Better off without him

Chapter 14 - Xavier

I woke up to the sound of footsteps running past my bedroom door and stomping. I looked at the alarm clock on my bedside dresser and saw that I had only been asleep for an hour and a half. Guess Tristan was up and running. I got out of bed, went to my ensuite and washed the remnants of sleep from my face before standing in front of the bathroom mirror staring at my reflection for a little while.

I've been told a million times that I'm the carbon copy of my father, tall, fairly tanned skin, deep blue eyes, midnight black hair, a sharp square jaw and a long nose hooked over continually pursed lips. Only difference between my father and I was that I was quite muscular in stature because of the hours I worked out at the gym and one of my favourite pastimes is rowing. I had no problems with the female population but they all start to look the same after a while.

I haven't had a steady girlfriend since high school and that relationship lasted three long tiresome months. They say men are vain, but my last girlfriend Erica was extremely vain. She took hours to get ready, and spent most of her time talking about new creams, hair products and different makeup brands. It was no wonder we didn't last. What she lacked in the brains department, she made up for with her looks; which is what had the male population, including myself vy for her attention. Looking back at it now, all my past hookups, since Erica, have been almost exactly like her - beautiful but lacked character.

I cane to the realisation that I was nearing thirty and it's been almost ten years since my last proper relationship. My parents were married at 21 straight out of university and now my sister who's only 24 will be getting married in the next two months. I didn't even know if I wanted to get married or not. Most of my friends were lifelong bachelors like myself. Women flocked towards us and we didn't have to worry about any heartbreak or attachments because they knew the score.

There was another bellow of laughter just outside my room which snapped me out of my little epiphany.

Getting old with nothing to show for it sucked big time.

I made my way out of the room and Tristan almost barrelled into me with Alexander hot on his heels wearing a scream mask over his face chasing after him. I shook my head at the two and laughed. This is the most lively that it's ever been in my house and it was nice.

As I continued down the corridor towards the living room I heard voices, and as I got closer I knew it was Macy and Harper chatting in hushed tones. When I entered they both looked up at me in stunned silence. Harper looked down at her hands playing with her bracelet while Macy looked like she was ready to kill me - this shocked me because I don't know what I've done to have her look at me so murderously.

"Hey sis, whats up?" I asked hoping to get an answer as to why I was receiving the look she was giving me.

"Macy, I told you it's got nothing to do with him so leave it," Harper mumbled to Macy whose eyes were still hooked on me.

Macy whipped her head back in Harper's direction, "Don't lie to me Harp. I know he's to blame, don't think I'm blind to the way he's been treating you and you just sit there and take it."

"I swear, he's been nothing but kind to me my whole stay here. I just feel like...I just need my own space. I have been thinking about this for some time and I think nows the right time for me to figure things out on my own," Harper pleaded.

Macy hmphed and looked defeated, "I'm sorry for overeating Harp, but it's so sudden and your house isn't close to being done, where will you go?"

By now I was confused about the conversation going on between the two. Where was Harper going?

"I've made some phone calls and I've been looking at places that I can rent for a short time and I've found quite a few apartments that are close to school and the bakery so I should be fine. There's good transportation networks like the bus stop and train station that are within walking distance and I can always Uber or catch a taxi. You seriously don't need to worry about me Mace. Your parents and your brother have been so kind to offer me a place to stay for such a long time and I'll always be grateful to them for that," Harper argued.