The fear of commitment has become a serious epidemic and it has brought nothing but trouble into Reagan Parker's life. She always assumed she would be married by the time she turned thirty. Well her thirtieth birthday is only a year away and her bo...
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"Austin?" Reagan was surprised to find him standing outside of her apartment with a bouquet of flowers. She stepped out into the hallway, leaving the door ajar, "What are you doing here?"
He looked completely out of sorts, "I tried to calling and texting you but you didn't answer."
"Oh? I'm sorry. I was in the middle of something. Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah. Everything is fine." He paced a little before turning and holding out the flowers for her, "Here. I got these for you, earlier..." Reagan looked from him to the beautiful roses, reaching out and taking them from him with a look of confusion on her face.
"Thank you. They are beautiful, Austin. Not to seem ungrateful for the gift but why are you bringing flowers to my apartment at like ten o'clock at night?" Reagan couldn't help but feel lost in the strange moment that was transpiring. None of what was happening made any sense to her.
He turned from her and began to pace back and forth, "Are you sure you're okay? You're not having some kind of breakdown are you?" She was growing concerned by his odd behaviour. It wasn't normal for him to behave in this way, at least not from what she had seen in the months of knowing him.
"Reagan, listen...the thing is..." Her whole being froze at the sound of her name on his lips. He had never called her by her name once since they met. In almost a year of knowing each other, this was the first time.The door opened behind her and whatever Austin had been about to say died on his tongue. The expression on his face went from shock to betrayal.
"Everything okay?" Ethan asked from behind her.
Reagan twisted around, "Yeah. Do you mind giving us a minute?" He held her gaze for a moment, looking over her to Austin before moving back into her apartment.
"That guy again? Really?" Austin sneered at her as turned around to face him, "I thought you were smarter than that, Red. I guess I was wrong about you." Back to calling her by the stupid nickname. He spun away from her without another word, marching down the hallway as if he couldn't get away fast enough.
The whole situation had her feeling on edge, "Austin, wait." She followed after him, struggling to keep up with his long strides, "It's not what you think. I didn't know that he was going to come here, he just showed up. He wanted to talk."
"Is that what the kids are calling it these days?" His tone was sharp and insinuating. It was the first time he had ever talked her like that since they had met. He may have been a pig in the beginning but they had grown close over the past couple of months. They had shared things with each other, deep things that had meant something.
She reached out for his arm, pulling at him, "What was I supposed to do, he flew all the way here to talk to me. I wasn't going to turn him away without hearing him out." She couldn't understand what had gotten into him. Why the hell was he acting this way?
He pulled away from her touch, running his hand through his hair, "Why did you need to hear him out? What could he possibly have to say that mattered anymore?"
It was a good question and one that she didn't have the answer too. She had been surprised when Ethan had been there waiting for when she had got home from work. It had been like in the movies and somehow she had got caught up in the moment. It was true, though, she didn't plan to let Ethan's sweeping gesture win her back. She had grown past him and past the concepts that he represented to her.
"God, you're so blind sometimes, Reagan." There was her name on his lips again. For the second time in the past five minutes.
"What are you talking about? Why did you come here, Austin? Why did you give me these?" She waved the bouquet back and forth.
Austin looked to the flowers as if disgusted with himself, "It doesn't matter why I came. It was a mistake." he went to turn from her again but Reagan moved quickly stepping into his pathway. She couldn't let him leave without telling her the reason he had come.
Something in her screamed that she needed to know, "Don't leave like this...tell me..Why did you come here?"
"Because I love you, Reagan." He shouted it at her in anger, eyes full of hurt. The sight of him looking at her like that broke her heart. The fact that she was causing him any kind of pain didn't settle well in her stomach.
He was in love with her?
"You really didn't know, did you?" He questioned dryly as if it should have been obvious to her that he had cared for her more than a friend. He had told her that was all he wanted from her, why should she have thought any differently? She shook her head, unable to form any kind of intelligent response.
Austin let out a dark laugh, shaking his head, "I really am an idiot. Goodnight, Reagan. Make sure you put those flowers in some water." He moved passed her, taking the stairwell exit. The sound of the door clicking closed behind him had a finality to it that made her feel like he was saying goodbye instead of goodnight.
