Chapter Two - Thalia
CHAPTER TWO
Thalia
“WHAT DO WE think of putting this here?” I ask, stepping back, holding onto my glass of wine as Blake looks at it from where she stands next to me.
“Where else could you put it?” she questions, putting her hands on her hips. I point to a corner farther to the right as Blake tilts her head to eye the space thoughtfully. “I’d keep it here. It looks good where it’s at, but I don’t know. You and Penelope are the professionals.”
The opening of our gallery isn’t for another few weeks so I still have some time to decide on the placement of everything.
Penelope comes out from the back part of the gallery, a perplexed look on her face. “Uh, so I’m trying not to jump to conclusions, but can you explain to me why Sebastian Walker is calling you?”
I can’t help but laugh. That’s a good joke considering we haven’t spoken in months. If I had it my way, I’d never see him again. “He wouldn’t be. Why would you even try to joke about that? ”
“Because he’s calling you now,” Penelope says, holding my phone up to show me the screen.
I look at Blake who is just as confused as I am before we make the same connection. Something had to have happened to Owen if Sebastian is willing to call me.
She pulls her phone out as I take mine from Penelope, accepting the call. “Hello?” I wait a moment, but I don’t hear a response. I can feel my anxiety rising in my chest for more than one reason, but mainly out of concern for my brother. “Sebastian? Did something happen to Owen?” I ask, trying to keep my voice calm as Blake waits for my brother to answer her call.
And then I hear his familiar deep voice that is still capable of sending shivers down my spine. “What? Owen’s fine or at least he was when I left the stadium earlier.”
“Then why the hell are you calling me?” The edge in my voice is unmistakable as Blake shakes her head and gives me a thumbs-up, telling me that Owen is just fine. What the fuck is going on? “Actually, I don’t care. Goodbye .”
“Wait! Please, don’t hang up,” Sebastian blurts out quickly.
Is he fucking serious right now? Please don’t hang up? How about don’t fucking call me again.
“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t hang up. Make it good, Sebastian.”
Penelope looks very concerned by the tone of my voice as Blake steps away to talk to Owen. I don’t blame Penelope for being worried. I was a wreck after Mimi’s funeral, but over the last few months, the hurt turned to a simmering rage that I’ve kept at bay by not being in the same vicinity as Sebastian. I still kept my mouth shut because as pissed as I am at him, if I told Owen what Sebastian said to me that day, I don’t know for certain he’d be able to look the other way again.
I remember vividly how he came to me after Sebastian and I fell apart, and Owen tried to pick my side. I wouldn’t let him. Even after Sebastian broke my heart, I couldn’t let him lose Owen too. I love my brother for trying, but I’d never ask him to pick me over his best friend.
“I need to ask you for a favor.”
“Excuse me?” I can’t help the laugh that escapes from my mouth. “Fuck you.” I’m being childish, but he fucking deserves it. Chris isn’t going to believe me when I tell him this.
“Thalia, please.”
I’m not sure what it is about Sebastian saying please, but I stop my pacing that I hadn’t even realized I’d begun. It’s pathetic that a simple six-letter word can make my willpower crumble. “What do you need from me that you can’t get from someone else?” I ask roughly, my voice shaking in disbelief. I should hang up. Sebastian and I are bad for each other, and nothing good will come of this.
I hear him sigh on his end. “Just don’t hang up until I’m finished. I know I have no right to ask you this, but Kiera is hell-bent on having you as…our wedding photographer. She loved the photos from Owen’s wedding, and I’ve tried to talk her out of it, but Kiera insisted I call you.”
My brain glitches, trying to process this ridiculous request. I’m not sure what I expected him to say, but I’m really wishing I’d hung up when I had the chance. He’s crazy. That’s the only explanation. Sebastian has officially lost his goddamn mind. That was the last thing I expected to come out of his mouth. I mean, seriously? He has the nerve to ask me to photograph his wedding without apologizing for what he said to me at Mimi’s funeral. For fuck’s sake, I was there to…well, it doesn’t matter what I was there to do.
“Why the fuck would I want to do that? I’m not a wedding photographer, find someone else,” I snap, setting my glass on the ground before I throw it or spill it. Penelope’s eyes bug out of her head as she stares at me questioningly.
“I don’t blame you. I know it’s not fair of me to ask this of you, but I’ll do anything. Name your price,” Sebastian begs. The petty part of me wishes I could record this and play it on a loop through the speakers. It’d be a better piece of artwork than anything I could ever display here. Music to my ears.
I run a hand through my short hair, resisting the urge to pull it out. “I don’t need your money, Sebastian. I have plenty of my own.”
My career exploded after Africa. I had a steady income due to my year in France, but my phone never stopped ringing afterward. I pick the jobs I want, and I’ve had the freedom to go where I want. I spent a better part of the last two and a half years in Europe, but when Owen told me that Mimi wasn’t going to last much longer, I finished out my obligations before coming back. From there, I decided to stay and open a gallery to be closer to my family. After it’s up and running, I’ll be able to travel again, but for now, I want to set down roots. Thankfully, Penelope came with me and is my partner in the gallery.
