Prologue
Atlas
I’m sitting at my desk, swirling the last sip of whiskey in my glass. This is my third glass within the last hour. Something to take the edge off while I brace myself for the storm that is about to hit me. I contemplate refilling my drink again when I finally hear her. I knew this would happen when she found out, I just didn’t expect her to be this mad. Her footsteps echo through the house as she storms her way to my office. I don’t know how a woman her size walks that loud. There’s a clatter and something that sounds a hell of a lot like glass shattering. It’s followed by a muttered curse before she’s throwing the door open with enough force to knock the picture of us off the wall.
“A fucking TRACKER! Really Atlas? You have that little trust in me that you put a tracker in my phone?”
“That tracker has nothing to do with trust, Maze. You know better than that.”
“Right, this is just another one of your stupid power trips. You can’thandle the fact that I don’t bow to your every command. I’m not a dog, Atlas. I will not be your pet or some puppet you can play with. You don’t get to control me! I’m done! I can’t keep playing these games with you.”
“Then leave, Maizyn! Control is the only thing I have in this world. I don’t need you or your chaos fucking up my life anymore!”
She flinched as if my words had slapped her. Her eyes began to water as she turned around, storming back out the same way she came. I almost took the words back, but I didn’t. I wasn’t too worried about it. It’s not like what I said mattered; she’ll come crawling back later, she always does. She just needs some time to cool down. It’s not the first time she’s been pissed at me, she just likes reacting as chaotically as she possibly can. She will probably call later to apologize for overreacting.
Maizyn
I speed out of his driveway, heading towards the closest bar. I’ll show him the chaos he claims me to be.
My entire life has been crazy, that’s where I thrive. This would never work out anyways. He is far too controlling for my free spirit.
My ex tried to control everything I did and I refuse to let another man think I’ll be a puppet. So I am going to do what I do best… get blackout drunk and decide what to do next.
Pulling into an empty parking spot as I arrive at the bar, I throw the carin park and make my way inside. The bartender must’ve seen the wild look in my eyes because he started lining up rows of shot glasses before I even reached the counter.
“What’s your poison? You look like you’re gonna need it.”
Slamming Atlas’s black Amex onto the bar, “Tequila. Lots of tequila and keep the tab open.”
The least he could do was pay to get me drunk.
The bartender keeps trying to make conversation, but I’m not really in the mood for half-assed small talk. My ability to pretend I care disappeared after my third double shot of tequila. At this point, unless he’s placing another shot in front of me, I act like he’s not even there.
Maybe my self-pity and self-destruction will be my own demise.
I replay the argument over and over again in my head. He wouldn’t tell me why he put the tracker on my phone. If it wasn’t about trust, then why wouldn’t he tell me the reason?
Whatever.
It’s not like his reasoning would even matter. The tracker is there either way, and Atlas made it very clear that I was too much for him.
As I swallowed my eighth shot, a brilliant idea came to me. If Atlas didn’t want me ruining his life, then I’ll grant him his wish.
I won’t come back this time.
We can’t keep doing this back and forth. It was never good for either of us.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket to send a text to Atlas. It’s a hell of a lot harder than I thought it would be.
I stare at the screen longer than necessary because I honestly fucking swear, the letters on the keyboard kept moving.
Between the double vision and swirling letters, it takes about twenty minutes for me to type it out. At least, I think I typed it correctly.
Maze
u don’t wat me so I wn’t bothr u agin
I attempt to hit send and sneak out while the bartender has his back turned. I wasn’t closing out my tab; they could keep Atlas’s credit card. I didn’t want it, and he would just try to track it to find me. Stumbling to my car is an even bigger pain in the ass task to complete. It takes five tries to unlock the car door, but I managed to get it unlocked.
