Abby

A loud knock at my front door woke me from my slumber. I rolled over in bed and tried to ignore it, but when it didn’t stop, I figured it was Colin. I grabbed my phone and saw it was close to nine in the morning. Not nearly as late as I had wanted to sleep. The knocking persisted and I was about to call Colin and tell him to go away, but I could smell coffee slowly piercing the air of my apartment.

Oh, that man knew how to get me out of bed.

Tossing my robe around my shoulders, I padded to the front door. My apartment was nowhere near the caliber of place that Colin had on the ocean, but it was cozy and it was growing on me. I ran my fingers through my hair and swallowed hard, trying to rid myself of my morning breath.

Then I quickly pulled the door open to receive my gift.

“This coffee better be divine beca—”

I looked down at the large coffee, but the hand holding it wasn’t the one I expected to see. My gaze followed up the lanky arm of a man that abandoned me almost nine months ago. My eyes trailed up to his face and I found him smiling at me. That sweet, innocent smile that drew me in on day one of my college career.

“Derek,” I said, breathlessly.

“Morning, Abby. I see you still can’t tolerate mornings.”

My eyes glanced over at the peephole in my door before I silently chastised myself.

“Still take your coffee with cream and sugar?” he asked.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I asked. “And how the hell do you know where I live?”

“I’m here to talk with you, Abby. Is that all right?”

“That only answered one of my questions,” I said.

“Please?”

My eyes fell to the coffee in his hands. My body was screaming for caffeine. Begging me to reach out and take it. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to offer some sort of peaceable agreement. I didn’t know why he was here and I didn’t know how the hell he found me, but now I had the chance. I finally had the chance to say everything to him that I’d wanted to say. I had the chance to get the closure I needed before starting my new life with Colin.

Maybe this conversation would give me the gumption I needed to set a wedding date.

“Come in,” I said.

“Your mother gave me your address,” he said, as he stepped in. “I had to admit, I was shocked when I found out you were living in L.A.”

My mother didn’t give him shit, but that was okay. Now I knew he was going to lie to me and say whatever he needed to in order to keep me comfortable. But I wasn’t the idiot he had dated, and I was no longer blind to his piggish ways.

I sighed at my first sip of coffee as he turned around and smiled.

“Yep. Still a coffee drinker,” he said. “I always loved that about you.”

I choked on my coffee as that word pounded to the front of my skull.

“You said you wanted to talk. So talk,” I said.

“I miss you, Abby.”

I snickered as I shook my head.

“Why the hell are you really here, Derek?”

“I’m here to talk with you because I miss you,” he said.

“Well, I don’t miss you. So if that’s all, you’re free to exit the same way you came in.”

I watched his face melt into a puddle and I closed my eyes. He was trying to pull those lost little puppy dog eyes on me. Derek was the epitome of innocence. At least, that was what I thought. He was tall, lanky, a goofy weirdo with a funny personality. He had big hazel eyes and shaggy light brown hair. Pale skin and a gleaming white smile that had always made me weak in the knees.

And every time he flashed me those puppy dog eyes I had a hard time turning him down.

“Come sit with me,” he said.

“I never said you could sit down.”

But he had already made his way to my couch and was patting the cushion next to him. I could feel his pull and sense his desperation. I had no idea why he was here, but my curiosity was piqued. Part of me wanted to excuse myself and go call Colin, and part of me wanted to resolve this right here and now. When he walked out of this apartment, I wanted him to know where I stood, who I loved, and where my life was going. I wanted to look him straight in the eye and tell him he was no longer wanted.

So, against my better judgment, I sat down beside him.

“Listen, Abby.”

He reached for my hand, but I quickly pulled it away. I could see his eyes fall to my engagement ring. It flashed up at him as he sighed heavily, and a defeated look crossed his face. He lifted his face back up to me and his eyes were full of sadness. A sadness that punched me right in my gut as I wrapped my hands around my warm coffee.

My coffee would keep me rooted in reality.

My coffee wouldn’t allow me to fly away in this man’s eyes.

“I really fucked up,” Derek said.

“I know you did. I was there.”

“I came here in the hopes that we could work things out.”

“A bit too late, as you can see,” I said.

“Abby, the way I treated you was disgusting. Cheating on you and draining your accounts. I didn’t know what the fuck I was thinking. Listening to her over you was messed up.”

“What?” I asked.

“Yeah. Draining your accounts was Britney’s idea. I told her I couldn’t do something like that to you and that I didn’t even know if I wanted to be with her.”

“She moved in with you, Derek. How does it not get any clearer than that?”

“I admit, I was scared of the commitment. Merging our phone lines. Cosigning that car. Putting my name on your bank account. You supported me when I lost my job. Had it not been for you, I would’ve been starving and on the street.”

“And you repaid me with your actions,” I said, sarcastically.

“I was scared of the commitment, but I was manipulated by Britney. I have no idea how I’m going to get you your money back, but I’m trying. She ran off with it all and left me on the street for weeks before I found my way again.”

“She what?” I asked.

“Abby, I don’t—I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I didn’t come here for pity or to try and guilt you or—”

“Rest assured, I feel no guilt,” I said.

“I’m so sorry for the way I treated you.”

