Episode 31: Confrontation

Episode 31: Confrontation

Christopher was already mentally preparing himself for the cold weather waiting outside. Looking through his office windows, he could see the heavy gray clouds which enshrouded the city. Rain drizzled with light consideration. Personally, he hated every time it did. The combination of lighting and thunder was something that brought back bad memories for him. They were ones that reminded him he could lose anything precious to him within in a flash of a moment's time.

Shaking off the grim thoughts, Christopher went and grabbed his coat.

The writer was done for the day.

Despite his fatigue, the man couldn't suppress the flushed face of a woman that manifested within the haze of his mind.

He looked down at his phone hopelessly, expectantly...pathetically.

There were no new notifications.

Damn it, he thought, uncharacteristically.

Leslie still hadn't called or messaged him.

He wanted to give her some recognition for having a backbone about something like this for the first time since he had known her. That may seem awful at the first glance, but it was clear she wasn't taking herself for granted and for some reason, her knowing her worth made him proud.

It wasn't a secret that he knew someone like him didn't deserve someone as utterly perfect as she was.

Because in his eyes, she was.

Leslie Quinn was the most beautiful encumberment in his life.

She was the one thing he never anticipated that continued to floor him, and for so many reason, he couldn't complain about it.

However, the fact that she had kept up her disappearance act simply meant that her disappointment with him was just as tangible.

It ate Christopher up on the inside to know that she carried any sort of negative feelings like that for him. He was always used to her cheeky smiles, physical touch and intelligent mouth. Without those, his world no longer had the strength to stay on its axis. He knew he had to act fast before he lost her for good.

But how...? He considered in exasperation.

It wouldn't be the first time a woman complained about his lack of communication. Moreover, about how his nonchalance to arguments which made him out to be a total asshole.

It wasn't that he meant to be one—it's just that during cases like these his words didn't come out as coherently as they would in his mind...nor on paper. It was like he was the world's fastest car but there was no gas in it; simply making him a useless machine of a man.

"Just appear in front of her and show her you still care, dimwit." He mumbled to himself a million times but his body always found something else to do.

His mind went along with it and buried himself in work.

He was successful because it was now overtime for work and he was still here in the building.

Back to an insipid mundane life without her, he thought miserably.

Just as he turned his office lights off, made it out the door, he stumbled into somebody.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see—"

"Christopher."

His apology was cut short by the smooth, feminine voice which he had been used to in the past.

He looked up to see Marley standing before him.

Why her of all people? He bristled in annoyance.

The hand he had on her arm to hold her steady was ripped away like it could have branded him.

She looked at the act, her lips downturning in disapproval.

"What are you doing here?" He asked curtly, intensely meeting her fragile gaze.

"Is that how you greet someone?" She joked, "If I didn't know you any better, I'd be offended."

"It'd be good to assume that you do then," he flippantly suggested.

She ignored the meaning behind it.

Pushing a strand of hair behind her ear, she intentionally noted, "First at the bookstore and now here. At this point you can't blame me for thinking you may have a grudge against me, Chris."

He cringed at the horrid nickname.

That was something he wished he could physically burn and never see again—or worse, hear from her deceitful lips.

He became more defensive and for some reason that made her eyes twinkle.

"Don't call me that. You of all people know how much I hate the shortening of my name. When we were on good terms I might have tolerated you saying it, however, in case you forgot—that's not the case anymore." He reminded her deadly calm.

She didn't flinch one bit but smiled at him softly.

He hated the sight of it for many reasons.

Not the same way he used to in the past, but still in a way that a man was allowed to when faced with someone who had betrayed him.

"I see you still remember that we had something. I'm surprised you do with the way you completely ignored my existence the other day because of another woman. What was her name again? Lily?"

"It's Leslie."

Her smile wobbled at the strength in his correction.

It was clear he was annoyed by the butchering of her name.

She must be someone close to him indeed.

Marley hated the thought of that.

She took a step closer to him and instinctively, he stepped back.

Now there was no doubt about it.

Her mouth became a thin line.

"Is she special to you?"

Christopher looked at her, not letting his true feelings show as the words hung in the air.

He felt it was really audacious of her to be asking something like this when she was in no place to.

"I don't think that has anything to do with you. In fact, I'm wondering why you're even here in the first place. Does your husband know that you're out for a late night stroll?"

She ignored his sarcasm saying, "He has plenty of those himself. He doesn't have the liberty to care about my own."

He didn't miss the insinuation in her words. Neglect. The man that she had tossed everything that they had away for was now taking her for granted, or worse...he was wrapped up in the ties of his own infidelity.

Karma sure was a god.

"That end bit really isn't any of my business. Quite frankly, I think it's inappropriate for you to even share that information with a stranger like me."

"That's what we are now? Strangers?" She arched her eyebrows.

"You chose that the moment you went and fucked him behind my back. Did you forget?"

She flinched this time, knowing that Christopher used crass words in only two situations:

In his writings or when he was completely pissed off.

And sadly for her, it was the latter.

Marley felt like she was waking up a dormant volcano while standing in front of him. She knew there was the risk of having hot lava spewed all over her, but she couldn't ignore the burn in her chest anymore. It hasn't been able to die down, not since the day she saw him with someone else. The woman didn't know why but in her head she just never prepared herself for the day Christopher would move on. In her twisted mind, he was hers—always has been and always will be.

