The One Left Behind (The One Series)

by Lena Nicole

  Pierce loops his arm through mine and we walk a couple blocks down to his favorite sushi spot. Luckily for me, they also serve hibachi because I’m not big on sushi. The woman who owns the restaurant greets us and sits us at our table. Pierce pulls out my chair for me before taking his seat across from me. We both order and start talking about stuff from work and about our friends. Pierce is holding my hand on top of the table as I tell him about Colby and Damon’s skydiving adventure. I feel his grip on my hand tighten and his face suddenly transforms into a scowl. I turn to see what he is looking at and can’t figure out what is shifting his mood abruptly. A second later, I see Max walk in. I want to glare at him for what he did to Pierce while they were in college. Before I can ask Pierce if he’s okay, this woman walks up to him.

  “Pierce, darling! How nice it is to see you.” She places her hand on his arm and leans in and kisses his cheek. I see him flinch slightly at the contact and his back becomes rigid. There is clearly a familiarity on her end with him. When she pulls back, her hand is still on his arm. I take a minute to get a good look at this woman who has her hands all over my man. She looks on the taller side and has long, dark red hair with bangs. She has green eyes and pale porcelain skin. I have to admit that she is very pretty, but she looks like an uptight bitch that has a major stick up her ass. I raise my eyebrow at Pierce and mouth, “Darling?”

  He shakes his head and lets go of my hand to remove this woman’s hand from his arm. Suddenly, I hear Max’s voice, “Hey, Pierce. It’s good to see you out of the office.”

  “If you say so,” Pierce responds in a clipped tone.

  Max turns to me and says, “It’s nice to see you again. I remember the beautiful face, but I never did catch the name.” It’s clear that he’s dismissing Pierce’s tone and rudeness that is directed at him, almost like it doesn’t affect him.

  Before I can answer, Pierce grabs my hand again and says, “This is my girlfriend, Addison. Addison you remember Max, and this is his girlfriend Samantha.”

  Samantha gets a disgusted look on her face. “You two have met before?”

  It then dawns on me as I put the pieces together who this woman is. This is Pierce’s ex.

  “Yes, of course, Max. It’s nice to see you again.” I say with a smile as I hold out my hand to Samantha, “It’s nice to meet you, Samantha.”

  Samantha looks dismissively at me and says, “It’s nice to meet you too, Madison.” She looks me up and down like I’m trash before snickering. This instantly pisses me off.

  Okay, so she is going to be a total bitch, huh? Well I can work with that. “Actually it’s Addison, but don’t worry about it. This is the first time I’m hearing about you so I highly doubt we’ll be seeing each other again. So no need to remember it.” I look away from her refusing to further acknowledge her existence.

  Pierce tries to stifle his laughter unsuccessfully and has a huge smile on his face. I seem to fuel Sam’s fire. I guess she’s not used to people biting back. The look in her eyes shows she is out for blood.

  “Pierce,” she says as she wraps her arms around his neck for a hug. “I can’t believe you haven’t mentioned me before. After all, we did spend four very satisfying, long years together.” She cuts her eyes to the corner to look at me as she slides her hands down his chest.

  I look at Max and am shocked to see an impassive look on his face. His phone goes off and he ignores Samantha's behavior and is texting someone back. How can he be okay with his girlfriend's hands all over another man? My man. It makes me question how serious they really are.

  Pierce, clearly having enough of her crap, grabs her arms and moves her around to the side of the table.

  “Oh, I remember all right. I remember busting my ass at work and you complaining that I’m never around. But the best part I remember was when I came home that night from work, and well, why don’t I let you tell the story. I’m sure you can tell it so much better since you seem to be so good at remembering ‘satisfying’ details,” he says with a cold look on his face and a tight jaw.

  Samantha’s face turns red. If she was a cartoon character, steam would be blowing out of her ears at this point. She grabs Max’s arm saying, “Let’s go, we’re leaving,” and storms out of the restaurant.

