, I wasn’t going to open up, no way, this was payback for all the crap that I had been hearing over these weeks!

I just wished I could see his f*****g face when he realized that he was the one that was going to listen to something that he didn’t like for the rest of the night, and there was nothing he could do about it!

The pounding stopped, and I just laughed, drinking more water before making a face; it tasted awful, and it really did.

I just sat there, too tired to get up, when the banging started again. I just ignored it, staring at my hands, my vision was getting slightly blurry, but I didn’t care; it had been doing that these last couple of days when I hadn’t been eating. I just had to power thru this s**t, just like everything else. My parents, Ryan, Kayla, and Jonah, all just s**t that I needed to deal with. Just power thru it, that was it…..

I was just about to close my eyes when the door was slammed open, and I stared in shock at the two police officers frowning. I got up to fast and wobbled, taking hold of the table and just taking a deep breath, trying not to pass out, when one of them walked over and turned off the music, and I just gawked. He had called the f*****g cops on me!

I had never done that, not f*****g once, and the only time I had made some revenge, he just did this to me! that fucker! I cursed when the guy read my rights, and I got cuffed! I haven’t done anything illegal my whole life. Suddenly, I was being taken in like some goddamn criminal when I stumbled, making the policeman worried that I was drunk. I just snickered. Oh, I was drunk, drunk on the hate that coursed thru my body for the hot guy next door. I f*****g hated him!

They led me out when I saw that people from the party had started gathering, even if they were told to get back inside. The smirks and glares made me even madder when I gritted my teeth, and when they called the elevator, I was about to snap. I started to squirm at the policeman’s annoying attitude.

He pushed me into the elevator, and I was already sweating, seeing dark spots in front of my eyes and hunching forward. I just puked everywhere, and I mean everywhere.

All over, the police officers and I made loud complaining noises when I looked up and saw the worried eyes of the one person I absolutely didn’t want to see when the doors were closing on us, and he disappeared from my fading view.

They had to drag me out when we reached the entrance level, and I just hung with my head, I felt dead than alive, being dragged into the car still cuffed, and I leaned my head back, breathing through my nose and out through my mouth.

I was feeling so bad. Like more than I ever had in my whole life, my mouth was dry, and I was thirsty as hell. My heart felt like it was beating slower, and I had a hard time keeping my eyes open when I heard people talking outside, and I just lay there. Not being able to focus on anything not a damn thing.

I didn’t even know how much time had passed when the door opened again. One of the police officers took me out, more gently this time, and uncuffed my hands, keeping me steady when I was still swaying, my eyes closed. I felt drunk, and I opened my eyes the slightest. I had to fight to do it when I saw people surrounding us, and I tried to smile. Still, I couldn’t believe when people were taking me, and I was lying down again, talking around me, but I didn’t understand.

I just kept fighting the overwhelming tiredness when I heard a voice I would recognize from anywhere. He was standing next to me or sitting, but I still didn’t understand anything when he was talking to me.

But he was here, and I was glad. I smiled back at his worried face, so he did care about that liar… I would have laughed if I had the strength and closed my eyes, letting the sleep take me away.

When I woke up, I was still tired, more tired than I had ever been in my whole life. Still, I could keep my eyes open when I fluttered them a couple of times, adjusting to the Florent light above me. I moaned, turning my head the slightest. My neck hurt like hell. I was still thirsty when I heard a chair scraping. I saw the face of Jonah in front of me, smiling like he had been waiting for me to finally wake up, and I smiled back, not even being able to stop myself. I loved that smile; it made him even more handsome.

“Hey…” I croaked out the small word when he smiled more and, to my surprise and shock, took my hand and caressed it with his thumb. I gasped the slightest from feeling his touch on my skin. It made me want to get out of this bed and just press myself against him or at least hope that he would do that to me. However, he just sat there smiling, still caressing his thumb over my hand and not doing more.

I just sighed when I pulled my hand back, so we were back to the start again. I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want him to come here and look at me with his beautiful eyes and tenderness and then just shut them off when he wanted to. My heart couldn’t take it.

“Just leave Jonah….” I tried to turn away but was too tired, so I just gave up and closed my eyes when I felt his body tensing up like he couldn’t believe I just told him to f**k off.

“No.” I opened my eyes again; did he just say no to me? I just started to smirk at his seriousness, which was like a veil over his otherwise perfect face. Did he think that he could choose? That wasn’t happening, I was the older one of us, and I decided over my life!

“I’m not leaving you, Andrea, not a chance in hell.” I just started to chuckle at his serious words, frowning at me when I just rolled my eyes at his dramatics. He was going to leave, and I didn’t want to f*****g see him anymore, not after he called the cops on me.

“Well, it’s not your choice, I said I was done with this s**t, and I meant it, so go back to your girlfriend or whatever and leave me the f**k alone….” I didn’t even sound angry at the end; I was just hurt when he smirked back now like he thought my jealousy was amusing. Yeah, it was so funny; it made me laugh every minute of my life.

“She is not my girlfriend; none of them are.” I almost hurled when he said them, multiple girls, a lot of them. I got it; he had game, knew what to do with it, and was hot as hell. Who needed a girlfriend, then?

“Great, now that we cleared that out, I’m going to get some water, and you can get the hell out of here….” I was about to pull the blanket from my legs when he stopped me, and I started to feel warm where his hand was on my thigh, and I just stared into his eyes. They were hurt and worried. I didn’t understand why he had called the cops on me. He didn’t need to be worried. He should be happy I was gone, no more nuisance in his life.

