My phone vibrates in my pocket and I make a grab for it, praying to God that its Bethany calling me back. I groan when I see that it’s only a notification informing me of a new update for my software. Fuck this. I can’t wait any longer. I dial her number again and wait to hear the familiar sound of her voicemail. This time I’m going to leave a message.
“Bethany, it’s me. I need you to answer my calls, baby. I am so, so sorry that I hurt you tonight but I need you to talk to me, at least let me know that you’re ok and that you made it home safely. I feel awful for the way we left things, it’s like I’m trapped in some hideous nightmare that I’m desperately trying to wake up from. God, I’d give anything for all of this to just be some horrible dream. The alternative is too painful for me to comprehend, I can’t face the reality of you leaving me and that’s why I’m now begging you… please don’t do this to me, don’t leave me… at least not yet. I can’t let you go; I don’t think I’ll ever be able to do that. I meant what I said earlier, I do love you, Bethany. I know all of this is crazy and its way too fast but I can’t help how I feel. You’ve changed my life. Everyday I wake up with a great big smile on my face and that’s because of you. I need you to give me a second chance, I’ll do anything to fix this and make it right again, just give me a chance. Please let me know that you’re alright. If you need some space I’ll respect that but I need to know you’re ok first. If I knew where you lived I’d probably be pounding on your front door right now. I don’t care about your father or what he would say, I’d keep you safe. All I care about is you. Please don’t end this, I’m not about to give up on us, Bethany.”
I hang up and continue my journey home. I have no idea if she’ll even listen to my message but I was telling her the truth when I said that I won’t rest until I know she’s ok. I’ve already reached a decision about what I’m going to do if I still haven’t heard from her by tomorrow morning. If she doesn’t call me back or let me know she’s ok then I’m going to go straight over to her gran’s house and ask her to tell me where Bethany lives. She’s not going to like it but I won’t rest until I know she’s safe. The only reason I’m not at her gran’s place right now is because Bethany won’t thank me for it and my conscience won’t allow me to go banging on an old lady’s door this late at night.
I still feel so guilty about being late to meet with Bethany this evening. The last thing I wanted to do was to keep her waiting but I honestly had no idea that I’d be late at all seeing as tonight was my night off from work. I was just getting ready to leave the house when I got a phone call from Ritchie, my manager. He told me to make my way down to the bar as quickly as possible, informing me that Sarah was there and completely wasted. He said that she was refusing to leave until she spoke to me. A huge part of me wanted to tell him to chuck her out. She’s no longer my responsibility so why I could be called to rescue her every time she gets drunk and makes a show of herself?
However, when Ritchie threatened to fire me over the phone if I didn’t get myself down there and sort it out, I quickly changed my mind. I sighed impatiently before checking what time it was, I normally make sure that I’m the first one there whenever I meet Bethany and I still had plenty of time before I had to meet her. I figured that it would be ok if I went over to the bar and dealt with Sarah before leaving to meet my girl. I’d still make it on time and Bethany would never have to know. Besides, if I didn’t sort out this mess with Sarah I’d be fired and I really do need this job. I can’t go back to what I used to do for money, I haven’t done it in months and I won’t go there again. Bethany would hate it and to be honest, I hated every single moment of it myself. Underground fighting is not a profession, it’s a fucking circus. One I never want to be a part of ever again.
I didn’t know what excuse I would give to Bethany if I did end up being late, I just figured that I’d think of something if and when I had to. I grabbed my phone and my jacket before leaving the house, heading over to the bar as fast as I could.
As soon as I entered the bar everyone’s attention became focused on me excitement was rippling through thee air over the little piece of drama they were about to witness.
I heard Sarah’s voice before I even saw her. She was slurring her words and talking with too much animation. I caught the tail end of her conversation and I didn’t like it one little bit. She was telling anyone who would listen all about the nasty little whore I had dumped her for, the bitch who was going to be sorry she’d ever met me by the time she was through with her.
Fury coursed through my veins and I clenched my fists as I had to remind myself that it is not in my nature to hit a woman. I acknowledged Ritchie who was watching us closely from behind the bar, letting him know that I had this under control. Sarah had her back to me so she never saw me approaching her from behind. She whirled around in surprised when I grabbed a hold of her arm and spun her around to face me. I knew that my expression had contorted with rage and contempt; I purposefully focused all of that resentment onto her, hoping to terrify her into behaving.
“Sarah, what the hell are you doing here? You need to go now.” I snarled angrily.
“Jake! My hero… I knew you would come.” She tried to press her body against mine and fluttered her eyelashes at me, trying to appear innocent and naive.
I continued to stare right back at her with a stony expression on my face.
“I asked you what you’re doing here.” I asked her again, unimpressed with her attempting to seduce me.
“Aren’t you going to give me a kiss? You used to always greet me that way, didn’t you? Sometimes you’d give me even more than that...” She giggled before stumbling and I tightened my grip on her arm as I started steering her towards the exit.
