On the other hand, I stared at him calmly. He was still glaring at me, demanding an answer, but I didn’t say a word to him. Since I knew I would crumble if I stayed there any longer, I wanted to get out of bed.
“Explain yourself, Anna.” He grabbed my hand. It was a surprise that he was holding himself back instead of yelling at me right away.
“Don’t think too much about it. I need to get out of bed now.” I stared at him calmly. There was no point telling him how I really felt since he only liked me as a f*ck buddy.
“Today’s a Saturday!” He gritted his teeth, and his patience was already running thin.
Sh*t. I totally forgot that it was a weekend, so I didn’t have to go to work, but still, I didn’t want to see him. “I need to see Steven.” I blurted out.
Then I changed into a new set of clothes. I had to leave no matter what, and Michael didn’t stop me. However, he was still glaring at me coldly. I could feel his fury boiling, but I didn’t have the time to care.
Once I left Birchwood, I felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Taking in a deep breath, I calmed myself down and tried to come up with a plan for the day.
But nothing came to mind. If I went to see Steven, mom would just mock me again, but I couldn’t go back to Michael’s place either. So I just stood there blankly, until my phone started ringing.
I wondered who was calling me, so I whipped my phone out. Ronan? I was slightly annoyed, but I took the call anyway. “Hello.” My voice was cracking up from all the crying.
“What’s up?” Ronan sounded excited.
“Nothing. Just hanging around.” I sniffled.
Ronan noticed that my voice was cracking. “You don’t sound too good. Wait, are you crying?” he asked, concerned.
“I’m frustrated. Can we talk?” I had no idea how to face Michael or my parents. Ronan was the only person whom I could feel relaxed around. Besides, he was an optimist, so I thought talking with someone like him would cheer me up.
“Sure. Where are you anyway? I’ll pick you up,” he agreed readily, and I noticed a hint of worry in his voice.
“I’ll be waiting at the bus stop. The one where you picked me up.”
“Sure. Give me a minute.” Then, he hung up. Ten minutes later, I saw Ronan’s red Ferrari in the distance.
He stopped his car in front of me and came to open the passenger seat’s door. I was feeling gloomy before he came, but his smile melted my sorrow away. One would never go wrong hanging out with an optimist.
Ronan went back to the driver’s seat and revved up the car. “Why are you frustrated anyway?” He looked at me with concern. “Did something happen?”
I was touched by the fact that he was so gentle and caring about me. It hadn’t been long since we met, but he felt like family to me. Every time I was with him, I felt warm and fuzzy. “Yeah, a lot. Got involved in some family problems, and my love life isn’t looking good either.”
I didn’t hide anything from Ronan since I needed someone whom I could talk to.
“Yeah, I can see where you’re coming from. You got dealt a bad hand, growing up in that kind of family.” Ronan had seen how my mother acted around me back at the hospital, so he knew about my family even if I didn’t tell him anything.
“What’s wrong about your love life, though? You got a boyfriend?” Ronan started getting nervous after asking that question, and he stared at me unblinkingly.
I was feeling weird getting stared at, so I turned away stiffly. “No. I’m not getting a boyfriend for now.”
Michael could never be my boyfriend, and we might end our relationship at this rate. Given my circumstances, it might be a long time before I would be ready for the dating scene again.
Ronan heaved a sigh. “So what’s the problem, then? I thought you don’t have a boyfriend.” He slowed down and turned to me with doubt.
“I have someone I like, but I know it’s never gonna work between us.” The thought of Michael alone was torturous for me. I didn’t want to lose myself to him, but I couldn’t, and I cursed myself for my weakness.
Ronan looked crestfallen after hearing that. It took him a while before he could look me in the eye. “If you like him, why can’t you date him then?”
“Because there’s a big gap between our status. Plus, he doesn’t like me, and he has a girlfriend.” I knew I must sound like a broken record at this point, but the fact that Michael might be having sex with Emma the night before was still annoying me.
Ronan was giving me a look of doubt, sadness, and confusion, but he didn’t say anything. I wondered what he was thinking, but I was also surprised that he didn’t console me.
The conversation went dead for a while since we seemed to have run out of topics.
A long, long while later, Ronan said, “If it’s impossible to date him, then let him go. Don’t get too into it, or you’ll end up hurting yourself.” He sounded a lot more serious than he usually was.
I sighed. I knew that better than anyone, but it was true love, so I couldn’t just let it go that easily. I would have totally done it if I could since it would have freed me from the pain I was feeling.
“I know.”
I muttered lightly as I stared down at the seat.
“I’ll take you to the beach. Some fresh air ought to do you good. Maybe you’ll start feeling better.” Ronan shifted the topic and beamed at me, then he turned around.
“But the beach is quite far away, isn’t it?”
“I’m a pro driver, so we’ll be there in a jiffy. Anyway, you can sleep if you want to. I’ll wake you up when we get there.”
I had never gone to the beach even though I had been working at Avenport for years, so I was looking forward to it.