  “I have never seen anyone get so mad like that before. I swear I was waiting for smoke to come out of her ears,” I say as we both start laughing.

  We finish up lunch and walk back to Pierce’s office.

  “Have I told you how much I love you today?” he says with admiration on his face.

  “Yes, but it never gets old, so go ahead and tell me again,” I joke.

  “Seriously, you were amazing back there. I’m sorry if me being rude made you uncomfortable, but I can’t stand those two. Then she started being a bitch and had her hands all over me to upset you, and as I was about to put a stop to it, you took it into your own hands. I have to say, I got a sense of pride that you can stand up for yourself and don’t let spoiled bitches walk all over you.”

  “So I know she cheated on you with Max and all, but what actually happened?” I’m a little hesitant to ask him for fear of upsetting him by bringing up old memories, but I’m curious to know what happened.

  “Sam and I were together for four years through college. I had a huge work load my senior year. I was barely home and always studying. I wanted to finish so I could start helping my father out at the company so that he could travel less and stay home with Mom. Samantha was constantly bitching that I was never around and I never made enough time for her. One day my class got canceled and I decided to surprise her and head home and take her out for the day. I walked into my apartment and heard music coming from the bedroom. Sam usually had music playing when she would sit around the house, so I thought nothing of it. I made my way to the bedroom and was in total shock at what I saw. There, in my bed, was my naked girlfriend riding some guy. I was so stunned I just stood there for a minute in silence. That’s when the man under my girlfriend rolled her under him and I saw it was my best friend since the age of nine, Max. Max was in my bed fucking my girlfriend. They were so wrapped up in having sex that they didn’t even notice me there.”

  I squeeze Pierce’s hand. “So what did you do?” My heart breaks a little for him in this moment thinking about the pain he must have gone through during this time.

  “I cleared my throat to get their attention. Once I had it, I walked over and turned her music off. I looked at both of them and said, ‘If you’re done fucking my ex-girlfriend would you mind leaving and taking her with you while you’re at it.’ Samantha immediately jumped up and actually used the ‘it’s not what it looks like’ line. I said, ‘It looks a lot like your fucking someone who used to be my best friend. But friends don’t fuck your girlfriends. So again if you two are finished you can leave now.’ Samantha and Max got dressed and left.”

  I stop walking in the middle of the sidewalk in total disbelief. “Wow, I don’t even know what to say to that.”

  “Believe me, it was fucked up. And it only got worse. Max and Sam wouldn’t leave it alone. They didn’t understand that there was no friendship or relationship after that. It took a good year of ignoring them for them to finally get the hint.”

  “Still, I’m sorry. No one should have to go through that.”

  “I said it once before and I’ll say it again. I’m not sorry. If that never happened I would have never met you. And you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I intend to hold onto you forever.”

  “You have my heart for as long as you want it.”

  I give Pierce a kiss once we reach his building. I tell him I will see him at home and we part ways.

  I’M OUT FOR my morning run trying to clear my head. It’s a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky. There’s a light breeze coming off of the ocean and I can smell the salt in the air. I’ve got my iPod going as I attempt to keep my mind from thinking, but it’s not working.

  I start thinking about the
day Pierce called me. I didn’t recognize the number that flashed on my cell phone and thought maybe it was a paralegal calling from her personal phone about a case or something, so I answered it. I kind of wish I hadn’t. Pierce said he wanted to meet up because he needed to go over something with me. He wouldn’t say what, but I really had no desire to meet up with him alone. He’s a nice enough guy and all, but it’s not like I want to be his best friend all of a sudden. Plus, there was only one thing we truly had in common.

  Addison.

  I’m pretty sure his talk had something to do with her and I had a sick feeling in my gut about it. Whatever it was, I knew I wasn’t going to like it. So, like a coward, I told him I’d have to look at my schedule and get back to him. Yeah, that was three weeks ago.

