Chapter 22 One More Shot
Jess
I was parked outside, a distance away from her. I was behind, making sure that she didn't look back at all, or at least that she doesn't find me, if she does.
I watched as she came down and walked into the restaurant, and then I waited.
And then I saw it.
The same car I saw that night pulled up to the same restaurant, and Darius Andrews walked out. He checked his cuffs on his shirt and fixed them.
I stared, my fears confirmed.
She was meeting Darius here, and whatever they were doing, it was something of a discussion. Otherwise it wouldn't be in such a public place. Possibly the pay in question.
I tried to breathe, waited a moment, being patient enough to at least see where this went.
He walked into the restaurant, confident, a smirk on his face. I stayed in my seat, leaned back, waiting for them to finish with whatever they were doing. It took a few minutes, maybe 30, and then I saw him walk out, visibly angry.
Visibly angry.
He stopped in front of his car, held onto the door handle, and stood for a while, possibly breathing and getting control of himself. After that, he opened the door, entered, and drove off.
I waited a while again. I was here for her, not him. She came out gently, almost mellow, possibly sobered by whatever it is that went on in that restaurant. She looked, she looked frisky, scared.
He'd threatened her.
Whatever it was, it was definitely a threat.
That face, I only saw when she was truly scared of something. She was scared of Darius, and whatever romantic relationship they had was based off of that fear.
She stood at a distance, and as she held onto the door knob and looked into the distance, she sighted my car. She stopped for a long moment, looking in my direction.
She stood for a long while, staring in my direction in the distance. I couldn't drive off. I knew if I drove off, I'd affirm whatever fears she had. So I stayed. She entered her car and drove off.
I waited and then I followed, wanting to know if there was something extra to it. If she was following him, because she drove in his direction. I went along with her, waiting a while before I followed, to avoid being seen.
We weaved in and out of streets together, only a good distance apart, to avoid her sighting me. As she drove, she stopped abruptly in front of a supermarket, and just parked, not coming down.
I saw it from a distance, and I drove past.
She was trying to find out if it was me in the car, and I wasn't going to affirm that for her, because how else was I supposed to follow her again?
I drove past, driving off and into the far side of town, to find a small bar to take my mind off of things. I entered the bar and sat down, pulling out my phone to find multiple missed calls from the client in question.
They'd been waiting a while at the office, and I was meant to see them now, wherever they were. I called back, rescheduling, and apologizing profusely.
I leaned back into my seat, ordering a round of shots.
Tequila. Something strong.
I needed that right now. I downed them, glass after glass, asking more and more, until I was visibly tipsy, my words slurred.
I had control, but whenever I opened my mouth, things were slurring, and I was no longer thinking about the whole encounter with Darius any longer. After taking the round, I stopped thinking, thinking about everything else but what I had just seen.
Delilah. Our wedding, and how glamorous it was. How it had broken Aria.
The protest she'd come to make was more than just the job she lost and I'd known it, gloating in it even.
Aria, and how I met her. How I'd wooed my way into her heart one morning, that sky blue suit just breathtaking on her. It was at a corporate conference, one that came to town annually. She'd done her hair up in the messiest, most beautiful bun, her lips the sexiest shade of red I'd ever seen.
How I told her that I was going to marry her and that I had seen that from the very first day we met. How we talked about the corporate world until until our eyes sagged and our lips hurt from laughing.
How she spent the night over that first day because she didn't want to stop talking to me and she'd never found anybody who spoke with that much passion before. How I felt the exact same way.
How the passion translated into the bedroom and we had the most amazing night on that first day. It was still the best night of my life to this day.
I thought about the bad and the good times, when she and I were still going strong. When I had little to nothing to be concerned about with work, because she did everything for me out of love.
All I needed to be bothered about was keeping her safe, sound, and giving her everything she desired, whilst she took care of me and gave me solace when I found nothing else in the world.
I breathed. I'd lost something meaningful when I left her, but choices I made had to remain. I couldn't stay the way I was.
I wanted more money, power, something beyond what she could give me, and I had to leave her if I was going to get it.
Once I was done, I paid, leaving a tip at the counter as I walked back to my car, finally driving home.
It was time to go back and meet her and pretend that nothing was wrong. I stopped at the car, my hands visibly shaking on the
steering wheel as I moved towards home