“I know, I’m just— I’m desperate, Thalia. I’ll do anything you want if you agree, I promise.”
I fall silent because what do I want from Sebastian? The only thing I want is nothing. It’s more painful than anything knowing that the boy I grew up with and the man I loved is gone. He’s not that person anymore.
“If I agree— and this is a really big if —I want you to leave me alone. For good, Sebastian. Delete my number and anything that ties us together. If we’re in the same room, you pretend I don’t exist. You can have Owen’s friendship and I’ll share my parents with you, but nothing else. I mean it when I say I want nothing to do with you.” You broke my heart, is what I don’t say. Sebastian broke it the night he walked away from me after proposing without having a single conversation with me. I waited a week for him to come back before I packed my bags and left. He broke it again the same day we were at Mimi’s funeral and he told me that I was the worst thing that almost happened to him.
I turn away from my friends because I can’t bear to see their expressions. I know what an awful idea this is, but I’m done. I’m ready for it to be over.
I hear the whoosh of his exhale, and my heart thumps painfully in my chest. “I don’t blame you for wanting nothing to do with me. I promise I’ll leave you alone,” he says finally, and I take a deep breath.
I wish I could say no to Sebastian, but this is too good of a deal to pass up. “Have Kiera call me. You’re lucky I’m a better person than you are, but don’t ever fucking call me again.” I hate who Sebastian has become, but I have no ill will toward Kiera. In fact, I even kinda like the girl. She’s like a little kid you can’t tell no.
“Thank y—” I hang up on him before he can finish saying it, and I really really want to throw my phone. Instead, I opt to pick my glass up to chug the rest of my wine as Penelope and Blake stare at me. They’re probably trying to figure out if they need to admit me to the psych ward for observation.
“Looks like I’m going to a wedding,” I say bitterly, casting a short glare at the portrait from Blake and Owen’s wedding already hanging up. Photographing their wedding was my present to them after Blake all but begged me to. My love for my sister-in-law is what got me into this mess. She sweetened the deal by throwing maid of honor in there, which required me to call in a favor with an actual wedding photographer because I couldn’t be in the wedding and photographing it at the same time. It slipped past my attention that Sebastian would be Owen’s best man when I agreed to it.
Blake’s mouth opens and Penelope slowly inches toward the wine bottle, knowing exactly what kind of a mood I’m in right now. It’s the kind of foul mood that only he can put me in. Fuck , I’m going to regret agreeing to do this. I can feel it already. But, it might be worth it to have Sebastian fucking Walker completely out of my life for good. Does it still count as being out of my life if I’m pretending he’s dead to me when we’re in the same room?
“What the hell did I get myself into?” I mumble under my breath. Penelope hands me the bottle, and I sit on the ground after taking it. I should have fucking let it go to voice mail.
“Thalia, I hate to be the one to point this out, but it’s four in the afternoon. Do we really need to start drinking now?” Blake asks hesitantly, and Penelope plops down on the floor across from me. I never have to ask her twice to day drink with me .
I shake my head, still in disbelief that I agreed. “He asked me to be their wedding photographer. Set the clocks an hour forward if it makes you feel better.”
Blake gasps, finally connecting all the dots. “No way.” She sits on the ground, her eyes wide in astonishment. I’m glad I’m not the only one surprised Sebastian asked me this. “I knew Kiera wanted you to do it, but I tried to tell her it was a bad idea. Wow, I can’t believe he actually called you.”
Penelope pulls the bottle from my hand to drink straight from it before passing it to Blake. I should have asked Blake to grab another bottle since she was the last one standing. “Drink up, B, the look on her face says she isn’t joking.”
Stupid Owen. I never would have answered the phone if I knew he was okay. Too bad I love my brother.
I could always call Sebastian back and tell him I changed my mind and won’t photograph the wedding. I drag my hands over my face. I think I can be a professional, but really? Photographing my ex’s wedding? This might be a new low for me.
“I wanna go back to Europe.” I moan and Blake passes me back the bottle.
Blake smiles sympathetically at me. “I’ll be there, and if it makes you feel better, Owen is driving me nuts.”
“Yeah, but you’re married to him. I didn’t marry Sebastian, and he’s still making my life hell.” I should have taken his offer for an unspecified amount of money. My stupid pride wants to prove a point that I did the right thing prioritizing my career.
“Yeah, I have nothing for you. This sucks,” Penelope says, lying back on the floor.
We sit there for a while, having to get a second bottle of something much stronger that I had hidden away in my office after the wine quickly ran out. The faster the tequila flows, the more chaotic we become.
Blake started tearing up after my brother showed up. “Owen, you’re not going to make me leave right?” Blake pouts, batting her long eyelashes at him.
He lowers himself to the floor next to her, sighing reluctantly. “No, I’m not. I thought I’d come to check on you after the text you sent. Maybe I should take you home since you look like you’re about to cry.”
