𝗦𝗘𝗫𝗧, reece king

36. i just can't do it anymore

almost an hour had gone by and reece was still in the bathroom, with the door locked and muffled voices could be heard from within. it would be a lie if saraí said she wasn't eavesdropping.

her ear was pressed agains the door, hoping to catch whatever it was he was saying on the phone.

who could he be talking to? she wondered, anxiously biting her nails. a habit she had suffered from young age. was it another girl?

"i don't know...i just can't do it anymore..."

what was it that he couldn't do anymore? he couldn't be with saraí anymore? even though she had no idea what he could possibly mean by that, she couldn't help but feel like his words stabbed through her heart.

"we'll talk about this later...yes, i love you...bye."

saraí's eyes widened as they threatened to tear up but suddenly, the sound of the door unlocking made her run as fast as she could into another position around the bedroom.

when reece opened the door, his eyes landed on saraí who was laying on the bed with her back facing him. she made sure to hide her face because she couldn't let him see her cry.

she didn't know what she had done wrong. it wasn't her fault that her friends were crazy and overprotective. did he not see how she tried to run to his side but nevaeh held her back.

reece walked to the side of the bed she was laying on and crouched now so their faces were at the same level. "saraí?"

her eyes were closed, as if she were asleep. he sighed softly and stood up straight, walking out of the room and closing the door behind him. once he was gone, saraí opened her eyes and felt her bottom lip tremble.

reece slowly walked to the kitchen. he started going through cupboards to find anything he could use to make dinner. eventually, he had found some ingredients that would be enough to make some chicken and rice with a side of salad.

as a child, reece often spent a majority of his time admiring his father cook in the kitchen. he had once been a very famous chef in the u.k. and was able to make many things from deserts to meals. of course, this was before his downfall.

his father would tell reece, "believe it or not, food is the way to a woman's heart. it's how i got your mother."

after reece had finished seasoning the chicken, he put it into the oven and began cooking the rice on the stovetop. soon enough, the kitchens delicious aroma was spreading through the entire house.

saraí couldn't help but smell it and felt her stomach grumble. the last thing she ate was popcorn. she got out of bed and tiptoed to the door. when she opened it, reece's eyes flew to her.

she didn't feel like even making eye contact with him at the moment. if he wanted to ignore her, even after she tried helping him, then two could play at that game.

"saraí." he said aloud, crossing his arms over his chest.

she sat down on the couch and grabbed one of the ps4 controllers that was on the coffee table. as the game console started up, she slid a hair tie off from her wrist and began swooping up all of her hair into a ponytail. saraí could feel his stare burning on the side of her face.

reece scoffed very softly, rolling his eyes. "you're really ignoring me."

of course i'm ignoring you, she thought to herself. how dare he even ask that.

"i'm making dinner for the two of us," he spoke loudly. "chicken and rice, with some salad. you're not vegetarian right?"

again, silence.

what had he done wrong? reece didn't understand why she was upset.

while saraí continued giving the silent treatment, the meal was finally finished. once reece had set up the table and served both plates, he walked towards saraí.

he stood right in front of her and dropped to his knees, so he could look straight into her eyes. as hard as it was, she refused to stare back.

reece grabbed her hand that was on her lap and rubbed her knuckles. "baby...please talk to me. look at me. anything but ignore me."

"who was that?" she finally said, eyes still on the television screen.

his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. who was who? "what are you talking about?"

"on the phone." she answered. "who was that?"

he sighed. "it's...personal. i don't feel like talking about it."

"mm."

was she seriously upset? wondered reece. he thought she'd be more understanding and respectful of his private life, at least things he wasn't comfortable to even speak about. and this matter was one of those topics he didn't feel like explaining. not yet, anyways.

saraí's eyes fell onto his. "should i even trust you?"

"do you think it was another girl?"

she shrugged. "i don't know, you tell me."

another sigh. "it was a girl. but not like that, at all. it was-"

"i don't want to know who she was. obviously someone you love."

"you heard that?"

saraí scoffed. "it's not like that bathroom is soundproof."

reece couldn't take this. it was stress added onto his already stacked plate of previous stress. he let go of her hand and rubbed his face. finally, he stood up and walked back to the table where he took a seat.

"i made you a plate. you can eat it if you'd like."

the rest of the night. they didn't talk to each other.