I brought my water to the table, leaning in to give her a kiss. The scent of coffee mixed with lavender and vanilla went straight to my head. I placed two fingers under her chin to lift her face to mine, kissing her again, deeper and dirtier than the first kiss.
I reluctantly pulled back from her, instantly missing the contact of her lips.
“What are you working on?”
She had some graphics on the screen with numbers and charts, text overlayed in a block font. My eyes narrowed, my vision ultra-focused on a single word as it floated in the air.
Bankruptcy.
“What is this?” My voice was hard. I tilted the computer to me so I could see better.
“I’m going to showcase how the business went from nearly going under to thriving,” she said. “It’s going to be an in-depth look at how to turn a business around to show how successful SD Ink is.”
My pulse beat wildly in my neck. Show the world that I nearly ran my business into the ground? If it weren’t for mybest friend’s little sister posting thirst trap pictures of me online, I wouldn’t have a business at all?
I didn’t fucking think so. Not happening.
“You can’t post that,” I demanded. I pushed the laptop away from me. I didn’t even want to look at those images. The visual representation of me at my lowest.
“Why not? People love a story like yours. A real person who went from nearly being bankrupt to running a successful business in a few short months. It’s a feel-good story, and pair it up with the pro bono work, and it shows your character and good nature. You didn’t have to do that, especially when you were struggling, but you did. And now look at you.”
“Are you fucking crazy?”
Fire lit Lydia’s eyes, and she snapped her head to mine. I couldn’t look at her though. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from my failure mocking me from the screen.
“Don’t call me crazy. It’s the truth,” Lydia gritted out.
I ran my hand through my hair, tugging at the ends. “I don’t give a fuck if it’s the truth. I’ll deny it anyway. With the way things are going, no one’s going to believe it.”
“You would tell everyone I’m lying and I’m crazy?”
Danger alarms rang out in my head, but I ignored them. My blood was pumping through my veins too fast. Panic clawed under my skin. The world couldn’t know how close I was to losing everything. Not when things were just starting to look up. I had a real chance to be successful, to continue doing what I loved, to create art that people displayed proudly on their body. All of that would disappear if people found out that it was all a facade. The viral posts and internet fame, it would go away, and I would be left with people who couldn’t put their faith in me, not after seeing my failures written outso clearly in neon graphs.
“I’m not going to let everyone think I can’t run a business, Lydia. Not when things are just starting to turn around,” I basically growled.
Lydia pushed her chair back and stood. I pulled my eyes away from the screen to see her jaw tight and her nostrils flared. But it was the tears filling her eyes that nearly gutted me. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and wipe them away, but I couldn’t make myself move. Anger that she would want to embarrass me, humiliate me like this for the world to see, still made my blood run hot.
“Wow,” she said on a rough swallow, shaking her head. “I thought you and Blake couldn’t be more different, but I should have known better.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Lydia stepped around me, heading for the door. She grabbed her bag from the counter and jammed her feet into a pair of sneakers.
“Where are you going? It’s almost 11:00 p.m.”
She turned toward me and, with a heated glare, spit out, “That’s not your concern, Seb. I’m not your concern. I won’t be in another relationship where I’m constantly being told I’m crazy and I’m the problem. Don’t worry. I won’t be your problem anymore.”
She slammed the door behind her.
I let out a frustrated yell. What the fuck was that? I grabbed my water and took a long swig. My shoulders were tight with tension. I tried to stretch them out, rolling them back and crooking my neck to each side. How could she think it was a good idea to post about my financials?
My feet wore a path up and down the hallway and into thekitchen. Back and forth, back and forth. Finally, with a heavy sigh, I put my glass in the sink and grabbed my phone.
Me: Just tell me where you’re going for the night?
She didn’t respond to my text right away. More pacing continued, but as the minutes ticked by, the frustration turned to worry.
I shot off another text to the guys group chat with Wyatt, Luke, Wes, and Reid.