It didn't matter that she was married.

It didn't matter that they were no longer physically together.

She had something that nobody else did for years.

She had his heart.

And that was something that wasn't easily won over.

But now it seems that things have changed for the worse.

His eyes no longer carried the emptiness it did in the past.

He no longer folded at the sight of the flashy ring on her finger.

It was the total opposite—when she had seen him a couple days ago, he was fucking glowing.

He looked the happiest she had ever seen him in all these years. He looked like how she had remembered him when they had first started dating and she had successfully torn down his walls.

Just how close had him and Leslie gotten for him to look like that now? What had she done to light up that attractive halo aura which surrounded him? That sparkle in his eyes when he looked in her direction? The slightest upturn of his lips when she played with her hair or became fidgety in his presence?

It felt like Marley wouldn't be able to breathe normally again until she found out.

So here she stood in front of him in the middle of the night for him to tell her the answers.

She knew how crazy and entitled this all made her look, but the woman honestly didn't care.

If anyone could understand her intentions, it would be Christopher.

After all, he knew everything there was to know about her.

He knew the fragility of her mind and the unstable state of her ego.

At least for those things, she had been completely transparent about them.

"No, I haven't forgotten," she swallowed slowly at his cold eyes. They were a pair of blue that she had once loved drowning in. But now staring at them for too long felt like a death sentence. Still, she continued to endure them. "How could I forget? I hurt the one person I loved the most in the world."

He chuckled harshly, looking around aimlessly then adjusted the watch on his wrist. His eyes looked at it keenly, taking notes like he had somewhere to be, then he casually said, "You don't care about anyone but yourself, Marley. Don't come here with that sob story you use to paint yourself to be a victim when you know you're the antagonist. We both know it."

"Why are you being like this to me? I just came to talk."

"Being like what? A sound-minded individual? And what could we possibly talk about? We don't have anything to do with each other. We wouldn't be exchanging words right now if it wasn't for your narcissism that has driven you to come and inquire about my life all because I no longer need you to be happy. So go on ahead, ask. Ask about how I'm doing without you. Ask about how Leslie makes me feel. Ask so that it can make you feel more miserable than you are right now knowing that you've really become the past for me. I dare you to ask all that and more."

She opened her mouth but then gave up.

It was clear he was already closed off. His emotional area was by invitation only and right now she was a trespasser he quickly wanted to get rid of.

"I'll ask only one thing then."

He hummed sarcastically. "Knock yourself out." He entertained her.

Christopher knew telling her to leave or walking away from her wouldn't do the trick. She would just brazenly come back another day.

He knew Marley enough to know that if her curiosity for something wasn't quenched she became obsessive over it.

He didn't need that in his life right now and wanted to cut her off as efficiently as possible before she could even start. It was a lucky thing for him that this wasn't his first rodeo. He knew how to get under her skin more than she could ever imagine.

Christopher hated this side of him she brought out; the low and spiteful alter ego, but it was the only thing that could protect him right now.

"Do you...do you love her?"

The way she asked was like a lover that had found out about her partner's illicit affair. He couldn't help but find the balls of her to be comical. It took a lot of insecurity and lack of self love for someone to become like this. In the past, he had thought he could mend her broken heart. Looking at her now in the half-lit hallway, dark red lips to seduce and a gaze of self-induced pity, he knew that he was just as messed up to believe that.

Did he love Leslie?

Christopher thought about it for a second.

He liked everything about her that's for sure.

From her enthralling personality, above average IQ that sucked him in with the engaging conversations they had and her beautiful features, he knew he was whipped.

However, was it to the point of love?

He wasn't quite sure of that as yet.

A part of him was screaming "yes!" but, the logical and fearful part of him was saying "are you freaking crazy? You haven't even known her for that long."

But he knew that with Leslie, all his rationality had gone out the window since the moment he met her. He didn't need the same signs he had in the past to determine whether or not he was falling for someone. He surely didn't feel the insane emotions he did now for Marley this quickly either. Leslie was in a league of her own. She didn't need to be compared because she was an enigma of affection to him. He didn't need it all to be explained nor theorised.

And that was when he realised it.

Suddenly, he felt a big combustion of joy and his heart swelled at the thought of her face.

"Ah, for fuck's sake..." He mumbled.

He couldn't help the words that came out of his mouth.

"Yes, I guess I do." He finally whispered, leaving her standing there, stunned.

Leaving her with another thing she was wrong about — this time his cursing was that of elation; nothing she had once put a tag on. Simply more proof that he was no longer the man she knew.

He was no longer hers.

This time, he really moved on and his heart belonged to someone else.

Christopher's strides transitioned into power walks then slowly progressed into jogs.

Then before he knew it, he was running. Completely breathless and desperate.

He needed to see her.

He had to tell her how he felt.

***

A/N:

Shocking revelation, ain't it, folks?

Christopher has officially waved the white flag to love 💕 and I'm so happy to see it. We're dancing up in this club...

But I wonder if Leslie will have the same feelings about this...🫣

Anyway, don't forget to vote & comment! Thank you for reading, as always. See you in the next chapter! ✌️