NEW BEGINNINGS

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

She woke up to her phone ringing. The most unexpected call she had received in her life. Dylan. Should she pick it up? Her mind questioned. Well, it was three in the morning and he was supposed to be asleep. He wouldn't call except he was in trouble so she picked up the phone and tried not to sound sleepy

"Hello?"
"My love, where are you? I need you beside me"
"Dylan? Are you okay?"
"No! I'm not okay. I miss you, I don't want to leave without you anymore. My baby, please come take me away"
"You should not call your ex when you're drunk"
"I'm not drunk. I'm only tipsy my love, please come"

She scoffed and hung up. She shook her head in annoyance. Did he really mean all that he just said or he was under the influence? She sure hoped he meant it because deep down, a part of her wanted it to be true. She sizes off again. Her alarm rang by 6. She grudgingly got up and prepared for work. She was ready by 7 and by 9, she was at the office. She hasn't heard from her brother and she hoped that he was okay now

***

He woke up from the worst hangover ever. His head was banging and the room was spinning. He opened his eyes and looked at the time. Almost 10. He sighed. He reached for the pain killers on his side table and threw in two pills instead of one. He grabbed a bottle of water and drank half of it. He dropped back on his bed. Perks of being your own boss was the fact that he could skip work the way he wanted. It was past two when he felt a light tap on his shoulder. He woke up

"Plan on getting out of bed?"

He looked down and saw his best friend

"I would"
"You still have a military base to design for the federal government. How long do you plan on postponing this project?"
"I would get to it by tomorrow. I promise"
"There are a lot of things you should get into. You were drunk last night. Guess who you called!"
"Keisha?"

He said picking up his phone. Keisha was one ex that wasn't letting him go. She was obsessed with him. She was more than obsessed

"Not Keisha you idiot. You called Wanda!"

He went through his call logs and saw her name. He had saved it as "My Love" and he never changed it because he didn't see a need to. He had called her eight times. She picked it once and then she didn't pick it again

"What did I say?"
"All kinds of stuff. You should call her to apologize"

Damn! How could he be that stupid? Why should he be that stupid? He tossed his phone on the bed. What the hell was he going to do now? Should he call her back or not? He couldn't decide

***

Work went on fine. Apparently, her boss had suddenly canceled the Dylan write-up. She was glad. It was six and she was ready to leave. She texted her sister and told her that she would be late. Her brother called her and offered to take her out for dinner so they could talk. She agreed and he sent her the address of a restaurant so she could meet up with him. She smiled at the offer. Throughout the whole day, she had been looking at her phone from time to time, expecting it to ring but it didn't. Dylan didn't call back to apologize or explain. He was going to do what he did best, ignore and override. If she, by any chance saw him at her brother's wedding, she was going to slap him right across the face. She thought as she headed down to her car

"Wanda!"

She heard her name and looked back

"Hey Beth, what's good?"
"Everything except you and Brie"
"Don't talk to me about her. I don't want to talk about her"
"I know, she told me. I just want to apologize on her behalf. She was angry and she said all those stuff. We both know she did not mean any of it"
"Beth, I am tired of everybody giving excuses for her. She is a grown-ass adult who is getting married. If she argues with my brother, is she going to throw all his failures and regrets in his face? She wasn't drunk or high when she said any of it. She was in her perfect senses when she did and if I choose not to forgive her Beth, then that is exactly what she deserves. Nobody is going to talk me into forgiving get because I don't plan on forgiving her!"
"I think you should call the hell down. You're raising your voice at me for nothing"

She took a deep breath

"I'm sorry Beth, I didn't mean to, I'm just upset"
"You have every right to be Wanda. She doesn't deserve the friendship you have with her but she is going to be your sister-in-law very soon. Are you going to hold this against her?"
"I definitely would. I'd see you tomorrow. I've got a dinner date"
"Oh wow, with who?"

Beth said, curiously. That was the thing about Beth. She didn't care if they had just yelled at each other. She was always going to be there for her no matter what happened. She could be sure if that hit she couldn't say the same for Brie. Maybe the friendship wasn't even worth it

"Someone"
"Someone like?"
"My brother," Wanda said, laughing
"Girl, you need to get a real man"

Beth said. She was expecting somebody else

"I would, very soon"

Those words stopped Beth right in her tracks

"Hey, who is this new human being, and what happened to the 'I have all I need girl?' What the hell have you done with my best friend?"

Wanda laughed so hard. She couldn't believe that Beth just said that to her