It had started very similar to this. I had been heated and about to go mental. Ava’s absolute rejection of my pitiful hand in marriage had forced me to seek out my friends. I had wanted to hear them tell me walking away from the woman I loved was the brightest and soundest decision I’d ever made, since I had fallen into the deep end of madness. Love was poison. I had felt its vile, acrid taste on my tongue as I had tried to keep myself together and not shred into pieces because of the only person that mattered to me repeatedly rejecting me in one day.
My self-confidence had been abysmal by the time I sat down to drink with my friends. My ego and pride were bloody non-existent at that point. Consequently, like the jolly old, brilliant friends they were to me, they had also drunk until we couldn’t coherently form a sentence.
At first, it had been rather hilarious. Tom and Benjamin would start singing a blasted song then, after a verse or two, they’d start putting their own words into it, making it all the merrier as we had kept on downing one drink after the other until the pub had closed and booted us out of there.
I wasn’t sure what truly occurred thereafter. Although, from my vague recollection, I had actually offered to drive. I was told I might end up driving them all to Ava’s house to take on her posh boyfriend; thus, someone else had taken the seat.
It had been in the wee hours of the morning, with the roads practically empty, so it was all good and well. However, halfway through, I felt ill from the thoughts of Ava and that posh boyfriend of hers divulging in sexual activities in one of the rooms in the manor. I had ultimately ended up wanting to chuck up everything, as if to dispel all of the bad things that had happened to me hours prior. Subsequently, the car stopped while I vomited on the side of the road, hugging my abdomen as I retched.
My friends rumbled on about the football match that we were all betting on—Manchester United and Arsenal. I had heard the car engine turn on as they all had continued to argue about the bloody idiotic match while they’d somehow overlooked that I wasn’t in the car, which had been rather absurd because the door had still hung wide open while Benjamin’s head had stuck out the opposing window to sing the Manchester United song.
The whole scene had been rather comical, and I had found myself laughing to my wits end until my laughing had turned to tears of horror just as I witnessed the crash of the car. They had hit the tree at such a speedy rate that the car had been immediately engulfed in flames, leaving me no choice other than to call for help.
However, before the ambulance had come to the scene, I had run towards the car despite the front being wildly engulfed by fire, which had left Tom and Rory with no hope of escape. Benjamin and Felix had been in the back with me, but when I tried to pull the car door open, it was jammed.
Feeling hopeless, I had been a wreck as I had tried to scream and kick the door with all my might to no avail. The entire time, Benjamin and Felix had remained unconscious as I had bellowed at the top of my lungs, telling them to wake up. When all hope had left me, I had actually thought Benjamin had opened his eye a crack, smiling at me as if he had been telling me it was okay, that I should stop acting hysterical and save myself before the whole thing blew up.
I remembered screaming through my tears as my hand had imprinted on the window glass, saying goodbye to Benjamin, Rory, Tom, and Felix—my best friends.
They had all died in one fatal blow because I had been too rotten and selfish to think about anyone’s welfare. I had been too pathetically heartbroken to take it like a real man should.
And, just like that, I had started running as far as my legs could take me with no direction. I didn’t know when I had fallen asleep, yet when I had woken up, Charles Watson had been there to greet me with a proposal that had changed my life for good.
Accepting his proposition was the coward’s way out; however, I hadn’t seen another option at the time. With all of the guilt from losing my best friends in the blink of an eye and the hate-filled fury I had possessed for Ava, I couldn’t fathom going back to my old life. The mere thought of being surrounded by the people who reminded me I was the only one living when all of my friends had died was unconscionable. What’s more, I hadn’t needed a reminder of Ava. If possible, I had wanted to forget her altogether.
Therefore, I had, or so I had led myself to believe.
Not fairing any better than when I had first gotten to the pub, I kindly asked the barman to call me a cab. I was no longer the reckless teenager who thought he could take on whatever when drunk. Losing my friends had taught me my limitations—to know when I’d had enough.
The ride from the bar towards my home went by in a blur. I arrived past midnight, and just as expected, the house was still and quiet. Racing up the steps, I sought Ava’s room, thinking how inconvenient it was to be staying in separate quarters when most of the time I found myself there, anyhow.
That was one of the things I wanted to address. I wanted her to move all of her things to my room so we didn’t have to pretend as if we truly wanted privacy. It was high time to fix the huge misstep I had taken by pushing her away.
Standing outside her door, I stretched my neck from side to side, hoping to release some of the tension, before taking a lungful of air and willing myself to open the door.
What was on the other side was as terrifying as it was splendid. My next steps could lead me to everything I had ever wished for …… or everything my nightmares were made of.
Chapter 30
Reiss
The room held little to no lighting. Usually, she left one curtain parted to allow some light, yet tonight, it was almost black, and I could barely make out the details of the room and its furniture. Thank the gods I knew the familiar route towards the bed.
The second I reached the side of the bed that I usually occupied; I focused my eyes on her, wanting to see a glimpse of her loveliness. For a moment, I simply admired her.
Taking one shoe off after the other, I took off my tie before shedding the rest of my clothes, only leaving my bottoms on. Sliding into the bed, I placed both hands behind my head and shut my lids to recap the horrid night I’d had. Of all the venomous people to see tonight, I had to have the unfortunate luck to be greeted by the leader of the pack.
“You’re here …” I heard Ava mumble before saying, “How did it go?” She sounded as if she was asking how my day or a meeting had gone, totally the polar opposite of the shrieking woman I had pictured in my head.
“Ava, about tonight, we can talk about it if you like.”