Desolate Love

Chapter 5: Vanny?

Vaughn POV

I stared at the email they sent back. They wanted me to go over there tomorrow to start the project as soon as possible. They also informed me that they have a room booked, with food provided at the hotel and work so I didn't have to pay for any of my trip while there. It seemed too good to be true, well it was by the fact that it was my home town. It was only a 30 minute drive so I could always drive home if I needed to go back desperately and will just drive there everyday. That made me relax significatly.

I glanced over towards the clock and saw that it was almost midnight. I decided to head to bed with thoughts of the early drive there tomorrow.

***

I was running.

Why was I running?

I turned back and saw exactly why I was running; Nick and his gang were running right behind me and they were very quickly approaching. I turned back to be met with a chest, running straight into them.

"Im so so-" I began but stopped when I saw it was Alec and Tobias standing above me, "Toby Al, Please-"

They just looked down at my with a scowl before walking off, leaving me with Nick.

"Did you really just beg them for help?" Nick laughed in my face, "They hate you. And really 'Al' and 'Toby'? No wonder they scowled, how pathetic."

Why did I beg? And why did I call them Al and Toby? I wasnt close to them anymore. Of course they wouldn't help me, because he was right, they do hate me.

With that a punch flew straight towards my stomach.

Smack-

I sat up quickly. I was back in my room. It was only a dream. That somehow left me with more questions as to why I had dreamt of that, especially them again. I hadn't dreamt of them in just over a year.

Maybe I was scared of meeting them while back at my old town.

Oh shit the commission. I shot up and grabbed my phone, checking the time;
7:58am

Oh shit I'm going to be late - I have to be there by 8:30 and I still have to change!

With that, I ran to go have a quick shower and change clothes.

***

It was 8:12am by the time I had gotten myself into the car. I could technically make it in time if the roads were clear enough and there was a distinct lack of speed cameras.

It had been years since I had gone anywhere near that town so I honestly dont remember anything about how the roads on the way there were, especially since I was still recovering when we had taken the roads down to my new city.

As I drove down the busy roads I felt panic building up in my stomach, setting extreme sirens to ring in my ears. I quickly pulled over at the next stop and pulled out my phone, turning on my comfort songs and listening to 'Fourth of July' played through the speakers.

"And I'm sorry I left, but it was for the best though it never felt right, My little Versailles"

The song never failed to calm me. It made me feel seen in a weird way. It's what I would like to say to Alec and Tobias if I was to ever see them again, yet I would also never want to speak to them again. It was such a weird feeling but it never failed to distract me from whatever I was panicking about before - and now it was the exact matter that the song made me debate. Yet, it still made me feel so calm as I turned onto a small, dirt road.

I quickly turned my car up to 40mph on the straight, clear road when I saw the time was 8:23am and I still still had a 15 minute drive left.

***

It was 8:34 when I arrived at the "Ivyleague Technology" building. I was greeted by one of the managers at the door.

"I'm so sorry for my lateness, the roads in my city were quite busy." I apologised, shaking the mans hand, "I'm Jaden" I greeted, using my fake name as thats all they knew me by.

"Hello, I'm Nick."

I froze. Nick? This wasnt the same Nick, surely not.

The man seemed to notice my internal conflict and continued, "Nick Smith, Chief Operating Officer at Ivyleague. It's nice to meet you."

Okay, it was simply coincidence. This wasn't the Nick I used to know. At that I released all of the tension in my body and smiled widely at him, "It's nice to meet you too."

"Shall we go in?"

"Of course!" I agreed and followed behind him as he led me through the basic structure of the building.

As we rounded a corner I froze as I saw the back of someone with long black hair but didnt get a good look before they turned the corner. Despite them being gone, it felt like the world seemed to shrink around me, closing in on me. No way Alec was here, that couldn't have been Alec.

"Jaden, are you coming?" Nick asked from a few steps from me.

"Oh yeah, sorry about that!" I apologised as he continued with the tour.

***

It was 11:54am when I was finished introducing myself to the CEO and discussing what he wanted. We would start with his portrait first before moving onto the other HRS. Once we had gone through all of the small details he informed me that i could have my lunch break, which was 30 minutes, before coming back and starting the portrait, which I would continue with until the end of the day at 4:30pm.

With that in mind, I took my lunch break till 12:30pm, being led by Nick to the breakroom to get their stock of instant noodles, and ready meals. I ended up taking a Sticky Rib instant noodle packet, and boiling the water in the kettle for my noodles. It didnt take long til that was finished and that's when I found a table to sit at. I went for the one that wasn't being occupied as I didn't know anyone here other than Nick, who wasn't on lunch yet, and I didn't want to intrude on anyones conversations.

I had nearly finished my noodles when I thought I heard mumbling behind me, which I ignored. I tried not to eavesdrop and I didn't was to seem rude. I stood up and was going to through my noodles in the bin when I heard a name I never wanted to hear again;

"Vinny?" A voice asked, "No way that's you."

I froze. No fucking way. I turned around to be met with the face I hoped to never see again.

Alec was stood there, looking at me in shock.