51. CHAPTER 51
SEBASTIAN
I couldn’t recall how I got to the bar or how much I had drunk, but I was completely wasted—and I didn’t even care.
I had ruined the best thing in my life, completely destroyed it like I destroyed everything.
I picked up the bottle of whisky, swigging on it. The bartender wasn’t happy, but he knew me, so he left me to it—it didn’t hurt that he knew he’d get a great tip.
I felt a hand squeeze my shoulder and turned my head to see a blonde sitting on the stool next to me, smiling.
“You look like you could do with some company,” she said, sipping on her wine.
I looked down at her hand on my shoulder. It felt wrong of her to touch me.
“You look like you need another drink,” I told her, signalling to the bartender.
“I’m Chanel,” she said, holding her glass out as the bartender returned with another glass of wine.
“Sebastian,” I said, holding the bottle up and downing some more.
She leaned in, closer to my ear. “Should we go somewhere more private?”
Before I could answer, someone else spoke. “He won’t be going anywhere with you,” Hayden said. “Run along, now.” He smiled at her.
She looked at me, then back to Hayden, screwing her face in disgust as she huffed, pushing past him.
“What are you playing at?” he asked me, narrowing his eyes.
“I don’t even fucking know anymore. I fucked up big time,” I told him. “How did you even know I was here?”
“You didn’t answer any of my calls, and neither did Aria, so I called the bar.” He nodded towards the bartender.
What a snake.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, trying to focus on the missed calls. Five from Hayden and one from Aria.
“I need to see her,” I told him, trying not to sway as I got off the stool.
“No, you need to sober up,” he firmly told me.
I guess I did need to sober up before I saw her. I doubted she’d see me like this. I pulled a load of money out of my back pocket, giving it to the bartender. I nodded at Hayden as we made our way to the door.
I stumbled through Hayden’s front door, staggering through the hall and into the living room. I stood at the door-frame, holding my arms out.
Serfina looked up from the sofa, screwing her face up. “Jeez, Hayden, why did you bring him back here like this?”
Hayden pushed past me in the doorway. “I couldn’t leave him.” He shrugged, sitting on the sofa next to her.
I stumbled further into the living room, slumping down on the sofa, right next to Serfina. She was easy to wind up, and right now I needed some entertainment.
“Urgh, you stink of whisky.” She pushed me away, getting up and sitting in the chair opposite.
I pulled my phone out of my pocket, trying to focus my eyes on the screen as I scrolled to find Aria’s number. There it was. I pressed the call button, putting it to my ear. It went straight to voicemail. Aria never had her phone go to voicemail. No matter what, she would always answer my calls.
I said as much to Hayden and Serfina.
“I mean, I wouldn’t want to talk to you in this state,” she said, waving her hands at me.
“It’s late; maybe she’s just asleep,” Hayden said.
“No, she never has her voicemail on,” I said, unsure why it wasn’t even ringing. “I need to see her.” I stood up, trying not to fall back down with how drunk I was.
“Ok, sit down. I’ll get you some coffee,” Serfina said, standing up and making her way out of the living room.
“What did you do?” Hayden asked me.
I sat back down on the sofa, rubbing my face with my hand. “She found the file on Jason. We argued, and I said things I shouldn’t have,” I tried to explain. “I need to see her. I need to make it right.”
“We will. You just need to sober up first,” Hayden told me, placing his hand on my back.
“I love her. I can’t lose her.”
I hadn’t even told Aria I loved her yet, but the words felt natural as they rolled off my tongue. I needed to fix this, make her see I was sorry and how much I was in love with her.
I sat in the passenger seat of Hayden’s car outside Aria’s. The fireworks were still randomly going off at 1 a.m. I dialled her number one last time. Voicemail again.
The air was cold, crisp, my warm breaths making clouds when I breathed out. My eyes flickered to a bang in the sky, golds and blues sparkling in the dark.
“Are you sure you want to go up?” Hayden asked.
I was. I wasn’t going to lose her—not long after finding her again. I wasn’t going to give up on us. I nodded at Hayden, and he followed me to the main entrance. I let us in with my set of keys and slowly walked up the stairs, Hayden behind, making our way to the first floor.
As we got closer to her door, something didn’t look right.
It was slightly open.
My heart started to race. What if something had happened to her? I looked back at Hayden once more before I pushed the door fully open and walked in cautiously, turning the light on.
Her flat was completely trashed.
I charged through the hall to the bedroom. She wasn’t there.
“Sebastian,” Hayden called from the living room.
I bolted back in. He was holding her smashed phone in his hand.