Many Miles Apart

32. Alfie

"Are you sure you don't want this?", Eric asked, pointing to the half eaten muffin sat on my plate.
We were in a cafe in central New York, and after two coffees and half of the cake in front of me, I was stuffed.
The room was small, but the interior more than made up for the lack of space. The sofas were a lime green, contrasting with the cream walls. Photos hung from almost every free spot, and the tables were made of glass, each with a little succulent sat on them.
"I'm ok thanks", I said, waving my hand and leaning back into the cushy seat.
Eric picked up the remainder of the cake and ate it in one bite. His cheeks swelled with the mass of sponge in his mouth, and the sight of him, face puffed like a hamster caused a loud chuckle to escape my lips.
"Wat-?", Eric scoffed, crumbs flying everywhere. His hand flew to his lips, and within seconds he was laughing too, his frame shaking as he tried to keep the food in his mouth.
It felt good to feel happy again, I hadn't laughed for days.
The cafe was on a side street, and apparently it was another of 'New York's hidden gems'. It did have amazing coffee.
After spending a few days with Eric, if found out quite a bit about him, and about how he'd lived in this city for most of his life, but after a new job popped up he'd had to move to Florida. He told me about his family, his single mother, older brothers and younger sister. I felt like I knew him so much better, and he wasn't just the guard that followed me around anymore. He was my friend, and I was going to miss him.
"Two days left in the big apple hey Alfie", he said, having finished his mouthful.
I paused. "Yeah." The thought of heading home filled me with fear as well as hope. "But it's going to be fine", I babbled, trying not to steer the conversation back down that lane.
"Yeah", he replied, looking slightly confused. "So what do you wanna do tomorrow? Apart from the meet up on Friday, I managed to get Rebecca to cancel everything else"
After visiting me this morning, Eric had been on the phone for about an hour, attempting to get me out of all of the other events so that I could go home. Even after numerous attempts to tell him that I should be the one to sort everything out, he had insisted that he call Rebecca, as it was the last thing I needed to speak to her. Instead, I was left to book a flight back home from Florida.
"Thank you so much for that", I smiled. Then, after a second, I said, "how did you do that by the way?"
Eric pulled a straight face and tapped the side of his nose. I laughed again at his expression, before finishing the last of my coffee.

It felt weird walking into the hotel room and not instantly pulling my camera out to vlog. It had only been a few days since I'd uploaded to either of my channels, and it felt like a part of me was missing, or should I say yet another part of me was missing. Zoe's absence hurt the most, like a gaping hole in right through my heart.
My mind flickered to the viewers that I was letting down, and I started to question what they knew about all of this. I'd said nothing apart from that one tweet I'd posted as soon as the photo was leaked, and I doubted that anyone else would, would they?
Opening my laptop, I opened my web browser. My fingers hovered over the mouse pad, before clicking on the search bar and typing in 'Twitter'. My hands started to shake as the website opened up, my heart was racing and my chest felt tight. I had to face my fears though. If I couldn't do that then what was the point?
The second the site loaded, my mentions exploded.
'Please don't tell me Zalfies over!!! :'('
'MY OTP IS DEAD IM CRYING HOW COULD YOU'
'I literally can't breathe, no guys, why Alfie?!'
'I can't stop crying I can't believe it'
'He deserved it, cheating little shit'
'NOOOOOO'
'Alfie what have you done!'
'Zoe you don't need that dickhead! go
girl!'
'ALFIE YOU ARE SUCH A BLOODY BASTARD WHY WOULD YOU THROW ZOE AWAY? SO MANY PEOPLE ENVY YOU YOU PIECE OF SHIT'
'I'm so sorry for you guys, but if thats what you want then I understand'
The last one sent silent tears running down my cheeks. The rest I could handle. The messages saying how upset they were, those weren't too bad, it hurt to know it was upsetting others, but they couldn't feel worse than I did. The tweets sending me hate were fine, I deserved it. It was the people telling me that they understood, telling me that it was ok if that's what I wanted that hurt the most. Because it wasn't what I wanted at all, they could never understand how much it hurt me, and it wouldn't ever be ok.
Then I realised that for them to find out that Zoe and I were over, someone had to have told them. They couldn't have made accusations like that without any solid proof. But who would have told?
Zoe.
Her name immediately surfaced in my mind, and any ounce of positivity plummeted to my feet like a rock. Clearly she wasn't all that bothered then, if she would just go and tell the world like that. Obviously I didn't mean that much to her at all.
My heart stopped beating- or at least it felt like it, and everything just seemed to move in slow motion as my trembling hands clicked on one of the links to her profile.
It seemed to take an eternity to load, but the second it did, relief flooded my system, filling every part of me with an odd sort of joy.
The last thing that she'd tweeted had been a link to an Instagram post of the two of us and Nala, standing in the hallway, my bags behind us on the say that I'd left. The caption read 'I'm the luckiest girl in the world to have these two, and I'm going to miss this one so much'
Hurt mixed with confusion scratched at my chest like a knife. If it wasn't her, who would it be.
I opened a second tab, and began to type 'Zoella and PointlessBlog', suggestions popping up the second I typed in the 'Z' of Zoe's name. My heart pounded in my chest, causing my whole body to tremble.
Zoella and Alfie break up
Zalfie ended
Zoe and PointlessBlog
Zoella and PointlessBlog cheating
Deliberately avoiding clicking on any of the suggestions, I finished typing in our names, and clicked on the first website.
Zoella and PointlessBlog finished
The famous couple are officially over, says the Internet.
Sources tell us that the the two big YouTubers have ended their lengthly relationship due to Alfie Deyes (PointlessBlog) two timing whilst away in America.
Rebecca Jones, the other half of Deyes's love life explains all.
"I met Alfie when he first arrived in America, where he was making it obvious that he wanted me. I had no clue who he was, or that he was already with someone, but he made it clear that he was interested in me from the start.", Jones says.
Deyes was in Florida for a business trip, Jones assisting him on the 3 month stay. Once they'd stopped off in New York, it became clear that their relationship was becoming more than strictly work related.
"In New York, we seemed to click even more, and so I posted the photo, thinking it was a 'thing'. All the backlash that came off of it soon told me who he really was, and we were over just like that, and obviously so was his relationship back at home. I just wish I'd known what I was getting into"
Deyes is rumoured to be heading back to the UK next week, and he has a lot of explaining to do, but for now he'd better keep his head down.
My head span. My chest ached. Anger filled every pore of my body, and I was so mad I wanted to scream. Every muscle tensed, and I felt a burning fire rip my heart to pieces leaving nothing but the charred remains.
"Eric", I fumed, having called his number. "I need to speak to Rebecca. And she is going to pay"