She kept twisting her ankle in her stupid heels and I considered telling her to take them off otherwise I’d have to carry her out of there, anything to make her hurry up.
“Hurry up, Sarah. I need to get you home.” I said firmly.
“I’ve missed you so much, Jake, I know you’ve missed me too. I know you don’t really want that silly little slut you’re carrying on with when you could have me instead. I’m special, you told me I was important to you because I was going to have your-”
“Don’t you dare! Don’t you dare fucking say it. How many times do I have to warn you, Sarah? I don’t want anything more to do with you, I’m only here because you’re at my place of work and my boss would have fired me if I didn’t come and get you.”
“Letting you go was the biggest mistake of my life. I’ll beg if that’s what you want, just give me another chance, Jake. I’ll get down on my knees and beg you to forgive me. You used to like it when I went down on my knees for you, didn’t you?”
Her words made me feel sick and I had never been more tempted than I was right then to just leave her there to find her on way home.
She stopped moving and turned away from me, pressing her back against my chest and grinding her ass into me. Some guys who were outside and heading into the bar ogled her in a lecherous manner and for one second I felt my anger begin to rise, I guess a small part of me was still programmed to think of her as my girlfriend and it has always been a tendency of mine to protect whoever I’m in a relationship with, from anyone and anything.
I shook my head, reminding myself that I now had a beautiful, classy girl waiting for me who I needed to get back to.
“Sarah, you have to listen to me. We’re over and we have been for months. I don’t feel anything for you anymore, I’m with somebody else now and it has absolutely nothing to do with you.”
She turned to face me, her eyes gleaming with a venomous hatred for me.
“Fuck you, Jake! It has everything to do with me! We were together for over a year and you think you can just disappear from my life, just like that?”
“I can do anything I want. You need to get it into your damn head that we’re not together anymore.”
By this point we were both standing at the side of the road and
screaming at one another. My intention before I reached the bar had been to put her in a taxi but when I saw the state she was in I was no longer comfortable with the idea. She was really drunk and wasn’t thinking straight, who knows what pervert might have picked her up if I put her in a cab and as much as I really didn’t want to be dealing with her and her drama, I wasn’t about to leave her alone and helpless at the side of the road, I’m not that much of a bastard. I had to get her home but I also knew that I didn’t have time to take her myself. Bethany would soon be waiting for me and if I didn’t hurry things up I was going to be late.
“Sarah, give me your phone.”
“Why?” She whined, clutching her handbag to her chest.
At least I knew she had her phone with her.
“Just give it to me, I’m going to call one of your friends or your mum to come and get you.”
“No! I don’t want you to call anybody. Just take me home with you. I miss being at your house, I miss spending time with you in your room. God, I miss everything.” She started to cry and I forced myself to turn away. A woman’s tears have always been my weakness, it twists me up inside to witness any girl crying and I knew that if I started to comfort her she would read too much into it and think it meant something.
“Look, I really have to be somewhere so I need to call one of your friends to come and take you home, ok?”
I made a grab for her purse and started searching for her mobile. I scrolled through her contacts and stopped when I reached the name of one of her friends, I didn’t waste any time and dialled the number. Sarah’s friend was somewhat reluctant to come and pick her up but when I explained that she was in no fit state to be left alone and that she didn’t want me calling her parents, her friend agreed.
My next plan was to text Bethany so I could let her know that I was going to be a little late. In my message I tried to reassure her that nothing was wrong and that I’d be there as soon as I could. I suppose I did wonder why she didn’t reply to any of my messages but I was also a little preoccupied with making sure Sarah got home safe before I left her.
After a few minutes I decided I would call her. Sarah was leaning against the entrance to the bar so I walked away from her to make sure I had some privacy. By that point I was starting to worry, I couldn’t understand why Bethany hadn’t texted me back and whenever I tried to call her it would go straight to voicemail.
“Who is she, Jake?”
I startled when I heard Sarah’s voice close behind me. She had crept up on me when I was trying to phone Bethany and I noticed that she was sobering up by the second. I almost wish she had stayed intoxicated, I couldn’t be doing with probing questions or her acidic words.
“That’s none of your business, Sarah.” I snapped.
“She must be pretty special for you to keep on protecting her like this.”
I chose not to respond to her baiting and I kept my gaze locked on my phone, waiting for Bethany’s reply.
“Just drop it, S.” I told her, feigning boredom.
“You know I’ll do to her if I ever find her, don’t you?” She whispered salaciously.
“And what’s that?” I asked, breaking my gaze away from the screen of my phone to challenge her.
My pulse was quickening and I tried to remain calm by focusing on my breathing. I wasn’t about to let her get the best of me, I needed to stay in control.
“I’ll ruin that pretty face of hers. By the time I’m through with her you’ll be begging me to take you back because you’ll have no use for her anymore.”
“I swear to God, Sarah! If you push me one more time I won’t be held responsible for my actions. If you weren’t a woman you’d be on the floor and semi-conscious by now.” I threatened her, meaning every single word.
