Page 50 of Another Love, Another Time

River

When my plane lands, I send a message to Auggie to let him know that I’ll be home in about three hours.

That will give me enough time to drive home, get settled, and get in the right mindset before he arrives.

He will probably arrive early. I also sent my mom a quick text that I will be home soon, and I want to talk to her tomorrow after work.

I had mentally gone over everything I wanted to discuss with him while I was on the flight. I even took notes to make sure I didn’t miss anything.

I find my car quickly, hop in, and turn on some music for my ride home.

Baxter is right. I need to stand up for myself.

When Auggie and I get finished with our conversation, he will know exactly where I stand.

I will be straightforward. I will tell him exactly what I need from him.

If he can’t do those things, then I will walk away from our friendship, relationship, or whatever we are doing or working towards.

While staying at my house, Auggie expressed several times that he would eventually like to be in a relationship with me, but we are not there yet. I still feel like he’s holding back. There is still a lot he needs to do to show me that I’m his number one priority.

I also haven’t told him everything. How he reacts to my news will determine our next steps. He needs to be able to respect my decisions.

I don’t think he’s engaged to Melissa. The more I think about it, the more it just doesn’t add up, which is stupid on her end.

If he even starts to defend her, the conversation will be over.

I’m not going to listen to him give her the benefit of the doubt again.

There isn’t room for both her and me in his life. Not anymore.

~~

I had expected Auggie to arrive a little early. What I didn’t expect was to see Melissa sitting on my porch, waiting for me. How did she even know I’d be home? Did someone tell her? I wonder how long she’s been here.

I get out of my vehicle, pull my bag out of the backseat, swing it over my shoulder, and head for my front door. As I pass her, I spit out, “What are you doing here, Melissa?”

“Can’t I come visit my cousin? You left the other night without saying ‘hello.’”

I roll my eyes at her. “Leave. I don’t have time for your shit.” My phone vibrates with a new message, but I choose to ignore it. Instead, I decide to record this conversation, just in case. You never know with Melissa.

I turn around to face her. At the same time, I put my phone in my back pocket. I don’t want to turn my back on her. Who knows what she will do? She won’t leave until she says everything she came here for. Well, I’ve got words for her too.

“Well, let’s do this,” I say. “Apparently, you came here to say something. So, say it. I don’t have all night. I have to get up and go to work tomorrow.”

“I want you to stay away from Auggie,” she demands, crossing her arms.

“Don’t you think that might be kind of hard, seeing as we are partners? We see each other every day.”

“You can put in a request for a change in partners.”

I wonder if this is what she did to Auggie’s previous female partner. “I think you’ve lost your mind.” I just laugh. She has balls; I’ll give her that. “Why in the hell would I do that?”

“Because Auggie is mine. If you don’t, you’ll regret it,” she threatens.

“Really? How is that?” I narrow my eyes at her. “Are you going to repeat what you did at prom to get me to run away? News flash: I’m done running.”

“What are you talking about?” She acts innocent; however, she seems nervous.

“I know you set me up to walk up on Auggie and you kissing.”

Her eyes widen, but because she’s so cocky, she takes the bait.

She sneers. “It didn’t take much convincing; a few tears and a guilt trip, and he was putty in my hands.

” She doesn’t even question how I would know.

It makes me angry, but I’ve already started down this path.

There’s no stopping. I need to stay calm.

“It must be hard to have to manipulate a guy into kissing you,” I say.

“That must suck, but I guess you are good at manipulating people since you were able to manipulate a guy into attacking and trying to rape me.” Her eyes widen again, but she doesn’t take the bait this time.

I keep pushing her. “You’re not denying it? ” I raise my brow.

“I didn’t do that,” she responds, but she doesn’t sound convincing.

“What? So, you are saying you didn’t get a guy hooked on pills intentionally?

You didn’t withhold those pills from the guy until he promised to attack me?

You didn’t promise him you would give him all the pills he could ever want if he just did what you asked?

” My voice rises with every word. “But that wasn’t good enough for you, was it?

You wanted me ruined, so you told him you wanted him to have sex with me.

He told you he wouldn’t do it. That’s when you blackmailed him.

You threatened to ruin his chances of receiving a full ride to a college he’d spent years working toward.

You talked me up, and then you told him your cousin had a kink, right?

That I’d enjoy fighting back. But you didn’t anticipate me being able to fight back and get away before he could rape me, did you? ”

She says nothing. I’ve caught her off guard. I taunt, “What? You don’t have anything to say?”

“It doesn’t matter what I say. You can’t prove anything. If you could have proved it, I would have been behind bars a long time ago.”

She’s right. If I could have handed in evidence without gettinghiminto trouble as well, I would have.But maybe I still can. “Oh, I have proof,” I say. “I’m just biding my time. The only reason I haven’t is I don’t wanthimdragged into this.”

And I don’t. I know this sounds crazy and maybe even stupid, but I’ve actually forgiven the guy who attacked me and have come to care for him and his family.

I’ve seen what the craving for drugs will make a person do.

I truly believe that if it wasn’t for Melissa, he never would have done what he did.

I still made him pay for what he did to me.

He owned up to what he did and got his ass kicked for it, but he didn’t make excuses.

He apologized. He may have been stupid to get involved with Melissa, but he was smart enough to keep all the voicemails and text messages from her to corroborate his story.

“How sweet of you,” she hisses.

“That doesn’t mean I won’t get something else on you.

I can only imagine what else you’ve done.

