The Despair of Strangers by Heather Topham Wood

Author:Heather Topham Wood [Topham Wood, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-03-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

Leaving the bathroom, I looked around the ballroom, spotting Derek still talking to Emily’s father. He had a steady gaze on the man, which relieved any worry of him realizing I was leaving. Purposefully, I strode to the foyer of the country club and found a quiet corner. After opening the Uber app on my phone, I blanched at the cost to get a ride home. The ride share would cost me at least two days of tips, but it was worth it. Screw Derek Walsh.

No one noticed as I headed outside, walking down the path to the edge of the country club’s property. The driver showed up quick, arriving in less than ten minutes. I didn’t let out the breath I’d been holding until I was inside the sedan and making my getaway from the gala.

I was always running, but this time I felt right about it. I had to start standing up for myself. Wasn’t that Derek’s very own advice?

Where are you? His text demanded. Almost thirty minutes for him to think of me, to remember he hadn’t come alone. If I wasn’t so angry, I’d cry.

I left. I’m going home. I never asked for any of this.

My phone started to ring, but I refused to answer. I wouldn’t fight for us because he made me feel like we were nothing. He’d told me everything I wanted to hear. Promised what we had was the right thing for both of us. I gave him so many chances to walk away, but he pursued me. He chased me, not letting me set us both free from what would surely be another heartbreak.

I warned him he hadn’t been ready. I’d seen the messages, felt the anguish over his loss. Emily and Derek were the greatest love story of them all and he forced me into the role as an interloper. I pleaded with him to not pursue me if he had any doubts about us, if he had any guilt. I would’ve still been his friend. I could live with that. I had enough of my own pain to heal from, I couldn’t fix him too. He kissed me first, begged me for a chance to prove himself.

Derek kept calling. I saw voicemails, but I couldn’t stomach hearing his voice at the moment. Bile coated my throat as I recalled him saying, my friend Alyssa again and again in my head. He hadn’t labeled me the entire night, not until he was confronted with his past. The worst of it all was the discarded sensation as he dropped my hand as if it had been burning him.

I didn’t undress right away as I stormed up to my apartment. I paced the floors of the kitchen, my pent-up rage not lessening at all since leaving the gala. With my eyes closed, my entire being became sickened over the idea of how much I’d been looking forward to ending the night back at his place.

I thought about texting Jenny. She’d make me feel better.

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