“GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY MAN!”
Alyssa’s on her quicker than a demon’s whisper.
Her fists come down again and again, connecting with Madison’s face with sounds that make people at nearby tables turn and stare. Madison’s trying to curl and protect herself, but Alyssa’s straddling her now, screaming.
“YOU FUCKING WHORE! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST STEAL MY HUSBAND?”
Another punch. Madison’s nose is bleeding now, crimson spreading across her face in ways that make my stomach twist uncomfortably.
I watch it happen.
There’s something about the blonde hair and blue eyes that keeps making my brain stutter. If I squint and let my vision blur just slightly, it could be Lauren getting beaten. The same face. The same features. That specific shade of blonde catching the dim bar light.
But it’s not Lauren.
It’s Madison.
And Madison made my life a living hell. Every time I tried to go to the store, to class, to anywhere, there she was. Or her followers were. Taking photos. Posting my location. Making sure I could never forget, never move on, never exist in peace.
So of course I don’t help.
Alyssa’s still screaming. “HE’S MINE! YOU CAN’T HAVE HIM! HE BELONGS TO ME!”
Madison’s trying to say something, her words coming out garbled through the blood. The diary’s clutched against her chest, both arms wrapped around it protectively even as Alyssa keeps hitting her.
Part of me knows I should feel worse about this. Should feel something more than this hollow detachment. But I don’t. I can’t find it in me to spare even an ounce of sympathy.
Plus there’s something else.
A feeling settling in my chest like lead. Heavy and cold.
Alyssa is just using me as a replacement for her dead boyfriend. The whole wife thing, the showing up on Friday, all of it... it was never really about me.
I reach into my wallet and pull out a fifty. Drop it on the table next to my half-finished beer.
The bartender’s already moving toward us, and I can hear someone on their phone probably calling the cops. My eyes find the diary, still pressed against Madison’s chest as she curls around it.
I want to read it. But this place is about to be a mess. So fuck it.
I grab my messenger and sling it over my shoulder.
I’m halfway to the door when her hand locks around my wrist.
The grip is iron-tight, and when I turn back, Alyssa’s fists are covered in Madison’s blood. It drips down her knuckles in thick rivulets, staining her skin crimson.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going, cheater?”
The word hits me wrong. Cheater. Like I was on some date with Madison.
“Home.” The lie comes out smooth.
She makes this sound with her tongue. A sharp click that cuts through the chaos erupting around us. “Fine!” Her voice rises with manic energy. “I’ll meet you there once I get out of the station.”
The certainty in her voice catches me off-guard. Like she already knew this was coming. Accepted the consequences of getting arrested before she even threw the first punch.
If I wasn’t so fucking annoyed with her right now, that would actually be kind of hot.
Her eyes shift, narrowing as she studies my face. The fury drains away, replaced by something that looks almost like concern. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” I say quickly.
“No...” She steps closer, her gruesome hands coming up to cup my face. I can feel Madison’s blood, warm and sticky against my cheeks. “You look exactly like...”
She doesn’t finish the sentence. Just holds my face in her hands, her green eyes searching mine with desperate intensity.
In the corner of my vision, I can see Madison sobbing. Curled up on the floor of the booth, blood streaming from her nose, her arms still wrapped around that purple diary. People are filming everything with their phones held high. Others are trying to help Madison up, asking if she’s okay, if she needs an ambulance.
“You look sadder than usual, Caleb...” Alyssa’s voice drops lower, intimate despite the chaos. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
The question sits between us like a loaded gun.
The weight in my chest is too heavy. I really want to know the turth.
“Are you just using me?” The words come out quieter than I intended. “Projecting your old boyfriend onto me? The one that died when you were young...”
Her eyes go wide.
But not with the fury I expected. Not with hurt or defensiveness or any of the reactions I was bracing for.
She looks amused.
Like I just said the funniest fucking thing in the world.
Then she starts laughing. It’s beautiful and unhinged, this sound that comes from somewhere deep and broken inside her. Her whole body shakes with it, the laughter building and building until tears start streaming down her face to mix with the blood on her hands.
“Oh baby...” The words come out between gasps of laughter.
She’s still laughing. Harder now. Like I told her the punchline to some cosmic joke only she understands.
“Caleb, you poor thing. Heavens no.”
Her hands tighten on my face, pulling me closer. The laughter dies down to breathless giggles as she leans in, her lips brushing against my ear.
When she whispers, her voice is so quiet only I can hear it.
“I killed him because he was incapable of loving me. He never even had it in him.”
The words freeze me in place. My brain stutters trying to process what she just said.
“But you!” Her voice picks up intensity, still barely above a whisper. “You’re special, Caleb. Only you can love me the way I need it.”
She kisses me.
Deep. Her tongue pushing into my mouth with desperate hunger. I can taste Madison’s blood on her lips, metallic and wrong, but somehow that makes it more intense. More real.
It’s magnificent.
When she pulls back, she’s smiling at me with this expression of pure adoration. Like I’m the only thing she’s ever wanted.
“It was always only you, Caleb.”
She pushes me gently toward the door.
“Now get out of here before I get arrested.”
I find myself smiling back at her. Actually smiling.
“Should I pick you up from the station?”
“No...” She glances over her shoulder at Madison, who’s still sobbing on the floor while strangers hover around her with napkins and concern. “I’ll meet you at home tonight. Don’t worry.”
“Okay…”