The Retribution Chronicles

A d e | t w e n t y - f i v e

Ade called Hilary Monday evening. In true Hilary fashion, she answered so quickly the phone barely rang. "You're back," she said, slightly breathless.

"Yeah." Ade would've laughed, but recently he couldn't bring himself to even smile. "When do you want to do this?"

"Are you free tomorrow morning?" she asked.

"Sure."

"Okay, well then let's meet around ten at Grind."

"Yeah, sure whatever works for you."

Hilary sighed, the sound rushing down the line. "You'll get over this," she said. "I promise."

"Thanks. Look, I should probably go. Daniel ordered food."

This was in fact a lie. Daniel wasn't even in the flat, instead he'd headed to Abi's the moment he'd unpacked, leaving Ade with nothing more than a pitying stare that made him wonder if Miriam had told anyone. Or, more specifically Abi. For if she had told Abi, there was no doubt in Ade's mind that Abi would tell Daniel. Thankfully, Daniel wasn't the type to spread gossip, thus containing the hypothetical but no less embarrassing reality. Still, Daniel or no Daniel, Ade didn't feel like discussing things with the only other person to cause such irreparable damage. Maybe more, for with Hilary it was real in a way he never managed with Miriam.

Throwing his phone onto the other sofa, Ade turned on his side and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. Flicking through Netflix, he settled on a mind-numbing comedy, pressing play just as the intercom rang. With a sigh, he heaved off the sofa and shuffled to the front door. Daniel may not have ordered food, but he certainly had, so he pressed the button to open the door without checking who it was. He should've checked.

When he opened the door, he was met with a sheepish looking Wes rather than his burger. He had half a mind to slam the door shut, but Wes held out a hand. "Please," he said, "just hear me out."

Rolling his eyes, Ade quirked a brow and leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed.

Wes cleared his throat. "Right, so I, uh, just wanted to apologise."

"For?"

"Well, what you walked in on. I know we haven't been friends for a long time, but it was a pretty shitty thing and I, uh, well wanted to apologise."

"You've said that already," Ade scowled.

"Yeah." Wes itched the back of his neck. "Look, I didn't mean for it to happen."

"What? Like you didn't mean for it to happen with Hilary?"

Wes' brows furrowed. Ade felt an intense need to throw something, at Wes specifically, right in the face. Something with a bit of weight. Something that would cause semi-permanent damage. Then it dawned on him that the brows, the silence, all meant one thing. One infuriating thing.

"Don't tell me you forgot," Ade sneered.

"I—"

"Just quit the nice guy act," he said. "You, Wes, are as much an arsehole as I am a dick. You fucked my girlfriend, man, and now Miriam—"

"I didn't sleep with Miriam," Wes interrupted.

"Bullshit," Ade hissed.

"I'm serious. I have no problem owning the shit I've done. I did sleep with your girlfriend." He said it so flippantly that Ade went from wanting to throw something to wanting to throw him. If only he weren't so damn tall. "But," he said in a far more solemn tone, "I didn't have sex with Miriam."

"It doesn't matter what you two did," Ade decided. "You still stole what was mine."

Wes rolled his eyes. "Miriam's not some prize to be won. She's a person. A person who chose me." Ade's mouth opened, but Wes raised a hand. "I don't say that to hurt you," he insisted, "but it's the truth of the situation. Now I didn't come here to rub salt in the wound, but I do want you to know that I am sorry for how things went down with both Mer and Hilary."