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Remy
Ilookatthelong list of missed calls on my phone, sighing heavily to myself because there’s no way I intend to return any of those calls. I don’t want to speak to anyone right now. I can’t. Seeing the shitstorm I’ve created in the media because of my outrage at the Congregate Care unit is unbearable. I’m in the middle of having some terrible things thrown at me, and I hate it.
The worst thing is that Zoe tried to warn me. I can see it now that I’ve calmed down. She was trying to stop me from throwing a fit, and I ignored her. I bypassed everything she said, dismissing it like crazy because I was in a rage, thinking only of Alice and the other kids. Now I can see that I really was an asshole. The way that I behaved was just terrible.
But I can’t fix it because I don’t know how. I’m stuck in the mud, unable to move because I’ve buried myself deep and I can’t wiggle my way free. What a fucking mess. With the press being so intrusive and really trying to dig into parts of my life where I don’t want them, I’m not quite sure how to make them go the hell away. I don’t know how to deal with it.
I’m only well known in this area because I’m a wealthy businessman who has dated some semi famous people and brought attention my way. I can’t even begin to imagine what it must be like for those who are very famous; this must be their life all the time. It would be unbearable.
“Daddy, the movie!” Wyatt calls out as the credits begin to roll. “I wanna watch it again.”
I don’t spend enough time with my son just vegging out like this, doing nothing because my head is almost always in business mode. But the last few days, I’ve been avoiding the office and allowing things to run on their own, so I can be here with him.
I might be avoiding the world, but it’s giving me one benefit. Being with Wyatt. I think he’s having a good time as well. I’m sure he’s missing my mom because he usually spends a lot of time with her, but for now everything is good. Mostly.
The only person I can’t help but notice who hasn’t reached out to me is Zoe. Unsurprisingly so, because of how I behaved with her last. But it hurts nonetheless. I suppose I could be the one to make the first move, but I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to make it right.
This, to me, feels more like a face-to-face conversation, and I don’t want to leave the comfort of my home yet. Mostly because I have the sense that there’s more I need to tell her as well. More I’ve been locking away inside and trying my best to pretend isn’t there.
It’s no longer as fake as it should be between Zoe and me. I don’t know if it ever has been. I mean, we both knew that it’d be hard since there was already a flash of desire between us six years ago, but I didn’t expect it to be impossible. I didn’t think we knew we didn’t stand a chance.
Fuck, she’s been stealing pieces of my heart. I barely even knew that it was happening, but she’s been capturing me with her beauty and her sweetness. She’s been making me fall for her, and now I don’t know what to do. I really don’t want to lose my friendship with Freddie either. We’ve been there for one another through thick and thin, for all our lives.
God damn it, why have I put myself in such a weird position?
I flick the movie back on for Wyatt, because what else are we going to do? If we don’t have something to watch, we’ll go stir crazy in these four walls.
Knock, knock… Knock, knock, knock… Knock, knock…
I dart my eyes towards the door as someone bangs on it. My pulse immediately begins to pound because I panic with the assumption that it’s the press. They’ve tracked me down and now want to harass me some more. There’s no way I’m letting them near Wyatt, but since whoever it is keeps on knocking, I have to go and deal with this shit and bring it to an end now.
“Stay here,” I mutter to my son. “I’ll just be a minute. Wait right where you are, okay?”
Wyatt’s already engrossed in the movie, so I head for the door, bracing myself for an argument. I don’t want to do any more yelling, because I don’t want to bring any more issues to the Congregate Care unit, or to myself, but it isn’t going to be easy to reel myself in.
I really hope that Mary Lou isn’t out there, hating me, wishing I knew how to keep my God damn mouth shut. I haven’t had a chance to speak to her ever since that day, and I am not going to until the heat is off my back so I don’t cause her issues.
“Mom?” I’m stunned as I swing open the door and there she is, narrowing her eyes at me suspiciously. “I told you Wyatt and I aren’t very well at the moment…”
“I don’t believe you.” She pushes past me, inviting herself inside. “I want to know what’s really going on. You’re avoiding me because of all this media stuff, right?”
There’s no point in lying because she already knows, so I nod. “Yeah, I’m just not enjoying the intrusion at the moment, so I’m keeping out of the way.”
“Hmm, right. And Zoe? Where is she? Is she not here with you? I’m surprised. I thought that things were going really well with you. I expected to see her taking care of you.”
Oh God, why the hell would she want Zoe here just to berate her? I’mnotin the mood for Mom to go on and on about my fake fiancée today of all days. “She’s not here. She has her own stuff.”
“Hmm, right. I see.” Mom nods silently, but her disapproval speaks volumes. “She’s acting?”
“Yes.” I don’t know what she’s doing. I know she’s been lucky enough to get an acting job off the back of our press stuff, so hopefully that’s where she is. “She’s got work, so we’re here.”
“You have work as well. But you’re hiding away here, avoiding the world.”
“We’re not doing so good, I already told you that,” I insist, continuing along on the same path. “So Wyatt and I are just taking some time to recover, that’s all. Nothing to stress about.”
“Well, I miss my grandson, so I wanted to come and see him. It’s been too long.”
I can only step back when I spot Wyatt running into his grandmother’s arms. He sits comfortably on her lap while they watch the movie together. I guess I can’t hide away from the real world forever. She was always going to come for me, wasn’t she?
