The Lonely Hearts Club

Chapter 5: The Collision (Bree)

I believe in true love.

I believe in soulmates, I really do.

But I don't think I'm deserving of that kind of love.

Some people are destined to be alone, and I fall into that category.

I mean, how am I expected to find love when I spend my days trapped inside, too afraid to leave my apartment?

It may sound depressing, but I can't even remember the last time I was happy.

The best I feel is relief.

Sometimes I even feel artificial happiness through fictional worlds on a page, but not proper joy.

I crave the kind of happiness where your world feels like it's exploding with light and laughter, and you never want it to end.

Normally when I finish a story, I feel accomplished.

I don't today, in fact, I feel quite sad and numb inside.

I guess there are only so many happy romance stories you can read before it dawns on you that you will never experience that kind of love.

If someone was to write a story about me, what would they even write about?

I'm convinced it would be the most boring book in the world.

Anyway.

I find my preprepared envelope for this week's rent.

They say things work in mysterious ways and I agree.

Both of my parents died in a car crash leaving all their inheritance to me.

You add that with the cheap rent and I can live here for the next twenty years without ever needing to work.

Going to work would open up too many opportunities for Rowan to catch me off guard, so I'm eternally grateful I don't have to deal with that.

On the other hand, I wonder if he would have left me alone if my parents were still alive.

I saw something somewhere that said bad people are more likely to prey on those who are emotionally vulnerable.

Isn't that just wonderful? The people already struggling get targeted even further by lowlife creeps.

Paying rent is the worst part of my week, I don't mind Lotta (my landlord) but it's all the stairs and dark hallways I need to creep down that unsettles me.

To add insult to injury, the lights aren't working properly today.

When I reach halfway down the last flight of stairs before the foyer, my heart jumps out of my throat.

A man is walking up, holding a basket.

A man with neck tattoos and an eyebrow scar.

It's that Hades guy.

The one who was loitering outside my place, the one who I suspect is working for Rowan.

He looks surprised when he sees me.

I freeze, he's much bigger than I expected, but I could probably run faster than him.

I try to move but my feet implant themselves into the ground.

"What are you doing here again?" I finally shriek after a few seconds of shock.

"Bree?" He sounds even more surprised than he looks, and he doesn't stop looking at me with a strange expression on his face.

You know what? I'm done.

No more.

"Okay, get it over with." I shrug.