Torn By Two- Book One

Something Wicked This Way Comes- Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

The washcloth was warm on her face as Bennett wiped away her tears, cleansing her.

Her body was still wracked with dry sobs, she was unable to speak, and only able to breathe. She felt alone, in his room, beside him. Completely alone. She understood the consequences of her actions, knew that there was no justification in what she had done. She had been naïve, stupid. Oh so stupid. Even if she had not been with Bennett, he had told her he wanted to try with her. He had not made contact, sure, but he was just as confused as she had been. It didn't seem as though he had been out there at that time searching the depths of The Tiger Bar for someone, but she had ended up with Seth somehow. It was disgusting. Unforgiveable.

The silence stretched out until Emma had calmed down somewhat. Her breathing had slowly returned to normal, and the sobs had ceased. She stared down into her lap, her fingers twisting together, not knowing what happened from here.

"I wish you had told me. I wish it had come from you, not her." Bennett finally spoke up.

Oh? Not her? Elise?

"Did Elise tell you?" Emma's voice was hoarse, dry from throwing up. Thankfully, Bennett had helped her to brush her teeth afterwards, but her throat still burned.

"Yes, she told me. Seth admitted it, too."

"Is that why they called you over there tonight? To tell you?" Emma felt so hurt. Elise was one thing, but Seth, well she had thought of him as a friend.

"No, that's not why," Bennett was seated beside her on the bed, he too, staring down at his hands.

"Elise showed up drunk to work. Jet called me to sort her out. When I told her to leave and that she was fired, she told me that you had slept with Seth just before we got together,"

Emma closed her eyes in disbelief. The bitch. She dared not even look at him.

"So, where do we go from here Bennett? Is this over?" Emma did not want to know, but she had to ask. She could not sit here a minute longer knowing that she was no longer welcome here. In his beautiful home. In his bed. In his arms. In his life. A fresh wave of tears begun to slide down her face, as the realisation of a future without the man she loved took hold and captured her.

Bennett took in the longest, slowest breath Emma had ever heard. It was full of pain, full of worry.

"I can't answer that right now, Emma. I'm hurt. You've betrayed me. I know we weren't together in the sense of the word, but you knew I wanted to have something with you. When I saw you at the Deli, it was not my intention to make you feel as though we were only going to be friends. I know you misunderstood, but this-" He waved a hand between them. " This feels like it's been tainted."

Emma looked over at him. His frown was deep, his face still seemed angry, although Emma knew there was much more emotion than that.

"it's not tainted Bennett. I love you, and only you. Seth never mattered to me, he was only a friend. He turned up drunk, I was drunk and that's it. He was gone the next day and it was over," She was almost pleading, begging him to see it for what it was.

"Why were you drunk? Home by yourself and drunk? Why?" He asked, looking at her. His head was cocked to one side, as he grew suspicious.

She looked down quickly, for the answer was not the one she wanted to tell him. How could she explain that she had been home sobbing her heart out over Adam?

"Were you still crying over Adam? " His voice seemed to rise a notch, as the realisation dawned on him. It sent a shockwave throughout her. She felt him shift in his position. He lifted his knee up on the bed, so he was facing her. Emma felt sick again.

"You were, weren't you? Don't even try to deny it. This whole time, you still wanted him to come back and save you, even when you knew I was interested in you! Didn't you? " Bennett's voice was filled with insecurity, as he raged on.

Emma began shaking once again. She knew the truth was going to spurn her, expose her. The tension in the air, looming heavily over them was palpable.

"No," She lied, and it sounded just like one.

Bennett stood up, walking to the other side of the room. "You have lied enough for one night, don't you think? You tried to hide your little one night stand from me, and now you want to lie about that bastard of an ex boyfriend of yours! If you love him so much, go find him! You never stopped caring about him. Even when I found those photos under your bed, you still were holding on."

He took her by complete astonishment when the next thing he did was cross the room in three short strides, grab her upper arm and lift her roughly off his bed, before pushing her towards the door. She cried out in shock, and burst into tears. This was not him trying to keep her. This was not him trying to get her to listen or to learn her lesson. This was him throwing her out. He was physical with her, but he would not be apologetic later, and it hurt.

She had never seen him like this, but she was not backing down.

"Just go, Emma, I don't want to see you right now," He was beyond anger, beyond enraged.

"You never loved me, not really. You just wanted me because you couldn't have him! If Adam came back tomorrow, you would have him back in your life. You should just go find him,"

"I don't love him, anymore! I love you Bennett, don't you see that? It was a year ago, and so much has changed for us! How can you hold me to how I was when we first met?" Emma yelled, tears streaming down her face. She was desperate. The tears were in her mouth, her nose running, a total mess. She was losing him and it was all she could do not to get on her knees and beg him to stop all this.