  He’s called me several times since. His calls are becoming more frequent the longer I avoid him. He’s left messages too, but I’m being a chicken shit about this and don’t want to face whatever it is he has to tell me.

  I go home, shower, and get ready for work. About an hour later I’m walking into my office. Charlotte is at my desk waiting for me.

  “Hey,” I say to her. “Whatcha doing?”

  “Nothing much. Thought you might need some caffeine.” She holds up an extra cup of coffee and I thank her as I rush over to it to take a sip. I sit down at my desk and decide to enjoy my coffee and chit chat with Charlotte for a bit before I dive in to my work.

  “Thanks, you must have read my mind. I was just thinking about how I was going to go to the break room and make a cup,” I say and take another sip.

  “I took ‘mind reader’ off of my resume when I applied here. I thought it might freak people out. Plus, it’s more fun to read people’s minds when they don’t know you’re doing it. You’d be surprised by all the juicy details I find out about people.” She says all of this with the straightest face and I now know why she’s such a good lawyer. I crack up laughing. She just responds to my laughter by giving me a sly grin before taking another sip of her coffee.

  We’re casually talking when we’re interrupted by my phone going off alerting me that I have a text message. I open it up even though the name that pops up tells me it’s probably more of the same from the last three weeks.

  Pierce: Hey, Colin. I’m trying to do the right thing here so I really need to speak with you. This is time sensitive and needs to be done before I go to NY next week. I’d appreciate some kind of response.

  I sigh and rub my temples with my fingertips.

  “What’s wrong?” Charlotte asks. I decide to get her opinion on the matter and see if I really am being a pussy about this whole thing.

  I tell her about Pierce’s weird phone call and constant messages since I’ve been avoiding him like the plague.

  “What are you afraid of?” she asks, twirling a pen from my desk between her fingers.

  Losing her permanently.

  I don’t say that out loud but I’m not sure I’m quite ready to tell her the whole story between Addison and I.

  Instead I say, “I’m not sure. I just have a bad feeling that whatever he’s going to tell me is going to really upset me. I never really told you, but Addison and I used to be together. We’re friends now, but it’s still hard sometimes to see her with someone else.” I look down at my desk afraid to see the pity in her eyes. She clears her throat so I look back up.

  “The only way to find out is to man up and meet him. He obviously feels it’s important if he keeps harassing you about it. You could be working yourself up for nothing, you know?”

  She’s right and I tell her so which only causes her to get a smirk on her face like she already knows this. I grab my phone and text Pierce back.

  Me: I’m sorry. Things have been really busy lately. When and where do you want to meet?

  I get a response almost immediately.

  Pierce: I’d like to meet today if you can. I don’t care where, whatever is easiest for you.

  I think about where we can meet and consider keeping it on neutral ground and then scratch that thought immediately. If he’s going to give me shitty news then I want to be somewhere familiar. My office sounds good since I can go back to work if I need the instant distraction.

  Me: Can you meet me at my office around noon?

  Pierce: I’ll be there. Text me your address.

  So I do. I look back up at Charlotte and exhale loudly.

  “I’m proud of you,” she says. She stands up and is headed toward my door to leave.

  I manage to give her a small smile. “Thanks?” I’m not sure why it comes out like a question, but that’s probably because I’m not sure why she’d be proud of me for this. She might think differently if she has the pleasure of witnessing the fallout if the news is tragic for me.

  I stay pretty busy throughout the morning so I’m shocked when I look at the clock and see it’s 11:34. Only 26 more minutes to go.

  About fifteen minutes later there’s a knock on my door. My stomach drops and I have to swallow hard to remove the knot in my throat.

  “Come in,” I say.

  Pierce walks in. “Hi, I’m a little early. I can wait out in the lobby if you’re still working.” He looks a little nervous which does nothing to help my nerves. If he’s anxious then it must be for good reason. Yep, this is going to be bad news for me.

  “No, you’re fine. Have a seat.”

  He sits down and is quiet for a while. I finally break the silence. “You wanted to talk to me about something?”

