07

DAVID MILES

« It’s here. » Sean’s voice echoed through the hallway.

« What ? » He yelled from the bathroom as he grabbed a towel and wrapped around his waist.

« Your shipment » Sean yelled back.

Dave ran out the bathroom so fast that he was sure he had left track marks on Logan’s precious carpet.

Sean was in his suit biting on a toast as he talked to someone on Dave’s phone.

« Is that Zach ? »

Sean looked at him and nodded as he chewed.

« Good. » He ran back to the guest room that was temporarily his and threw on his jeans and a black polo.

Raking a hand through his wet hair he looked at himself in the mirror.

He looked better than before. Atleast he didn’t have nightmares like the ones he had every night back then. He still had bags under his eyes.

Sighing he walked out and into the kitchen to pour himself some coffee.

« … he’s getting better though. » He heard Sean say.

Dave froze. Sean didn’t know what had happened back there. And Zach didn’t know a thing about Tess. If they were talking about him, then it would end in disaster.

He ran out of the kitchen and all but tackled the phone out of Sean’s grip.

« What the hell ? » Sean growled.

« Hey bud. I’ll talk to ya later. » He muttered and hung up with a relieved sigh.

« What was that ? »

« Nothing. Just remember not to even mention her name to Zach. » Hoping that Sean would understand to whom he was referring to.

Sean opened his mouth to say something but Dave had already pulled himself up and walked into the kitchen.

He knew Sean would follow him and then give him a piece of his mind that Dave didn’t need the least bit.

« What exactly happened back there, Miles ? »

Dave expected to be yelled but Sean had done the exact opposite. He forgot that Sean was a person who went straight to the point. He reminded himself that aside from being straightforward, Sean was blunt with his answers.

« What happened back there is none of your concern ? »

« I know it’s not. Just as I know this is more than Tess. I know there’s something going on with you. I don’t wanna know if you don’t wanna tell me. But it would make you feel better if you could tell me what happened with Tess. You could use an ally right now »

« That –«

« It’s putting your relationship with everyone in jeopardy. I just wanna know. » Sean insisted

Dave hesitated. War waged within him.

« Didn’t she say what happened ? »

Sean smiled.

« The woman has isolated herself. Nobody knows what happened. For now, it’s a guess game. But everybody’s coming to the same conclusion. »

« That is ? »

« You broke her. »

« Oh god. Not again. »

« Yes, you did. »

Dave poured himself a cup of coffee and took a sip.

« Do you really want to know ? »

« Yes » Sean perked up.

With a resigned sigh he rested his cup back on the platform and faced his cousin.

« I don’t know. »

« What ? » Sean stood up so fast that the chair tumbled.

« Yes. I really don’t know. Don’t remember what happened. »

« How… » He trailed off.

« Something happened, okay. I don’t wanna get into the details but something happened that drove me to drown myself in alcohol. »

« It was just after the day that « something » happened. I was so drunk that I couldn’t even put one foot in front of another. I remember seeing her on my porch with her bag. I remember that I brushed her aside and went in. I remember some shouting. It’s incoherent in my head. I don’t know what happened. »

« Fuck.. » Sean muttered.

« Yeah. I was fucked completely. I don’t remember anything except that I drowned myself in alcohol to forget the stuff that happened. Before I know it, six months had passed. »

« I remember Zach coming in and punching the shit out of me. Then he pushed me in the bathroom to get cleaned up. I found myself on a bed for one whole month because I was sick. I had ingested too much alcohol and no solid food.

« For the next three months, I was with Zach at the company. Two months ago I applied for the license here. Once I acquired it, Zach packed my bags and shipped me here. »

« That is some serious shit. »

« Yeah. I know. » He picked up his coffee and turned his back to hide the pain he was sure Sean would see in his eyes.

« And nobody knows that you don’t even know what happened, do they ? »

« No they don’t. »

Sean let out a low whistle.

« Tessa is a smart girl. She must’ve deduced that what you said was in a drunken haze. »

Now Dave completely wanted to run out and hide. He had a guess as to what he might have said. Which was why he had pushed the memory to the very back of his mind. So he couldn’t remember.

Worthless

« What is it ? » Sean asked. « I know you know exactly what you said. »

« No. I don’t. I told you everything about that day, every word, it’s incoherent. But… « He trailed.

« But.. » he urged

« I might’ve called her worthless. »

Dead silence spread in the kitchen and Dave didn’t dare to move even a single muscle.

Dave closed his eyes. He still did not face Sean. He was guilty of it. He felt worthless. He remembered repeating the word worthless. He called himself worthless.

He waited for the punch but after five minutes of standing there, his eyes closed, his body taut with anticipation of the punch or a smack that never came had him turning to face Sean.

Sean still stood there, his eyes narrowed, arms crossed against his chest.

« Do you mean it ? » He asked.

Dave frowned.

« Do you mean it ? » Sean repeated.

« Of course not. The woman is the most sought after in this city. »

« Did you mean it when you –«

« No. » Dave cut him mid-sentence .

« Then you gotta tell her that. »

« No I don’t. »

« Why not ? » Sean frowned

« Because it’s good that she’s staying away from me, Sean. I’m not the relationship type. I left to avoid this weird stuff I felt around her. I don’t wanna end up like my dad. I’m good with flings and one night stands. That’s all I’ll ever have. Leave it be. »

Dave dropped his cup in the sink and walked out of the kitchen.

He didn’t want to listen to Sean but he couldn’t avoid the words as they kept reverberating in his mind.

« You’ll know that you need her the most when you’ve lost her completely. »

Hadn’t he already ?