Forever and Always (15 page)

Ryan nodded. “Okay,” he said sadly.
“I’ll wait at the apartment for you until five thirty, but I have
to leave after that.”

“
I’ll try to make it,” she
said. She kissed him again then waved to us before she went back in
the building. My brother watched her go, and I could see the pain
in his eyes. I walked over to him and hugged him. Ryan wrapped his
arms around me and held me close.

“
Why do I always pick the
wrong ones?” he asked.

“
Why is Janice the wrong
one?”

He pulled away. “She says she wants to
be with me, but she doesn’t believe in long-distance relationships.
I can’t move here because of you and my shop, and she can’t leave
for Seattle. It’s too soon—we just met.”

“
I’m sorry,
Ryan.”

He nodded, but didn’t say
anything.

“
Janice is an editor like
you, right?” Cortland asked.

“
Yes,” I said. I looked at
Cortland with a confused expression. Ryan was in pain and Cortland
wanted to talk about her profession. I didn’t understand the
relevance.

“
What if you offered her a
job at your company?” Cortland asked. “She can edit her own
manuscripts and collect the money, which probably pays more than
working here anyway, and she’ll be getting experience from a
successful company, and her best friend will be her boss. It’s your
company, so it’s your decision, but it’s just a
suggestion.”

I looked away from Cortland and to my
brother. His face was still set in a frown and I knew he didn’t
want to put me in that situation. The company was mine exclusively,
and I never planned on sharing it with anyone.

“
You don’t have to, Scar,”
he said. “I understand.”

“
Of course, I’ll ask her,”
I said. “I love Janice.”

Ryan smiled. “You mean it? You would
do that for me?”

“
I would do anything for
you—you know that.”

Ryan picked me up in his arms and spun
me around like I was a child. When he dropped me on the ground, he
kissed my cheek then picked me up again. I started laughing at his
enthusiasm, and Cortland joined me. Ryan finally returned me to the
ground.

“
Thank you so much,” he
said. “Thank you.”

“
You’re lucky that I’m not
being a brat right now.”

Ryan smiled. “You are the best sister
in the world.”

“
Now you’re just kissing
my ass.” I laughed. “I already said yes.”

“
When are you going to
talk to her?”

“
Next time I see
her.”

Ryan nodded. “I hope she says
yes.”

“
I have a feeling she
will.”

“
Let’s go out and
celebrate,” Cortland suggested. “We’ve put that fucker where he
belongs, and now Ryan finally has a girlfriend. Let’s
eat.”

“
Where do you want to go?”
I asked as we walked down the street.

“
I’ll eat anything,” Ryan
said.

“
You are such a monkey,” I
said.

“
What’s that supposed to
mean?” He laughed.

“
They eat anything,” I
said. “Even their own poop.”

Ryan shook his head. “I am so happy
right now that I don’t even care.”

Cortland stopped walking when we
approached a food cart. “I think I know what Scarlet wants.” He
smiled.

We were halted in front of a hotdog
cart, the very one that I ate at a few weeks earlier. I rolled my
eyes. “Here it goes.”

“
So, do they always drop
them on the ground for you, or does that cost extra?” Cortland
teased.

“
I could kill you,” I
said.

“
Actually, a hotdog sounds
pretty good,” Ryan said.

“
Did you not hear what
Cortland just said?” I laughed.

“
I’ll save some money and
ask them not drop mine on the ground,” Ryan said
sarcastically.

“
I can’t believe we’re
doing this,” I said as we got in line. We stood there for a moment.
Then I heard my name being called. I recognized the voice, but I
couldn’t put a face to it.

“
Scarlet?” Brian said as
he came up to me.

I stared at him in surprise. There are
seven million people in the city, and I happen to run into Sean’s
friend. “Hey, Brian,” I said. “What are the odds?”

He was holding a bag over his shoulder
like he just got off work. “You look great,” he said. “What are you
doing here?”

I thought for a moment. “I’m
visiting.”

“
Wow,” he said. “Sean is
lucky to have you. I don’t think I would have come back to him—even
if Penelope lied to him.”

I felt my heart race. “What are you
talking about?”

Brian stared at me. “You’re here for
Sean, right? He hasn’t been to work in a week. I’m pretty sure Mr.
Perkins fired him. He never answers his phone, so he probably just
left a message.”

“
Why hasn’t he been to
work?” I asked hysterically. “What’s going on?”

“
You don’t know?” he
asked.

“
No,” I snapped. “Now tell
me.”

Brian shifted his weight. “I’m sorry.
I just assumed that Sean called you,” he said. “Well, Penelope lied
to him about the baby—the guy she left Sean for is the father.
Apparently, when the guy found out she was pregnant, he dumped her.
Penelope lost her job because she was so depressed, so she turned
to Sean because she had nowhere else to go. After I told Sean
everything, he disappeared—I haven’t seen him since.”

“
Did you call
him?”

“
Yeah,” he said. “His
phone is off. I even went to the apartment but no one
answered.”

My emotions were racing. I was furious
that Penelope had tricked Sean that way. If he hadn’t found out the
truth, he would have raised a kid that wasn’t even his. Now Sean
was missing from work, and even his friend didn’t know how he
was.

Brian stared at me while I was lost in
thought. “So, are you seeing anyone?” he asked with a hopeful
voice.

I was so distraught by his news that I
didn’t even react. Cortland wrapped his arm around my waist and
looked at Brian. “Yes, she is,” he said. “Now step off.”

Brian took a step back. “Well, it was
nice seeing you, Scarlet.” He turned around and walked up the
street, blending in with the mass of people flooding the
sidewalk.

