Page 15 of One Love
Devin
Blasting music assaults my earsas I walk up the front stairs to the townhouse. It’s like a scene out of an eighties’ movie when I walk inside and find Brielle dancing around with a broom in her sleep shorts and T-shirt. She turns and catches me staring at her like she’s a zombie monster with two heads. Startled, she jumps and yells for Alexa to turn off the music.
“What are you doing home at one o’clock on a Monday?” she asks.
I tilt my head and toss the same question back at her. “What are you doing home at one o’clock on a Monday when I know you’re supposed to be in the city sitting in class right now?”
She drops the broom as she rushes over to me. “Class was cancelled. Why do you look like you’ve been crying? And why are you home when you should be at work, dammit?”
The tears well in my eyes as I drop my purse on the floor and head to the couch without taking off my coat. “I don’t know how so much can go so wrong in just one morning, Brielle.”
My emotions flow through me like an electrical current as the turmoil inside me escapes through my eyes and I hold my head in my hands. The couch dips next to me, letting me know Brielle has taken a seat beside me. She pulls me into her chest, and I let it all out.
“What happened?” Brielle asks again after giving me some time to get all the tears out. “This isn’t like you, Devin. You’re scaring me.”
Dragging air into my lungs feels like the biggest task in the world at the moment, but I have to figure out a way to tell Brielle that my world is crumbling around me.
Sitting up, I wipe my face and take my coat off. “A picture of Sebastian and me wound up in theEnquireror some other trash magazine. I didn’t even bother to look at the name because I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the image of me getting fucked over Sebastian’s desk.”
“What?” Brielle’s shrill voice sounds like nails on a chalkboard as she jumps from the couch and stares at me, mouth gaping.
The tears threaten to make a return, but I shove them down and nod before recapping everything I know about the situation with Sebastian leading up to the newest revelations today.
“Oh my God,” Brielle says, exasperated as if she’s been riding this crazy roller coaster with me. “This is entirely fucked up, Devin.”
“Tell me about it.”
“What else happened?” she asks before holding up her hand, stopping me from saying anything. “And don’t tell me nothing. I know something else is going on too. Why aren’t you with Sebastian, dealing with this together?”
“He sent me home.”
“Because he wanted you to decompress from all the stress with a few glasses of wine and lunch?”
I shake my head. “He’s mad at me because I hurt his feelings.”
Brielle’s face falls. “Please tell me you didn’t blame him for this, Devin. You know it’s not his fault.”
“I didn’t blame him,” I tell her. “But I told him I wasn’t happy about losing everything I’ve worked for because of an office affair.”
“Jesus.” Brielle cringes. “You sure know how to kick a man when he’s down.”
I narrow my swollen, most likely red eyes at her. “I didn’t mean it like that, but after I said it, I couldn’t take it back. Then I may have made it worse by saying he owns the company and has nothing to lose.”
“Fuck, Devin.”
“I understood how much of an asshole I was as soon as I said it,” I admit. “Sebastian clearly works hard and earned his company, but it’s not like it isn’t true. No one is going to fire him for this.”
Brielle sits back against the couch and crosses her arms over her chest. “No one said they were firing you. And what if you and Sebastian turn out to be the real thing? You clearly love each other. Does anything else really matter if you two stick together and fight together rather than against one another?”
“Of course it does, Brielle. I’ve worked my ass off to get this far. I made promises to myself, and I can’t break them. My career is what gives me purpose. I need it. I can’t go back to nothing. My hard work and dedication have allowed me to live a life I’ve always dreamed of. How can I give up my dream?”
Brielle softens and stares at me like a lost puppy. “You don’t have to give up the dream, sweetie. You alter the dream to allow for someone else to be a part of it. Someone who wants you to achieve your dreams as much as you do. Someone who loves you and who you love back. It doesn’t mean you’ll be eating peanut butter sandwiches and Ramen noodles by candlelight in an empty apartment if you bring someone else into the picture.”
“My life was good before Sebastian,” I remind her. “I was happy. I don’t need a man, and I like my original dream. It’s gotten me to where I am now.”
“You have also been very happy with Sebastian,” Brielle counters. “Some may even say he made you a better version of the great person you already were. Why are you being like this? Is this a fear thing? Do you think, if you can convince yourself that you’d be better off without him, it will make you feel better? It’s not going to erase the damage of whatever this person intends to do. All you’re doing is allowing this person to ruin another part of both yours and Sebastian’s lives.”
“I don’t know what I’m feeling… or doing... or feeling. I feel like I’m spiraling out of control. My anxiety is through the roof. It’s too much. I wasn’t trying to hurt him on purpose. I’ve never loved someone the way I love him, but because of him I’ve also never felt more out of control. Everything I’ve worked for can be erased, Brielle. All people will see is the woman who was caught fucking her boyfriend on his desk at their work. It’s downright humiliating.”
