Enzo came back early from a business trip. He wanted to surprise Damion. He set up a reservation at the high-end restaurant they had been wanting to visit. Since the deal had gone through, it meant a huge pay bump, so Enzo wanted to celebrate.
He closed the door quietly behind him, not wanting to make a sound. Damion wasn’t on the couch nor the kitchen. It was noon, and he didn’t have work today, but Enzo didn’t think much of it.
Most of their expenses were taken care of by him, and Damion’s job was part-time. He thought maybe he was in the bedroom, asleep. He snuck up the stairs as quiet as a mouse.
He chuckled to himself, thinking his behaviour was childish. But he couldn’t stop the giddy feeling of soon seeing his lover after not seeing him for almost a month.
Closer he moved to the door. He noticed it was half open. Just as he was about to open it, he heard sounds from inside.
"Nnnggh...faster..."
"Still want more?" a grunt came through the open door.
Breathing heavily, the person responded, "Didn’t you say...ah...he would be home soon. Who...shit... who knows when I’ll be able to see you?"
"Still two days left. We still have tonight." A slap came from inside. "...trying to strangle my dick with your hole?"
A gentle laugh came through. Heavy breathing, grunts, and groans found his ears.
His hand dropped, and the smile on his face faded so quickly one would think it was never there. Replacing it was a cold, sharp look that could cut glass.
He straightened his back and stood there, listening.
His heart was a mess. He could feel the pain radiating from the center of his chest to his extremities. He felt as if he had been splashed with ice water.
Every fibre of his being wanted to rush in there and beat the two of them, but he stopped himself. He clenched his teeth to the point his jaw ached.
This was the man he had given his all to. Before, when they were in college, Damion launched a crazy pursuit. Under this offensive, Enzo didn’t have much power to resist.
Even when his parents disowned him, he still stuck to his guns and left with Damion. Now, after almost ten years together, he came back to find this.
What’s worse is that he didn’t see any signs. Or did he? Was he so blissfully in love that he chose to ignore everything he had seen over the past year?
Thinking back, it wasn’t that there were no flaws. It seemed he truly was willing to blind himself to the truth right before his eyes.
Enzo had no idea how long he stood there. When he came back to his senses, they had finished their little tryst and his anger had long since abated. The only thing remaining was clarity.
Seeing that the activities in the room had ended, Enzo entered. He wasn’t quiet about it. He pushed the door so hard it banged against the wall. Not even the door stopper stopped the force.
The two people on the bed shot up. When they saw the person, they scrambled to put on their clothes.
"Z, what are you doing here?" Damion asked, jumping into his pants. "Let me explain. It’s not what it looks like."
Enzo hadn’t even opened his mouth when the classic lines came tumbling from Damion’s lips. Enzo sneered. He had enough time to pull himself together. He wouldn’t let anyone see how hurt he actually was.
"Pack your things. I don’t need your explanations."
Damion’s face shattered. "You can’t kick me out; I live here."
"Right," the vixen said. "You don’t own this house. You have the nerve to tell the owner to get out of his own place? Day works so hard, and you don’t even give him a good face when he gets in; it’s no wonder he wants me."
Enzo looked at the vixen. He had to admit, the man was good-looking. He had those doe eyes that make him look innocent and approachable. His body was lean and tight. If anyone were to see him and Enzo together, no one would ever peg Enzo for the one on the bottom.
His own body leaned more towards the muscular side. He was proud of it, and he thought Damion liked it too. It appeared he was wrong.
Enzo laughed when he heard the vixen speak.
"Damion owns the house?" Enzo’s gaze shifted towards Damion, who refused to look him in the eyes.
The vixen sidled up to him. "You don’t need to act. He told me you like pretending you own the place. That you keep tabs on his money and refuse to let him spend it."
"Oh?" Enzo laughed, disbelievingly. He opened his phone and pulled up the property certificate. He showed it to the vixen. "Look carefully. Whose name is on the deed?"
Damion lunged for it, but the vixen was quicker.
"Don’t say I forged it. I can show you the official thing. So I’ll say it one more time, both of you, get out."
After a lot of pleading on Damion’s part, Enzo finally had the house to himself. The one good note was that the vixen saw that things weren’t right. He left long before Damion did.
Enzo stared out the window, unsure of what to do now. His body felt completely drained of energy. Ten years of feelings won’t disappear overnight. He rubbed his chest; the gnawing pain in his heart made him feel like shit.
He walked to the bedroom, opened the master room door, and just stood there.
The sheets were still rumpled; the faint smell of sex hung in the air. Enzo felt his stomach roil. He wondered how many times he might have arrived home after he had that vixen over. Did he sleep in sheets that were tainted with their...’love’?
He wouldn’t sleep here. He closed the door and headed to the guest bedroom.
He showered and lay in bed staring at the ceiling. Never in a million years would he have thought that things would turn out like this.
At seven, the reminder he had set went off. He turned his head and stared at the phone screen. As he stared, tears flowed down the side of his face. Whether he was tearing up because he hadn’t blinked or for another reason, he didn’t want to think about it.
He wiped the tears away and ignored the notification. He told himself, standing outside that door, that he wouldn’t wallow. The tears had jolted him awake.
He repeated, ’Don’t waste time on a useless man,’ in his mind like a mantra.
The freezer was stocked with his favourite depression foods. He decided that tonight, there would be no tears. Those few that he shed would be the last. Instead of crying, he would numb himself with ice cream, dumplings, fries, and another junk food he felt like.
Sweeping through the freezer, he found exactly what he wanted. Fifteen minutes later, he was laden with all kinds of snacks.
Cheating scum is out of his life. He should celebrate.
He opened his laptop, put on a movie, and started watching the trashiest shows he could find. He yelled at the scum men for breaking the female leads’ hearts. He stuffed his mouth with food, chewing like a crazed chipmunk.
He called out of work the following day, asking for some time off. He said he wouldn’t cry, but that didn’t mean he felt functional enough to work through the pain.
After watching all the trashy shows, he moved on to books. He found some that interested him and began binging.
This behaviour continued for a week before he finally calmed down enough to go back to work. On his final night of being a demonic rice weevil, he found an easy-going book to read.
After all the erratics, he wanted to slow down. The book was a nice little pastoral, if you don’t think about the fact that the protagonist had five husbands and they threw him down every chance they got.
But it was just what he needed. The right amount of farming life and the right amount of ’get in my belly.’
Enzo finished reading the book with a smile on his face. He was perfectly content with his final book of the night. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.