He saw me bite my lip and squeeze my thigh harder, not by much, but I let out my breath. It became a slight moan to my humiliation when he smiled and released my leg slowly, not taking his eyes off me, that handsome bastard.

“I didn’t call the cops on you, Andrea…” he said it like he saw the fire in my eyes when I just huffed at his words. Sure he didn’t, and who else would do that if it wasn’t him? he lived there, not the people at the party.

“I take care of the person who did. She is never coming back, I promise…. “He gave me a stern smile and just nodded; it was a girl? I sighed. Maybe I deserved it. I was being rude as hell, trying to crash their evening. I just was so f*****g tired and hungry, and I still was, come to think of it.

“Whatever… just let me be. I will make it back home alone. I told you… I don’t want any more f*****g help….” I was already closing my eyes again when I felt the harsh stare of him being angry again. I opened my eyes just seeing him standing up, body rigid, straight like an arrow when he bent over, and I held my breath from how close he was right now, our eyes keeping the other one hostage, and I gulped hard when he was smirking again from me being so nervous around him.

He looked so good and was so confident and caring when he wasn’t an asshole; it didn’t take a genius to see that I couldn’t resist him.

“You had no food.” He just said that in a dark heavy voice when I just huffed here. I thought he would finally kiss me, and then he just threw that in my face when I just made a frown. I knew that, and he didn’t need to tell me.

“you know, Andrea, when other people say that they are broke and don’t have anything to eat, that means that have some nasty ass s**t in the back part of the freezer that they really don’t want to eat but will if they have to… and guess what I found in your freezer?” he leaned in further. I was shivering again from how close he was. I didn’t even care that he was lecturing me. His breath on my skin covered every part of my body with goosebumps. He had this sweet minty breath that I was dying to taste.

“Nothing. Not a damn thing, just an empty ketchup bottle in the back of the fridge, that was it.” He leaned back up, and I could tell he was really annoyed over that, and I just stared back at him. Well, I told him I was broke, didn’t I? I wasn’t making that s**t up….

“I had two more days before I got paid… so…...” I said that I didn’t know why I was defending myself. However, I felt so small when he was still leaning over me like he knew everything, and I knew nothing despite me being the older one of us.

“Two more days, and you would have been dead. Your body was f*****g shutting down on you. That’s why you puked on the cops in the elevator. You are f*****g lucky I came out since I was busy, and I didn’t care if you played music, Andrea. Don’t you understand by now that I care for you?” he was still close when I just stared into his serious eyes, green and blue mixed together like earth and sea. They were gorgeous, making me almost forget what he was talking about when I flickered my eyes back and forward uncertainly. s**t, he wasn’t lying, wasn’t he?

“I know you have been working all the time too. Do you think I’m blind and don’t hear the door when you come and go? You are driving me insane, for the record, just keeping away from me….” He sat down on the chair again, and I just stared at him, surprised, was he serious right now? He looked exhausted all of a sudden like he really had been suffering when I kept him away. I just smirked, calling myself evil but hearing that felt good, knowing that I wasn’t the only one feeling like s**t.

“You told me to stay away, more or less…. And I guess I did tell you to back off….” I was ashamed, and I just assumed that he was having the time of his life with a new girl every day… f**k he still probably was doing that…. I looked even sadder when he raised his head and smiled at me like he wanted to comfort me, and I just held out my hand, and he took it. That heat from his big hand made everything better, everything.

“No more of this solo s**t you been doing. You are not alone. You hear me. I care for you. For some reason, I just wait every damn day, so I can watch you go out the door or come in from the stairs….” I just gulped again when he got quiet…. like he had caught himself saying too much, and I just smirked; it looked like he wasn’t so badass after all. I just giggled when he looked up and relaxed when he saw that I wasn’t going to go any more serious than this right now. He had s**t to deal with, too, I guess. I got that…. message received.

We didn’t say anything more. He was just smiling when I closed my eyes. Feeling his hand around mine felt safe. I just felt myself sliding into sleep, and when I woke up, he wasn’t there. I stared at the guy looking at his phone, who seemed to notice me being awake from the ruffling of my bedlinen and just smiled at me. His name was Tom. I remembered him. I mean, it hadn’t been that long since I first met Jonah and his boys.

“Where is Jonah?... “I looked around the room, my eyes searching when he just shrugged, and I raised my eyebrows. Really, he didn’t know, or he wouldn’t tell me? I was guessing on the latter option when he just stared back into his phone, and I gave up for some reason. I knew that he wouldn’t talk, and I just gave up. Seeing a nurse coming inside with a tray of food and I didn’t miss the fact that he was texting more when I started to eat, so he was here to keep an eye on me when Jonah couldn’t get it.

“So, is the offer still open? Are you still willing to f**k me?” I smirked when he started choking on the energy drink in his hand. I just laughed when he cursed, wiping away the worst he had spilled over his shirt, giving me the stink eyes for even telling him that kind of s**t.

“I don’t think so pretty unless I want my head attached to my body.” He just glared when I smirked more. Oh god, that felt so good to hear. I was so stupid but hearing that Jonah didn’t want his friends to f**k me anymore made the warm feeling inside me get even warmer. I just smiled at his sour face when he looked down at his phone again, and I closed my eyes. I just wanted him to come back. That was all I was waiting for.

“He really likes you; I just hope you understand that, and he doesn’t like anyone, especially not girls. I don’t know how the hell you made him like you. Just be careful…don’t hurt him….” I just stared at the serious guy that had looked up from his phone, and I nodded just as seriously back. I cared for Jonah so much I would never try to hurt him.