Surprise surprise

Surprise surprise
I pressed the doorbell once. The sound echoed through the apartment, sharp and intrusive, and then I waited calmly. My hand slipped instinctively into my jacket pocket, my fingers curling and uncurling as seconds ticked by. Aiden was standing right behind me, close enough that the warmth of him seeped into my back, grounding me.

The door creaked open slowly, and Marcus stood there, blinking like he was staring at a ghost. For a split second, his face went completely blank. Then his eyes widened, his mouth falling open as if his brain had short-circuited.

“Jamie?” he breathed out, disbelief dripping from every word. “Is this really you?”

I watched as his pupils dilated, watched his gaze rake over my face like he was confirming I wasn’t a hallucination.

“Wow,” he added, letting out a breathless laugh. “I thought you had disappeared from the surface of the earth.”

He stepped forward instinctively, his arms already opening to hug me. And that’s when I moved. I stepped aside deliberately, slowly, revealing the person who had been standing behind me the entire time.

“Aiden?” He asked, as his eyes widened in horror. 

Aiden lifted his chin slightly, his lips curving into that infuriating, confident smirk Marcus hated so much.

“Hi, Marcus,” Aiden said smoothly. “It’s been a while.”

Marcus’s hands froze mid-air. His eyes darted between us—me, then Aiden, then back to me again like his mind was desperately trying to process what was unfolding right in front of him. His jaw tightened, his nostrils flaring slightly. It was almost amusing.

“Ain’t you going to invite us in?” I asked calmly, tilting my head.

Marcus flinched, then forced a smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

“Yeah—yeah, sorry. Of course,” he said quickly, stepping aside. “Come in.”

I reached back and laced my fingers through Aiden’s without thinking. He squeezed gently, reassuringly, and together we walked into Marcus’s apartment.

The place smelled of cigarettes, alcohol, something medicinal underneath it all. We settled onto the couch opposite him, and I immediately noticed the mess on the table in front of us. Cigarette burns scarred the wood, an almost-empty bottle of whiskey lay on its side, then pills white, blue, yellow were scattered carelessly across the surface like candy.

Marcus noticed where my eyes had gone.

“Oh—uh—sorry,” he said hurriedly, scrambling forward. “Let me just—”

He scooped everything up in a rush, dumping it into his hands and hurrying toward the kitchen like he’d been caught doing something illegal.

“So,” he called out awkwardly, “what can I offer you?”

“Water’s fine,” I replied evenly.

“Yeah—okay,” he muttered.

He returned moments later with two glasses of water, setting them down carefully in front of us before sinking into the armchair opposite the couch.

“I just wasn’t expecting to see you both here,” he said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

Aiden leaned forward slightly, his brows knitting together in exaggerated concern. “You don’t look so good, Marcus,” Aiden said softly. “Are you okay? You look sick.”

I bit back a smile. I knew exactly what he was doing.

Marcus scoffed lightly, leaning back and stretching his arm along the back of the couch like he was unbothered. “I’m fine, Aiden. You don’t need to worry about me.”

His eyes flicked to me again.

“So,” he continued, “to what do I owe this special visit? I’m sure whatever brought you here must be really important. Although I must admit, seeing the both of you here like this…” He laughed under his breath. “It feels surreal.”

“Surreal?” I repeated.

I leaned forward slightly, resting my elbows on my knees.

“No, Marcus,” I said calmly. “It doesn’t feel surreal to us. But I can understand why it feels that way to you.”

He frowned.

“You’ve spent years doing everything in your power to make sure we didn’t work out,” I continued, my voice steady. “Making sure we were always fighting, always dealing with one issue or another, making sure that no matter how hard we tried to conquer things together, something would always come up to tear us apart.”

Aiden smiled at me, pride flickering in his eyes.

“Maybe that’s why it feels surreal,” I finished. “Because despite everything you did, we’re still standing strong.”

Marcus let out a sharp laugh.

“So what?” he snapped. “Are you here to brag? To rub it in my face that you’re back together?”

He laughed again, louder this time. “Oh, Jamie,” he sneered. “You’ve always been so naïve.”

My blood boiled.

“I don’t care about you or Aiden or whatever it is you two are doing,” he went on, gesturing dismissively. “All I ever wanted was to take back what was mine, and the only way I could do that was to make sure Aiden was out of the way.”

He leaned forward, his eyes shining with twisted pride.

“So yeah, I had to find a way to bring him down and I did. I got back everything I lost. So I really couldn’t care less about you or him or whatever it is you both decide to do with your lives.”

Aiden chuckled softly. “You’ve always been obsessed with me, Marcus,” he said calmly.

Marcus stiffened.

“You claimed I stole everything from you, you claimed I destroyed your life. But that’s not the truth, that has never been the truth and you know it.”

Aiden leaned forward now, his voice firm.

“And now you claim you’ve gotten everything I took from you back?” He smirked. “Well that’s not true either because you can never be me. You can never be the golden boy that captured the hearts of many. You can never be the most wanted man in the whole of Hollywood. At best, you’re just a replacement and that’s only if you qualify to be one.”

He reached for his glass and took a slow sip.

