Tristian (The Doherty Mafia Book 5), стр. 28
She blew a big plume of smoke in the air and it looked like she was relieved. Her hand shook as she tapped more cigarette ash on the floor.
“I guess you want me to apologize,” she murmured.
“I’m not here for an apology.”
“Then why are you here? You must’ve known I was threatened to do it. You knew I had nothing personal against you.”
“I wanted to see you again,” I replied
She smirked, shaking her head. “To figure out if I’m still the girl I was from a decade ago?”
“Eleven years,” I corrected her.
“You want to figure out why you were attracted to me.”
I clenched my jaws tightly. Angrily.
Christie stared at me and then sighed.
“It wasn’t real, Tristian. None of it was real. We were both kids, and whoever you thought I was, I wasn’t.”
“They wanted me to be all sweet and dolled up for you. They even sent some woman over to our house to get me to look the part. Straighten my hair, buy a few outfits in case I had to see you a couple of times,” she continued while I sat across from her behind a cloud of smoke.
“Did they tell you what to say too?”
She shrugged. “They told me to say as little as possible. To keep you guessing.”
“So they had me figured out. They knew what kinda chick I’d fall for,” I growled under my breath.
“I guess so. What I’m trying to say is it was all an illusion.”
“I thought I’d been sucker punched when we met.”
“Like you had met your perfect dream girl?” she asked, smirking.
I said nothing. I couldn’t admit it aloud, but it was true.
“Well…this is your dream girl,” she said, waving a hand in the air and laughing. “Do those exist? Dream girls? Dream guys? The perfect partner?”
She suddenly had a faraway look in her eyes and I wondered how many times she’d been fucked over by guys of her own? What about the fathers of the kids?
I didn’t ask her because I didn’t really want to know. I had her pretty well figured out by now.
Dream girls did exist.
I had met one, and I was very close to losing her now if I didn’t get my act together.
“Why’d it take you so long to come find me?” Her voice cut through my thoughts.
“I’ve been avoiding it, I guess. I didn’t know what I’d find when I found you.”
“And now?”
When I didn’t respond for a while, she broke into a laugh. “You met someone, haven’t you?”
“It’s none of your business,” I snapped.
“You think I can still hurt you? You think I’d get to you somehow? Are you afraid of me, Tristian Doherty? You? A Doherty, afraid of little ol’ me?” she snarled. There was a shrill laugh in her voice making me want to punch the wall.
I stood up from the chair.
“I’m not afraid of you. I fuckin’ hate you. What you did made me lose my trust in every girl and woman out there.”
She was still smiling and I wondered if she was high. It wasn’t worth it to stick around. At least I knew one thing now. I had never been in love with Christie, and what I felt for Elsie now was in a league of its own.
I stormed towards the front door and she followed after me.
“Hey! You can’t just leave like that. You can’t just go. You’ve made me late…”
I stopped, spinning around to face her. She came right up close to my face so I saw the way her teeth were rotting.
“Late for fuckin’ what?”
“For my job.”
I wanted to laugh, but I didn’t. She didn’t have a job. She probably hadn’t worked a day in her life.
“I’m going to lose money because of you today…” She continued to talk but I shut her up when I pulled a wad of cash out of my wallet and threw it at her.
Nineteen
Elsie
I managed to make a grab at Libby just as she was about to follow a guy to the back of the club.
I’d already threatened her with leaving. I didn’t want to be here anymore, even if it meant she’d kick me out of her apartment—but then I realized she was completely out of it. She was too drunk, too high to know what she was doing. Tonight was the prime night for her to make terrible decisions.
And what kind of friend would I be if I just let her go ahead and make them?
“We’re going back to your place now, Libby. That’s enough,” I said, weaving my arm around hers, leading her out of the club.
She tugged and pulled at my arm trying to break free.
“You’re not the fuckin’ boss of me, Elsie! Let me fuckin’ go!” She screamed and people turned to look. But I kept a strong grip on her. If I could manage to get her into a cab somehow, we’d be safe.
I didn’t feel safe anymore.
I hadn’t felt safe since I left Tristian’s apartment, and being out here without him gave me the chills. Once again I had the feeling of being watched.
“We can talk about it when we get back,” I said, dragging her out of the place.
“You’re such a fuckin’ bitch!” she yelled, finally managing to slip away from me. “You know, I felt sorry for you when Sonya dropped you. I tried to be friends with you because you had no friends but all you ever cared about was yourself. Your grades. Your college essay. Your fuckin’ tests.”
She spun around to face me, her breathing was ragged. I stopped walking because I was surprised to hear her say these things. Initially I thought she was just behaving erratically because she was drunk, but I had the feeling now that she’d always had something personal against me.
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“I didn’t ask for your friendship, Libby.”
“No. But I tried to be your friend anyway because I pitied you. You sad