What you did at prom wasn’t the only time you’ve done something like that.

Don’t worry. I’ll get you. I would watch my back if I were you.

” I smirk at her. “You know, it’s really sad that you have to threaten people to stay away from Auggie.

” I’m hoping that by antagonizing her a little more, she will say something incriminating.

She growls, “He’s mine. You ruined everything when you came back.”

“How am I ruining things?” I ask her innocently. “Auggie and I are only friends and partners. How is that ruining things? I thought you were engaged.”

“Well, after you threw a tantrum and left, he changed his mind and told everyone we weren’t engaged. You ruined it. He would have gone along with it if you hadn’t thrown a fit and left.” She let it slip. I feel like celebrating.

“A tantrum? I left quietly, and I haven’t spoken with Auggie since.”

“You always ruin everything!” she screams at me.

“You already said that. Look, Melissa, you had five years to lock him down, and you couldn’t do it.

So, what, he sleeps with you once in college, he lets you live with him, and you think you have a claim on him?

” I laugh, but I quickly stop when I see the look on her face.

It’s the look she used to show me when she knew she’d gotten her way with the moms.

“Is that what he told you?” She tsks, but I don’t say anything. I know what she’s about to say is not something I’m going to like. “That silly boy. We’ve slept together more than once. In fact, he lost his virginity to me.”

It feels like a knife is being pushed through my heart. She knows that Auggie and I planned on being each other’s firsts.

“You’re lying.” But I can tell she’s not. She waited to share this piece of information to hurt me. I see something out of the corner of my eye. I turn around and see Auggie standing there.

“Is she telling the truth?” I ask Auggie. Melissa still has a smirk on her face. She’s done what she came here to do. She knew he wouldn’t tell me this, that this would hurt me, especially coming from her.

“Yes, it’s true,” he starts, “but I need you to let me explain. It was—” I hold up my hand, trying to interrupt him, but he ignores me.

“No. I need to tell you this while she’s here so you will believe me.

We only slept together twice. We will talk about the details in private unless you would like her to be here for that.

” I shake my head. He glances at Melissa.

“And don’t try to spin it, Melissa. It was only twice, and both times were mistakes. ”

Melissa nods and swallows. She doesn’t dispute what he’s saying, so I’m guessing he is telling the truth. The smirk is gone from her face, and now, she’s holding back tears. If it wasn’t Melissa, I’d feel bad for her.

He’s right; I wouldn’t have believed him.

I don’t want to show her that she’s gotten to me, that I’m not completely shattered again.

I’m more hurt that he lied to me. I told him to tell me everything when we spoke when I first got back, and he purposely kept this from me. What else is he keeping from me?

I don’t know if I’ll be able to get over this. He doesn’t deserve another chance, but I’ll listen to him and then make him leave. I can’t accept another lie. I need someone in my life whom I can trust.

I clear my throat and say flatly, “Anything else you need to get off your chest, Melissa? I really do need to get ready for work tomorrow.”

But it’s not Melissa who speaks. It’s Auggie. “Leave, Melissa, or the next time I see you, I’ll slap you with a restraining order.”

As she turns to leave, she bumps into me and says, “Doesn’t it suck to know that I had him first? He’s mi—”

She doesn’t get to say anything else because, without thinking, I grab her hair, pull her head back, and punch her in the face. Her nose crunches. I don’t give a shit. The bitch deserves it. I bet she never thought I’d hit her.

When we were younger, I bit my tongue because I didn’t want to get into trouble. Not anymore. I don’t care if I get in trouble. She needs to learn she can’t mess with people and get away with it.

“You bitch! You broke my nose!” She screeches. Her hand is pressed to her face, and it drips with blood. “Auggie, aren’t you going to do something?”

His arms are crossed. He calmly answers, “I just saw you try to attack River. She defended herself.”

“Are you kidding me? I can’t believe you’re defending her. She left you. I was there for you. You wouldn’t be where you are without me.” Melissa bends over, trying to keep the blood from dripping onto her clothes.

“Maybe not, but I am here, and I’ve finally seen you for who you really are.

Get this through your head: I was never yours.

I never wanted to be yours. My mistake was trying to be a good friend.

I naively believed you were my friend, but you manipulated every situation.

I see that now. I’ve finally pulled my head out of my ass.

I could blame you, but I take full ownership in my fuckup, and I will spend the rest of my life proving to River that I’m hers, that my heart hasalwaysbeen River’s andalwayswill be. ”

He addresses me with his next comment. “Up until now, I’ve been a shitty friend to you. I haven’t shown you how important you are to me, but I’m about to. I’m going to be the man you deserve.”

All I can think is,“Those are pretty words, Auggie.”

He turns back to Melissa to deliver one last message. “Stay the hell away from River. I could possibly forgive the stunt you pulled on Saturday, but you just tried to hurt River. You showed your true colors. I already planned to tell her today, but what you just did was cruel.”

She’s still wheezing, and blood streams from her nose. He must not have heard us discussing the attack, or I’m sure he would have said something about it.

I’m done with this conversation. I’ve already given her more time than she deserves, so I make my last statement before I head into the house. “Get the fuck off my property and don’t ever show up here again, or youwill regret it.”

And then, I walk into the house. Good thing I took notes on the way home. My mind is everywhere. Auggie will have to make sure she leaves.

I head to my room, throw my bag on my bed, and take a deep breath. I hear the front door open and close and prepare to have my talkwith Auggie.