Chapter 16 Ghosts From The Past

Tyler has just left me a note saying that he loves me, but he cannot be with me. Is that supposed to make me feel better? What does that even mean? I do not know how one can say he loves you, but yet he cannot be with you. Is there something he is hiding? Or does he just not feel the same way about me? Regardless of what it is, it still stings; it still hurts. Tyler might think that he is the only one walking with a bruised heart. Well, I do too. It does not mean that if I left Brendan that I do not hurt. I do; he really has no idea what I have been through. I really feel that I need to talk to somebody, so I get dress and make my way back to phone Sandra. With much luck, she will be available today. So it is with eager fingers that I swipe up and final her number. "Hi, Sandra, can we do lunch today?" "Sounds like a great idea; meet you at the diner in an hour." Little under an hour, I drive out of the property. As I leave, I see Tyler come in. I look straight ahead; I do not want to face him. I know that he is doing must do pretty much the same. He cannot face me, not after last night, and right now, I am raging mad. For what seems like the longest drive, I finally make it to the diner where Sandra is already waiting for me. As I walk in, she is very excited to see me again, "Hi Jenna. It is great to see you." She looks at me with a serious frown on her face. What is wrong, honey? You have pain written all over your face." Before I can even say a word, the tears erupt from my eyes, and I mumble under a stuttering breath, "It is Tyler. I told him that I have fallen in love with him." "But honey, that is wonderful news. Why you so sad then?" She softly takes my hand into hers and listens as my words become more strained, "He rejected me." "He did what?" She utters in shock. I hand Sandra the note that Tyler left for me, "He said he couldn't do it." "I have never heard anything so lame ass in my life. That girl sure did a number on him." "Who?" I ask, but it immediately comes to mind about whom she is talking about. "Clara?" "Yes, she broke him. He was never the same after she left. I saw the look in his eyes when he looks at you. He really does love you; you can see it." The reality sets in all over again. It was amazing, and then this happens. I thought that maybe he would have let me in finally, in fact, have just pushed me away even further. And I think he might just have pushed me too far away, for there is only one thing that keeps through my mind. "Sandra, I don't know what to do. Part of me wants to go back to the city. But I don't want to be a failure." "What does your heart say?" "Stay, but I don't want to hurt. Do you think he will ever come around?" "I wish I can say yes. Maybe he needs a friend more now than a girlfriend.' "How do you go from having sex to being friends?" "That's difficult. Friends with benefits?" She chuckles at me, and I almost honestly fall off my chair. "But now, seriously, what must I do?" "Sit down with him. This note thing is bullshit. Decide what both of you are willing to give. You can't take back what you said, but you can work around it and make things better." But I have not even told her the worst part of it all. "I told him I regret meeting him. How do I fix that?" She looks at me, somewhat shock, "Yes, I know, I can not believe I said it either. I think I was just so mad." "Can you cook?" "Yes." "Make him dinner tonight, nothing romantic. Otherwise, just seduce him again." "My god, Sandra. You are worse than me." We both burst out in laughter and try to find a lighter side to this horrible problem that I have created. A long while later, we say our goodbyes, but before I leave, I check my phone for a message from Tyler. Much to my disappointment but very much expected, there is nothing. However, there is a message that pops up from an old friend of mine and Brendan. I open it. "He has found you; he knows where you are, please be careful." Fuck, this was sent three days ago. Do I tell Tyler? I decide against it and make my way back home. When I get back home, I take my shoes off and lay down on the couch, thinking of what I can cook for Tyler. I hear a scuffle at the door; getting up, I am expecting to see Tyler. I am shocked, and terror creeps into my body. "Brendan!" "Did you really think you can run away from me?" "What are you doing here?" There is this wild look in his eyes, a wild look that I have seen before so many times. And a wildness that is going to erupt any minute now. "Coming to take home what is mine." "I am not yours." "Oh yes, you are. Now get your shit; we are going home." "My home is here." He erupts into a burst of uncontrollable laughter, a laughter to mocks and taunts me, "With these hillbillies? Don't be fucking stupid. How long have you been shacking up with the scum up there?" "It is none of your business." "It is my business when you belong to me," he says while the anger is starting to burn white-hot in his eyes. "Don't worry; I will give you a good scrub down when we get home. And then you are going to pay for fucking around on me." "I am not yours, asshole." With that, Brendan steps forward and crashes the flat of his hand into my face. My head snaps to the right, and I can feel as my lip splits open, there is the distinct taste of blood that touches the tip of my tongue. In an absolute fit of rage, he takes one step back and snaps at me, "See what you made me do you." There is a trembling fear that consumes my body. So I reach into my pocket and press dial; I know the last number that I dialed in my phone is Tyler. As I stand and pray that Tyler will answer my call, Brendan pulls me by my arm towards my bedroom, "I said go fetch your shit. And change, you look like a whore." "You are a fucking whore." And I should not have said that; he grabs me by my hair and slams my face into the wall. The impact is so hard; I can almost say that he might have just cut my brow open. The pain hits hard, and it feels like my body shudders. "Let me go, you fucking asshole!" I scream as loud as I possibly can, hoping that Tyler would hear me. "Have you not learned your lesson yet? You only speak when you are spoken to." "You are going to regret ever touching me," I try to sound confident that by now, Tyler has picked up the phone and that he will come help to me. "What is your boy toy going to do?" Brendan asks. "He is not even here." "You know what, Brendan, the best thing I ever did was getting as was away from you as far as possible." He breaks down in godawful laughter that sends a chill to my bone, "You are still mine bitch." "Fuck you." Brendan grabs me by my shirt and punches me in my face. He lifts his hand to punch me again, but someone grabs his hand. "Get your filthy hands off her." He spins around and looks at me in somewhat amusement, "Oh, look, the whore s boy toy. "Call her a whore one more time and see what happens." I watch in absolute shock as Tyler overpowers Brendan. When Tyler looks over at me, he sees what Brendan has done to my face. He does not hesitate; he smashes his fist into Brendan's jaw, you can hear something crack. He pulls back and connects his fist with his cheekbone. The next punch breaks his nose. Tyler retracts once more, and I somehow know that he is not going to stop until Brendan is lying on the floor. "Tyler, please stop; he is not worth it." "Jenna, the fucking asshole hit you." "Ah," Brendan starts to speak once again. "Isn't this sweet? Tyler elbows Brendan in his face, and his nose starts bleeding. Tyler reaches into his back pocket, takes a pair of handcuffs out, and slams them on Brendan s wrist. "Nice going whore, you go around fucking a cop." With that, Tyler hits Brendan with a perfect undercut, and he falls to a sack of shit to the floor.