CHAPTER 14
"Oh my God" he facepalmed so hard making me wince as he muttered something under his breath in frustration.
"You cannot seriously be considering this" he said
"Who says I was?" I asked, avoiding eye contact as I moved towards the espresso machine to make myself some coffee.
"You were about to say yes before I walked in Rea" he pointed out.
"How do you know I was about to say yes"
"Because I know you" he snapped at me.
The words hit me harder than they should have. Feeling the irritation rising in my chest. I knew he has my well-being in mind and meant well but he was starting to sound more like my mother and less like my best friend.
"Well maybe you don't know me well enough" I muttered with my back to him as I took a sip of my coffee.
"You're doing it again" he said immediately his finger directed at me, as he stared at me with his eyebrows pulled together.
"Doing what?" I asked,turning around to face him properly now.
"This" he motioned around the room vaguely like that would somehow explain what he was talking about.
"You're doing the thing where you move your whole life just because someone said the right things to you"
I scoffed "That's not what's happening and you know it"
"This could be my ticket to building my life back again"
"You're trying to fuck your life up again for some guy" he said, the words pouring out of his mouth like acid.
"Excuse me?" I asked quietly, my voice no longer steady and my bottom lip twitching.
"That man just asked you to enter a contract marriage like he was offering you a fucking business partnership" Darius laughed bitterly running his hand through his hair.
"It is a fucking business partnership" I yelled at him
The sound of my voice echoing through the empty bakery. I wasn't expecting such a reaction from Darius, I thought he was going to be supportive and tell me how this is a good idea.
I could feel my heart pounding against my ribs now.
"This is exactly what happened with (insert name), you fell for him way too easily and he ended up cheating on you" he said harshly.
The mention of him was like a dagger through the chest.
"This is totally different" I shot back "You didn't even let me explain but I guess it's good to know that you think it's my fault that I got cheated on." I said, my jaw tightening in anger, trying to hold the tears welling up in my eyes back.
"I'm not saying it was your fault, I'm saying you ignored obvious red flags" he replied raising his voice even higher
"Don't" I said, my voice getting dangerously low.
"We all saw them Rea. Every single one of us saw all his flaws and we told you but you still went ahead to marry him"
My entire body went still, like all the air in the bakery has suddenly disappeared leaving me struggling to breathe. I hated how those words kept ringing in my ear.
"And yet you smiled in my face when I did" I finally said on the verge of tears
"What was I supposed to do, lock you in a room and not let you leave" he said
"You know what your problem is?" I asked wiping at my cheeks angrily, frustrated that the tears won't stop falling.
"You think you can fix everything and everybody but not yourself" I spat as his expression hardened.
"You want to stand there and judge me for all my bad decisions" I continued my voice cracking. "But what about you?"
"What about you practically handing out all your savings to your ex" I said
"At least I learnt from my mistake" he replied pain flashing in his eyes for a brief second that I almost missed it.
I stared at him in disbelief.
"You know what" I whispered "Maybe I should have learned that the people I keep closest to me will always find a way to blame me for the shitty things that happen to me"
"That's not fair" he said
"You're right" I laughed shakily the tears moving faster than I could wipe away
"None of this is fair"
Darius took a step towards me but I moved backwards nor wanting him anywhere near me right now
"Don't"
"I'm just trying to protect you"
"By blaming me for getting hurt?" I asked
"I think you should leave" my voice firm.
Darius nodded slowly before grabbing his gym bag from the counter and I could see the regret in his face as he left the bakery the bell jingling softly but it was too late for that now.
The hurt and regret that flashed across his face almost made me take it back but I didn't.
It was too late now.
I stood there motionless for a few seconds before my knees finally gave in and I was on the ground full on sobbing in a fetal position.
Maybe he was right.
Maybe I do self sabotage and fuck everything up.
Maybe I am just a shitty person that doesn't think through the consequences of my actions.
I let out a shaky breath as fresh tears rolled down my cheeks.I thought about all the warning signs I had seen in (insert name) but I ignored because I was blinded by his niceness.
A part of me was angry at Darius but somewhere deep down I had already been afraid that something was wrong with me before he said it.