Betrayal Broken Trust and More Lies Novel – “How long?’ I looked into his eyes, searching for something. Maybe I was still dreaming, having a bad bad nightmare. “What are you talking about?” He asked, clearly uncomfortable. I saw a moment of panic flash through his face before he composed himself. “Mila, get up off the floor and talk to me, you’re scaring me” “How long Sebastian, how long have you been screwing your best friend” I screamed. This time the panic on his face was clearly visible. He knew he’d been caught. His head cocked to the side, his face softening. “Mila, I’m sorry. It’s not what you think…” I cut him off, not wanting to listen to his excuses. All this time, I knew. I think I always knew.
5 Minutes Earlier “Oh for gods sake” Sebastian’s phone went off for the 10th time in a row. I was hoping to get at least 15 more minutes of sleep but the incessant calling was ruining any chance of that. He usually brings his phone into the shower to avoid situations like this. People can get pretty adamant when trying to get a hold of him. No leaving a message, just repeated calls and texts. He’s a stock broker and his phone is his life line. I learnt a long time ago that I would always be sharing him with his job but didn’t mind. Part of the reason I loved Sebastian was due to his dedication to the things he cared about which included his family, friends, work and me. I sighed as I kicked off the blanket and made my way towards his phone. I’ll bring it to him and maybe, just maybe, get another 10 minutes of slumber. I picked it up and stared down as it went off again.
Megan calling The hairs on my neck stood up and I felt like a bucket of freezing water was dumped on me. Megan was Sebastian’s best friend since college. Someone who’s never been happy that he found me or that he was in a loving relationship. She was awful to me. So awful, in fact, that Sebastian got into a yelling match with her 2 weeks ago and kicked her out of our apartment. It was supposed to be a lovely dinner party for our closest friends, but instead Megan made fun of what I was wearing, my cooking, and my job. I ignored her baiting me as I knew better than to get into I t with her. She would hit low and I didn’t want a migraine to come on and ruin the night. I was used to her outbursts and insults. Sebastian always made excuses for her, letting me know that she didn’t have any family, except him, and that she was very protective of him.
He would tell me to be patient and that she would eventually love me as much as he did. He would become irritated when I stood up for myself and scold me for arguing. He would remind me that I was too mature to stoop to her level. I didn’t know why I always had to be the bigger person. After he yelled and kicked her out, I felt like he finally understood how inappropriate she was. That night, he climbed into our bed and reassured me that she was out of his life for good. Now staring down at the phone I felt like he betrayed my trust. I didn’t pick up, instead, pressed ignore and set the phone down. As I was about to walk away I noticed another message pop up onto his screen. She sent him over ten texts in the past five minutes. Against my better judgment, I unlocked his phone to look. M:I waited for you all night yesterday and you didn’t come.
M:You promised me it was over with her for good M:You said you would finally tell her about us. M:You swore after our last fight that you couldn’t live without me and that you finally made up your mind. M:I’m not going to wait forever, either you end it or I’ll call her today and tell her everything. M:PICK UP SEBASTIAN OR I SWEAR TO GOD I’LL DRIVE THERE RIGHT NOW! I turned the phone off, not wanting to read anymore. Present I sat on the floor numb and unable to move. Heartbroken. I willed my hand to place Sebastian’s phone back on the side table and lifted myself up. Feeling the tears pooling in my eyes, I let go. Sobs escaped my body as I felt myself shake uncontrollably. The dark room suddenly filled with light as Sebastian opened the bathroom door. “Mila, what’s wrong” Sebastian stepped out and started to move towards me, his towel barely wrapped around his waist. I saw beads of water falling down his well defined muscles and Abs.
I looked up and didn’t answer, bile rising up at the sight of him. I pushed past him and emptied the contents, from the night before, into the toilet. “Mila, god Mila, do you want me to grab you some water?” Sebastian tried to stroke my hair, genuine concern taking over his face. “Don’t touch me” I glared at him. Confused he pulled back his hand. “What?” He was watching me closely. Unsure of what to do. I knew how I looked at that moment but I continued sobbing. “How long?’ I looked into his eyes, searching for something. Maybe I was still dreaming, having a bad bad nightmare. “What are you talking about?” He asked, clearly uncomfortable. I saw a moment of panic flash through his face before he composed himself. “Mila, get up off the floor and talk to me, you’re scaring me” “How long Sebastian, how long have you been screwing your best friend” I screamed. This time the panic on his face was clearly visible. He knew he’d been caught.
