Resurfacing

Chapter 42:

The silence in the car was slightly awkward. Jules and I had worked together for a while, but we didn't know much about each other. He made some small talk about work and the crowd. He mentioned Rachel a few times and looked over at me when he caught me trying to hide a smile.

He really had a thing for her.

I made a mental note to ask Rachel what she thought about him. They would be good together. They kind of reminded me of JD and Anna in a less crazy sort of way.

About fifteen minutes later and almost missing the turn into the lot, Jules pulled up to my dark apartment complex to drop me off at the door. I could see both my car and Ezra's in the parking lot, so it meant he must be here. A flood of relief washed over me, knowing he was inside and not out getting in trouble.

"Thanks for giving me a ride." I told Jules when I climbed out of the car. The air was chilly outside and my work shorts did not offer much protection from the wind. I shivered when the cool air hit my skin.

"Make sure you give him some shit for not picking you up." Jules said with a smile back to me.

"You know I will."

I shut the car door behind me. I began walking up to the apartment and unlocked the security door on the outside. I turned and waved at Jules and he turned around to pull out of the parking lot once the door closed behind me.

I checked the mailbox and opened it. A stack of ads and other junk filled the tiny cubby. I groaned and pulled them out quickly, looking to see if there were any bills. Ads, ads, and more junk mail. Most of them had Brynn's name on them.

I walked back towards the security door and looked out the window at the dark parking lot. My eyes looked around and I saw the familiar little silver car parked in Brynn's normal spot. Brynn must have decided to stay in tonight. It didn't mean she didn't bring someone over to mess around with. I could live with her and her crazy lifestyle as long as it meant things were good between us. I still felt so thankful she had forgiven me for keeping the Aiden thing from her.

I climbed the stairs. My feet were still so sore from the long night. If Ezra drove me home, I could have convinced him to carry me up the stairs if he was feeling better. I would have used it as an excuse to run my hands over his hard muscles and tease at him. The next apartment I get will not have three flights of stairs.

I fumbled with my key and placed it in the lock. I was glad I brought my keys tonight. I had been leaving them most nights since Ezra was chauffeuring me around a lot lately. I didn't want to wake up my sleeping house if I didn't have to. I turned the key and opened the door. The lights were on in the living room and the TV was on, but I didn't see Brynn or Ezra. On the coffee table, there were beer bottles, a bottle of Jack, and a few pill bottles.

"What the...?" I went to the coffee table and picked up one of the bottles. The one I picked up happened to be a bottle of Oxy. On the table next to the bottles was a bit of powder. It looked like he had crushed and snorted the pills. My stomach flipped and I felt like I was going to be sick.

He promised me.

He promised me.

He promised me.

Ezra lied to me again.

I threw the bottle down to the ground. Acid was churning in my stomach; Ezra hadn't changed. He was still the same selfish jerk that had hurt me time and time again. My body was shaking with anger towards him. How many times was I going to let him hurt me?

Brynn's door was shut. I wanted to go talk to her to see what I should do. Brynn's room was quiet. She might have been asleep too. After everything we had gone through, I didn't want to wake her up and cry to her about my Ezra problems. I pulled my hands through my hair and bent over, trying to catch my breath. I could feel the fire growing inside of me and I was ready to let it out.