Many Miles Apart

23. Zoe

"So I've looked up on Facebook all of the Rebecca Joneses in Orlando, and I've narrowed it down to five that fit the description that I managed to get off of Alfie earlier. Tall, blonde, and about your age Zoe", Joe said, handing his laptop to me. We were sat on the sofa, trying to find out as much as possible about this girl that Alfie was working with. Joe was getting really into it, and whenever I questioned him as to why he was so eager, he just said that he was being a caring brother. It made me smile a bit.
"How did you get that?", I questioned, confused.
Joe tapped the side of his nose before replying.
"I just asked if there were any hot girls out there, and she came up in conversation pretty fast"
At that remark, I felt my skin heat up and my face flush red. My heartbeat quickened an I felt a jolt of panic through my chest. Quickly, I looked down and took a breath before focusing back on the screen. I wasn't letting a comment like that bother me. Alfie wouldn't betray me, I knew that. I trusted him. I decided to put it down to Joe's detective skills.
"Guys, don't you think this is a bit much", Caspar asked. He was sat on the floor playing with Nala.
"No", we replied in unison, not even looking up from our screens.
He sighed, and went back to petting my puppy. I couldn't help but feel a bit bad, dragging him down here to do nothing, but this was important. This was mine and Alfie's relationship at stake.
"She has to work for the company that Alfie's with. I can't remember what it's called...", I mumbled, scrolling through information about these women.
One was about forty, with greying hair, so I instantly crossed her off of the list. To be honest I don't even know why Joe left her on.
The rest of the women all looked to be in their twenties, and all but one had long blonde hair. I crossed her off and clicked on one of the remaining three's profile.
She seemed to match the physical description, but when I scrolled down, it became apparent that she worked for a leisure centre, so she was quickly abandoned.
The final two girls both seemed the right fit, and seeing as I couldn't remember what the name of the company was, their profiles seemed pretty useless to my search.
"It could be either of these two", I sighed, feeling defeated.
Joe took the laptop from my knees and looked at the screen.
"You've only looked at their Facebook pages, have you checked their Twitter? Instagram?", he said, bringing up another tab on the web browser.
I quickly snatched up the computer back and headed straight for Twitter.
I very quickly found what I was looking for, a tweet posted this morning- the fifth one down- from one of the Rebecca's accounts, announcing her trip to New York.
Scrolling down through the list of posts, I came to stop on one message. The words in the screen sent jolts of pain through my heart, jealousy twisting around my stomach like a rope, tying me in knots, and i felt my vision blur slightly as tears welled up in my eyes.
Got a job with a cute British boy, seems pretty easy to win over, let's just hope his girlfriend doesn't mind :')
I quickly brought up the next tweet, which read:
He seems into me, bring on the wedding bells!
My breathing started to shake, as I scrolled right up to the top, where the latest post sat, it's bold words staring right at me like a predator taunting its prey.
Moments on the plane are always promising, the guy will be mine by tonight :P
Slamming the screen down, I jumped off of the sofa and ran into the toilet, locking the door behind me. I collapsed onto the lid of the seat, my head in my hands. My breaths were getting shorter and shorter, and my chest felt like it was going to explode. All I could hear was the blood pounding in my ears. Every muscle ached, and I felt so hot that I couldn't move. My whole body was shaking with hurt and upset. I felt like I was going to pass out, or vomit, or both.
"Zoe?", the South African called. I didn't reply. I couldn't.
I heard Caspar slump down against the door, before speaking again. "Zoe, come out of there", he said.
I didn't say anything still, but a massive sob escaped my mouth, and I heard him sigh.
"Joe showed me what you found", said Caspar, pausing. "He's in the living room, trying to find the place that Alfie is staying. He wants to give Rebecca a 'piece of his mind'", he spoke, mocking Joe's voice.
That snapped me out of my trance, and through the rage of emotion running through my body, I tried to compose myself before speaking.
"Tell him he can't", I gasped, still unable to breathe or see through the blinding tears. The pain worsened, and I felt like I was going to die right there.
"Why Zoe? Come out and explain, please, I'm worried about you", he called.
"Please Caspar, tell him to stop. Please", I exhaled, my chest heaving as if I'd run a marathon. Anxiety had turned to pure panic and terror.
"Okay, I'll tell him, but then you have to open the door", he said. I nodded in reply, then realised that he couldn't see me.
"Ok", I whispered, certain that he couldn't here me, but the sound of him getting up echoed against the door.

Minutes passed, but in the frantic mess of pain, it felt like hours. I guess time seems to slow in times like this.
Finally, Caspar came back to the door.
"Zoe, please come out now", was all that he said. As I got up, I suddenly felt extremely faint, and once the door was open, I collapsed into Caspar's arms. He didn't even stop to register what was happening, he just scooped me up and carried the snivelling mess that I had turned into over to the sofa, where he sat down next to Joe and pulled me into a massive hug.
He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. Just him being there for me made me feel so much better. He was honestly like second brother.
"Hey, I'm so sorry", Joe whispered, placing his hand on my arm. I smile at him.
"It's not your fault, it's Alfie's", I said, suddenly feeling a burst of anger.
Joe clearly noticed this in my voice as he quickly replied.
"You don't know that he's done anything wrong", he told me. "For all we know, this could be anyone"
I sat bolt upright on Caspar's lap.
"Who else is a British guy in Florida going to New York for a week with a blonde woman at exactly the same time as Rebecca Jones here", I snapped, the anger consuming me.
"Zoe, I'm just saying that you need to speak to him", he said. "Ring him tonight, and ask him what's going on.
I opened my mouth to protest, but Caspar cut in.
"Zoe, just give him a chance. I know him. You know him. He wouldn't do that. We've all seen how he acts around you. He loves you so so much, more than you could ever know, and he won't give you up. I've seen the way he looks at you. He'd be stupid to throw away all that you have for some girl. To throw you away. And we both know he's not stupid", Caspar said, hugging me again.
And I squeezed him back, crying into his shoulder, my body heaving with pain at his words.
"Fine", I mumbled a while later. "Whatever"