Chicks, Man

He may as well have punched me. My gut would have felt the same powerful blow as his words have.

“Levi…don’t.” My desperate plea falls off my quivering lips. I take a step toward him, but his hand reaches out, stopping me.

“I can’t right now. I need to focus on how to fix this.”

“And I can help—”

“You’ve done nothing but the opposite! Stay out of this, Hannah. All of it. For once in your life, just listen.” When his dark, solemn eyes find mine, a pain in my heart seizes as my breath fails me. He’s not only demanding I stay away from the case…but him as well.

“You’re breaking up with me.” I’m not sure if I say it as a question or statement. Either way, it’s a razor blade through my heart at each word falling off my tongue. My worst fear. He doesn’t want me anymore.

He steps toward me, and this time, it’s my turn to slap his incoming touch away.

“Hannah—”

“Don’t touch me.” I’m struggling to breathe, but I refuse to show how bad he’s hurting me. I inhale the thick air, hardening my features. “I’m so stupid. I actually believed you. I actually thought we were going to beat all the odds against us. But one little bump, and there goes Levi, running. What about all that trust you spoke of? Where the hell is that now while you point fingers, huh?” I raise my voice, ashamed when it cracks.

“Hannah—”

“I don’t know what hurts more: the lies about me being something special, or how easily you lost faith in me.” He ignores me when I throw my hand up for him to stay away and gets into my space. “Hannah, stop being like this. You have to—”

I slap him. Hard. The sound echoes throughout his office. His eyes spark with shock, probably matching my own. His hand lunges out and clutches at my bicep, pulling me into him, his growl setting my core on fire. “Don’t you dare ever question what I feel—”

A knock on the door interrupts him.

We both shift our attention to Vanessa. “Um...sorry to interrupt.” She stares between us, pretending she didn’t witness our altercation.

Levi quickly releases me. “What is it, Vanessa?” he asks.

“I...um...I was sent by Melanie in human resources to, um…she would like to see you in her office.” She’s extremely fidgety, clicking her pen a thousand clicks a minute.

“About what? I’m busy. Tell her I’ll come over when I’m—”

“Yeah, actually, I wasn’t supposed to leave your office until you came…with me. I have to escort you to her office…now.” Her face pales, and I swear she’s about to barf in Levi’s doorway.

Levi throws his hands up. “Fine. Let’s go.” Before he leaves, he turns his attention on me. “We’re not done here.” He storms out, leaving Vanessa chasing after him.

I’m the one who throws up. I race out of his office and barely make it into the bathroom. I’m not usually one for dramatics, but the severity of the situation hits me hard, the impact flipping my stomach upside down. The case. Accusations. My dad’s anger. Levi’s withdrawal. Another wave of nausea punches me in the gut. I bend over and puke again. How did all this happen? What went wrong? Was it really me? Did I sabotage this case?

Levi’s withdrawal left a bruise on my heart. My stomach aches at the cuts left by his doubt in me. I try to sort through the rubble of his words after our fight, but I’m left even more confused. The twister of emotions cause havoc in my mind, and I bend over, dry heaving. “Pull it together, Hannah.” I coach myself, wiping at my chin. This is not me. I’ve never been one to cower when someone hurts my feelings. Levi was right to accuse me of never listening. But it’s always been imbedded in me to fight. Debate. My dad always taught me to never stand down to an argument I can win. And right now, I have to put my emotions on the back burner and focus on the facts.

I did my utmost. I have no doubt in my capabilities. If those files went missing or were tampered with, it was not on my watch. Which means someone else changed the information in the computer. The thought of Braydon being involved crosses my mind. Doubt forms. I’m not sure why I was so quick to defend him against Levi’s accusations during our fight. Putting all the facts in place, there were some situations that could raise red flags.

“I was checking my email while I was waiting for you. Hope that’s okay.”

“Sorry. I bumped into them and a few fell. I put them all back in order. I hope I didn’t mess anything up.”

“Son of a bitch.”

Maybe this is my fault. Maybe Braydon’s been taking me for a ride this whole time to get close to those files. I had a loose tongue around him when I spoke about the case. The testimonies. When mine and Levi’s relationship took an unexpected turn, I too got sidetracked, my thoughts shifting from my responsibilities to him.