Page 2 of Darcy
Five new messages. Ugh.
Despite my dramatics, I just don’t have it in me to care about the multitude of excuses he’s listed. They all come down to one simple truth…
I got bored.
Just like every other time, I thought I was in love, but in the end, it turned out I wasn’t. God, Iwantedto be. Tommy was decent. Stable job. No gambling or other addictions. Good family. Wanted kids. The whole picture. I did so much to keep myself in the box he expected: outspoken, but not too much, sexy, but not slutty, interested, but not nagging. It was so tiring, but I thought maybe it would be worth it…
My head falls back, and I let out a long sigh. The car I’m in is mostly empty, so there’s no one to see the small, genuine tear when it finally escapes.
I’m not crying over Tommy. Not really. There are other guys out there, so I’m not sure why I’m upset. Perhaps it’s just self pity.
Scraping the evidence away with one hand, I dig into my bag for my panda ear headphones with the other. I know Man will be annoyed that I’m letting my guard down, but I’m certain of my anonymity. The music will help drown out my background thoughts and allow me to focus on erasing any lingering security footage of myself from the incident.
It takes almost an hour until I’m satisfied I’ve left no trace of myself behind, and by that time I’m more than ready to hop off the metro and board my plane back to Colorado. Once in the air, nestled in a business class suite that I took the liberty of upgrading myself to, I let the sounds of Hazardous’s latest album take away my ability to feel. The band’s haunting vocals—at times screaming, other times whispering fervently against the mic—take the place of thoughts.
I must’ve fallen asleep, but I wake to the bing of the seatbelt light alerting me that it’s time for landing.
I check my phone again. Ten new messages from Tommy. Block. I don’t even want to know what they say. If he’s changed his mind… Well, he shouldn’t, because he’s right. All I want to do is stuff my face with pizza and ice cream, create a blanket pile, and hide for the next week until I feel like myself again.
I wish that ritual wasn’t as familiar as it sounds, but Tommy is the latest in a string of “the ones” who didn’t work out. My never-ending streak of breakups is honestly more upsetting than the end of the relationship itself.
We’ve been over for a month, maybe longer. No use pretending otherwise, and I have no interest in the whole “let’s stay friends” lie. I don’t need to be reminded of my failure to settle down on a regular basis.
Most of the other Belladonnas have paired up—or really, grouped up, given that they’ve all started their own harems—and I can’t even keep a relationship going with one guy.
A new notification pops up, jerking me out of my maudlin thoughts, and a small smile quirks the corners of my lips.
[HzD]D0dgeVip3r
getting our asses kicked, where tf are u?
Dodger’s message is an instant dose of dopamine straight to the brain. My thumbs move of their own accord, tapping out my reply.
D4rk4ngel
Omw home from business trip. Be back on in a few hours.
Chucking my phone back into my bag, I make my way through baggage claim and out of the airport. My driver, Pierce, is already there, waiting for me by the open door of the armoured Bentley, and I slide into the back seat with a sigh. His baby-blue eyes meet mine in the rear-view mirror, and he offers me a gentle smile.
“Did you enjoy your time in Chicago, miss?”
I beam at him. “Yes, thank you.”
He nods, face fixed into a pleasant mask. “Back to the house, miss? Or will we be stopping somewhere first?”
“Home, please,” I answer, turning back to my phone.
[HzD]D0dgeVip3r
Proph3t rage quit. We need our healer.
D4rk4ngel
Is he going to beg this time?
Radio silence follows the message, and I snort. My clan has been regretting making me pick a healer class for three years. When too much blatant monetisation convinced the five of us to switch from playing Clans of Carnage to Runes of Chaos, they decided the fresh start was an opportunity for the group’s only girl to play a more “suitable” character.
I’ve been making them pay for their misogyny ever since.