  He clears his throat. “Oh, yes. Sorry. Well, I won’t beat around the bush and just get right to it. The reason I’m here is because I wanted to tell you that I plan to propose to Addison while we’re in New York next week.” He holds firm eye contact with me as he makes this declaration.

  All the air has been sucked from my lungs and I’m struggling to breathe. I think my heart has stopped and I’m feeling slightly light headed. No, this can’t be happening. I had just started accepting the fact that she had a boyfriend, but a fiancé? A soon-to-be-husband? Absolutely not. This would finalize the fact that I’ve lost her forever. I think a small part of me felt that we would forever be in the friend zone, but there was still something in me that felt she would remember and we’d be together again. If she marries this guy, that hope vanishes completely.

  I realize Pierce is staring at me waiting for a response. I’m not sure what kind of response he’s hoping to get, but I’m too stunned to form long coherent sentences at this point.

  “I—I don’t know what to say.” I blink rapidly hoping this is just a dream and he will vanish.

  “I’m not asking for your permission or your blessing, I’m just coming to you out of respect. I know you guys were engaged before the accident and I didn’t want you to be blindsided or hear this from someone else.”

  What a noble fucking thing to do. I think for a moment and let my brain process what is happening. The only thought going through it for a few minutes is ‘I’ve lost her. I’ve lost her.’

  “Well, I’m not going to lie and say that I’m happy about this because I’m not. I still love her and was willing to wait forever for her to come back to me. But I can’t very well stop you from asking her.” I lock eyes with him and don’t break eye contact as I continue, “All that I ask—all that I need you to promise me—is that you will treat her right. You will cherish her and be everything that she needs and deserves. I swear to God if you hurt her in any way, I will break your fucking legs. Just be the man that unfortunate circumstances didn’t allow me to be for her.”

  “Colin, you have my word that I will treat her right. She’s the best person I’ve ever met and I love her like I’ve never loved anything before. I promise I won’t hurt her.”

  A few short minutes later he’s out of my office. I’m frozen in my seat replaying what just happened. I feel like I could cry. Him coming here saying he’s asking her to marry him just reopens all those old wounds that I put band-aids over in an attempt to heal. I feel sick to
my stomach as my proposal replays in my mind.

  Everything was perfect. I had this romantic picnic set up with all her favorite food, even gummy bears. It was so cute how she thought we were celebrating my new position here at the law firm. She really had no idea that I was going to propose to her. I tried to say something very romantic and eloquent to her. I’m not sure I succeeded. All I know is my stomach was in a hundred knots and I was terrified she’d say no; that she thought it was too soon.

  “I never believed in love at first sight, but I knew the moment I saw you that you were it for me.”

  “You make every breath I breathe worth taking and not a day goes by where I can imagine my life without you.”

  “Will you make me the happiest man on Earth and do me the honors of being my wife? I can’t promise it will be easy all the time, but I can promise it will be worth fighting for.”

  “Addison Jade Ramsey, will you marry me?”

  She had her reservations but gave me a resounding yes and made me the happiest man alive. The one line in my proposal speech that keeps replaying is the one about fighting for us. I promised her we would be worth fighting for. I guess I didn’t hold up my part of the deal since she gave up fighting for us the day she met Pierce.

  I try to snap myself out of these thoughts since all they’re doing is adding salt to the wounds. I go back to work but am unable to focus. The only person I can think to unload this crap on is Charlotte. I call her office phone.

  “Hey, are you busy?”

  “Not really, just reading this three million page transcript. I swear my client is the dumbest thing on the planet. I should really just sit back and let him defend himself since he thinks he’s so much smarter than me.”

  “Would you mind stopping by my office when you get a chance? I just finished my meeting with Pierce.” I rub my eyes trying to release the pressure building behind them.

  “Yeah, sure. I’ll be right in.”

  A couple minutes later she walks in and closes the door then has a seat at my desk.