I mean, if she were, I’d rather know. It wouldn’t be the first time I had been kept a dirty little secret. Just didn’t expect it from her. But after today, did I really know anything about her? Or just the parts she wanted me to see.
Her hands ran through her hair, my gaze following the motion, catching her grip tighten on the strands. “It’s complicated, alright.”
“Complicated?” I scoffed, rolling my eyes as I shifted my sight back towards the empty street.
Only to follow it with that fucking line.
“Do you know what? Forget it; I’ll walk.” And just like that, the car door slammed, and she was gone. For a moment, I just sat there, frozen. Then I opened my own door and followed, a storm of emotions burning within me. My footsteps were fast and loud. I wasn’t letting her disappear without explaining this bullshit.
“Misfit, you’re not walking away from me,” I said, catching up. “I know you’re lying. You need to tell me what the fuck all this is.”
She spun, sharp, stopping short. “Oh, do I? You mean like you so freely tell me everything about your work?”
That hit harder than I wanted to admit.
“I don’t owe you anything when you can’t even tell me the truth.” Her voice grew colder with every word, calm and precise, like a surgeon dissecting my trust.
She gestured to my car, “Your money? That fancy fucking car?” I couldn’t find the words. She kept going, driving her point home with that bitter smirk, mocking my grasp on the altered reality I'd just been thrown into.
“I didn’t have to bring you here. And as for Manic, I’ve told you what I’ve told you, take it or leave it. Or you can always go around telling everyone you saw a freakishly strong woman with glowing red eyes. Then let’s see who’s chewing their way out of a padded cell.” By the time she stepped forward, closing the distance, my heart was pounding loud enough to hear in my ears.
“It was nothing,” she said. “Whatever you thought you saw wasn’t it.”
But I had seen it. I wasn’t going crazy, fighting against my own defiance to stand my ground against her blatant lies. She turned from me, taking a few purposeful steps.
“And this Omen—”
“Oh my god!” spinning on the spot, irritably gripping her hair. “I am constantly with you.”
I closed the distance, the unanswered questions burning between us.
“Except when you’re not. You disappear, all the time.”
“And so do you! Why do you fucking care?”
She stared at me, her eyes still, and for a moment, I saw something flicker. She regretted involving me in the first place.
“I’ll see you around, Screech.”
And then she was gone again. I stood there, not moving, hands curled into fists at my sides. I felt… heavy. Not just with frustration, or even betrayal, but disappointment.
Returning to the car, my body slumped into the leather seat, head lolling back in defeat. My eyes glance to the now-empty seat beside me.
Well done, Screech. Should have kept your mouth shut. An internal battle set off as my brows creased. I knew what I saw. My hand reached for the key, igniting the engine, speeding off down the road in pure vexation at what had just taken place.
Fuck her, I can imagine that she will soon enough show up acting like nothing happened. I just hated the feeling that sat in my throat that I had probably just shoved her further into the arms of this ‘Omen’.
The silence in the car was thick as I drove back. My hands were clenching the wheel too hard, knuckles pale underthe dashboard lights. Every second of that fucked-up meeting replayed behind my eyes like a glitching tape I couldn’t eject.
I almost missed the turn-off to the flat. Didn’t even notice until the tires bumped the curb. Swearing under my breath. I threw it into reverse and parked with a rough jerk.
I couldn’t sit still. The flat felt too quiet. I paced from one end of the room to the other, then again, and again.
Music didn’t help.
Surprisingly, alcohol didn’t help either. I stared at my phone, considered texting her, but I refrained. Instead, I grabbed my jacket and left again. I ended up outside Selene’s. She welcomed me in with no hesitation. Let her lips distract me. But even when her hands found mine, even when she dragged me to the bedroom, all I could see were red eyes.
I didn’t sleep that night. Just sat on the doorstep with a cigarette burning between my fingers and a bottle of something stronger at my feet. I tried to convince myself that I hadn’t seen what I saw. I failed.
