I worked on my edits at the dining table throughout the day, working through a wedding I shot last weekend and a couple other events. It was one thing to get the shot, but it was another to make the photo as aesthetically appealing as possible. To smooth out the complexions and blemishes of the subjects. To change the tint of the photo, remove the red-eye that popped up. I didn’t dramatically alter anything, but I did manipulate it quite a bit. At the end of the day, people wanted to see the best version of themselves—not the real version.
After lunch, I made another cup of coffee and continued to work. There were still lots of boxes around the apartment because I hadn’t fully unpacked. Between work and Constantine, I hadn’t had that much time to finish the job. And I’d much rather spend my time getting nailed by the sexiest man who ever lived than moving shit around my apartment.
A knock sounded on my door, and my first hope was that Constantine had come by for a visit. But he’d never done that before, stopped by unannounced, so I assumed it was a neighbor or maybe a delivery for something that I’d ordered.
I checked the peephole before I opened it—and spotted Enzo on the other side.
What in the actual fuck?
I opened the door and blinked a couple times, staring at a man who that now felt like a stranger. “Uh ... what do you want?” I blurted, not thinking before speaking. I felt a little guilty for my rudeness, but it wasn’t like we were friends ... or even ended on good terms.
“You got a minute? I wanted to talk to you.”
“If you can say everything in a minute, you should’ve just texted.”
“Okay, well, maybe it’ll take a couple minutes.” He slid his hands into the front pockets of his jeans as he shifted his weight to one leg. The shadow on his jawline was thick, like he hadn’t shaved in a while. I used to find him really attractive, but now I felt nothing. If I had a dick, nothing about him could get me hard.
“Um, okay ...” I stepped aside and let him into the apartment.
The second the door was closed, I felt guilty. Guilty for being alone with my ex when I was seeing someone, I guess. I wasn’t sure if Constantine was my boyfriend or what, but we were definitely together. “Everything okay?”
Enzo took a long time to start the conversation, scanning my apartment as his hands remained in his pockets. “Nice place.”
I ignored what he said. “Everything okay?” I repeated.
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh as he reached into the back of his jeans, pulling out an envelope. “Found these under the bed the other day. I knew you’d want them, so ...” He handed them over before he returned his hands to his pockets.
I opened the envelope and found old pictures of my mom. Pictures from when she was young. One of her on a motorbike, one of her outside her secondary school. Pictures of her before I was born. There was one of my father too, the two of them together. “Thanks.” I returned them to the envelope and tossed it on the dining table next to my computer. When I looked at him again, I expected him to be headed for the door already.
But he continued to stand there.
“Something else?” I asked, just wanting him out of my apartment. I wasn’t sure how Constantine would react to this because I didn’t knowif he was a jealous guy or not, but the last thing I wanted was to risk what we had over this doofus.
“Yeah, um ...” He rubbed the back of his head as he gave a sigh. “I just want to apologize for everything—”
“You already did, Enzo.” I didn’t need to hear it again. I could hear it a million times and would still feel nothing. “We’ve both moved on. It’s fine. I’m happy. You’re happy. It’s all good.” I’d say anything to ease his conscience if it just got him to leave.
“Are you happy?” he asked, dropping his hand to his side.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Are you seeing that guy who came by the apartment?”
It took me a second to realize what was happening. “Are you serious right now?” My eyebrows furrowed before I issued a laugh. “You’ve got a lot of balls to ask me that, especially since I asked you what was wrong, what, fifty times? And you lied each and every time. But yet, you think you deserve the 411 on my life?”
“Look, I didn’t mean to upset you—”
“Yes, I’m seeing him. He didn’t just move all my stuff because we’re friends.” Oh, we were definitely not friends.
He dropped his gaze before he gave a slow nod. “I wanted to explain what happened with Luna—”
“Why? I don’t care.”
“Well, I think it might have been a mistake. I mean, I don’t think, I know.” He looked at me, self-loathing in his gaze. “It started as a kiss at work, and then it just got carried away and—”
The front door flew open.
Constantine walked inside—a fucking menace.
