Desperate to prove his innocence to Holly, Jake drove up to her house the following morning and slipped Jennifer’s report under her door. He wasn’t seeking an apology. More than anything, she had doubted his loyalty and his honor. He could not tolerate that.

Afterwards, he went to his – neglected – bar. With everything that had been happening lately, he had failed to notice that he was running low on whiskey, vodka, and a number of other staple spirits. Jake had to place a number of orders into his supplier extremely fast. As he counted the remaining boxes in his storage room though, his ears picked up Clay’s voice echoing in the bar.

“Hey, pretty boy!” He shouted. “Where are you?”

“I’m right here, man.” Jake said, joining him in the large main barroom. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Clay shrugged. “I was just wondering about that picture. What did Jennifer say?”

“She pretty much confirmed your suspicions,” Jake stated. “She did a great job.”

“I’m guessing she wrote a report. Where is it?” Clay asked.

“Well…” Jake started. “It’s not here. She came by my house last night. I was going to talk to you about this, but…”

“You fucked her.” Clay tried to finish his sentence.

“What? No.” Jake waved his hand in front of his face. “I was going to say ‘it’s still a little early to call you.’ We had a nice talk. One thing led to another and…” He drew in a sharp breath. “We kissed.”

“Just kissed? That’s it?” Clay’s voice became high-pitched.

“Yeah,” Jake affirmed, watching as relief flashed in his friend’s eyes. “She started it. I didn’t stop it, but that’s as far as it goes. She’s not the crazy girl you thought she was. In fact, I think she’s quite nice.”

“I’m just glad you didn’t nail her,” Clay maintained with a grin on his face as he patted his friend on the back. “You didn’t do exactly what I said, but it’s ok.”

“It’s not ‘ok’,” Jake disagreed. “I should have stopped her. I wasn’t thinking right.”

“It was just a kiss.” Clay smirked. “You’re hurting so much you would have let a freaking monkey kiss you. I got to go. Later.”

“See you, Clay,” Jake said, making his way back to his storage room. As he stepped onto the narrow corridor that led to it, however, he laid his eyes on a familiar face. He recognized her at once. It was Holly. Her sight brought back the painful scene of their breakup in an instant. He shut his eyes, dropping his gaze from her face as he bit his lower lip, in an obvious attempt to prevent himself from speaking, as he heaved a long, deep sigh.

“Um, hi,” She waved, hesitantly. “I still have the key to this door.”

“What are you doing here, Holly?” He asked her, his voice cracking as he started towards the door of his storage room.

“I read that report you left me,” Holly said, her own voice getting lower by the second, as she followed him.

“Good for you,” he muttered, staring down at the floor. “I’m pretty busy right now.”

“Jake, I’m sorry,” she whispered brokenly, melting his heart, as he felt her hand on his right shoulder. Still, he would not face her. “I should have let you explain.”

“Yeah…” he whispered with a bitter smile on his face as he blinked back his tears.

“Please, look at me,” Holly urged, her voice a tender, almost inaudible, whisper. “Please.”

A tear streamed down his face as he obliged. The sight that greeted him made his heart sink. Holly’s lips were trembling. Thick tears had pooled in her big, playful eyes and her face was twisted in fear and pain.

“I lost my faith in you, baby,” she whispered, raising her hands to his face. “God, I’m so sorry…”

“Did you ever believe in me?” He asked in a shattered voice as he gazed deeply into her eyes. “Did you ever trust me?” His questions put her in a difficult position. She wouldn’t speak; Holly squeezed two tears out of her eyes, caressing his face. Closing his own eyes, he savored her featherlike touch, knowing in his heart that he would not feel it again. “I’ll take that as a ‘no’,” he answered himself quietly, his voice thick with emotion, as his tears soaked her thumbs.

“Please, don’t be mad at me,” Holly whispered once more, as a tear rolled off her face. “I thought I’d lost you.”

“Mad at you?” Jake’s voice went up an octave, as he leaned over her. “I’m disappointed in you. The little…” he paused and bit his lower lip; “the little angel on my shoulder turned against me.”

“I didn’t mean to.” She sighed, shaking her head sideways. “I love you, Jake. I miss you…”

“No, Holly.” He forced an emphatic tone into his voice. “You don’t. If you love someone, you trust him. You just admitted you never did.”

“I can’t imagine my life without you,” she sniffled, as her right hand slid down his face and his chest, “without this face; without this heart; your kind heart, Jake.”

“You failed me.” He let out a deep, painful whisper, as more tears streamed down his face. “You thought I was false.”

“Don’t take this away from me.” Holly’s pleading voice flooded his heart with sorrow. “Don’t throw away something you know is so good.”

“You did that the other night.” Jake responded, his voice wobbly, as she stroked his cheeks.

“Baby, please don’t…” He didn’t allow her to finish her sentence. Overwhelmed with emotion, he lifted his hand and put his fingers over her moist lips. Then, he bent his head down towards her and pushed his forehead onto hers.

“Goodbye, Holly.” He whispered, squeezing his eyes shut, as he laid a soft kiss on her forehead. Her grip loosened, before she dropped her arms. Jake moved around her and walked out of the storage room, her painful screams echoing back at the walls of the hallway. Part of him wanted to go to her, hug her, kiss her and tell her everything was fine between them. But he would do no such thing. Her lack of faith had broken his heart. To him, she was now a completely different person than the girl who had captured his heart. The Holly he had fallen in love with had protected him from himself, helped and supported him. She had nothing to do with the enraged woman who had accused him of being unfaithful to her.

“Don’t say that word, girl. You never loved me. I can see that now. If you did, you’d have given me a chance to defend myself. But, you didn’t. You never trusted me, not even when I said I would never get back together with her. I’m sorry, Holly. You let your insecurities wreck what we had…”