Bed Sheets

31. Ruined Ink

"Draven H. Malcom and Eric Valence were spotted together at the funeral for Eric's friend, Melissa Little who passed away on Monday from suicide—"

Draven immediately shut the television. He had heard enough of all of this, but he had not expected hearing the insane knocking on his door in the morning. He was still grouchy, and was moments from starting to get ready for work when he opened the door.

When Adelina's gaze met his, he slammed the door shut; he had enough of being tied with her. At first, it was quick sex, whenever he felt horny he could call her and she would come before he could even finish his call. However, now she was merely annoying him, continuously calling him asking if they could live together again.

He rolled his eyes when he heard, "You better open this door right now. Who do you think you are, slamming the door in my face—"

"Go away!" he shouted, reaching his bedroom and hearing her pound even more. Her screams were going to be heard by the neighbours, and as he fixed the tie on his shirt, he cursed under his breath before opening the door, "What the hell do you want?"

"Why were you with Eric the whole weekend?" she screeched.

Draven furrowed his brows, "I wasn't with Eric the whole weekend, I only kept him company Sunday and Monday."

"Then why weren't you answering my calls—"

"Because I was at a damn funeral home you moron," he growled, shaking his head, "What do you want anyway?"

"You can't go back to him," she hissed, gritting her teeth.

Draven raised an eyebrow, "I'm not going back to you either."

"You said we don't need to get the divorce—"

"Because of your financial state, you can't afford a divorce," he mocked, turning his back on her and heading for his bedroom, "and I worked really hard for all that I've achieved; I don't want you to have half of my assets."

Adelina folded her arms and raised her chin, "That's not the only reason you didn't go through with the divorce: you love me—"

Draven snorted, "You're delusional."

She blinked, pausing for a moment before her face flared red, "You do love me."

"I don't love you," he laughed, "I stopped loving you the day we separated—"

"Why are you being rude to me again?" she sighed stressfully, raising an eyebrow in her direction, "Is it because of that fool?"

"He just lost an important person in his life," Draven glared in her eyes, "Can't you be a bit more sensitive?"

"She was probably a whore who had nothing going for her life," Adelina scoffed dismissively, which caused Draven's entire body to stiffen.

Neither of them had noticed that Eric was standing by the doorway, until he cleared his throat. When Draven realized Eric had heard that, he approached him rapidly, "I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"What are you doing here?" Adelina hissed, pushing past Draven and scrutinizing Eric's features. "The reason my husband is being extremely arrogant to me is because of you—"

"Alright!" he exclaimed, turning to face Adelina.

However, Eric for the first time, retorted against Adelina. He had enough of her; she disrupted the visitations, insulted Melissa although she had never met her. Hence why, his teeth gritted and he hissed, "Why don't you shut up for once? You're just a bitch."

"Excuse-me?" she yelped, taking a step back in horror. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"None other than you—"

"Okay this isn't happening," Draven shouted, placing himself in between Eric and Adelina who challenged each other with how much of a death glare they could send.

Adelina inhaled sharply, "You're just angry because you lost the man you loved because of your foolish behaviour."

"And you're mad because you tried to come back but he doesn't even love you—"

"He does love me!" she shouted, "That's why he didn't follow through with the divorce!"

"Or maybe because you were an easy whore!"

"How dare you say that to a woman—!"

"Okay!" Draven screamed at the top of his lungs, the last syllable lingering on for a few seconds before he stopped screaming. He glanced at both of them, who were each breathing ferociously, wanting to devour each other more.

However, Draven was not going to let that happen. He wrapped his arm around Adelina's lower back and shoved her, gently, outside. As she yelped, stumbling forward, he grabbed Eric by his collar and threw him inside the condo. When Adelina realized what was happening, it was too late, since the door was already closed in her face.

She continued to pound on the door, "I swear to you, I will break this door down." Draven placed his palm over Eric's mouth, mouthing for him to stay quiet. Adelina continued, "Draven, let me back in right now!"

When only silence returned, she growled but then stomped away, reaching the elevator and leaving the building. That was about half an hour later, and when Draven went to check outside, a sigh of relief when she was gone.

He faced Eric, "She's a nightmare."

"I thought you two were—"

Draven shook his head, "The news always trust the stories; I ended the divorce process since my assets would've been handed to her. After all the years I put in, giving it on a silver plater is something I need to think about."

Eric frowned, "She was in your office when I came that one time—"

"I hadn't had sex for a while," Draven crossed his arms, "and I don't do fandoms. She was willing, so..."

Eric nodded his head slowly, the air a bit awkward but he reached for something in his back pocket. When he made the object appear, extending it to Draven, he was not surprised to see Draven frowning, "What is this?"

He grabbed the envelope, Eric not responding and he opened the envelope, seeing a card. The card said thank you, and as he opened it, there was a paragraph and Draven chuckled when a gift card fell, "Sex store gift certificate?"

"Read what it says on it," Eric chuckled.

Draven turned the gift card and laughed, "For lube?"

"It was a bit rough the first time we did it," they both cackled and Draven glanced towards him.

"You think you're funny, huh?" He then placed the gift card aside, and the laughter stopped. He began reading the paragraph in the thank you card, and his face fell.

"Dear Draven H. Malcom,

I wanted to properly say thank you. You gave me an opportunity that I never thought I could find, and naming me your co-author was music to my ears, a tune I had been waiting to hear for years. I'm sorry we didn't end up the way we wanted, but one thing for certain is that I love you, from the bottom of my heart. The point of this letter is to tell you I'm leaving; I'm going back to live with Melissa's aunt. She invited me to stay with her for some time, and I agreed since being alone here would be toxic for me. Justin hasn't come around at all either; please keep an eye on him for me.

When you read this, I'll probably have left by now. I just wanted you to know that I was sorry for breaking your heart. You deserve the world.

P.S - I got jealous every time I saw you with Adelina.

Love you, always,
- Eric."

There was a small drawing of a heart, and Draven's palms began shaking, although he chuckled at the end. Eric only knew he was crying quietly when he saw a teardrop fall on the card, the ink becoming a mess at the heart.