I peer up at him through my eyelashes, debating whether or not I should tell him my ex is blowing up my cell right now, sizing up the pros and cons of that particular endeavor. When the pros outweigh the cons, I decide to share my annoyance.
Tilting my phone toward him, I show Caid the unknown number and the notifications that have accumulated in the short time since I picked up my cell. “That right there is what’s wrong.”
Caid peers down at my cell, eyebrow pinching as confusion sets in. “Who is that? And why are they spamming you so late at night?”
My smile is only amused because I know it’s his sleepy brain that isn’t allowing him to put two and two together, so I paint the picture for him. “The same person who was standing outside sending me emails all night.”
Sure enough, that does the trick, and Caid perks up so suddenly that there’s no way anyone would believe me if I told them he was on the brink of falling asleep. He leans farther over my knees, now glaring at my cell like it just spit at him, and I can’t help the amusement that trickles through the annoyance Toby has brought with his infuriating presence.
“What the fuck does that bitch want?” Caiden asks, looking up at me with the glare in place.
I shrug. “No idea. Haven’t opened the messages yet.”
“Ignore him,” he instructs, shaking his head before pausing. “Wait, no, open them. Wait, ignoring him will piss him off more. It’ll show you’ve read them if you open the messages. But maybe that’ll piss him off more, actually. Open the messages but don’t read them. Oh, wait, no. Just delete the messages completely. But don’t you want to see what’s in them? I’m not good at this.”
Biting my lip as I squint at Caid, trying to keep up with his rapid-fire instructions, I find myself grateful for him being here. If I were on my own, I’d be stewing in my anger toward Toby and his constant barrage of shit I don’t want to keep dealing with. But with Caid here, his mouth running a mile a minute, I feel so much better. I’m not dealing with it alone, and I’m getting the best dose of comedic relief in the process.
“Wanna see what lame-ass garbage he’s sent me?” I ask, making the decision for us both. What can I say? I’m very much the cat that curiosity will kill one of these days.
Caid looks up at me, face full of contemplation, right before he nods. “Okay, yeah. Let’s see what he’s sent.”
Without further prompting, I unlock my cell and click on the message icon, clicking the unknown number and instantly groaning at the sight before me.
Screenshot after screenshot fills the chat, countless photos and several messages scattered in between. Grimacing, I scroll all the way to the start of the message thread and click on the first cluster of screenshots Toby has sent me.
Screenshots that turn out to be nothing more than text chains between us from when we were together. There’s nothing really to the messages, some mundane conversations where I was giving more effort than he was, some where he actually felt up to remembering he was even in a relationship with me, and others where he felt sweet on the days that he caused arguments. Of course, the argument portions aren’t included in the screenshots, because that wouldn’t reach whatever warped goal he’s hoping to achieve.
I let Caid read over them, already aware of what they say and already bored of the words that pissed me off way back then. When he’s done, he frowns and mutters, “Those sound nothing like you.”
Smiling a little sadly, I mutter, “This was a year and a half into our relationship. I didn’t realize how much life he sucked out of me until I left and read over our messages before deleting them all.”
I swipe out of the screenshots and read the message he sent along with them.
UNKNOWN:Remember how good things used to be with us? Don’t you miss it?
“No, the fuck I do not,” I grumble, scrolling a little to see what else he’s sent me.
Groaning, I find several selfies of us from our relationship. It’s not as many as one would think, because Toby really had an issue posing for a photo every now and then, but the ones he’s sent me are ones I once claimed were my favorite. Selfies at the park during a snowstorm, a photo of us at the beach right before he got annoyed with having to smile while the sun was beaming into his eyes. It wasn’t. The sun was behind us, but whatever. There’s another photo of us at a romantic dinner that a sweet waiter offered to take. A very zesty waiter who wore more lip gloss and eyeliner than me, but still apparently threatened Toby. The argument after that was a delight to suffer through.
There are a handful more, and Caid comments quietly, “You look sad in most of those.”
I frown, because I’m smiling in each one, and tilt my head as I look through them again. I ignore Toby’s face and focus on mine. Sure enough, each happy expression and smile hides sprinkles of sadness behind them. Now that I’m looking closely, each smile looks fake, like I’m putting on a show I didn’t even realize I was a part of.
“Hm. I see it,” I agree, swiping out of the photos before reading the message that came with it.
UNKNOWN:Look how happy we were, Madison. We can be that happy again.
“Dude is deluded,” I mutter, scrolling again, only to pause when I find more photos of… things? Random things, too, some that I don’t actually recognize.
“What are those?” Caiden asks, reaching over to zoom in on the photo of random crap.
I shake my head, not having a single clue, spying a receipt from a grocery store nearby, a glass with a lipstick mark on it, and something that looks like a wrapper. Maybe a chocolate wrapper? I don’t even know. There are other things in the photo, but I can’t place what any of them mean or why I’ve received a photo of them.
That is, until I read the next message.
UNKNOWN:I kept so many keepsakes of our relationship. I know you did, too.
Frowning, I turn to look at Caid, finding him already looking at me with amused confusion. There are questions in those pretty green eyes, and I answer them as best as I can. “I kept movie theater tickets, a concert ticket, and key rings from places we went together. I also kept a teddy he bought me for Valentine’s Day, but I threw everything in the bonfire with his clothes the day he cheated on me. Those were keepsakes. I have no idea why he’s kept all that trash.”
