The chains of the past that bond us

Chapter 2: Cole

Why...? Why was he here? Why now? My friend's fiancé? Is he fucking serious? My eyes filled with confusion, I was lost in so many thoughts and emotions that I couldn't get a grip on the situation at hand. Suddenly, I'm pulled back to earth when Chloe speaks again.

"Do you guys know each other?" She asks as I quickly look away.

What am I supposed to say? Oh yeah, I know your fiancé he's actually the man I used to love who betrayed me and fucked up my entire life. Fat chance I can tell her that. I might as well kill myself right now because what the actual fuck.

"I know of her company; my advisors have been trying to convince me to invest in her business," He says with a smile.

There he goes with his lies again. That smile too...what about this entire situation makes him happy? In the past, I used to think he was a terrible liar, but now this is just a perfect example of how I never really knew him at all. He's just a shadow of the former man that I used to know. A snake. I'll never forgive him for what he did. I need to get out of this situation and quickly before something else happens.

"I see, you must be Cole, Chloe's fiancé, that she speaks so highly of. I appreciate the offer, truly, but I wouldn't want to take advantage of Chloe's fiancé." I said in a deceitful tone, covering my hatred for him under a fake smile.

He suddenly extends his hand to me, smiling.

"Well, I'd still like the opportunity, and I look forward to speaking with you more in the future." As I reluctantly shake his hand, I'm transported back to the days when we held hands like teenagers wherever we went.

"Alessandria? Are you all right? You're looking kind of pale." Chloe asks as she walks toward me. I realized that I was still holding his hand, and quickly snatched it away from him.

"Yeah, I just need to go to the bathroom. Can you tell me where it is?" I asked desperately trying to find a way out of here and away from him.

"Baby, can you show her where it is?" Chloe asks Cole as she turned to him.

"Of course." He said as he leads me upstairs to the restroom, the tension between us palpable.

My hands were getting sweaty from the nervousness that I was feeling. How long has it been since we walked side by side like this? We used to walk together once a day and just enjoy the outside together. But now those days are over and all we could do was walk in silence. The type of silence where even with the party downstairs, you could hear a mouse if it were nearby. We walked in cold dead silence until he suddenly asked me an unexpected question that stopped me in my tracks.

"So, you disappeared that night, and now you're ignoring me," He says, blocking the bathroom door.

My rage came to a boiling point with that one statement. He betrays me and yet he has the balls to try and pin this on me. No way. I may not want to talk to him, but I'm certainly not going down that way.

"Excuse me, I have to pee," I glared at him as I clenched my fists, trying to contain my words that I so desperately wanted to unleash on him.

"Oh, really? I doubt that. I'm pretty sure the only reason you came up here was to avoid me." He smirks, teasing me. Even now, two years later, he can still read me like a book.

"Wow, you're so conceited. Have you ever realized that maybe not everything is about you? Fine, you're right. I don't have to use the bathroom anymore." I turn away from him, but he pulls me into the bathroom, pinning me against the door.

"So, you're telling me that after all this time, you feel nothing?" He said in a desperate tone as he wraps his arms around my waist, brushing my hair behind my ear.