A Little Bit of Sugar

Chapter 23: Wednesday - Molly

"Eric." I breathed, not understanding why after so many years, my ex from high school was standing on my front porch again. I haven't seen him since I left for University across the country and he stayed to study at a local college.

"Hey, Molly." Eric smiled, greeting me with a warm hug. "It's good that you're back."

"How did you know?" I asked, still not believing that after so many years we would see each other again let alone be on such friendly terms. We had dated for a few years, allowing us to have enough time to realize our relationship would never go anywhere as we both never felt the deep connection we each longed for. While our break-up was mutual and on good terms, our relationship was awkward to say the least. Every time we bumped into each other, we would give robust greetings and scurry away, leaving before we delved any deeper into our personal lives.

"Your mom called." Eric said, pulling back to take a good look at me. He was still just as good looking as he was back in high school. Tall and athletic, he was the grand catch.

"Ah, yes." I kicked a pebble by my feet, understanding everything now. My mother was doing what she did best. Meddling. She was probably hoping to lift my spirits from not being able to find a job but little did she know, unemployment wasn't the only reason why I wasn't eating or sleeping at night.

"So, how have you been? I haven't seen you in so long." He asked sincerely, squeezing my shoulder. I flinched at his touch, stepping back so he would get the message that no matter what my mother said, I was not interested in him and continuing wherever we left off. He probably thought I was a depressed loser who needed a boyfriend to pick up the pieces in her life for her.

"I'm doing well." I folded my arms across my chest, and chewed on my lower lip, already thinking of ways to get out of this conversation. "I'm still trying to find a job. How are you?" I flipped, changing the topics so it would be less embarrassing and hurt far less than it already did. God, I just wanted to crawl into a hole. But first, I would have to throttle my mother for putting me in this mess.

"Well, I just landed another big project actually." Eric said, slipping his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, he leaned against the porch frame, giving me the same lazy smile. After college, he had started his own construction company, mostly working for small businesses. Recently, and only because curiosity killed the cat, I searched him up on Facebook and found out that the company had expanded in size, taking bigger and bigger projects from the city. He was raking in more money than he ever imagined back in school. He was a success.

And, well.

I was me.

"That's good to hear." I forced a smile, hugging myself tighter. There was a reason why I avoided all reunions and the reason was simple. Everyone would talk about their accomplishments and when it was time for me, I would be the one to mumble something about the job market and everyone would try their best to console me but they would never actually mean it since they never experience the struggle of finding a job, did they? Most of my friends waltzed on out of school with full-time jobs while I struggled to land interviews. It was infuriating. "Well, I would invite you in but I'm afraid we're in the middle of cleaning. The whole house is just a mess and there's hardly space to maneuver around."

Eric nodded his head slowly, thinking, understanding the underlying message.

"We should still meet up sometime." Eric looked at me, giving me a sad smile. "I missed you."

"We should." I cleared my throat. He was a nice guy and I shouldn't treat him like this because of my envy. Closing the distance between us, I wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a tight hug. "I missed you too."

"I'll get going now." Eric released me, and waved goodbye before turning away to walk back down to his parked car in our driveway. I waved back, seeing him get into his car only to see someone leaning against a black range rover parked in front of my house.

My heart stopped when we locked eyes just like the first time a week ago.

Hunter looked at Eric drive off, unimpressed. His whole body was tense until Eric was long gone. When he returned his focus back onto me, my chest ached. Was he really here? I must be imagining things. My breathing quickened. The world was spinning. My vision was doubling.

"Molly." I heard him call me. He took long strides towards me, fast approaching me.

I stepped back, feeling my back hit the front door, not wanting to be anywhere near him. Not here. Not in my safe place.

"Don't." I pulled my arm away when he reached for me. "Don't touch me."

I couldn't even say his name because it hurt too much.

"You're white as a sheet." Hunter studied me, staying close despite my pleas for him to not be near me. "Let me help you sit down." He moved towards me again.

I exploded in rage, stepping aside again before I felt his touch. "I said don't fucking touch me!"

"Molly, please. Calm down." He pleaded gently. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Then maybe you should have never come here." I spat out bitterly, hating him for making me a lovesick fool who can't stop thinking about him for even a second. For distracting me from fulfilling my goal of finding an actual job. For making me love him when he made sure to spell it out that he would never be able to feel the same.

"I had to." Hunter swore, rubbing the back of his neck. "I had to come, Molly. I fucked up. I am a major fuck up. Fuck!" He gripped his hair, releasing it so it stood up in all directions. I took all of him in, loving and hating all of it. He looked like a mess just like me. Dark half crescents hung under his blood shot eyes. His normally tamed and trimmed beard was an unruly nightmare. And there was a prominent yellow and purple bruise on his cheek that made me worry if he got into another fight again.

"I don't even know how to start." Hunter ran a hand across his mouth, and looked up to the skies for help. He shut his eyes before opening them to look at me. "Molly Right, I'm in love with you."