Flames Between Us (bxb) | ✔

Chapter Thirty Two

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MICAH BLEU

It felt like it took me hours to get home, I didn't even bother listening to any music or scroll through my phone. I just stared ahead at the tube window and wished that everything was somehow different. That this wasn't my life and in a parallel universe everything was actually fine.

But it wasn't. Everything was far from fine.

My eyes pricked with tears but I refused to let them fall, especially not on London transport. I would die from the sheer embarrassment if anyone saw me break down in tears.

I knew going to work would be hard, seeing Weston would be hard. In a way I convinced myself that it would get easier, over time. But that was such a fucking lie.

It had been over a week since I'd been back to work after the leak through the office ceiling, every work day I saw Weston without fail. And every time it made me crumble to the floor with sadness.

Theo, Lauren and Abi could clearly sense the tension between us. My moping wasn't doing me any favours but I couldn't help it, coping without him was hard but then having to see him everyday was harder.

I could tell that he wanted to speak to me but neither of us really knew what to say.

What was there to say? We were no longer together and communicating was only going to ruin my progress. The first weeks are the hardest, by far but once I had managed to deal with my emotions and severely broken heart, I should be on the mend.

Hopefully. Secretly praying that's how it works.

I finally manage to pull myself off the tube, almost missing my stop all together with how much over-thinking I had been doing. My feet drag my sorry ass up to my apartment, releasing my key from my pocket and pushing open the front door.

Valentina was sat at the dining table with her laptop, clearly doing overtime. She glances up at me and offers a smile, my hand shutting the door behind me. "Hey," she says as I drop my jacket and bag to the floor.

She watches me carefully as I take slow steps over to the table, dragging out the chair which was opposite and sitting down with a thud.

"Are you okay?" She questions as she shuts her laptop, resting her elbows on the edge of the table.

I shake my head and wipe my eyes. "No," my voice cracks. "Not really."

"Weston?"

My head nods and I drop my eyes down to the table, finding my hands in front of my body. I dig into the skin around my fingernails and pull at the strands.

Valentina leans over to grab my hands, stopping me from destroying my nailbeds. "What's going on in your mind?" She asks.

I glance up at her after a few seconds. A deep sigh releasing from my lips as I push back into the chair. "I can't work at Neptune anymore," I mumble. "I know what I got myself in for when I started dating Weston when I joined the company. I thought I could handle this if something like this ever happened."

Valentina frowns at my words but remains silent.

"I thought I could but I can't. Seeing him everyday is ruining my healing process, my mental health is spiralling and I feel like I'm trapped. I think it's going to get easier but it doesn't, it's harder than ever. To even want to get up and go to work." I huff out before burying my head into my hands and releasing a fresh batch of tears.

"Hey," Valentina whispers as I could hear the chair scrape the floor. She perches down beside me and slides her hand over my shoulder and down my arm. "You need to do what is best for you. But whatever you do, don't just quit. Find a job first and give yourself some security."