It had been over two hours and Tory and Connor were still together in the living room. I wondered what they were discussing. I had not gone down to see them. I didn't want to drag unnecessary attention to my jealous ass self.
I jumped off my skin when finally, a knock came upon my door and I did not even bother to check who was at the door before I immediately rushed to open it. The excitement on my face fell as Tory's smiling face filled my vision.
"Hi, Kenzie. I wanted to check up on you before I leave." She said and I only stared on, unsure of a proper answer for her.
"Can I come in?" She asked, her smile still hanging on her face.
"Okay." I finally answered, leaving the path for her to walk in. I left the door unclosed just in case she provoked me into pushing her out single-handedly.
"Nice room you've got." She commented, looking around the room. "I remember once sleeping in this same room the first time I had visited Connor." She said with a laugh and I kept a blank expression on.
Why was she telling me this? To make me feel upset?
She sighed when she saw my expressionless face. "I think you'll get even prettier if you would smile a little bit more."
"I think you would be truly prettier if you are a little more real about who you are."
She grimaced at my reply and I grinned a little, pleased to cause a crack in her perfectly flawless façade. She smiled again, slipping on her good-girl demeanour.
"We have been together for six years. Connor and I. There is nothing you can do to break that."
"If you are so confident about that, why did you hire me then?"
She maintained her smile. "Because Connor wanted it."
I scoffed. She had no idea he had already told me the true story.
Or that I knew about her and Zed.
"No, Tory. You wanted it because of your toxic insecurities."
She laughed gently again and it contrasted so much with a villain's laugh. No one would ever suspect she was the real villain here. Anyone who saw us now would believe I was the bad guy and she was the little mary sue in our story. Tory was playing the victim cards in this story.
"Enough of the chase, Kenzie. I have the keys to his heart. You cannot steal my man."
"You're right," I answered and it prompted her to raise an inquisitive brow. "I cannot steal your man because I don't steal other people's men. You lost him. And I found him."
She lifted her lips in a sneer. "That is bullshit. I can never lose him. I love him."
"And yet, you wanted another woman to live with your boyfriend, sleep with him and have a child for him. You have such a shallow understanding of love, Tory."
Her face darkened to a shade I had never seen in her before and I wished there is a secret camera hidden in my room that could capture her real colours for the whole world to see the monster she was beneath that false angelic camouflage. Tory took two steps toward me until we were very close and almost touching. She smiled a mischievous knowing smile. Even Jessica wasn't close.
'You think he loves you, don't you?" She said, her tone pitying me. "He doesn't, honey. Don't hurt yourself. Jessie thought the same but the only thing he wanted was to fuck her and leave her broken for...me. Did he fuck you too?"
I swallowed as she talked, feeling the urge to pull her by the hair and fling her out of the room.
"He's a good fuck boy, you know. And you are not the first, Kenzie. He will fuck you, steal your love, leave you broken and come back home to me." She giggled, enjoying the misery she was inflicting on me. "He always comes back home to me because honey, this pussy tastes better than all the hoes out there. Including yours."
"Get out." I gritted my teeth and whispered, trying my best to get a hold of my anger and not shove a fist into her face.
"Do you know where he was last night?"
I frowned.
"He came to me, honey. And we had a really good time together."
My guts tightened and I clenched my trembling fists in a ball.
"You are lying."
"Of course, you know I'm not. He did step out last night back at the hotel. Didn't he? Did you know where he went or who he was with?"
I could feel my gaze turn blurry with tears as I took in every of her word. Connor had walked out of me after our quarrel and didn't come back till I was asleep. Did he go to Tory that same night?
"Let me give you a little assignment, Kenzie. Ask him about it. If he takes the time to answer your question, then he is about to tell a lie. If he gets mad at your question and curses, then he is mad at you and is right."
Is that how much she knows him?
She laughed again and took a step back, locking a wild gaze with me. "I can't warn you to not fall for him because I am sure you already have. Besides, he is all that. So, it's not your fault. But I am going to warn you to stop daydreaming shit, Kenzie. Save your heart and run away while you still can. Run far far away cos in the end, it is always me and him. Together forever."
She walked past me, brushing my shoulder a little as she did, her heels resounding against the hard floors
My vision burned with rage. I would not let her go. I would not let her win me this way. There had to be a comeback. There had to be a...
I turned back to say something, anything to her, but she was already gone and I was left alone. Broken. And shattered.
I felt my legs weaken and I let my weight rest on the bed. Connor had gone to Tory that night. Did she come here just to mess with my head?
I stared out of the opened door she had come in with.
That witch was beginning to mess with my head. I was beginning to get weak and vulnerable and I could no longer control it. It killed me that I could not control anything anymore. My feelings for Connor, Jojo, Zed and now Tory. Was I beginning to lose myself or was I beginning to find myself?
My phone rang and I was thankful for the distraction. I reach for it and inspected the caller id.
It was Miranda.
