Page 60 of Between Love & Ruin

She reassured me that she would stay back and handle everything, considering even Reyansh is going to be in New York for the project, and that was calming enough for me. For a moment, I thought I was going to blow this up for both me and her.

“Yes,” I tell her with a reassuring smile. “I have to.”

She helps me drag my stuff outside where my cab is waiting for me. Mark said he will meet me directly at the airport, and I know he feels like he won something considering how he thinks with his ego. But what he doesn’t know is that I won’t let him stay happy for long.

Not when I broke the heart of the one person who cares about me selflessly.

I know Mark likes to blame me for the way our relationship has deteriorated. I know he even likes to think that Dominic came between us and somehow managed to “brainwash” me into believing that he and I were having problems. But what he won’t accept because of his stupid, small male ego is that the only reason Dominic could even make space for himself in my life was because Mark failed to do so.

He failed to become the man I needed, despite my countless requests for him to change his ways, until I eventually gave up.

Our relationship was long dead back in Chicago. I was just trying to keep it moving somehow, afraid of what people might say and what I might do. But coming here to New York fixed every insecurity in me. It made me realize that I didn’t need anyone to feel good about myself. I just needed my own self.

“I’m sorry I am bailing on our NYC itinerary,” I tell her with a small smile. I know she had such big hopes that we would finally get to spend some time together, but I got busy with work, and when I finally had some time on my hands, the devil showed up. “I promise I will come back soon.”

She shakes her head, coming up to hug me. I melt in her embrace. While I never had too many real friends, or friends, as a matter-of-fact, I always had my cousins. Though Summer can be reserved at times, she has always been there for me with open arms. And Laura has never made me feel alone, even when she was struggling on her own.

I never openly said it, but I am way more grateful for these girls than I would ever be able to show.

“Don’t worry,” she mumbles, stepping away from me. “Just come back, and this time with no baggage.”

I smile. I will do exactly that.

She stands there waving me goodbye till I lose sight of her, and I sigh. My heart races so fast that I think it will collapse. My stomach feels hollow, and I have this sudden emptiness that feels like something is about to go wrong.

Like the world is going to end soon.

To distract myself, I open my phone, and the top message makes me smile.

Dominic: Have a safe flight, cara mia. Text me when you reach home safely.

Dominic: Text me whenever you want to. Just stay in touch with me.

My eyes nearly water when I read them. I can’t even express in words how downright pathetic and helpless this entire situation makes me feel.

I always used to hope for the kind of person Dominic is. I used to write in hopes that maybe one day I would find this kind of love. This kind of person who would care for me in a way no one ever has. Who would want me for me and not for anything else. The kind of person whose world would revolve around me. Not in a suffocating kind of way. In a way that comes naturally to lovers.

I had long ago given up the hope of that. For the longest time I hoped that Mark would become that kind of love for me, the kind that keeps you alive. But he didn’t believe in such a thing.

And then came Dominic Wolfe. In his crisp suits and sarcastic remarks. I didn’t even realize when I started craving his presence. When his annoying tactics became endearing to me.

I pay the driver once I reach the airport. Mark said that he would wait for me outside.

But the moment I see his face, my eyebrows furrow in confusion.

Why does he look so mad?

The moment I reach him, he shoves his phone in front of my face, and I nearly steer back.

“Are you cheating on me?”

Sienna Hayes

“What?” I ask, reeling back as his sharp words hit me.

The most annoying part of Mark is that he throws accusations at me left, right, and center without any reason and without giving me context. The people around us give us strange looks, and I don’t think he cares about his “reputation” right now as he yells at his girlfriend in public.

“I got these today.” He shoves his phone in my face, and I glare at him before focusing on the picture.