Chapter 7 Chapter Seven - Gabriella
Our lunch is filled with good food and a good gab until it’s time for us to part ways. We split the bill and say our goodbyes and I begin the short walk back to my loft. As I walk down the street, I feel this strange tingle all over my body, that feels surprisingly pleasant. It reminds me of that time I went to Vegas and everywhere I went I could feel the electricity in the air. I couldn’t get my hair to lay flat for a week!
The feeling is very similar, only more enjoyable. I’m aware of significantly fewer powerlines around me this time, so I know it can’t be that. I suddenly start to have this overwhelming feeling that someone is watching me. I briefly glance behind me but don’t note anyone following me or anyone looking suspicious. I continue to walk but pull my phone out of my purse ready to dial just to be on the safe side. As I reach my loft that feeling gets stronger and stronger and I can swear I feel someone standing behind me. I rapidly turn around, only to find myself looking around in confusion at no one there, not even a passerby.
Feeling unsettled, and unsure if my brain is just all weird from this morning’s events or if maybe someone really was following me, I let myself into my loft being sure to close and lock the doors behind me. The entire building has a two-door entrance, the first door needs a code, second needs a key. I start to feel more relaxed as I make my way up to the fifth floor, only to have that relaxation disappear when I see who is standing outside my front door.
“What the fuck do you want?” I say in irritation, folding my arms over my chest as I stare down my now ex-boyfriend.
“Two years together and that’s how you greet me?” he says with a tick in his jaw.
“Two years together didn’t stop you from cheating on me, so why should I give you a warm greeting?” I ask incredulously. I walk over and shove him out of the way as I put the key in my door and open it. As I attempt to close the door, he sticks his foot in the doorway to stop me from closing it. I look up at him with a bored expression, “If you think that will stop me from slamming the door on your foot, then I’d be delighted to prove you wrong,” I say bluntly.
“You’re just going to throw away two years over something that didn’t mean anything? You’d cut the only man you ever loved out of your life over something so petty?” he says in disgust.
“You know what Mitchell, if you were any smarter you’d qualify as a moron,” I say, keeping my composure.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” he spits, slamming his palm against the door.
I raise my eyebrow in challenge. Yes, give me a reason to call the cops. The only man I ever loved? How in love with yourself can you be? I can’t believe he’s acting like I’M the immature one. Did he forget everything he said to me? Did he forget the part where I caught him in my home, in my bed with his shrivelled dick in another woman?! What the fuck did I ever see in this guy?!
I look him over wrinkling my nose in revulsion as I take in his appearance with new eyes. Mitchell is 5’9” with skin so white it’s like the printer ran out of ink. It’s like his flesh is begging for sunlight. He has mousey brown hair with that early 2000s emo style to it, compared to the slicked-back hair he used to sport. He used to be physically fit, not muscular, but lean. But a year of playing video games and scarfing down pizza and beer has done him no favours. He’s got a tiny gut now, which doesn’t bother me. He has lost some weight in recent months, which I can assume was to impress Julie. I used to love this guy, I really did, but now the very thought of him repulses me. I see him for what he is: a lazy, self-obsessed, unmotivated cheating douchebag who just used me as a meal ticket.
For a brief moment, the mystery man from the club flits into my mind, and while he was sexy as all hell and puts Mitchell in the shade, that’s not what I remember most. It was the way he held me and touched me. He even called me Starlight with so much reverence. My brief interaction with a stranger in a club had more passion and tenderness than Mitchell ever showed me in the two years we were together and realising that stings. It stings because I realise I wasted two years on this guy. Two years I can’t get back.
“There’s your shit,” I say, looking down at the box of his stuff out in the hall by the door, “Take it and go move in with your whore where you two will be very happy together, and if you ever shadow my doorstep again, I will call the cops.” I kick his foot out of the doorway and slam it shut, sliding the deadbolt across as Mitchell resumes pounding his fists on my door.
“You’re going to fucking regret this! I was the best thing you ever fucking had, Gabbie!” he continues to scream. I fucking hate it when people call me Gabbie.
I make my way to the couch, flopping down and turning on the TV. I turn up the volume to drown out the sounds of a manchild throwing a temper tantrum and settle onto the couch, feeling lighter with the knowledge that this asshole is no longer my problem.
However, if he keeps coming around here trying to break down my door, he just might become a whole new problem.