Chapter 24 Elena is getting slutty

Chapter 24 Elena is getting slutty
Chapter 24

Elena’s POV

I walked a long time after leaving the mall. My head was heavy, but my chest was even heavier. Melissa’s words kept echoing in my head.

“Six months pregnant…”

“Williams got me this ring…”

With every footstep the sound reverberated again.

Eventually I found myself sitting down on a bench outside the mall for a couple of minutes, just looking off into space. People were walking past, carrying shopping bags, laughing, snapping pictures. Everyone seemed happy. I felt invisible.

When I finally got up, I didn’t even know where I was going. I just kept going.

I went past a food stall and bought a bottle of water, but I could’t drink very much. The lump in my throat was just too tight. My phone vibrated with a message from Kai; he was wondering if I’d be home for dinner. I stared a bit longer at the screen and then put it away in my bag. I didn’t want him to hear my voice like this.

Eventually, my feet led me toward a small amusement park around the city square. The sound of children laughing was in the air. I stopped at the gate and leaned on the railing. The glow from the attractions made everything look gentler and more vibrant.

I watched a cluster of young children chasing each other around the merry-go-round. Their parents called for them, laughing. One little girl fell and began crying. Her mother bundled her up in an instant and wiped away her tears. It was a punch to the stomach, harder than I thought it would be.

I laid a hand on my belly without thinking.

It was flat. emptt.

I remembered how Williams used to say, “We don’t want a baby right now, Elena. It’s fine; it’s just the two of us.”

He said it so many times I actually believed him.

And when I got pregnant — once, the only time I’d ever seen those two pink lines — he told me it wasn’t a good idea yet. Then I lost it after two months. He didn’t even seem sad. He just said, “Maybe next time.” But “next time” never came.

Now Melissa was pregnant and he was more than happy to purchase rings and cars for her.

For long I sat on one of the benches, watching the kids. A boy with a red balloon halted near me and smiled.

“Hi!” he called.

I forced a small smile back. “Hi.”

He waved the balloon at me. “Do you want it?”

I declined. “No, thank you. Keep it. “It looks better with you.”

His mother called him back, and he fled. ” I looked down again, fighting the sting in my eyes. I couldn’t stop the tears, but they still rolled. I put my hands full over my face. A few people passed by, but none stopped . Maybe they thought I was just tired. Maybe they didn’t care.

After a while when darkness set in and the lights surrounding the park began to flicker brighter, I rose from my seat and wiped my face. My eyes were puffy. 

I didn’t want to go home. I did not need questions from Kai, either. I didn't want anyone's sympathy.

So I walk until I found a little bar on the street corner. It was no more than just a dark place, with loud music and people yelling at each other.

I went in.

As I sat down the barman looked up. “What’ll it be?”

“Something strong,” I said softly.

He made me a drink and slid it to me. I took it without a moment's hesitation. It burned on the first sip, but sounded good — or at least it distracted me.

I continued to drink at a proper pace. The music switched, and a cluster of guys on the other side of the bar shouted support for the TV-screened sports match. One of them caught sight of me and nodded in greeting. I ignored him.

A woman who sat two stools away bent closer. “Rough night?” she said.

I let out a quick laugh that didn’t seem like me. “Something like that.”

She seemed sympathetic. “Men problems?”

I took another sip. “You could say that.”

She sighed. “They’re all the same. My boyfriend ran off last week with someone half my age. This is the third place I've worked since then." I have been drinking here every night since.” 

I managed a weak smile. ‘I guess we’re both cursed to have bad luck.’

We chatted briefly about nothing in particular, everything and nothing, really — like how terrible the music was and how chilly the air-con was. It helped a little.

After a while, she went outside to meet someone, leaving me alone once more. The TV keeps running the same game highlights.

I looked around and there was a man at the corner table glancing over at me from time to time. He appeared to be in his mid-thirties to late thirties, possibly older and was donning a coat that was too stylish for the region. He noticed me staring and he gave me a little nod.

I turned my head away fastly but then I saw my reflection in the mirror behind the bar, exhausted eyes, unkempt hair, and a red nose from crying. I barely remembered myself.

That’s when a thought flashed through my head the very same one that had been lurking at the back of my mind since Melissa had announced her pregnancy..

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m the problem. Maybe I can’t have kids.

I swallowed hard.

If that was true, I wanted to know. I wanted to know. Maybe I should just sleep with some random guy, just to know.

I was fiddling with my glass, turning it over in my hands, over and over. The bartender came over. “Another drink?”

“No,” I said. “I’m fine .”

He nodded and walked off.

I sat there for a few more minutes, just thinking. Then I took out my phone and opened the photo gallery. There were pictures of me and Williams from years ago. He was smiling in most of them. I deleted them one by one.

I placed my phone back down and glanced back at the man. He was still there, now staring down at his phone. I rose slowly and made my way over to the jukebox by his table, feigning to search for a tune.

He looked up. “Hey.”

I gave a slight nod. “Hey.”

“You okay?” asked he after a moment.

“Not really,” I replied in answer to It Is Not Known how such things had changed me so profoundly in just a few months.

He paused. “Bad day?”

“Bad life,” I muttered. Then I stopped to think about how that had come out and tried to laugh that off. “Sorry. That came out wrong.”

He smiled faintly. “It’s fine. “There have been a few of those days for me as well.”

We were talking for a few minutes, nothing heavy, just the music and the city. His name was Daniel. He said he worked sales, traveled a lot, wasn’t from around here.

“Maybe that’s good,” i said quietly. “Not Being from Here.”

He regarded me with interest. “Why?”

“Because then you can leave whenever you want.”

He laughed softly. “I guess that’s true.”

There was a pause. I heard ice clinking in his glass.

“You look sad,” he said at last.

I shrugged. “I guess I am.” 

"Want to talk about it? ”

I shook my head. “It won't change anything.”

He nodded, I think he was just acknowledging it was true. “Fair enough.” 

We were quiet for several more minutes. We could still hear people laughing all around as we sat in the bar, the bartender yelling out someone’s drink order. It seemed like from another time.

I noticed that my hands were trembling slightly at some point.

“Are you cold?” he inquired.

“No,” I said softly. “Just… thinking.”

After gazing at me for a moment, he said, “You shouldn’t be out here alone if you’re feeling like that.”

I looked up at him. “Then don’t let me be,” I whispered.

He blinked, surprised. “What do you mean?”

“Just… don’t let me be alone tonight,” I whispered, my voice low but commanding.

He seemed torn, he clearly didn’t know how to respond. I could see the confusion in his eyes. I quickly added, “I don’t mean anything bad. I just I need to forget things for a bit.”

He nodded slowly. “Alright. I get it.” 

I kept glancing at Daniel. He wasn't exactly attractive but he did food the bill if I was going to do this. He notices me staring and smiled softly. 

"Any problem? " he asked and I smiled shaking my head. 

"Just wondering if I should go ahead with this plan stuck in my head." I mumbled under my breath. 

"If it's a good one, go with it. Bad, don't" He said and I laughed. 

"It is definitely not good." I replied, grabbing my drink and drowning it in one gulp. This night was just getting started.