Hardin Scott has been madly in love with Tessa Young since the moment he first laid eyes on her, but there's no way she could ever see him as anything more than a friend. After all, he's a bad boy with a promiscuous past and she's a sweet and innoce...
I arrive at Blind Bob's and literally only have seconds before I see Tessa enter. I don't know how I'm going to do this to her. She is going to be crushed. But I promise myself that I will be there for her, no matter how much I'm going to have to listen to her feelings about Zed.
"Hardin, what's all this about?" Tessa asks as she slides into the booth.
"Okay, well I don't know how to say this, so I'm just going to go ahead and spit it out. I need you to know that what I'm about to tell you is going to hurt, but it's completely true. And I'm going to be here for you, no matter what you need."
"Hardin! You're not spitting it out! And you're scaring me. Would you just tell me what you're talking about already?"
"You see, tonight I told Zed that I wasn't going to be back at the apartment all night, but I decided to go back to pick up some manuscripts. When I walked in, I thought it was you two sitting there..." I trail off.
"What are you talking about? He cancelled on me for work."
"I know. But when I walked into the apartment I found him with... Molly," I say as I look down at the table.
"Molly? What was she doing there?"
I'm so pissed off at Zed I almost blurt out to Tessa that Molly was doing her boyfriend, but I decide to tell her in a more gentle way. "Her and Zed were making out on the couch," I say and study Tessa's face for a response to the revelation.
"You aren't serious," she says with a puzzled look on her face.
"I am. They didn't notice me there, but I most definitely saw what they were doing, what he was doing behind your back."
"How could you say that to me? You probably misunderstood what was going on between them," Tessa says, barely believing her own words.
"How can you misunderstand Molly's tongue down Zed's throat?" I ask, cringing at my own harsh words.
"What?"
"Yeah, Tessa, her tongue was down his throat and his hands were all over her..."
"Stop it!" Tessa interrupts.
"Well, you're not listening to me!" I shout.
"That's because I don't believe you," Tessa says with a hateful glare.
"And why would I lie to you? Why would I want to hurt you?" I ask. I can feel myself getting emotional.
"I... I don't know. But I just don't believe you."
"Tessa! Wake up! He's fucking Molly behind your back!" I shout way too loud. Suddenly I feel a sting against my cheek.
"You asshole!" Tessa yells as her hand collides with my cheek.
"What the fuck, Tess!"
"I can't believe you. I have to get away from you before I do more than slap you," she says with an anger in her voice I've never heard before.
"You can't leave like this," I beg as I grab her arm.
"Let go of me, now!" she says and yanks her arm from my hand.
"Where are you going?" I ask with worry in my voice.
"To see my boyfriend," she says as she stares me down.
"You're in denial, but deep down you know I'm telling you the truth," I plead with her.
"No, I don't know anything about you," she says with disgust thick in her voice.
"Please don't leave like this." I make one last plea, but she walks away anyway.
As I watch her leave through the doors, and possibly my life, I sit there wondering how Zed is fucking Molly, but I ended up sitting here alone, with Tessa hating me and the red mark from her slap on my face.
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