His head cocked to the side, his face softening. “Mila, I’m sorry. It’s not what you think…” I cut him off, not wanting to listen to his excuses. All this time, I knew. I think I always knew. I tried to exit the bathroom and walk past him. He grabbed onto my arms pleading. “Don’t touch me Sebastian, don’t you dare touch me” I tried to free my arm from his hold. He didn’t budge but held on tighter. “Mila, don’t do this. You don’t understand. Just calm down and let me explain” He spoke to me like I was a child. “I said don’t touch me” I pulled my arm back, with more force this time, his grip loosened and he let go. I walked into the closet and began to pull his clothes off the hangers, throwing them onto a pile on the floor. “Take your luggage and leave” “Mila” he tried to hug me, coming closer and pleading for me to listen. As his arms tried to embrace me, I began to hit his chest, over and over, letting go of all my raw emotion. “Mila, stop it. Please stop” He pleaded before throwing me onto the bed, holding down my wrists in an effort to prevent another blow to his torso.
“Just leave, its over Sebastian. I don’t want to hear why you did it. I don’t care why. You played me all this time, making me believe I was crazy. Thinking I was wrong for believing that you loved her. I now know I’m not crazy. You made me believe I was.” The tears finally stopped falling. “leave now!” Sebastian looked like he was having an internal conflict. He glanced at me for another minute before finally pulling himself off. “I love you” he whispered as he put on his clothes and left. I sat in silence as I watched him leave and promised myself that I would no longer shed any tears in front of him. I wouldn’t let myself appear weak in his eyes or show him that I still cared. When I heard the front door close I let myself go once again. Through my tears, I grabbed my phone and dialled my best friend Katia. I knew it was early but she had a strict regiment and would be wide awake at this time. The phone rang a couple of times before she picked up.
“Hello?” Her greeting sounded like a question, clearly confused as to why I would be calling this early. When I didn’t answer she repeated herself. “Hi” I barely got the word out before I broke into sobs again. “Oh hun, tell me what happened. What’s wrong?” She stopped what she was doing and I could hear her shuffling about before her side went quiet. “He’s cheating on me, I just found out” I managed to stammer the sentence out. “How do you know? How Did you find out? How?” She asked and stopped talking, allowing me a minute to compose myself before answering. “I saw it on his phone this morning. It was going off and I grabbed it. And you wanna know who he’s cheating on me with?” My question was met with more silence. “Megan” as I said the name out loud I burst into laughter. Clearly I was going insane. I felt like I was going insane. “No way. That bimbo” she responded. “Which one?” We both burst out laughing. “What are you going to do now?”
She asked the question I needed to ask myself. “I don’t know. I can’t go into work, I’m a mess. I’m going to have to call in and figure it out. It’s still fresh. I didn’t get any answers from him because I screamed and told him to leave. I hit him. I’m embarrassed, I should have never hit him. I asked him to stay away from me and he tried to hug me. I don’t know what came over me” I began to cry again. “It’s ok. He’s ok. Clearly you didn’t hurt him and he deserves a lot more then a couple of punches. Do you want me to come over?” “No, I’ll be ok. I’ll call you later. I just need to be alone right now” I answered her but the honest truth was that I had no idea what I needed.
My mind was all over the place. I let her go and took in a few deep breaths before calling in to work. I managed to get through the call without bursting into tears. I checked my phone. No messages from Sebastian. No apologies, calls, grovelling. Nothing. I knew I didn’t want to talk to him. I wouldn’t pick up or answer if he tried, but I wanted to see and hear his pain. I wanted to know if he was as devastated as I was. Obviously not, I scoffed at myself. He had someone he could run to for comfort. I had no one.