Savior

Nine: Wes

Two days. Two whole fucking days with barely a word. She swore she wasn't mad at me, but something was different. Something was off. I was a nervous wreck. I knew she'd talked to Jazz. Jazz was talking to me more than she was, and I knew Mia wasn't happy, but I couldn't tell if she was angry or sad. Her one-word responses didn't give away much, and she kept making up excused to not hang out. Yeah, I was starting to lose my mind for sure. Initially I was fine giving her the space it seemed she needed, but after about fifty-some hours, my patience was gone, so I did the only thing I thought to do.

"How long you gonna avoid me?" I propped myself against the doorframe of her office.

She looked up from her desk, startled by my appearance. Her eyes were red, like she'd only recently stopped crying, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She wore her glasses, which usually I loved, but it was evident she wore them out of exhaustion today.

She flashed me a quick, sad smile. "I'm not... I'm not avoiding you. I swear."

"Yeah? Going on three days, and I had to ambush you at work. That kinda makes it seem like you are," I stated. I stepped into the office and shut the door. "We just not gonna talk about what's going on or what?"

"I'm sorry, Wes. I've just been..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "It hasn't been a good week, okay? I'm sorry I've sucked this week, but I am literally hanging by a thread right now and... I'm just... failing at everything, okay? It's not just you. I'm sorry."

My face contorted with concern as I watched her hands shake as she wound them together. I stepped to her side of the desk and knelt, turning her chair so that I was in front of her, and she was just slightly taller than me. "What's going on, Mi? Talk to me," I responded, my voice barely more than a hushed whisper. I reached up and tucked the few tendrils of her hair that had fallen from her sloppy bun behind her ear. My hand rested on her cheek, and it wasn't just her hands shaking. "Baby, you're trembling. What the hell is going on?"

She sniffed and shook her head. "The shit with Marcus was fucking draining and he just finally stopped rage texting me ...and... then my sister called and reminded me she's getting married next week and then my mom called to remind me how I'm the disappointment daughter and then I had to try to get a week off for the wedding and I didn't even wanna go. I still don't want to go, but it's not like I really have a choice and... I just... I'm not good with negative emotions and everyone coming at me and I'm kind of losing it a little and I don't know what to do and..."

"Hey," I interrupted, stroking her cheek softly. "Breathe, baby. It's okay."

"I was rambling, wasn't I?" she asked with a watery laugh as she reached up to wipe away the tears that had escaped her eyes.

I stopped her and nodded, brushing my thumbs gently on her cheeks to catch the tears. "Yeah, but it was kinda cute." She bowed her head, and I kissed the tip of her nose. "Why don't you wanna see your family?"

"Because I am not emotionally prepared to listen to my mom repeat how much of a disappointment I am in her not-so-subtle ways."

"Baby, that doesn't even make sense. Who would think YOU'RE a disappointment?"

"They do. My mom and my sister... live life very differently from the way I do," she explained. "All that matters to them is money and power. They don't care about... passion or love or happiness or any of that, and because I do, they consider me less than. When I quit school, they were thrilled to set me up with some rich bachelor and then I just... left again. I don't... want that life, and they don't want mine. Family get togethers are just basically excuses for them to see how bad they can make me feel by the end."