Loyalty and Lies

Ex-boyfriend

Addison's pov:

„Hey Addison ......long time no see" The man in front of me said as it was the most casual thing to say after five years of separation.

Adam Gray, my ex-boyfriend was here. At my workplace. At four in the morning. Why?

He never visited this place when we where still together, let alone when we broke up.

He hated this bar.

We hadn't spoken for years, not that I cared. If he wanted Mira and me out of his life, could he have that. Over time, I even found myself forgetting him, the vivid memories of him faded, becoming distant echoes in my mind as I focused on the future. The sharp pain of our break up dulled, replaced by acceptance. I didn't forgive him, but I didn't blame him for what he did.

However, now that he was standing right in front of me, everything came flooding back and that not in a good way.

I still haven't moved and even though it had an pleasant temperature in here, I could feel how I got goosebumps.

„What do you want?", it came out harsher than I intended to. I didn't care though.

„Straight to the point, huh? You didn't change", he said a little amused by my straightforwardness.

I was not amused, not in the slightest and that not because he was right. In fact, he was completely wrong. Not only had I changed, I changed a lot too. I was a mother now. As such I had to learn to take responsibility for the well-being of my daughter and me sooner rather than later. I could no longer afford to be the reckless, naive girl I was back then. Yet it seemed like I was not the only one who had changed. One look was enough to see that.

The youthful exuberance that had characterized him back then had given way to a more refined and composed presence. His face had lost some of its boyish roundness, replaced by sharper, more defined features. The carefree spark in his eyes matured into a thoughtful, steady gaze. Aside from that, he carried himself with a newfound confidence and a sense of purpose that was both frightening and unfamiliar. Time had sculpted him into a man, leaving behind traces of the boy I once knew. Honestly, he looked totally fine.

As I looked at him, I was so preoccupied with his overall picture that I almost missed the most important detail. An wedding ring on his hand. And certainly not a cheap one. It was a gold ring with something engraved on it, unfortunately I couldn't make out what it was from where I was standing. It wasn't important though, is what I told myself, yet actually it was a blow in the face.

While I made sure that our daughter had a roof over her head and didn't lack anything, was he out there enjoying life and finding the woman of his dreams. How could that possibly be fair?

I must have stared a little too long, which is why he cleared his throat.

„I got married", Adam stated the obvious.

„What you don't say. Does your fiance know that you have a five year old daughter or did you completely deleted this chapter from your life" I probably shouldn't have been so mean, yet something on his entire demeanor got on my nerves and slowly but surely an uneasy feeling spread through me.

„As for that, she does know", he spoke with an foreign calmness, merely the glint in his eyes indicated that my previous question pissed him off.

"She is the actually the reason I am here. We want her to live with us from now on."

The night shift had to get to me, I started imagining things.

"Sorry, what did you just say? I must have misheard", I asked him to repeat himself, trying to sound as normal as possible.

"You didn't, I want sole custody of Mirabelle" He still had this fucking calmness in his voice like there was not a single thing wrong with what he said just moments ago. I, on the other hand, stood there, my mind a whirlwind of emotions, unable to form a single rational thought.