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... Owen.
My ex. In his ill-fitting suit, with his stubble and his piercing eyes. Why had I never noticed all this before? Hard to believe that I had once found this man attractive.
"Isabella! You're surprised, aren't you?" Owen grinned at me as if we had parted on friendly terms. Or as if we were just old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time.
"Owen." I tried to regain my composure. "What are you doing here?" I then asked. Since the breakup, I had never seen Owen again. Until the day before yesterday.
"Well, after we saw each other the day before yesterday, I thought:Owen, old boy, it's a shame that you've completely lost touch with Isabella. Why don't you see what she's up to and how she's doing.And here I am." Owen raised his arms and looked at me.
I didn't know what to say.
"Somehow I missed you." Owen laid it on thick. Had he always been this smooth-talking?
Sometimes.
And never without reason.
So he was up to something now too.
"What do you want here?" I asked sharply.
"To check on things. On you. To hear if everything's okay. May I come in?"
I hesitated.
Then I remembered the day before yesterday.
THAT had been the real Owen. The man who had grabbed my arm. Who had threatened me and for whom this apartment was still HIS apartment.
The Owen standing in front of me now was only behaving this way out of calculation. He would never change. And even if he did - I didn't care.
"No, you may not come in. I don't want that."
Owen frowned angrily. I knew it. As soon as I did something he didn't like, his true nature came to the surface again.
"Half of the apartment belongs to me." Owen now looked obstinate.
Ah. So that's where the wind was blowing. I laughed. "You haven't paid anything for this apartment in over a year. If you had contributed to the loan payments, you could claim that half of the apartment belongs to you. But not like this. Transfer the money, then we can talk."
"I urgently need an apartment for a new business venture. So why not this one? You won't need it soon anyway. Your rich guy surely has a nicer apartment."
"Who?" I asked, perplexed.
"Your rich guy. The guy who so chivalrously protected you the day before yesterday."
Carter. Owen was talking about Carter.
"Yeah, yeah, go ahead and blush. Admit it, you just wanted to get rid of me to find something better. A guy with more money." Owen stared at me aggressively.
"Me get rid of you?" Anger rose in me. My voice soared to unprecedented heights. "That's rich! You're twisting the facts as always! You cheated on me back then. YOU!"
"And you weren't willing to give me another chance."
"No. Because you didn't even acknowledge your part in the whole affair. You blamed ME for YOUR cheating. You said I neglected you because I was taking an evening class."
"That's how it was. You DID neglect me." Owen crossed his arms and looked at me defiantly.
Suddenly, I felt very tired. I'd already had this discussion. A year ago. I had no desire, absolutely no desire, to have it again. "That still doesn't give you the right to cheat on me. Where would we be if everyone cheated as soon as something about their partner displeased them?"