Rock Star Billionaire
I was such an idiot! My one night out to clear my head of all things Zayden related and I managed to make it all about him. Why did I drink so much?
“I am sorry for harassing you.”
“It’s not harassment if I enjoyed it.” He was smirking; I could just feel it through his phone. “Really quite entertaining. You’re really something, drunk or sober.”
“Thanks for the expert analysis,” I spat. “Now if it’s okay with you, I am going to go back to lying down until time stops.”
“Call me if you need anything.”
“I won’t,” I said and hung up.
My head fell right back onto the pillow and I collapsed.
---
Hours later – or it could have been days for all I knew – I woke up again to Stacey’s face smiling at me.
“Okay little miss drunky, it’s time to spill the beans…what is going on with you and Zayden? After last night, you have to tell me.”
I covered my face under the pillow and mumbled, “Just kill me now, Stace. Why did we drink so much?”
She placed a cup of coffee on my bedside table. “Because you wouldn’t have it any other way. You were clearly pissed about something, and in your drunken stupor decided that the best way to deal with it was by consuming as much as alcohol as your liver could handle.”
“But.” I looked up at her again. “But, weren’t you and Nick drunk too?”
“Yeah, but we got to a point where we stopped drinking because you were sharing your evening with every person in that big birthday crowd. By sharing your evening, I mean, taking a shot with everyone in sight.”
“Did I do something stupid?” I reached out for the cup of coffee and the warmth of the liquid made my body feel infinitesimally better.
“Nope, you were just having fun mostly. Until the calls to Zayden started. Everyone in the bar spoke to him, thanks to you.”
I buried my face in the palms of my hands. “Shit, Stacey, that’s bad. I never should have called him.”
“What exactly did he do to you anyway? I thought you guys were doing so great.”
I sighed and proceeded to tell her everything that had happened after Rick had showed up at the office.
“Okay, first of all,” Stacey interrupted. “What were you doing talking to that Dick anyway?”
“It’s a long story!” I said a little too fast, feeling terrified of Stacey.
If anybody hated my ex-boyfriend with a fiery-passion enough to burn him to the ground, it was Stacey. It was a mark of her loyalty to me and really touching, for the most part. But right now her glare was crushing my soul.
“I have all day. And more if needed,” she said looking at her watch.
“He wants to be friends.” I shrugged.
“Oh, does he now?” She folded her hands.
“Look, Stace, if I told him to go fuck off, it would seem like I am still affected by what he did to me, like I still cared. And in all honesty, I don’t. Yes, he hurt me a lot and yes, I had the hardest time getting over it. But I am over it now and I feel that the best way to move on is to not make a big fuss about it.”
“Do you have to fraternize with him though?” She frowned.
“No, but it’s easier than fighting him off. I have been intending to avoid that coffee with him for as long as possible. But that does not mean Zayden can tell me who I can or can’t talk to! His attitude is what makes me actually want to hang out with Rick.”
“Aria, it doesn’t help to be bitter,” she told me, stroking my arm. “But you’re right…as much as I have been approving of Zayden all this time, I don’t think it was right of him to talk to you as though you’re an object in his possession.”
“I am though, according to that fucking contract, that’s exactly what I am,” I said, fuming. “He has stripped me down to the level of his office desk. It’s like all of the sudden, I have no agency, no independence, like I signed my life away to him, and he’s ready to remind me of it every step of the way.”