Impress Me Not: The Architect

Chapter 4

There used to be a time when he would never be able to do something as simple as walking down a street alone. He would have never been able to be away from his phone because it would always be ringing. Work required him to have his phone on his being at all times, but he never realized how many times it would go off for reasons that weren't for his business.

He was busy with it, of course. It helped ease his mind if not by just a little bit. But there was only so much work to be done at the moment. It was rather slow since he moved. When he was in Miami, business was always hectic, and he was always traveling around the world. He didn't like talking to them at the moment. Every time they would see him, they would ask where she was. Everyone had always asked where she was. He could never get those eyes of sympathy out of his head as he had to tell them repeatedly that their relationship had ended.

He didn't want it to. He wanted to go back to the days when he always had smiles around him of laughing faces and warm looks. He wanted to go back to the times when she would always be hooked on his arm, ready to go to the end of the world with him. She had engraved her name onto his heart. And then she just left.

His phone ringing snapped him out of his thoughts for a moment. He smiled at his phone as a small sliver of hope was reignited in him.

"Jay!" he greeted his old friend. "I'm so glad you called me back."

"Look, Cas," Jay didn't sound as excited as he usually did when he talked to him. Now his voice just seemed curt and frank. "I don't have a lot of time and I shouldn't even be talking to you right now, so you better make this fast."

"What do you mean you shouldn't be talking to me?" Casimir asked. It wasn't like he had hurt Jay in all the drama of the other city. He merely asked him a few questions about her a little bit, and that was it.

"Why would I want to, Cas?" Jay asked. "After all of that shit you did, I don't even want to breath your name, especially not around Amy."

He winced at the name that he spoke. He was really trying to not think about her. He had thought that moving a little bit away would help him fight the urge to try and find her again. He had done a good job. The best that he could do at the moment.

He just wanted his friends back.

"I-I," he stuttered a bit. He never used to stutter. He hadn't since he was in grade school. It wasn't a habit that he enjoyed coming back up. "I just wanted to talk to you again. It's been a while and I..."

"You wanted me to tell you how she is, didn't you?" Jay asked. The chill in his voice was enough to freeze the phone.

He paused for a second, trying to think of what to say. He used to never be at a loss for words. When he was with her, they could practically finish each other's sentences. She felt like a soulmate, the closest one that a person could have outside of the storybooks.

"Yes," he admitted. His voice had shrunk, along with the rest of his form. It was a good thing that these streets were mostly empty. He quite enjoyed the calm of this small city.

"Cas," Jay sighed. "You need help man. Like, seriously. Do yourself a favor and stay wherever you ran off to. You aren't going to like what happens if you try and come back."

The dial tone rang in his ear as he took in those words. Jay used to be his best friend. They had known each other since before him and Amy even started dating. He would have never talked to him like that or hung up on him back then.

She took everything from him when she left. She took all of their friends, the good memories. Everyone reminded him of her. He couldn't get her out of his head. Just one look and he'd think about how she would talk or react about that person if she were here with him.