Danny's POV
It's Friday. Not yet a week has passed but it feels like an eternity. The pain hasn't faded but I'm determined to continue to push it down and focus on anything but Cal. That's actually more difficult than it sounds because most of the things that I like remind me of him.
I'm at Walmart buying junk food for my apartment and a swim suit for tomorrow. There's a pool party that I've been invited to and I have a few connections to meet there. My cart is full of all the things that Cal would give me grief about, plus a pastel pink strapless two piece with a matching sheer cover up.
Ring ring ring
My phone starts to ring as I'm heading back up to the cash register to check out.
"Hello?"
"So expect me to be
Calling you to see
If you're okay when I'm not around
Asking "if you love me"
I love the way you make it sound
Calling you to see
Do I try too hard to make you smile?
To make a smile," Zeke sings into the phone when I answer.
"Hey, Zeke. What's up?"
"Are you thinking about me?"
"No, I'm thinking about the pool party I have to go to tomorrow."
"Oooo, are you gonna wear a bikini?"
"I did buy a modest two piece."
"Fuck, sweetheart, you're killing me. You need to come over to my place and try it on for me, maybe a little lap dance or something..."
I've long since become aware that Zeke doesn't mean anything by it when he flirts with me. He really does just like the attention. I flick my hair over my shoulder and laugh when he starts making kissing sounds into the phone and my eye catches something that I wasn't ready to see yet.
He's looking right at me.
Cal is staring at me from less than five feet away. Sorry, I said staring but what I meant was glaring. He looks livid.
Thump thump thump thump
My heartbeat immediately speeds up and pain courses from my chest into the rest of my body. I know that it's emotional but it feels physical. The world sways a little bit.
I will not feel. I will not feel and if I do he will not see it. He will not get that satisfaction from me.
I easily fall into my blank facade when I make eye contact with him. His eyes travel to the cart that I'm pushing, full of junk food with my swimsuit laying across the top.
"Ah. The little 'party girl' is heading off to another party to find someone else to con, huh?" He says derisively.
Pain! Shooting fucking pain! How can he not feel it!?
"Danny? Who is that? Is that Cal? Where are you? Are you okay?" Zeke has ceased talking dirty and now sounds frantic and concerned.
I make myself smile, turning away from the man who keeps breaking my heart. This... stranger who looks like the man who gently cooed at me while teaching me to drive, who used to play with my curls, who held my hand, who wanted to teach me how to cook, who loved the same books as me, who took me to the zoo, who held me close and danced with me, who always texted me back...
"I'm fine, Zeke," I force out cheerfully as I walk away from that fucking imposter.
If I can't love him I'll hate him. That hurts less.
Cal's POV
I haven't slept properly in days. I can't stop thinking of Danny. Everything I see reminds me of her. Everything I see hurts. Clarice has asked about her and I didn't know what to say so I just blew her off.
I'm beginning to second guess myself. On the one hand, I know what I saw. A cold, hard Danny clone. On the other hand, Zeke, as I've said before, is really good at reading people. And he trusts Danny.
I can't stop thinking of all the times we spent together, all of her cute little gestures, her smiles, the way her eyes sparkled, the sound of her laugh, her insecurities, her bravado, her knowledge of books and music, her obsession with fucking giraffes... how can that all be fabricated? It's not shallow. It's deep- so fucking deep.
Then I think about that night. Monday. The way she was when I was touching her, kissing her, caressing her... so perfect. And how she trusted me even after I thrusted into her too hard and hurt her, bad... she still listened to my voice and allowed me to calm her. She had every right to push me off of her and throw me out, but she didn't. She fucking trusted me.
That's not fake. Right?
I decided to go to Walmart to get melatonin to help me sleep. I couldn't go on like this. I chose to get Benadryl along with the Melatonin because the Benadryl has more of a kick to it and I have a fight coming up.
As I was walking to the aisle that contained my peace, I saw her. Danny. My Danny.
She didn't see me at first as she walked in my direction, talking to someone on the phone with a slight smile on her face.
How can she smile when I'm fucking miserable?
When she gets closer to me she lets out that laugh of hers. As though everything is fine. As though she didn't take my fucking heart and then destroy it for fun. As though the world is still fucking turning. As though she can still fucking sleep at night.
She never fucking cared.
Her gaze meets mine and she pauses, taking me in, that blank look from the other night at the gym painted on the beautiful face that lit up like a shooting star when the lemurs answered me back at the zoo. She's a fucking imposter.
I take in the contents of her shopping cart and hold back the urge to tell her to get some real fucking food before she gives herself diabetes. I take note of the swim suit she has sitting in there with a sheer cover up. She's going to that fucking pool party tomorrow.
She's going to work. Like she was working the night I met her.
"Ah. The little 'party girl' is heading off to another party to find someone else to con, huh?" I spit out before I can stop.
I can't let her see how miserable I am. How effective her act was. How much I fucking needed her, yearned for her, adored her. I can't give her that satisfaction.
Danny pauses for only a half a second and then smiles sweetly, her eyes still cold, before turning away without acknowledging me. "I'm fine, Zeke," I hear her say cheerfully as she walks toward the check out aisle.
Like I never fucking existed to her. Like I'm nothing. I took her fucking virginity less than a week ago and she's so cold that she barely even fucking sees me. She's a fucking heartless machine just like Creed said.
She's not Danny.
A/N: Kind of a short chapter, but I wanted to get it out there because Cal needed to make an appearance today.
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Free Bird
Romance"I feel eyes all over me from every angle, but I know that at least one pair of them belongs to the tatted giant in the kitchen. Why not give him a show? He can look all he wants but he can never touch. This is one cookie that won't ever give him th...