“Nope, I want to stay, but I want you to stay too.” She leans into him, smiling stupidly like he’s the only one for her. I’m glad they have each other, even if I’m bitter about my own nonexistent love life and reemerging ex-boyfriend.
“I’ll stay,” Owen agrees, looking at me questioningly as if I somehow have answers for him.
“This is your fault.” I scowl, having no qualms currently about blaming my brother for this.
He raises his eyebrows skeptically. “I don’t understand how it’s my fault you’re all drunk. Lia, it’s a Tuesday, and it’s not even six yet. I hope you have a good reason because if that’s Cuervo, you’re going to have one hell of a hangover tomorrow.”
Blake points to the clocks that we ended up setting an hour ahead to make her feel better. “That says it’s almost seven.”
“Well, that clock isn’t right,” he retorts quickly, staring at me for an answer.
“Sebastian called me,” I admit, and his brown eyes widen.
“And you answered?”
I glare at him because this is exactly why it’s Owen’s fault. I wouldn’t have answered if it weren’t for my stupid brother. “Because I thought you were hurt. You’re welcome by the way for caring about you so much I answered. Next time I’ll forfeit my deathbed goodbye to you.” It dawns on me after I say it that per the agreement Sebastian and I struck, he won’t call me again. Sober me would never admit it, but it makes drunk me a little sad.
Owen wraps an arm around Blake’s shoulders while Penelope sits up, grabbing the bottle of tequila again. “I’m touched that you care enough about me that you’d answer a phone call from him. Bash didn’t say anything earlier about needing to talk to you when I was with him.”
“I should have let it go to voice mail.”
“I’m sure whatever he wanted couldn’t have been that bad,” Owen tries to excuse his best friend, causing Penelope to laugh again.
“You really don’t want to say that. It’s like tempting fate,” Penelope says, pulling her dark hair out of her face. She’s been growing it out; at first, I wasn’t sure what to think of it, but it’s grown on me.
My head is spinning like I’m on a carousel I can’t get off. I lie back on the cold floor, and it helps ease the churning in my stomach. I really should have just hung up on him while I had the opportunity. Is it too late to call him back to tell him I changed my mind? I don’t owe Sebastian anything.
“What could he have said that was so bad after all these years since you broke up? Another fuck you? Bash is happy with Kiera so I don’t see him going out of his way to talk to you—”
I cut him off because I’m very aware that he’s happy with her. “Sebastian asked me to be their photographer. Kiera wants me because she loved the ones I took at your wedding so much. ”
And I know how ridiculous it sounds because Owen starts laughing immediately. At least someone is getting a kick out of this; actually, I bet I could kick Sebastian and he wouldn’t be able to say a goddamn thing. After nearly a minute straight of laughter, Owen finally regains control. “Very funny. Now why did he really call you?”
Penelope sighs, and I rub my temples.
“Seriously Owen, do you not realize how no one is laughing but you? That is why he called me,” I say flatly, staring at one of the lights on the ceiling. It’s stupid.
“No. He wouldn’t do that,” Owen insists and I fall silent.
Penelope scoffs, not bothering to hold her tongue. “You better fucking believe that asshole is capable of doing that. Hence the drinking.”
If anyone had tried telling me this morning that I’d be talking to Sebastian fucking Walker for the first time since Mimi’s funeral, I’d tell them they’re bat shit crazy. Maybe I’m the insane one, but I answered the call, though. I have no one to blame but myself.
I had zero intention of fighting with him that day, but I also didn’t expect to find out he and Kiera were engaged. All it did was take me back to the day I told Sebastian not right now and I lost him.
I think it ranks up there pretty high as one of our worst fights. Sometimes I still try to tell myself that I imagined Sebastian thanking me for saying no and that I was the worst thing to almost happen to him. It becomes more awful when you think about all the shitty things he’s dealt with in his life.
Sometimes I drive all the way back to Greensboro to visit her grave, but it’s not the same as when she was alive .
I’ve dated a little bit, my most recent ex is Eric, who played football with Bash and Owen in college. We got together during one of my spurts that I spent in the States, but he didn’t want to do long distance, and I didn’t know when or if I was ever going to be ready to move back. We broke up a month before I got the call that Mimi’s health was declining. I never called to let Eric know I was back.
I have been trying to use this time to heal the parts of me I never took the time to heal initially while Penelope and I work on opening our gallery in Charlotte. I wanted to be close to Blake and Owen, and Penelope agreed, taking a sabbatical from her job in Paris and the next flight here.
She was my call after the funeral, but I didn’t tell her what he said. Sebastian would cease to exist if Penelope found out. We’re currently renting a house together that’s a few miles away from the gallery.
I’m not sure how I’m supposed to heal when I’m exposing myself to further pain and heartbreak, but I guess I’ll have to figure it out.
I should have picked a different city. One where pictures of my ex aren’t on a building or billboard everywhere I look.
I’m such a fucking idiot.