CAKE

One Hundred Thirty-Three

Kathryn 

Sighing, I place my arm over my eyes, blocking the sun's rays through the blinds. I didn't want to get up. Not just yet. I felt the bed dip beside me forcing me to glance at my company. I can't help but frown as I stare at myself. 

She'd been invading my thoughts and space for the past month. I find it impossible to get away from her these days. Groaning, I place my arm back over my eyes, not in the mood for her shit. She sighs as she lies beside me. "You should be a little happy to see me. Better me than Rai, right?"

"I don't want to see either of you."

"Why? Are you scared of me? I'm just you... the you, you won't show to everyone. I don't get it."

I roll my eyes internally as I roll onto my side, my back facing the hallucination. She laughs, her voice traveling. I didn't even have to open my eyes to know she was back in front of me. "Don't you miss those days, Kathryn? When you were happy and not pretending for the sake of your partner. I mean, you never had to fake with Casey, she could always see right through you."

Clenching my jaw, I try extra hard to ignore it. "You think you got closure. But you didn't, did you? Neither of you wanted that relationship to end but things got in the way and instead of moving on, you both decided to create a mess of things that you can't walk away from now. You're with Mateo and she's with Mallory. And for what? You both know how you feel, everyone else knows how you feel. So why are we prolonging it?"

"Because she hurt me," I voice as I glance at myself.

"So what? You're going to hurt someone else to get what you want?"

"I fell in love. I didn't mean for it to get carried away. I meant to end it. I tried. You know I did."

"Did you? Did you try, Kathryn? Because that looked very half-assed to me. You're not as weak as you keep forcing yourself to be. You can survive outside of a relationship, you just won't allow yourself to."

I eye the woman in front of me. Her chestnut-brown eyes held my gaze with intensity. Our conversation is cut short as knocking on the front door grabs my attention. I glance away from the woman, in slight confusion. 

I force myself out of bed, I check on Antonio before I make my way to the front door. I take a peek through the peephole. Letting out a breath of relief, I unlock and open the door. "You scared the shit out of me. I thought you were a thief," I mutter as I let my best friend in.

Emily glares at me. I offer a smile before furrowing my brows. "How-- How'd you find out where I live now?" I question, wondering how she got here.

"I put a tracker in your truck," she voices with a straight expression. My eyes widen in disbelief at her statement. "Are you serious?" I question, slightly scared of the blonde blue-eyed woman in front of me. 

Em stares at me for a long few seconds before rolling her eyes. "No. But... I had half expected you'd at least have told me you moved. Even if you didn't want to share where you should've told me. What do you think my reaction was when I knocked on your door and a white man I've never seen opened it? I thought he..." She let out a breath, letting me know she freaked out.

I snort and cover my mouth. "Sorry. I meant to tell you. I just..." I glance around, causing her to do the same. She steps further into the apartment. "Well, I texted Mateo and he told me where you guys live... like together."

Smiling, I nod my head. But my smile quickly vanishes as I spot brown eyes staring at me. "Why do you pretend so much, Kathryn?"

"You were so against living together that I thought he was lying. I had to threaten him. I honestly believe that Mateo is scared of me."