"I hold you to the truth, Emma. You were never free of him. Not ever. I don't know what he's done to make you so wrapped up in him, I don't know what he could have ever given you that made you stand by his memory for so long, but you did. I was the fool, and I won't be one anymore,"

"I love you, not him. Not anymore," Emma whimpered.

"You need to just go, Emma. I've had about all I can take," Bennett's reply was cold.

Emma knew she had to keep on trying. It was all she had left to do. She knew she looked horrible, far from the pampered and spoilt rich fiancée that she had become underneath him, but she had to let him see how much she loved him. With a hand shaking so much she could hardly grasp him, she took his hand and squeezed it.

"We have a wedding to plan together, Bennett. We have our future. You and me, together. Please don't let my past mistakes ruin this for us. We'll work it out. We can get through this," She was in pieces before him, a blubbering mess. She felt as pathetic as she must have looked.

Bennett closed his eyes and pried her fingers off him with his other hand.

"You need to just go, Emma. I need time to think about what to do," He was too angry to convince now. Too far gone. Emma knew that the only thing she could do was to leave.

So without another word, she simply turned on her heel.

"I'll call Andy," Bennett voice was subdued.

Emma held her hand up, as she walked away. "Please don't. I will not accept."

She walked out of their room, out of the apartment she shared with him and into the elevator cart. It all happened in slow motion, in milliseconds and in a fog. She stepped into the cart and when the doors closed, she sunk to the floor and howled.

-----------------------------------------------

All she could do was put one foot in front of the other. On and on. The walk to Abby's seemed long, So long and so far.

People were still out and about, it was New York after all, the city that never slept. But she was alone here, in her grief, in her sorrow. The streets were empty to her.

She walked in a daze, a cloud hanging over her head. Everything seemed fuzzy and surreal, like she wasn't even there. One slow step in front of the other. That's how she did it.

This was ruined, her relationship with Bennett. It was broken and damaged, and she knew he would never forgive her now. Why should he? He could have anyone in the world, and here she was, a filthy mess, walking the streets like a derelict, after having betrayed him on so many levels.

She snorted unexpectedly with laughter, a strange, defying laughter, aimed completely at herself. It came from nowhere.

How had she thought, for one minute, that she was worthy of all this? Bennett Dean, multi billionaire, gorgeous, sexy and with the world at his feet. How had she ever believed that she would be the one for him? Studying at Columbia University, a private, Ivy League College that Bennett had not let her father pay for and instead covered her entire expenses. How was she worthy of all that? Holidays in the Hamptons, giant houses in million dollar neighbourhoods, how was she deserving of that? She wasn't.

Ohio never looked so good. She wanted to go home. That was home. Bennett had felt like home, had felt like the place she truly belonged, but it was not. Had it ever been? Probably not. And the further she walked, the more mythical it became, like a dream she had had, a fantasy.

Her heart hurt. Oh, how it hurt. If pining for Adam had been one thing, then pining for Bennett was going to end her. She would wish for him for the rest of her life. There was no doubt about that.

It felt like hours had passed when she found herself at the bottom of the steps at Abby's apartment building. Taking one step at a time, she made her way to the intercom. Still in a daze, in another world.

Just as she lifted her hand to press number twenty eight on the box, the door opened, and a resident walked out and held the door open for her to come inside. She walked inside mechanically.

Looking up to brace herself for the upstairs ascent, she saw him. Standing there.

In her dream like state, her face broke out into a smile that must have made her look like she had lost her mind. She laughed out loud,a strange, cackling, crazy laugh.
For the person before her was surely a dream, surely a mythical creature. But those blue eyes were his, and she would have recognised them anywhere. It was him. He was standing in front if the staircase, his brown hair cut short and blazing blue eyes. All she could notice was his arms, both of them covered in tattoos.

Adam.

"You're here now," She said softly, and her crazy smile spread even wider. "You've come to take me away from this,"

She could not believe that this was happening. Like a knight in shining armour, he was here, in front of her, after all this time. Six years later. Something she had never believed would happen again. Was he going to fix this, make everything go away? Is that why he was here, now? Was he even real? Was this just a dream?

Nothing felt real. Nothing felt like it should. Bennett was gone, and now Adam was here? In his place?

Yes, he can fix this. He will make this pain go away.

She watched as Adam took one step towards her, and it was all she remembered before everything went black.