His eyes hooked onto mine as tears welled in his eyes. Mindlessly, I reached up and wiped a falling tear away, and he nuzzled into my touch. In a flash, memories resurfaced. Memories of us walking hand in hand in the park and talking about our perfect home. Memories of him holding my hair back when Britney and I got too drunk. Late night phone calls that resulted in shitty morning work shifts and passionate weekends spent tangled up in each other in bed.

We had all the time in the world for each other.

We knew each other, inside and out.

“Why?” I asked.

“What?”

“It’s been nine solid months, Derek. I’m engaged, for fuck’s sake. Why are you suddenly now wanting me back?” I asked.

“What makes you think this was sudden?” he asked. “The moment I stepped out of that apartment with Britney, I knew I’d made the biggest mistake of my life. And for months, I’ve been scrambling to get back on my feet, right my wrongs, and track you down.”

“Track me down,” I said. “I thought you called my mother?”

“That’s tracking you down,” he said.

“Uh-huh.”

I pulled my hand back from his cheek quickly before I fiddled with my engagement ring.

“I’m sorry, but I’m engaged, Derek.”

“Abby, please. Just have lunch with me today. All I’m asking is for you to—”

A knock on the door interrupted his train of thought and I knew who it was. There was only one other person in all of L.A. who would come knocking on my door on a Sunday morning. I felt my stomach flip with joy as I scrambled off the couch. I rushed for the door and whipped it open, relief flooding my veins as I saw Colin standing there.

But his eyes weren’t on me.

They were over my head and staring at Derek.

The two men were glaring at one another as I stood off to the side. Colin came in and shut the door, then promptly slid his arm around my waist. He pulled me tightly into his side, like he was trying to protect me from something, and I looked up into his eyes to see if I could pull his gaze down to me.

But they were trained on Derek. Like an attack dog lying in wait.

“Colin, this is Derek. My ex. Derek, this is Colin. My fiancé.”

“What the hell do you think you’re doing here?” Colin asked.

The tone of his voice shook me to my core as my eyes widened.

“Just coming to explain some things to Abby,” Derek said.

“You have nothing to explain,” Colin said. “Except for why you broke her heart.”

“That’s what I was explaining. I was letting her know that her best friend was manipulating us both to her advantage.”

“I find that incredibly hard to believe,” Colin said.

“Colin. What in the world has gotten into you?” I asked.

“It’s okay. He’s just being protective of you. Any man worthy of you would do the same,” Derek said.

“An interesting statement coming from you. I think you should leave,” Colin said.

“Now wait a second. This is my home, I’m the one that let him in, and I’ll be the one to kick him out,” I said.

“She’s always been feisty and independent,” Derek said. “I’ve missed that about her.”

I watched Colin physically bristle before he lunged at Derek.

“The only reason you’re here is to pull more money from her. You stole from her. You tore her life apart. You left her high and dry when you proclaimed to love her, and now you’re back for more. But let me tell you something, you piece of shit. I see right through you. I know your endgame, and I want you to know that I’ll be watching you every step of the fucking way.”

“Colin! That’s enough,” I said.

I grabbed his coat and pulled him back while Derek stood there with a smirk on his face.

“Wipe that pathetic grin off your face, Derek. It’s unbecoming of you,” I said. “I’ve given you my answer. I’m engaged, and happily so. So whatever your plan was today, change it to going home.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Colin asked. “What the fuck did you ask her?”

“Colin, tuck it in or you’ll be the one I’m kicking out,” I said.

“All I asked her was to give me a second chance to prove that I loved her. That’s all,” Derek said.

I felt Colin’s entire body shaking underneath my grip on him as his eyes widened. He looked like a wild animal. A rabid animal who was looking into the eyes of its prey. And all Derek did was stand there, grinning at him as I held my fiancé back.

What the fuck was his actual game?

“I will slap a restraining order on you before you get a chance to talk to her again,” Colin said.

“And yet, you’re the one that looks more threatening.”

“That’s enough!” I said with a roar. “Both of you, out!”

Colin whipped his gaze down to mine as Derek turned his smirk onto me.

“Colin, I don’t know what the hell’s gotten into you, but I can fight my own battles. Derek, I don’t know how the fuck you found me, but you better not come back here. Now both of you, get the hell out.”

“Abby, I think I should stay until I know he’s gone,” Colin said.

“And I think you should listen to the only person in this room that matters.”

I looked up into Colin’s heated eyes before he pulled away from me. He straightened out his coat before he bent his lips to mine, placing a chaste kiss onto my skin. I saw Derek falter, his confident smirk twitching as he saw the affection Colin poured over me in that moment. The way Colin’s arms slipped around me and the way his eyes gazed into mine. I allowed myself to be swept up into my fiancé before I opened the door at his side.

“I can’t deal with this stress and drama right now. I don’t care what the two of you do to each other once you leave, but you won’t do it here,” I said.

“Abby, if he ever approaches you again, I want you to call me,” Colin said.

“No worries. I’ll only seek her out again if she calls me,” Derek said.

“Did he give you his number?” Colin asked

“Nope,” Derek said, grinning. “But she’s always had it memorized. I had her memorize it in case she ever got into trouble back in San Diego. It’s the same number as always.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as Colin kissed my forehead one last time.

“I’m sorry,” I said, with a whisper.

“It’s not your fault,” Colin said.

Then, the two men left and I was reduced to a shaking, crying mess in the middle of my apartment.