Marcus scoffed, glaring at him, then turned back to me.

“You look so pitiful, Marcus,” I said quietly.

He froze.

“I mean take a look at yourself. You’re slowly slipping away, you’re back to your drugs, the same drugs that made you lose everything which you still blame Aiden for taking everything away from you.”I gestured vaguely toward the table.

“You need help, real help and not just therapy. You need to go to rehab. Do you know why I feel so sorry for you? It’s because you wasted your life trying to destroy someone who did nothing to you, when you could’ve really used that time to save yourself instead.”

His jaw clenched.

“We’re not here to gloat, or to rub it in your face,” I said. “But the truth still stands, and that is—you lost. You lost in trying to tear us apart, you lost control of your own life, you even lost trying to keep your career.”

His eyes burned, as if he wanted to tear me apart.

“You’re just a sorry loser. You’re always going to be bitter, because you always blame people for your screwups. And you’ll never be brave enough to admit you’re wrong and ask for help when you need it.”

Then I smiled.

“Remember that interview where you said you wished us well, and you wanted us to be happy?”

His lips twitched.

“Well,” I said softly, “We’re finally happy. And funny enough? That’s thanks to you.”

“In as much as you thought you were destroying us or you thought you were trying to get rid of what we had, on the contrary, you were actually helping us by bringing us closer together. And you showed us that together as a team, we could handle any problem that comes our way. So thank you Marcus.”  Aiden said and nodded at me. 

Marcus burst into laughter loud, manic, and unhinged.

“Wow,” he sneered. “Look at you, Aiden. Who would have thought that a day would come when you would actually have the balls to defend what you claim you love, who would have thought that Aiden, the mummy’s boy, who always does as he’s told, would actually be sitting in front of me talking about fighting for what is right. I’m so shocked right now. But I don’t need you preaching to me Aiden.”

“I have everything,” he shouted. “I have your fans, your career, your money, everything—you name it. And what do you have? Absolutely nothing. Face it man, you’ve been replaced. Nobody knows you anymore, so before you talk to me about this nonsense, maybe it’s time you realized that we are not on the same level anymore.” He snapped, his eyes glaring. 

Aiden chuckled as leaned back, unfazed. “You’re right Marcus. You’re absolutely right. Yes I may have lost everything. Yes I may not be rich and famous like I used to. Yes I may not be who I once was, but at least I am happy.” He said simply. 

“I’m content. I’m finally living my life the way I want. I’m with the one person who matters more than everything you just mentioned, the one person who truly matters to me, the one person who completes me, but I can’t say the same for you. You’ll always be lonely, you’ll never find true happiness. Why? Because no one wants to be with a liar, a manipulator, a crazy maniac and a snake like you. Even the few people in your life are just there because of your new found fame and the moment that is gone, they will disappear. So before you talk to me about not being on the same level as I am, I suggest you take a good look at yourself first because it’s pretty obvious you’re not, and you’ll never be.” Aiden shot back to my surprise. 

I clapped softly. “Wow, babe. That was impressive.” I said, as I leaned in and kissed him deeply. 

Marcus’s fists clenched as he watched me. 

“Aiden has said it all, Marcus. I don’t have anything else to say,” I said calmly. “And yes, actually we are here to gloat and to rub it in your face”

“You failed. No matter what you do to us, you’ll never succeed,” I concluded. “And as for me, you can never have me. Because even though you’re the last man on earth, I can never be with someone as obnoxious, despicable and selfish as you are.” 

I held out my hand and Aiden took it, standing up. “Thank you for having us and have a good life.” I concluded then we walked out. 

In the elevator, Aiden laughed breathlessly. “Oh my gosh. I can’t believe I really just said all that to him?”

I laughed. “Me neither. I was just surprised. For a second I just had to ask, who are you and what have you done to my man?” We both laughed. “Honestly, I’m really happy we got this out of the way. It’s just like kicking something off your bucket list. 

We got outside and I hailed a cab. “Anyways, I’m starving. How about we go get something to eat, and instead of going to her place, we invite her too. I can’t imagine how she will react when she sees us.” Aiden suggested, and I nodded in agreement. 

I dialed her number and she picked on the first ring. “Jamie? O my god! It is you! Where have you been all this while?” She squealed, as I pulled the phone from my ear and put it on the loudspeaker. “You literally disappeared on me. No calls, no messages. Nothing. I’m so mad at you right now.” She said dramatically. 

I chuckled, as I listened to her. “I’m really sorry, Leona. You know how crazy it was back then, my head was all over the place so I needed to calm down, that’s why I went away. I’m sorry.” I pleaded.

She scoffed, as if she was considering it. “Okay let me make it up to you instead. How about dinner with me? I’ll text you the address and then you can meet me there.”

“Alright, fine. Dinner it is then.” She said, sounding happy just as Aiden chuckled. “And you better be ready to explain yourself when I see you. I’ll be waiting.” She concluded excitedly and hung up. 

Aiden laughed as he rested his head on my shoulder. “I guess you better get ready to give her a proper explanation, Mr Cross." Aiden teased. 

I kissed his forehead and smiled. “Oh yes I am. Although she’s in for a surprise.