Chapter 2 -

“How long has this been going on?” she pointed to the space between both Alex, and the man on her bed who couldn’t meet her eyes.

“For a couple of months now,” Alex revealed, his eyes on Jordan, and that stupid smile plastered on his face. “We just couldn’t find the right time to tell you.”

That last sentence sent all the wires in her head clacking into a frenzy, like a typewriter gone haywire. She practically screamed at them, the emotion in her voice raw and uncontrollable. “So you decided to tell me about your lies, on our one year anniversary? Is that it, Alex?”

“Nia, this wasn’t how we wanted to tell you…we didn’t want to hurt you” Alex was saying, tumbling over his words, but she knew nothing he had to say would calm the fury growing in her bones. So she did the only reasonable thing she could, against her first thought of snapping their necks—take a deep breath, then speak in a more relaxed tone.

“It’s over, Alex. Now, get out. Both of you. And don’t ever show yourself to me again.”

Nia was trying to hold herself together but lashed out at them again when the two men still remained in the same position, neither of them moving.

“What are you waiting for?” She yelled, making Jordan visibly flinch like she was the big bad wolf. While the actual cause of her pain just stared at her, as if she hadn’t said a word.

“Look Nia, I never intended for things to end like this. Please try and understand…”

“Understand?” She cut him off, her rage simmering just beneath the surface. “You hurt me Alex, and there’s no form of understanding that will fix that,” she stated matter of factly, barely containing all the emotions barreling within her.

“Do me a favor and just leave me be.”

Alex gave her a long look, the type that would have her melting before his outrageous betrayal. He sighed defeatedly and motioned to Jordan, both of them walking out of the bedroom and out of her life. Only when she heard the click of the front door shut, did Nia cry. She fell slowly to the ground beneath her, all she had been keeping in check, coming to the surface as tears of anguish flowed down her face. Just a while ago, she was thinking of Alex popping the question and her finally saying yes to forever with him. Not knowing he was cheating on her, leading her on to a nonexistent happily ever after.

A wretched scream from the deepest part of her soul filled the room as she sat in a mess on her bedroom floor, the same bedroom she had been sharing with him for almost a year. Now, she had to remember Alex more than she knew him, because of this damn space that had memories of him etched in every corner. But it was not fair. Why must she suffer the heartache while he moved on to a new relationship? It didn’t make any sense.

She rose from the floor and headed to Isa’s apartment two doors down from hers. It was only her best friend’s chicken noodle soup that could cure her shattered heart, and maybe some ramblings too. Nia was passing the living room when she heard her phone ring from inside her wallet. This wasn’t the best time to pick a call, but she feared it could be something important, so she went over to the purse, picked the object and pulled out her phone to answer the call.

“Hello?” Her voice came out unfamiliar to her ears, the sound raspy after the intense screams and sobs.

“Nia, Alex Navarro’s girlfriend,” A deep voice said from the other side of the call, startling her. She realized that she had answered without checking the caller ID, and seeing it now revealed only an ominous number on the phone screen staring back at her. The line went silent for a while, before the deep voice spoke again, “I can hear you breathing.” That comment didn’t bode well with her because she knew she wasn’t a heavy breather.

He asked, “Are you Nia Wallace, Alex’s girlfriend?” She didn’t want to say anything to the caller yet, but the sound of being addressed as that douche’s girlfriend made her visibly recoil from disgust.

It was about time she made everyone know they’re through, and funnily enough, it was a stranger that’d hear the news first. “Yes I am Nia” she revealed. “To answer your question, Alex is no longer my boyfriend.”

There, she said it, although once upon a time, Nia had envisioned saying those words as a starter to he’s my fiancé now. But here she was, facing the hard reality of things, single and not nearly a fiancée yet. “Where is Alex Navarro?” The voice came again, pulling her out of her thoughts. “Didn’t you get a word of what I just said? We broke up. I don’t know Alex’s whereabouts and sincerely, I don’t fucking care.” Nothing came from the other side, just an eerie silence that tightened the knots in her muscles.

Nia had thought maybe the man had gotten the memo and decided to let her be. But his voice, much deeper, and much gravelly than earlier, came from the phone in her hand, sending shivers down her spine. “Watch your tone with me, miss,” he said, to which she easily deduced the threat in his clipped voice.

Her instincts screamed at her in warning, yet she still asked anyway. “Who are you?” For starters, wanting to know why this kind of person was looking for Alex and why he was asking her about him when he could easily get the douche. The caller took his precious minutes before speaking again. “I am someone who needs to find Alex. And you’d do well to cooperate.”

What was this? She asked herself in disbelief.

Nia had clearly stated she and Alex were done, but this man seemed more intent to wrap her in whatever was going on between him and her ex boyfriend. Speaking of Alex, she didn’t want anything to do with him, starting from removing every of his belongings from her personal space, and ending this damn phone call. Her grip on the item tightened as she yelled at the person on the other side. “I don’t know where Alex is, and even if I did, I don’t care enough to tell you,” then she ended the call, the line instantly going dead.