Cursing, I tapped out a message.
Me:
Can you come over? We need to talk.
I hit send and waited, but only one tick showed, telling me the message had been sent, but his phone hadn’t received it.
And that’s how it stayed for the rest of the night.
Ben
When my 5 am alarm rang, I switched it off and resumed staring at the ceiling, much like I’d done for the entire night. I wasn’tjustphysically drained from lack of sleep over the past two nights, but I was mentally exhausted.
Every time I tried to sleep, my brain would conjure up images of Tristan and Mike—I remembered Tristan’s date’s name atsome point during the night—laughing together. Touching each other. Falling asleep in each other’s arms.
I had no clue how I was going to get through the day, but the little glimmer of hopethatTristan would be here soon to start working in the living room kept me going.
Until my phone rang exactly one hour later.
I snatched it off the side, a mixture of relief and rage coursing through me at seeing Tristan’s name flash up on the screen.“Bug.”
“Hey, man.”The rage swirling through me instantly changed to concern at the weariness in Tristan’s voice.“I’m sorry I didn’t call you last night.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah,”he sighed.“No, actually. I…uh, I’m not feeling great. I fell asleep after I brought the girls back from the arcade, and I’ve onlyjustwoken up. My phone died, so your message has onlyjustcome through.”
Monumental relief swamped me. He hadn’t been out with Mike. My eyes squeezed closed in a bid to ease the stabbing at the back of them. The thought of him being with Mike had unsettled me more than I wanted to admit.
“Listen,”Tristan continued.“I’m not gonna be able to work at your place today. I think Ijustneed to rest.”
“Yeah, of course, Bug. Do you need anything?”Selfishly, a pang of disappointment hit me. Ireallywanted to see him.
“No, I’m good thanks,”he paused, and the hesitation spoke volumes.“We do need to talk, though.”
“Yeah,”I replied quietly, my throat burning as the stabbing in my eyes intensified.
Several tense seconds passed where neither of us said a word. A heavy lump of dread settled in my gut, and a thought churned in my head, one I didn’t want to acknowledge.
Tristan is going to end things between us.
“I’m going to head back to bed,”he finally said, breaking the silence.
“Okay, Bug. Get some rest. I hope you feel better.”
He murmured his thanks before hanging up. I didn’t know how much time passed before I dragged my ass out of bed, not knowing what the hell to do about the hurt in my heart.
Ben
Itapped my pen against the notepad on my desk, the computer screen showing rows of words and numbersthathad blurred into one. From the minute I’d arrived at work, I hadn’t been able to think about anything but Tristan.
He’d messaged this morning to say he was still unwell and needed another day to rest. I didn’t think he was lying aboutbeing ill, but there was a part of methatwondered if he was avoiding seeing me so he didn’t have to break the news and tell me we were over.
Around midday, a knock on my door dragged me from my thoughts, and I called for whoever it was to come in. Rob shuffled inside, holding a stack of papers.
“Here are this month’s accounts for you to review and sign off,”he said, placing the papers on my desk.
“Right. Thanks.”He nodded and turned to head out, only to pause when I addressed him.“Actually, before you go. I’ve decided to close the office tomorrow. You and Alice can spend Christmas Eve with your family.”
