Page 112 of Puck with Karma
He yelled some pretty vile things at her, but I’m sure it was all out of jealousy. He thought Mallory kissed Xander back. Their lips barely touched, but it was all Xander’s doing, that much was obvious.
“And you need to know that…”
“Abby,” Mallory stops me. “Regardless of that, we really need a bit of time apart. We just didn’t think things through when we jumped into this relationship.”
Their situation is too similar to mine. It hurts my heart, because I don’t want my relationship with Xander to end like theirs seems to be ending.
“I really wish I got to know you better.” The words can hardly pass my lips and my voice sounds shaky. “I’m really sorry.”
Mallory almost starts laughing. “Oh my god, please stop with the apologies,” she teases and jumps to give me a hug that doesn’t last long.
In a flurry of activity, she grabs her luggage and hauls it to the door. Before I can process anything, she is saying her goodbyes and she is gone, leaving me alone in my brother’s apartment.
Unsure of what to do, I walk until the backs of my legs feel a decorative chair that’s been placed strategically in the foyer of the apartment. I drop in it and wait, hoping that at least Bran will be home soon.
I’m not sure how long I spend just staring at the closed door, wishing I could’ve fixed this for him and Mallory. My cell phone dings with constant notifications, but I don’t want to look at the screen. It is all too overwhelming.
A soft knock at the door startles me to death. I press a hand to my chest and don’t move, scared to even breathe. When a second knock comes, I smile, hoping it is Mallory coming back. She’s changed her mind about leaving Bran.
“Oh my god,” I whimper in distress when I open the door and see my brother’s bruised up face standing in the entrance.
“I couldn’t find my key,” he shrugs, sounding funny.
“Hey, Bran’s sister,” Van Boyd lifts his chin at me, eyeing me up and down. “Whatcha been doing, girl? Cried yourself to death in here?”
That’s followed by a woman pushing him from behind so she could get in.
“Hi, Abby. I’m Chloe. I’m engaged to this goofball.” She tries to give me a hug, but her very pregnant belly gets in the way, and it all turns into a very awkward side sort of shuffle.
“Are you okay?” I follow my brother to the living room where he drops on the large couch.
“Eh,” he shrugs. “Fucker took out my two front teeth again.” He smiles to show me the gap in his mouth. I have to slap a hand over my lips so I wouldn’t laugh, while I also want to cry. “But I broke his damn nose,” he continues like he just had a normal day at the office. “So now we’re even,” he declares proudly.
“Yeah, you are,” Van agrees. “Plastic surgery to fix his pretty nose has got to be more expensive than you getting your teeth back. Am I right?” They fist bump like it’s some great achievement. “Although,” Van continues, “now that I think of it, you’ve had quite a few sets of teeth getting busted. I don’t know, dude,” he shakes his head at Bran. “Maybe just don’t wear anything for a while. Get some teeth after you retire. Mallory doesn’t seem to mind,” he shrugs.
At hearing his girlfriend’s name, Bran looks around. It is obvious that he is expecting to see her.
“She left.”
I try not to sound as pitiful as I feel, but I can’t control my voice. My hands feel shaky and clammy. The way Bran stares at me when I tell him that Mallory is not here is reminding me once again that none of this would’ve happened had I not come to see him. I’m sure he regrets it as well.
“Where did she go?” he asks in a too calm of a voice.
“Back home to Minnesota.”
The surprise is obvious in his eyes, but he doesn’t say anything. I expected him to be angry, but he just looks incredibly sad. I can’t even look at him right now.
“I’ll be right back.”
I rush off to the kitchen where I start opening and closing cabinets, looking for nothing in particular. How can one person mess things up in such an epic way?
Me not being honest with Xander started a chain of events that I now cannot take back. I will never understand why I didn’t tell him that Bran was my brother. On the other hand, I never expected Xander to think that my involvement with Bran was romantic in nature.
“Hey, Abby, can I have a couple of ibuprofens, please?”
Bran’s voice startles me. I’ve never been this jumpy in my life. I pause for a second, then start moving again, looking for what he just asked me. When I find the bottle of pills, I almost drop it a couple of times when trying to open the child-proof cap.
I take a deep breath in and stop what I’m doing, needing to bring my heart rate back under control. I can hear Bran, Van and his fiancée, Chloe, talking from the living room, but it takes me a few moments to realize that they’re talking about me.
