Chapter 15 Chapter 14:
Arya:
There’s nothing worse than being stranded in a rain storm in the middle of the night with a phone that’s almost out of battery.
My Uber was supposed to show up at least an hour ago, but the damn app keeps telling me it will arrive any time soon, but hey at least I have a bus shelter and ten dollars in my purse.
The rain beats heavily, my white shirt is soaked with water, everywhere is foggy due to the rain so I can barely see, I check my phone again, it’s twelve in the midnight and I have no idea how to get home.
Thank goodness I didn’t stay and drink, because I don’t want to be staggering all the way home. Nicole left earlier than expected, she didn’t like parties anyways, turns out Ethan invited all his friends and that dude has a lot of friends.
I should call at least Emily or Emma, or even Nicholas but they are probably sprawled on the sofa, drunk and exhausted, so that’s it. I will end up here, gazing around, hoping a miracle just pops out from nowhere.
There’s only one person I can call right now and it’s Devon, but why in the hell will I call him? He might be sleeping, and so I don’t want to disturb him.
After a few minutes of standing there and shivering, I pick up my phone and dial his number; it rings twice before he picks it up.
“Hello?” I say expectantly, biting my lips, “Sorry for waking you.”
“Where are you, Arya?” His voice isn’t laced with sleep, it seems hesitant, like he has been...waiting for me, but I don’t understand why in the hell someone like Devon will wait for me to arrive home.
“Funny story, I am stranded in the rainstorm.” I say, laughing nervously, there’s silence in the other line and my anxiety is spiking high. “Can you please come pick me up?” And, there it is. I did it.
The silence deepens and I wonder, if maybe I have said too much, before I can say anything else, he says.
“Send me the address, I will be there soon.” The line goes dead, hurriedly I type down the address before shoving the phone in my jeans pocket, my hands are literally trembling as I stare ahead.
Fifteen minutes later, I spot a black SUV zooming over to the bus shelter, my heart leaps in my chest when the car stops in front of me, as I make to move, the door opens and tall legs coated in dark cargo pants step out.
Devon’s holding something, an umbrella. He crosses the distance between us and positions the umbrella above my head, preventing the rain from seeping through us, my pulse pummeling deep inside me as I stare at his dark green eyes.
I want to open my mouth and say something, but a tremble is what comes out of me. Devon notices this and removes the coat from his body, draping it over me, the warm scent of his cologne enveloping me.
“Let’s get you home.” His voice seeps through me, as one firm hand circles around my waist, then gently, with the umbrella above me, he leads me towards the car.
The entire car ride is silent, I am biting at my nails, and somehow I feel guilty as hell. “I should have come sooner, the rain caught me down.”
He nods, hands tightened around the wheels. I keep staring out the window, drumming my hands in my thigh. “I really didn’t mean to disturb you while you were sleeping.”
“I was not sleeping.” His voice is rather tired, an indication that I should drop the subject. When we reach home, I stare around the room watching as Devon walks towards the kitchen, returning later with a mug of hot cocoa.
He hands it over to me. “After you drink that, you should go to bed. Have a goodnight.”
I want to tug at his shirt and thank him for coming to get me, but instead, I swallow, still standing in the middle of the living room. “Thank you.”
He nods, dark green eyes skimming me over before turning and going upstairs, when I see that he’s gone, I breathe out a sigh of relief and collapse on the chair, I still feel weird in my wet clothes, but Devon’s coat is warm and it smells nice, and I can stay forever in this, but all I keep wondering is why.
Why did Devon come get me when he could have easily sent his driver? What does Devon think of me? And why in the hell does this thought bother me so much?
\--
The next day, I am in the kitchen leaning against the counter, sipping coffee made from the coffee machine. I just gave Vera a bath and the babysitter will be here any time from now.
I keep glancing at the direction of the stairs, hoping I will catch a glance of Devon. He usually leaves earlier than me, so I am wondering if him bringing me home last night made him wake up late today.
My body is trembling as I keep waiting. Today's the reunion of our annual high school gathering and I am dreading it so much, I didn’t go too much on my clothes so I am wearing a simple black fitted dress that hugs my curves paired with low heels.
The sound of polished shoes on the tile floor makes me perch my ear and hurriedly straighten, placing the mug on the counter. Devon- the man who had managed to change my life upside down with just one night appears, he’s already dressed in a fitting Tom Ford suit that hugs his broad shoulders, hair tousled back and green eyes piercing as hell.
He walks over to me, his gaze briefly locking with mine, sending a shiver down my spine, my heart skips a beat and the reunion paper in my hand manages to fall to the floor.
He bends and picks it up, his eyes skimming over it to see the address on it; he gives me a look and hands it over to me.
