Page 35 of Forever After Never

"Uncle Seesaw! Come play with me!" Poppy smacks Sawyer on the thigh repeatedly.

"Hang on, sweetie. I'll be with you in a minute."

"Now, now!"

I glance back at Sawyer before leaving the room and see him reading something on his phone. His entire mood shifts and his eyes turn black. I don’t even need to see his screen to know what the problem is. The problem is Nicole.

Poppy drags his attention back to her.

"Awww, come on Seesaw. I wanna play hide and seek.”

"Okay, Poppy. Let's go. Uncle Seesaw is gonna find you!" He gets up, tosses his phone into the chair, and chases Poppy across the house.

Chapter 28

Sawyer

Isit bolt upright in the chair, paying no attention to the girls as they leave the house. The tension rushes straight to my shoulders. This cannot be happening again. No matter where I go or how many times I change my number, Nicole keeps coming back—like a disease that there is no cure for.

Unknown: Sawyer, we need to talk.

Me: Who is this?

Unknown: You may have been a lot of things, Sawyer, but stupid was never one of them. You know that it’s Nicole. Don’t play dumb.

Me: That’s interesting, given that this is the fourth time in ten years that I’ve changed my number, yet you somehow keep getting it, don’t you?

Unknown: We need to talk. I know that you’re at the family house this weekend. I am coming to see you this afternoon. It is time we have a conversation face-to-face.

Me: I really wouldn’t do that if I were you, Nicole.

Unknown: Oh? Why is that? Is your new bit of fluff with you at Mommy and Daddy’s house, playing happy families?

Unknown: Don’t ignore me, Sawyer.

Unknown: I’ll be there at three, whether you like it or not.

This fucking woman. She will not leave me alone. What the hell does she want this time?

That dull sense of panic sets in immediately. She has got to be screwing with me. There is no way that Nicole would show up at my family home with the full knowledge that everyone hates her. Even Lottie cannot stand her, and they’ve never actually met. Lottie and Oliver met four years after I split with Nicole, yet everyone, including Lottie, is painfully aware of what the split did to me.

I need to tell Autumn. If this doesn’t make her leave on the next train home, I don’t know what else will. I’m finally realizingthat I am ready to let someone in again. Hell, I already let did let someone in. My siren consumes every waking thought.

Now, when I think of Nicole, I no longer feel any sadness; I just feel pity. It's pity that she cannot let this go after ten years and that she is so desperate for contact with me that she would go through any means to get it.

The irony is not lost on me, that only in the last few months have I felt ready to let go of my past. I’ve held on to hurt for too long, and I was so desperate for contact with someone that I went through any means to get it.

But that someone is no longer Nicole. It hadn’t been Nicole since the night I threw her out of my house. The only thing I wanted from Nicole was to be left alone.

The person I’m so desperate for contact with is Autumn. I feel a strange sense of longing that she is not here by my side. I thought that Nicole was the love of my life. How wrong I was. The feelings that I had for Nicole pale in comparison to what I feel for Autumn. She has become a part of my soul.

Me: I thought you should know that Nicole contacted me today. She tells me that she is coming to the house today. I don’t know what for. I’ve told her not to come, but she tells me that she is coming whether I like it or not. I’m sorry that I’ve brought you out here to meet my family for this to happen.

Autumn: What time?

Me: She says that she’ll be here at three pm. If you want to stay out with Mom and Lottie, to avoid this ugly interaction then I think you should.

Autumn: I wouldn’t miss it for the word.

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