Tetris in Red

40: Tetris in a Run

40: Tetris in a Run

Rhys

I crane my neck from side to side.

I've been working on a project for the past hour that I'm starting to ache in all the wrong places. I set my laptop aside and throw my body on my bed, stretching when I do so. The snapping of my bones has never felt so satisfying after being in the same position for so long.

An exhausted sigh leaves me and I make no move, allowing myself to be submerged in the peace and quiet of my room.

The stillness feels so foreign now that I'm back in my own world. Alec's world has been a flurry of sounds, cheers, endless conversations and many, many people that I almost drowned in it. I have been living inside this apartment for seven years, being confined in it has been my kind of comfort. But the last two days I've been here, I found myself agitated for the lack of anything to do.

When Cyprus dropped me on the main road, I had felt so lost the moment he drove away from me. It seems as though he took away a piece of me that I may or may not be able to get back. I enabled myself to shed a few tears then, finally realizing that everything I built for myself was shaken so much that only a few of me had survived.

It was also then that I understood where Cyprus was coming from.

I've been so mad about him that I couldn't get past the glares, the lewd remarks and his actions with me that made me uncomfortable. Sure, I shouldn't have felt guilty. Sure, what I did, calling them out for stealing and using my works for profit wasn't wrong. But they are also artists who struggled to build their career from scratch and almost had no say in it. It was only right for them to feel threatened and try to get rid of me.

But this also doesn't mean I'm going to give up.

I'll still fight for my right and reclaim my work for a fair amount, especially now that they've tarnished my reputation. I knew that somehow the dirt they instilled on my name will affect the way I'm viewed by my prospective clients.

Aside from that, I have to consider Alec and I's relationship. What do I want? Where do we go from here? Can we go back from here?

These are some questions I have pondered a million times but haven't come to any conclusion yet.

I glance to my side when my phone vibrates with an incoming message. I hate that I know who it is without looking. He's been calling and texting me for the past two days, sending me questions I'm not ready to answer. I haven't returned anything yet. I don't want to give him answers I'm still not certain of. 

I'm only protecting my heart. I don't want to regret anything and spend my life getting hurt over it. At the same time, I want to take a risk with him. But everything is so new between us, too. I can't say if it's worth it. Is it?

My phone vibrates again. I reach out to grab it.

'Just checking again. How are you doing, love? Cyprus told me about what happened two days ago. You should've asked me to drive you. I would have. I would have let you go.'

I look up from the text message. My throat suddenly feels thick. I already know that. God, did I know that. I was a coward, then.  Facing him would have me second-guessing my decision. We needed our time apart. We needed to think without each other's influence.

The second text is much longer. 'The house feels so empty. There's no Tetris Posziel telling us to bugger off and get off our rockstar horses. The rockstar things have never felt so boring without your know-it-all remarks. Let's talk soon. At your own time.'