Marrying my high school bully

Dexter

“Don’t tell me that you are still pining for a woman that rejected you? I thought you wouldn’t be capable of falling in love again, but here you are, sulking like a breast-starved baby.” Wyatt made a jest of me as he twirled his chair around playfully, raising his eyebrows at me in disbelief.

If he wasn’t genuinely concerned about my situation, I’d have thrown him a punch. But right now, he was the only one I could bear my feelings to without getting judged.

“I don’t know how it’s happening, man, and please, don’t make a jest of me. My life is in shambles and right now I don’t even know what to do.” I confessed.

My mind replayed the conversation Melissa and I had, and my heart skipped a beat. I knew that I shouldn’t be thinking of getting into another relationship when I hadn’t even gotten out of my failed marriage with Lorraine, but I didn’t know what to do.

“Why did you ask her out anyway? We haven’t even found Lorraine yet,”

I threw him a hard glare and he made a zip-up sign, pressing his lips hard to contain his laughter and if he eventually let it out, I’d punch him.

“The words slipped out of my mouth. It was unplanned and I thought that she loved me so I risked it. She admitted to her feelings for me, but Lorraine is going to be the big barrier between us. I can’t move on when I’m still tied down to the woman who is holding me in chains. It’s sad, man.”

He sighed and pulled his seat closer to me.

“Dexter, I know that you are my friend and we’ve been through thick and thin together, but I’ll have to tell you the truth.” His tone wasn’t playful anymore, instead, it sounded bossy and fatherly.

“And that is?” I replied curtly.

I knew that my response was uncalled for, but I was teetering over the edge. Since the rejection, I’d become very cranky to everyone around me.

My heart tripped with guilt when I remembered how I yelled at my nanny for a trivial matter this morning. Melissa was driving me insane.

“You are confused about your feelings, Dexter.” He said bluntly and I snorted, tilting my head to the side while trying to stop his words from sinking into my heart.

I couldn’t be confused. I knew what I felt even though it wasn’t right, but no one would understand my predicament.

“I’m not, Wyatt. I just need to see Lorraine once again.” I said in my defense, feeling my temper simmer gradually.

“And what happens if she’s cleared of her crimes? Because that is the only reason you despise her. You think she killed your sister, but you are forgetting that it didn’t happen right in front of you. Someone sent you a video with an anonymous number that I’ve not been able to track till now. And I’m surprised that you haven’t asked yourself who might have sent you the video. And why did Lorraine, who bore all your excesses patiently, decide to wake up one beautiful morning, jilt you on your wedding and murder your sister?”

I exhaled, knowing that he was making a valid point. The whole issue was driving me crazy and I wouldn’t be surprised if I finally lost my sanity.

It became worse when Melissa came into my life again. She reminded me so much of Lorraine and that could be the reason for my attraction towards her.

I slammed my fist on the table and jumped to my feet, raking through my hair. I was too tense to stay still so I paced around, my mind saturated with several thoughts.

“I don’t know, Wyatt.” My voice cracked. It was really hard for me to admit how I felt, but if I was to move on, I’d have to let it out. “My feelings are so conflicted right now and I feel like a big fool. I’ve thought about those reasons you mentioned, but I keep asking myself why she went into hiding if she never committed the crime. If she was innocent as you claim, she wouldn’t have run away.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “Yes, I agree. She didn’t do the right thing by running away, but if you knew the woman you had feelings for since high school, you would give her the benefit of the doubt.”

I rolled my eyes angrily. How could my friend make sense and have his words annoy me at the same time?

“Is there any way we can find her?” I asked almost desperately.

He turned back to his computer and leaned on the backrest of his chair. “I’ve tried, bro, but it seems like she went with the wind. She hasn’t used any of her cards ever since she went into hiding, and her fingerprint hasn’t been recorded in any biometrics. There’s no picture of her anywhere that was taken mistakenly on the internet which technically means that she vanished.”

I smirked, nodding to everything he said. Damn everyone who said that she was innocent.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.

The heck she was!

“Maybe you can believe now that she isn’t the saint I thought she was,” I stated with an annoyed tone.

He shrugged but I could tell by the nonchalant expression on his face that he was still standing solidly on his opinion.

“If she committed the crime we think she did, then she’s a criminal that needs to be brought to book. Not everyone is capable of going into hiding without making a mistake.” He said, clicking away on his computer.

“I’m happy that you get the point-” I got interrupted by a beep from my phone.

I slapped my forehead when I read the message from my secretary, who was reminding me about the meeting at Hills Jewelry.

I’d forgotten about it because, for the past few days, my mind had been saturated with the depression that stemmed from Melissa’s rejection.

And speaking about her, she was going to be a part of the meeting, which meant that I got to see her again.

“Fuck!” I cursed and dragged in a deep breath. I wasn’t going to become jittery because of that singular incident, and missing the meeting would make her see me as weak.

“I have to be somewhere, Wyatt. Please continue to search for her.” I said and sprinted out of his office while he laughed mockingly at me.

“You need to get laid!” He yelled behind me while I showed him my middle finger.

He was really lucky that we were good friends.