It was so funny how she always knew the right time to call me. It is as if we had some kind of bond that I couldn't even understand. A kind of bond that lets her know the right time to be there for me. A kind of bond that made me break my walls and accept a total stranger into my life. It was both scary and interesting.
"Hello, Ari." Her voice came and I took in a deep exhale to calm my nerves before replying to her.
"Hi."
"Are you okay? You sound quite unwell."
I sucked in another sharp breath and shut my eyes for a brief moment. "Yes. I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
I tried hard to hold back the trepidation that hung on my throat but I could not as a tear came down my cheeks of its own free will and I tried to sniff back tears.
"Ari...what's wrong?" She asked again, concern thick in her tone.
"Can I come over to your place?" I knew I sound crazy. It is almost nine at night and here I was, asking to be let into a stranger's home.
But then again, if this was the best I could do to get out of Tory and Connor's presence, then so be it.
"You want to come over to my place? Now?" She repeatedly question, sounding as surprised as I expected. I snap the ridiculous thought out of my head, realizing just how stupid I sounded. Asking to be let into a total stranger's home by the late hour of the night. It sounded creepy and unnatural and I was sure she thought the same too.
"Don't worry about it..."
"Send me your address. I'll come to pick you up myself." She said, ignoring my change of heart.
"Okay," I answered and when she ended the call, I quickly typed the address and hit send to her message box. She replied a minute later saying she would be here in less than twenty minutes.
I sighed at the thought of an excruciating wait of twenty minutes but I summoned all the patience I had in me and held my phone in my clutches, trying to stop my thoughts from going out of control. But I couldn't. My thought kept diving between Tory and Connor.
Did anything happen between them that night? The mischief in Tory's dancing eyes was enough to tell me there was s more to the story. Something had happened between them that night? Did they have sex? Did he surge and thrust into her with as much passion as with me? Did he kiss the insides of her tights and worship her body as he did with me every time we had sex? Did she moan his name as I did?
I shook my head, trying to get rid of the excruciating vision in my mind.
It was a lie. She was lying. Tory was lying. Everything she said about her and Connor was a big fat lie...
I laid on my back and counted the ceiling in a bid to distract myself from my thoughts. The door creaked open and Connor stepped inside, a playful grin on his face. I looked at him as he advanced closer to me with those genuine smiles and those playful eyes.
Was Tory right about what she said about him? Was he only going to use me and run back to her? Was any of these ever a lie? Did he sing to every other girl as he sang to me? Did he get mad when they kissed someone else? Was Tory right when she made me believe I did not own a special spot in his life?
"Hey, grumpy." He sat on the bed beside me and I did not spare him a glance. "Have you been waiting for long?"
"I wasn't waiting for anyone." I still did not look at him.
"That is a lie. You and I know that." He continued to smile, oblivious of what his longtime sweetheart had said to me.
My phone rang and I picked up the receiver immediately. It was Miranda.
"Hey, Ari."
"Hi." I sat up on the bed.
"I'm at the front of your house." She said and I nodded my head as if she could see me.
"Alright. Give me a minute." I replied and ended the call.
"Who are you meeting up with?" He asked curiously as I picked up my purse from the top of the dresser. I did not reply to him at first until he called my name again. "Kenz."
I sighed and looked at him finally. His handsome face now had worry written all over them and wondered if this was fake too.
"Can I ask you a question?"
He gave me a go-ahead look.
"Where did you go after you left the hotel last night?"
His brows knitted together and he frowned deeply. "What?"
He was stalking for time. My heart beat in pain.
"You heard me right." I maintained, never breaking my gaze on his. He scanned my eyes.
"Why are you asking me that now?"
He was still stalking for time.
"Just wanted to know."
He tightened his jaw and broke our gaze, his eyes lowered to the ground. "I only stepped out, Kenz. It was nothing."
If he takes the time to answer your question, then he is about to tell a lie. If he gets mad at your question and curses, then he is mad at you and is right.
He was lying. My heart snapped and bleed inwards. Tory was saying the truth. He was with her last night. It hurt to see that he was ready to turn back to her in time of his distress. I meant nothing to him.
"I will see you when I get back, Connor." I picked my phone from the bed and walked out of the room and down the stairs to the living room but Connor caught up with me immediately. He grabbed me by the wrist, stopping me from moving any further.
"Where are you going to?' His question was firm and demanding. "Tell me, did Tory say anything to you when she stopped by your room?"
I forced a grin. "She thinks you are only going to have sex with me and run back to her. I am not the first, Connor." I tried to walk again but he stopped me, not letting go of my wrist. There was disbelief and surprise on his face.
"Tory said that?"
I scoffed and did not reply to him.
"And you fucking believed her? Are you fucking crazy, Kenz?"
If he takes the time to answer your question, then he is about to tell a lie. If he gets mad at your question and curses, then he is mad at you and is right."
He didn't do it. My heart sank in relief. He did not sleep with Tory.
"I don't know what to believe anymore." I released my hand from his grip and walked away from the house.
He did not follow me this time and my heart bled.