When I took a step towards her, the grin on her face disappeared. She knew she had pushed me way too far.
“Sarah, you ok?”
We broke apart at the sound of a female voice.
“I’m fine, what are you doing here?” Sarah snapped, accusation lacing her voice.
“Jake called me; I’m here to take you home.”
I vaguely recognised Sarah’s friend. She was the one who had finally managed to convince Sarah to leave after we had that blazing row in front of my house.
“Jake, please don’t go!” Sarah wailed.
I chose to ignore them both and turned to walk in the opposite direction.
“Make sure she gets home ok.” I called over my shoulder, deliberately ignoring Sarah.
I had done my duty, I needed to make sure that she was safe and that’s what I’d done. My main priority in that moment was Bethany. She still hadn’t responded to any of my texts or phone calls, I couldn’t understand what the hell was going on but my mind kept on taking me to a dark and twisted place, a place where something was wrong and something horrifying had happened to her.
I ran all the way there, making a journey that normally would have taken me half an hour only ten minutes. I noticed the two of them as soon as I rounded the final corner. It was Bethany who I saw first and the relief I felt to see that she was ok was indescribable. I stopped walking and just stared, taking in the starling scene before me. Bethany was standing way too close to someone I didn’t know, someone I didn’t want her to know.
I quietly approached them; I needed to hear everything they were saying. It was clear that they were in the middle of a heated discussion but what infuriated me the most was the fact that she seemed to be so familiar with the guy, it was as though she knew him and it fucking sickened me. They had no idea that I was watching them… which was my precise intention.
Every single instinct inside of me was yelling at me to beat the shit out of him. I seriously wanted to hurt him for being so intimate and familiar with her. They were centimetres apart and I wanted nothing more than to drag him away from her, I somehow found the strength to remain calm because I desperately needed to find out what they were saying. It was only when I heard him refer to me as thoughtless and insensitive that I decided to finally make my presence known. I made sure that my voice sounded threatening, this fucker was about to find out exactly who he was dealing with and he needed to know his place.
It was unbelievably hard to control myself and my temper, having Bethany so close and not being able to touch her was absolute torture. She looked amazing; like she always does but tonight she looked breathtakingly beautiful.
I knew within those first few moments that I had to make it clear who Bethany belonged to. I was about to put on a little show that neither of them were going to forget anytime soon. I got my opportunity when Bethany flung herself on me, making it really obvious that she was pleased to see me. It took all of my restraint to not return her embrace but I can be really fucking stubborn and I somehow managed to stop myself from giving into her affection. It was only when she tried to pull away from that I made my move.
To make it work I had to make it look convincing. I know Bethany and she’s far too modest and self-conscious to get intimate with someone in front of an audience. I had to find a way of making Bethany compliant and willing. That’s all I needed from her and I was determined that I was going to get it.
The feel of her body against mine was exquisite, I never expected to find myself getting turned on I can’t help it, whenever I’m around her that’s exactly what happens. I caressed Bethany’s skin with my lips and then went on to stroke her with my tongue, it was agonisingly erotic and I don’t know how I managed to control myself. I felt her every tremble and I felt her every intake of breath. It left me starving and desperate for so much more. I no longer felt like I was the one in control, she was taking that away from me. My intention had been to make Bethany submissive and yet I was the one who would do absolutely anything to keep this woman in my arms.
I purposefully fixed my cold stare onto the nameless douche behind her. He narrowed his eyes at me and I scowled right back at him. He was about to learn just who my girl belonged to. My actions
were intentional and their soul purpose was to let him know that she was mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. MINE. I don’t share with anyone and I’d rather die than giver her up.
When Bethany finally introduced us I think it made things worse, to know that she had a history with that guy, to know that he had known her before me was like a knife in my fucking heart. I was jealous. My jealousy was crazy; it was irrational and it fucking hurt. I hated every second of it and didn’t know how to handle the agonising pain in my chest or the thirst I had to rip this guy’s head off. I was seconds away from beating this guy and I had no intention of stopping, not until he was a pathetic, bloody mess.
Things got even worse when he gave her his number. What the fuck did Bethany expect me to do? I deserve a damn medal for not crushing every single bone in his hand when he handed her that scrap of paper with his digits on it. When she accepted it from him it felt like she had torn my heart before spitting in my face. I couldn’t believe she had just done that to me and that’s why I tried to stop her from taking it. I needed to remind her of my existence; she had to understand what seeing her with someone else was doing to me. Surely she had to see the desperation in my action and the pain behind my eyes?
When he called her beautiful, I inhaled sharply. Hearing him call her that felt like a punch to the stomach and when I saw him moving towards her to give her a hug, I saw red. Without even thinking, I grabbed her and dragged her behind me. He had pushed me too far and I didn’t even want him looking at her for another moment longer.
I was breathing heavily and I fixed my ferocious gaze entirely on him. He finally seemed to get the message and looked fearful of me. Good. I was more than ready to hurt this fucker.
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