Tainted

Chapter 25

Chapter 25

The lock clicked and the door opened, revealing a very bare, very rushed Dan. His toned abs contracted and relaxed as he caught his breath. Why he was out of breath i didn't know, but he still looked really hot, as usual.

His inked skin was moist and looked soft to touch, it took everything in me not to reach out just to see if it was. His short black boxers clung to him tightly, his long muscular legs on show. My eyes returned to his face and i closed my gaping mouth, he looked startled and amused at the same time. I could tell he was having an internal battle of what to say or how to act.

"Done checking me out?" he smirked, yet I could still see the faint panic in his eyes. I flushed and avoided his stare, not answering his question. I was still angry at him.

"Why didn't you tell me about my meeting with Professor Jones?" I snapped, trying not to get distracted by his perfect body and bare skin.

"Uhh it slipped my mind I guess." He shrugged, and leant against the door. I laughed under my breath.

"I bet it did." I shook my head at him and then I heard a noise from within his apartment. I leaned to look, yet Dan stepped in front and closed the door more, so I was unable to see any further.

"Dan who is it?" I heard a voice say. A woman's voice. My face paled yet my cheeks flushed, my breathing becoming shallow. So that's why he was practically naked and out of breath, he had a.. visitor. It made me sick to my stomach.

"Dan, baby, come back to be-.." the same voice said before Chelsea appeared next to Dan, her hand on his waist. My blood boiled yet my heart sunk, my throat closing up, preventing any words escaping from my lips. She looked at me and then smirked, leaning her head onto his shoulder to really rub the salt in the wound. She was dressed only in a loose dressing gown, her hair slightly frizzy, yet still perfectly curled, a few knots visible here and there. I wonder where she got them from.

Dan didn't react to her gesture, he just stood frowning, while he scanned my face for my reaction. My cheeks warmed and I clenched my fists. Dan noticed and quickly reacted, clearly wanting to get rid of me before I embarrassed him. He had never been like this, it was like he had had a personality swap with some asshole because this wasn't the dan I knew.

"Are we done?" he snapped, his jaw clenched, his eyes empty. He wrapped his arm around Chelsea's waist and squeezed it slightly. I had never seen him like this, he had always been so relaxed, not cold and reserved like he had been recently.

What happened to my Dan?

Tears pooled in my eyes, no matter how much I tried to force them down.

"Yeah. We're done." I snapped and stormed down the corridor, my warm angry tears soaking my cheeks.

I got into my car and drove away, faster than I probably should, as long as I could get away from him and that whore.

I didn't think I'd ever gotten so emotional as i had since I met Dan and came to the agency. I was constantly having mood swings, every day, every hour, something constantly changing the way I was feeling. It was like an emotional roller coaster twenty-four-seven. It was exhausting.

As I sped down a long, empty, one way street, I heard my ringtone play from the passenger seat. I answered and pressed speaker so I could carry on driving, leaving my phone on the seat.

"Hello?" I shouted, worrying that the caller wouldn't be able to hear me when I was so far away from the microphone.

"Hi, Maisie, are you busy? I can call back if it's a bad time." Romero's voice filled the car, me instantly recognising his warm yet concerned tone.

"I'm just driving, its okay though i can still talk. Are you alright?" I asked, still shouting.

"Yeah I'm alright. Driving? I didn't know you had a car." He said and my breath hitched while I thought of an excuse.

"Um yeah I just forgot to mention it I guess." I laughed nervously. I was such a bad liar sometimes.

"Right ok." He said cautiously, clearly not buying my lie but not pushing it either.

"I was just calling to ask if you wanted to meet up again tomorrow night. I heard there's some festival down by the river and I thought it might be fun." He sounded confident but unsure of himself at the same time. He contradicted himself way too much, but it was still really cute how he was nervous of my reaction.

"Yeah sounds great. What time?" I asked him, smiling to myself. Finally something to look forward to.

It then dawned on my what I had to do. Why I really had to talk to Romero. It was so hard to imagine a sweet guy like him caught up in a world like that. I just couldn't see him involved with that sort of thing. But i guess looks can be deceiving.

"Maisie? You still there?" his uncertain voice broke me out of my panicked thoughts, and I tried to push them to the back of my mind.

"Yeah sorry," I shook my head, trying to refocus. "What did you say again? I zoned out I'm sorry." I said embarrassed. My cheeks flushed, even though he wasn't there with me.

"I can pick you up at 7. We can eat there, if that's ok. How about you text me your address?" he suggested. I didn't even know where I lived yet myself, but he don't have to know that.

"Cool. Ill send it to you when i stop driving." I giggled, I bet I looked like a right weirdo to other drivers.

"Awesome. Can't wait." As he spoke, I couldn't help but imagine his perfect smile accompanying his sweet comment. I smiled myself, just at the thought.

"Me neither. Ill see you then." I replied eagerly and we finished the call.

It was amazing how suddenly my mood could change, just from a simple phone call.

It was nice to feel wanted by someone, for once.