The distorted view of what Shannon expected to happen slowly came into focus. The pretty dark haired girl still on her knees stared at him as he moved toward me. "Carrie just let me explain!" He held both hands out in front of himself. "Please... I know you're upset, but let me lay this out for you."
Clutching the sheet so tight that my knuckles were turning white, I flinched and backed away. Anger fused with anguish and I was on the verge of having a breakdown right there in front of both of them. "Don't you dare touch me!" I sneered, feeling the uneasiness move down my spine.
I looked down just in time to see the brunette get up and crawl to the center of Shannon's huge bed.
"Shannon just let her go if she doesn't want to play with us." The striking woman had legs up to her neck and a face that could easily grace the cover of any fashion magazine. "You can come play with me instead." I hated this needy bitch already and what was even worse was that I hated Shannon more for putting me in this position.
He spun around and glared at her. "Not another word." Instantly she shut her mouth and obeyed his command, and I could tell that this wasn't just a random thing between them. No, for her to react that way to him indicated that they were so much more. She lay all the way down on her side, still facing us and watching intently what was about to transpire between us. He turned back to face me. "I'm sorry that I didn't approach you with this idea before bringing Dominique here, but I was angry. If you just give yourself some time to think about it and maybe get to know her, this could be fun. The situation with Jared isn't fair and you said that you'd do anything for me, so, I just thought..."
"Oh, I know what you thought!" I cut him off, narrowing my eyes and baring my teeth at him as I raised my voice. "Why am I even wasting my time talking to you? I'm so out of here!" It was ludicrous to think that he actually expected me to allow him to explain. I brushed past his solid, shirtless frame, my shoulder purposely knocking into his arm, which almost caused me to fall to the floor. He was much too strong for someone like me to push around. I exited the bedroom and rushed around the couch, picking up my clothing, still lying on the floor from where I so eagerly stripped out of them. "You and your brother must think I'm some kind of idiot, and I guess I am for falling for all of your bullshit lies!" Sitting down on the couch, I refused to even look at him while I pulled my clothes on as fast as possible. "The irony is that I saw this coming!" And I did, just not from him. With Jared always so busy and away on trips, I was certain that he would be the one to meet someone while out of town. "God! Sara was right. I'm such a fool."
"I'm sorry." He said softly, staring down at the floor.
Stepping into my heels, I snatched my phone and purse from the coffee table and headed for the door. I just wasn't expecting him to jump in front of it. "Where are you going Carrie?"
Rage swept through me like a fast burning fire and I stood there, not really wanting this confrontation, but readying myself to unleash all of my emotions on him if I had to.
"Away from you! Get out of my way!" I just wanted to leave before I lost all control and crumbled before him. I couldn't let him see how badly he hurt me.
Again, he took a step forward, reaching for my arm, but I backed up, refusing to allow him to touch me. "It's the middle of the night and I'm not letting you walk home. It's too far and just not safe. I'll bring you home." Taking another step toward me, he gripped my arm.
Shrugging free, I narrowed my eyes and shot him a look of disgust. "Do. Not. Touch. Me! You don't think that I'd get into your car after what you did tonight, do you? Fuck you Shannon!" Those words brought tears to my eyes and my shaky hand clutched my phone while I went straight to google. The device that I used daily, suddenly felt so foreign to me as I struggled to look up the number, any number for a local cab company. It was as though in the midst of my rage, my brain had short circuited and everything was happening in slow motion. My heart was hammering in my chest and all I wanted to do was escape. I closed my eyes and recalled watching old reruns of the tv show Bewitched as a child. I suddenly wished I could just twitch my nose and disappear like Samantha, but this was real life and I couldn't simply vanish into thin air.
Shannon plopped down on the couch and held his head in his hands. I paced back and forth, finally pressing the call button. I looked up to see Dominique, now wrapped in Shannon's bath robe, leaning against the wall with her arms folded. My voice was shaky as I rattled off his address, watching her rub the fuzzy material. In her arrogant triumph, she tilted her head and the corners of those ruby red lips tugged upward in an evil smirk. It was so subtle, yet infuriated me so bad that I darted toward the door.
Shannon followed me outside and it was my intention to slam the gate as hard as I could, but with him directly behind me, it was impossible. I stood there, just outside the security fence, waiting for the cab. It was total silence for about five minutes and I watched him shove his hands in his pockets, before starting to nervously pace. "So, we're not going to talk about this at all?"
I looked past him to the headlights coming down the street, thankful that I didn't have to wait long at all. "There's nothing to talk about."
"Wait!"
Stepping around him, I avoided eye contact. "Just stay away from me, both of you." I opened the door and slid into the back seat, telling the driver my address. As soon as the car pulled away, I covered my face with my hands and began to sob. The pain covered me like a blanket, bonding to my skin and seeping deep into my veins. I could feel the tears dripping down between my fingers and falling onto my dress. My desolate sobbing earned a, 'Hey lady, are you alright?' from the cab driver. I assured him that I was fine, but the truth was I didn't think I'd ever be fine again.
I made it home and went directly to the bathroom to shower. All I wanted to do was wash the events of this horrible night away and ease the unbearable pain in my chest. Standing under the hot stream of water, my fist hit the tile and my mouth opened in a silent scream as I sank down into the bathtub.
My first thought was of Jared. Did he know about Dominique? Was he part of this horrible plan?
Everything was so raw and I knew that I had to numb the pain any way I could. So many thoughts and I couldn't stop myself from going back and forth from being angry as hell to completely broken. I was so in love with both of them. How could they do this to me? How do I ever move on?
I turned the water off and climbed out. I dried off and pulled on my old ratty Red Hot Chili Peppers shirt and panties. Before I could even look for alcohol, I rushed to the garbage can and violently threw up. I curled up on the couch with my favorite blanket and my mind became its own prison, coming up with different scenarios of how they planned this whole thing. They broke my heart and now I have to recoil and protect the shattered pieces that remain. The only thing I was sure of was that I could never speak to either of them again.