“I will go first.” I stutter, grabbing my bag from the counter, stumbling to the living room, I give Vera a goodbye kiss and hurry out of the apartment, clutching my chest tight.
What’s wrong with me? Did my heart just race just by seeing Devon? I scoff, then I laugh, then I am pretty sure I want to cry. Of course, I should find him attractive, right?
He’s rich, he’s handsome and he smells nice....That’s normal, very normal. Great, now I feel hot, if living with Devon Brookes means my heart will be racing like a tsunami, then I am so fucked.
\--
High school reunions mean shit, no one is really coming to ‘catch up on old times’, they are coming to judge you, to boast about their new husbands that own a yacht in California or that they just purchased a new house downtown.
There’s always a few jabs here and there, directed to people who still work the same job they did in high-school. Honestly, I should just have ditched today’s event since Anna and Kevin are coming, but I have to be here to show them that I am no longer affected by their relationship.
It's been three years, yet it still feels like yesterday when I overheard them talking about my trust fund. Clutching my hand, I walk into Imperial Restaurant, like every other year, they book the whole floor.
Everyone is all separated in small groups, dressed in designer clothes and fake smiles, hiding their judgemental gazes. Their eyes are on me the moment I step in and the murmurs increase tenfold.
Kevin is in front of the table, holding a glass of wine, his eyes looking at me, “Look who finally decided to show up, must be nice hitching on a billionaire’s back.”
Anna looks at me; she’s wearing a red cocktail dress and even styled her honey blonde hair in a high ponytail. “Arya Morris, finally. We were thinking you wouldn’t make it, right Clara?”
I look at my boss who immediately nods at what Anna says. It feels weird to say but Clara is always agreeing to whatever Anna says, as though Anna controls everything she does.
Nicole looks up from her glass of wine. “Shut up, Anna before you say anything stupid.”
Anna snaps her eyes towards Nicole, even in a gathering, Nicole still wears a black female suit and her signature frown. “What did you say?” Anna’s face is beet red; I can’t imagine how it feels like being told to shut up by Nicole Hart. Not a good thing.
“I don’t repeat my words twice.” Nicole calmly says.
Kevin saunters towards Nicole, holding a bottle of champagne. “Hey, watch it. You are talking to my wife like that.”
Anna wipes her face, her eyes getting watery. “You are as mean and harsh as Arya.” She then whips her head to me. “Honestly, I don’t even know why Clara still keeps you!”
This is exactly why I stay away from high school reunions. Fuck, I need a glass of champagne if I am going to get through today. I sit down on the chair, if I might well survive this, then I have to shut up.
Soon, nobody’s looking or talking about me anymore, they move on to gossip about Heidi, a classmate who married a sixty year old billionaire and is now living in the Bahamas.
I keep checking the time, waiting for when I will get out of here. Axel texts me, informing me he couldn’t make it, he’s stuck at home since his pet sitter canceled, I respond with a heart emoji and continue talking with Nicole. Emma and the rest are currently dealing with their hangover effect, so they couldn’t come.
Let me tell you, I don’t like being the center of attention, which is why I am glad that Anna and her husband, Kevin, have pretty much forgotten about me.
I see Clara looking at her phone pretty often, and to everyone’s surprise, she even asks. “Is Axel not coming?”
Because I am the only one who knows, I say, while twirling my glass. “He canceled, he texted me.”
“How is it a surprise that Axel is texting you? Are you hooking up with him too?” Anna points a finely manicured finger at me.
I don’t blame Axel for not coming, throughout high school, he has been in the hands of bullies- Anna, and her squad included. They would take all the time to intimidate him especially since he was really shy back then, and Clara would just stare and watch Anna bully him, maybe she’s starting to care because she feels bad about how she treated him.
It’s not my place to judge, but I am sure Axel wants anything to do with Anna, or anyone here for that matter. Besides, I think he has a tiny crush on Wanda. I saw him checking out her Instagram the other day.
“Isn’t that what you do? Getting people to use and dump. Thank goodness, I didn’t fall for your charms and didn’t end up marrying you; only hell knows what I would be facing now.”
I can tell Nicole’s brimming with anger; I find her hand under the table and squeeze. “They aren’t worth it, Nic.” Only then did she start to calm down.
“What’s wrong, Arya? Scared to talk or you are planning your revenge because now you have hotshot billionaire Devon Brookes at your arms, he must be really gullible going for someone like you.”
“Can you repeat that, please?” We hear a deep voice from behind and just like that, everyone turns back to see Devon approaching us, wearing a tailor made charcoal gray suit, the glint of his Rolex wristwatch glinting against the light.
His loafers sound on the tile as he makes his way over to me, I am shocked and frozen and the moment his warm hands graze my shoulders, I stiffen.