Chapter 16 The Uninvited Guest
The Uninvited Guest
Liam’s POV
Dylan stood in the doorway without moving for a second.
The red heart balloon string shifted slightly to the left, and Vivian’s smile was bright like she has rehearsed her entrance.
“You’re not surprised to see me?” she asked, tilting her head when Dylan didn’t say anything immediately.
“Not really,” he said and stepped back for her to come in.
I was still on the couch, sitting upright with my elbows on the armrest. I watched her with her bag of snacks and balloon and her eyes which were moving around the room landed on me with anger that she didn’t bother to disguise.
Dylan closed the door behind her.
“Make yourself comfortable,” he said but Vivian looked at him and looked at me. A lot of questions must be going on inside her damn sick brain.
“What’s the problem?” Dylan asked her as she turned and fixed her gaze on him.
“What is he doing here?” she asked, her voice was light and conversational.
Dylan walked past her toward the kitchen. “We’re teammates of course and there’s nothing bad about having a teammate come over for some movies.”
“Are you for real?! At this ungodly hour? You should have invited the whole team over.”
“Viv… this is my house and I can invite whoever I want, please just sit and make yourself comfortable.” Dylan said.
She frowned, then put the snacks down on the counter and unwrapped the balloon string from her wrist and tied it to the back of a chair. She said nothing… But the look she gave me before she sat down, it was like she wanted to tear me apart.
I watched her sit at the far end of the couch, pulling her knees up, and making herself comfortable just like Dylan told her to. Oh! God! I wanted to bite her neck and dry her blood in one go. The thought made my fangs itch that it started cracking my jaw from inside. I was almost standing to get her but then, she shot a furious glare at me and I pressed my back teeth together and sat quietly.
When Dylan got back, she pulled him towards the couch and made him sit close to her.
“Let’s watch a movie, Dylan. I heard about the movie ‘Micheal’. It's a biopic about Micheal Jackson, it would be fun if we watch it together.” She slipped into baby talk to get her way.
“Okay, sure,” Dylan said and put the movie on.
The three of us sat there with the television filling the silence that we just left, and I kept my eyes on the screen and my hands loose in my lap… but I couldn’t help stealing glances at him.
Each time I looked at him, Dylan didn’t look back, not for once. Vivian wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned on his shoulder. He responded to anything that Vivian said, laughed at something she pointed out on screen and showed him on her phone. I felt like a third wheel and I needed to give them space if that’s what they wanted.
I got up and went to the balcony. I lit a cigarette and stood at the railing and let the night air wash away my pain. Through the glass door I could see them, the angle giving me a partial view of the television and their silhouettes. She had her legs across his lap at some point and Dylan didn’t do anything about it.
I puffed smoke into the air and felt the anger in my chest getting worse.
After an hour, I went back inside as I couldn’t take it anymore.
“It’s getting late, I think it’s time to call it a day” I said.
Vivian looked up at me with an expression that was almost pleasant. “Are you being serious?”
“Yes I am. We have practice tomorrow and we need to get some sleep.”
She smiled. “I’ve slept over here more times than I can count. Haven’t I, Dylan? If you want us to go to bed, that’s fine. Let’s go.”
“Are you seriously going to sleep over here? I get that Dylan is your childhood friend but you guys are no longer kids.” My voice came out stripped of any decency.
“Liam, please.” Dylan said.
Vivian stood up slowly, the smile on her face faded and she rearranged her face into who she really is and not the pretentious version of her.
“Excuse me?”
“Dylan has a life now and he needs to focus, you should get one yourself and stop clinging to him.” I said.
“And who gave you the right to talk to me in that manner?!” She asked with a raised voice.
“I’m his captain by the way, Liam Novak.”
“Enough the both of you!” Dylan yelled.
She grabbed her bag from the counter and walked to the door with the dignity of someone who has decided to pick up what’s left of her pride. She opened the door and left.
Dylan stood up and was already walking towards the door.
“Viv, wait…” He was at the door before I grabbed his wrist.
“Let her go.” I said.
He stopped with his other hand on the door handle and turned around and the look on his face was enough to tell me that he was going to warn me for the last time.
“Liam, let go of my hand,” he said quietly.
“She’s very manipulative, can’t you see that?”
“Liam…” he said.
I looked at him and then stepped aside.
He opened the door and went out and it clicked shut behind him. I looked at the red balloon drifting gently against the back of the chair, how can it be swinging while I’m pissed. My claws extended and I burst each and everyone of them.
I sat down and waited for Dylan to come back.
The television eventually turned itself off on a timer and the room went dark except for the light coming in from the street below. I checked my phone twice and put it back down.
Eventually I slept off on the couch while waiting for a sound at the door that never came.
I woke up early to the grey light and an empty apartment, that’s when I realized that Dylan hadn’t come back.
I sat up and checked my phone but I didn’t get a missed call or message from him. I called his number and it rang out to voicemail. I tried once more and got the same result. I sent a message, and asked him where he is and why he hasn’t come back. I watched it deliver without being read.
I stood up and as I was about to reach for my jacket, my phone buzzed in my hand.
It was an unknown number.
I looked at the screen.
‘You better stay off Dylan, or else, you will pay with your life’.