Angel eyes

Part twenty three

Jess's p.o.v

Me "You really are a cluts" Ryan stood up, holding the ring he'd just dropped. R "Thanks!" I took the ring from him and examined it closely. Me "It's beautiful Ryan." R "You really like it?" Me "It's perfect." He turned to the sales assistant, R "I guess I'll take it." She took the ring, polished it and boxed it up.

Me "Elsa's gonna flip when she sees it." I'd helped him pick out an engagement ring for his girlfriend Elsa. They'd been dating for about a year and I'd been teasing him for months that she was the one. Me "You guys are gonna be so happy." R "That's if she says yes..." Me "She will! She adores you and she knows how much you love her." R "I do Jess...so much."

He swatted at my arm, playfully. R "Anyway...you're next!" Me "What?!" R "You and Shannon, I've heard you guys on the phone and you light up when you talk about him." Me "We're nowhere near that yet. We haven't even said the L word." R "But you do don't you?...Love him I mean." me "Well...I..." R "Yeah, I thought so." My head was reeling, did I love Shannon? We'd not been together that long, but when I thought about him, my heart swelled. Standing there, I realised...I'd been in love with Shannon Leto since our eyes first met.

Later that afternoon I called Shannon. I longed to hear his voice. No answer, I left a message saying I'd try again later and I missed him.  Later that night, I checked my phone, nothing from Shannon. I tried him again, straight to voice mail. I left another message asking him to call me back. Two days and 3 messages later, I still hadn't heard from him. We'd never not spoken for so long. I didn't want to seem the needy girlfriend, but I was getting worried. I called his phone...straight to voice mail again. I decided to call Tomo, just to see what the hell was going on.

T "Err hey Jess, sorry I can't really talk right now." me "T, is everything OK? I've not heard from Shannon in a few days and I'm getting worried. " T "Yeah...he...err...we've just busy, that's all. You know,  concerts, interviews, that kind of stuff." I quickly went from worried to pissed. I knew he had a busy schedule, but he couldn't spare two minutes to return my calls or drop me a text, so at least knew he was alive. I heard Shannon's voice in the background. Me "Put Shannon on the phone." There was muffled voices. T "Sorry Jess, he's...err...not here right now." What the fuck? Me "Tomo, I can hear him, now give him the fucking phone." my voice was calm yet threatening and Tomo knew me well enough not to fuck with me when I was angry.

I heard muffled voices again, like arguing, then Shannon's voice. S "What?" He sounded angry...so was I, Me "What the fuck do you mean 'what'? I've not heard from you in days. I've been worried something happened to you. Why haven't returned any of my calls?" Silence. Then a horrible thought crossed my mind. Me "Look, I know our situation isn't ideal, but if you'd had enough, you could have least called me to say it was over. Not just ignore me. I deserve better than that Shannon." My voice started to break and tears threatened to fall.

S "Seriously? You're trying to put this on me? I'm not the one who gave up on us Jess. I'm not the one who's been lying and sneaking around." Me "What the fuck are you talking about?" I know Jess...about you and Ryan." Me "I told you we're just friends." The tears rolled down my cheeks. Nothing was going on, why didn't he believe me. Was he just using Ryan as an excuse to break up?" He took a deep breath, his voice trembling. S "I saw you Jess"

I was confused. Me "I don't understand, you saw what?" S "I went to New York to surprise you. I followed you and Ryan and saw him get down on one knee. Why would he propose if there was nothing going on?" My confusion turned to anger. Me "You followed me? Why would you do that?" S "Oh no, you have no right to be angry with me! You lied, you cheated." Me " Shannon...no...I..." S "What was I, a distraction?" Me "Shannon...please...I can explain!" I was sobbing down the phone. S "Save your crocodile tears for someone who cares Jess." The phone went dead and he was gone.

My body crumpled to the floor. What just happened? The thought of losing Shannon broke my heart, but I was so angry because I knew I'd done nothing wrong. I tried to call him, but straight to voice mail. I had an idea. I scrolled through the Internet until I found what I needed. I called Tomo. T "Jess...look...I don't want to get in the middle of this..." Me "Put him on the phone Tomo." I heard Shannon in the background, his voice was angry. S "Tell that fuckin whore to piss off back to her fiance!" That was it, even if I managed to tell him the truth, I wasn't sure I wanted him back.

Me "When Mr high and mighty has finished being a dick, I've sent you a link. Tell him to read it and I'll wait for his apology. Although now I'm not so sure I'll except it." I hung up and put my face in my hands and wept.