My heart was racing so fast in my
chest that I thought it would burst. Sean didn’t deserve to be
treated like that, and it broke my heart knowing he had suffered
through it. But then a part of me felt the bitter anger return. He
chose her over me even though he knew how she was. The woman
cheated on him, had been cheating on him for months before she
ended it. I warned Sean that would happen, but he didn’t listen to
me. He got what he deserved.

When I looked at Ryan, he was already
staring at me. “I don’t know what to do,” I whispered. “Sean chose
Penelope of over me—he left me. We were perfect together, but he
still wanted to be with her—marry her. He doesn’t deserve my
compassion or empathy, but I still want to go to him. What do I
do?”

Ryan was quiet for a moment. “I can’t
make that decision for you.”

I sighed. “Sean just stopped going to
work and no one knows what happened to him. He needs me. I—I can’t
just go home without checking on him.”

Ryan placed his hand on my arm. “I
think what Sean did to you was unforgivable, and I don’t think he
deserves a second chance, but he’s still your friend, Scarlet. Even
when you hurt each other, all of that becomes irrelevant when you
need one other. If you didn’t go to him, what kind of friend would
you be?”

Even after I ignored Ryan for an
entire year, he still took me in when I landed on his doorstep. I
didn’t even call him to tell him I was coming. What I did was
unforgivable and wrong, but Ryan put that aside in light of my
pain. When I slept with his friend, he still pardoned it because he
knew how upset I was. Without Ryan’s help, I really don’t know how
I would have survived—become the strong person I was.

“
I have to go to
him.”

Ryan nodded. “I know.”

15

When I arrived at Sean’s door, I took
a deep breath before I knocked. If Sean didn’t answer, I didn’t
know what I was going to do. I’d already called him, but it went
straight to his voice mail, and the recording said his inbox was
full. If he wasn’t there, I didn’t know where else to look. Now I
understood how Sean felt when I left.

I knocked on the door, but there was
no answer. I pounded my fist into the wood again, but I heard no
sounds from the apartment. Frustrated, I banged my fists against
the door for a few seconds before I stopped and stepped back. The
sound of moving feet could be distinguished in the apartment. I
felt my heart race as I heard the lock unbolt.

When Penelope opened the door, I heard
myself gasp in surprise. She was the last person I expected to open
the door. After what she did to Sean, I couldn’t believe that she
was still there.

“
Scarlet?” she
asked.

The anger coursed through my body as I
looked at her. Her stomach bulged out slightly, and I notice it
lift up her shirt.

“
Is Sean here?” I
asked.

She shifted her weight and looked at
me apprehensively. “He doesn’t want to see anyone.”

The door flew open under my force, and
Penelope stepped back.

“
Another lie, I presume?”
I said as I looked around the apartment. He was nowhere in sight.
His bedroom door was closed, and I assumed that he was barricading
himself inside of it. I turned back to Penelope and glared at her.
“You’re lucky that I refuse to hit a pregnant woman.”

I walked to the door and tried to open
the handle, but it was locked. “Open the door, Sean.” There was no
sound from inside the room. I knocked on the door again, but there
was still no movement. There were paper clips on the kitchen table,
so I grabbed one and jammed it inside the lock, picking at it until
the handle was free. I pushed the door opened and stopped when I
got inside.

There was trash everywhere; cans of
beer and glass bottles of hard liquor. The smell of the alcohol was
potent and it irritated my nose and made me cough. There were
stains in the carpet from the half empty glasses that fell over
when Sean stumbled around the room. Prescription bottles were
littered around the floor, and I recognized the strong pain killer
from the label. When I looked up, Sean was lying on the bed,
completely passed out and covered in sweat. I ran my hand over his
head and felt the heat from his body. His heartbeat was strong, so
I knew he wasn’t dying. I shook him and tried to wake him up, but
it was useless. He was completely out.

Against my internal objections, I
started to cry. The sight of him broken and practically dead made
my soul snap in half. Sean didn’t deserve that. Even though he
betrayed me, he still shouldn’t have to go through that. I wished
he had called me before it got that bad. My tears stopped falling
and I wiped them away.

His room was filthy and dark, so I
decided to clean it up. I grabbed a few trash bags and cleared out
everything in the room, tossing all the empty glasses and
prescription bottles, and then I tore the loose sheets off his bed
and put them in the washer. When I vacuumed and dusted his room,
Sean still didn’t wake up from the sound, and I wondered what
combination of drugs and alcohol he took to make him that immobile.
Since Sean was still unconscious, I ran to the store and bought
groceries, stuffing his refrigerator with healthy food and snacks.
I blatantly ignored Penelope while she sat on the couch and avoided
my gaze. I wasn’t sure why she was still there, but I didn’t ask.
Sean was killing himself in his own bedroom and Penelope hadn’t
done a single thing to stop him. The knowledge was enough to make
me want to kill her.

When I went back in the bedroom, Sean
was still sleeping. I remade his bed while he was still on the
mattress, rolling him back and forth while I tucked in the sheet.
It wasn’t until hours later that Sean opened his eyes. He
immediately reached for his nightstand, grabbing for a bottle that
was no longer there. When he realized it was gone, he sat
up.

Sean was shirtless and I could see the
sweat on his chest. I sat at the edge of the bed and didn’t move
while he fully woke up. I didn’t want to frighten him with my
sudden appearance, so I waited for him to acknowledge
me.

Sean finally looked at me, but he
didn’t react. He blinked as he stared at me then ran his hands
through his hair. I knew he thought he was hallucinating, still
high from the prescription drugs.

“
I’m real,” I
whispered.

Sean stared at me. “Scarlet?” he said
quietly.

“
Yes.”

“
I know it isn’t you,” he
said. “It’s never you.”

I got up and moved closer to him.
Gently, I placed my hand on his cheek then rubbed him. “I’m here,”
I said. “It’s okay, Sean.”