Ten seconds later, Eva was still staring at Adam, stupefied, wondering whether she had misheard him. “Adam, what are you talking about?” She would have chuckled at the absurdity of his declaration if not for the gravity of this whole situation. “How can my mother be your mother?”She scanned Adam's face, waiting for any twitch, any sign to indicate that this was just his example of an extremely bad joke. The hard lines of incense remained. Eva looked back at her mother to find the woman sobbing and looking at the floor like she found it very interesting.Reality slammed into her with an intensity that sent her hurtling right into absolute shock.“Get her the fuck out of here, Eva!” Adam whisper-yelled churlishly, but his next words were ground out loudly. “Somebody get her the fuck out of here before I lose my shit and do something I'm going to regret.”His hands were balled into fists, his whole body crackling with rage, like an elastic string stretched beyond the yield point and j
Adam stumbled, the doctor's announcement hitting him like a large rock, so strong and impactful that he knew he was going to fall. And he would've if Eva wasn't standing behind him and caught him from doing so."No, no, no, no. Don't tell me that doctor. Please tell me it's not true." Guille covered his mouth, seemingly at the horror. Adriana was at his side to comfort her fiancé in a hug.Everything went around Adam in slow motion, even the voices, so much so that it felt like a dream, one he was going to wake up from soon. And he probably would've believed it was a dream if his heart didn't feel like it was being ripped out of his chest."You could come to my office to see the test results." Doctor Andrews was saying."Fuck the results doctor." Guile bit out. "Just tell me I can go see my father.""Yes of course." Doctor Andrews nodded. "But I must warn you he's experiencing a lot of weakness and will get exhausted easily if you strain him out by letting him talk too much or sitting
Adam's father groaned when he stumbled a little. Both Adam and Guille were at his sides in an instant, checking to see whether he was okay.“Boys, I'm fine.” The man tried to chuckle but stopped immediately, probably from pain. He coughed.“Dad, you never listen!” Guille groaned. “We shouldn't have left. Why are you so adamant, dad?”“Oh, come on,” Cough. “We're already here so complaining is a waste of time.”“Uh-huh, wait until you find us driving you back there.” Adam finally bit out after having spent most of their drive in the car in brooding annoyance.His father had insisted on getting discharged from the hospital even though he was still felling weak because as he'd said, if he was going to die anyway, he wanted to do it in the comfort of his own house, not in the confines of some hospital room.The fact that Doctor Andrews had agreed to discharge him and had only prescribed some pain medication without issuing any attempts to change his mind had thawed every remnants of Adam'
Eva was tired. Tired of her mother moving around mechanically like a mannequin endowed with the mechanical energy. Tired of her friends pretending not to be happy in their personal lives just so she wouldn't feel bad about herself.Her mother had never been talkative around the table, but at least there'd been something before. Now all she ever did was eat half her food and get up with the excuse that she was full. Her change in attitude had begun to show at work, and so now Eva handled most of the things she'd always so loved to do by herself.The sadness in her eyes was always such a mood killer.As for Adam, he'd moved to live with his father for the time the man had left, and they barely spoke. Eva missed him so much that sometimes she felt bad for being so selfish.Adam was going through a lot, and she had to be the supportive girlfriend.She didn't support the choices her mother had made in her youth, but every day Eva saw the guilt in her eyes, watched the regret eating her wh
“Seriously, Adam. Are you planning on drinking yourself to death?” Lucas said in a frustrated voice. Adam ignored him. “Give me the damn bottle.”Adam had raised his bottle of tequila to his lips to take a swig when Lucas whisked it from his grasp, causing some of the brew to spill on his shirt.“What the hell, man? Give it back.” Adam said and tried to lurch for his bottle with a body that felt like a dead weight as Lucas held it far away from him. “You won't? Fine.”He looked towards the bar and screamed at the woman at the counter, “Hey girl, get me another bottle, will ya? See this party pooper won't let me have fun.”“You're thinking of fun right now?” Lucas groaned in disbelief. “After how much you've hurt Eva you should be on your knees in front of her asking for forgiveness. I thought she meant very much to you.”Adam barked out a laughter that even to his inebriated ears came out like a goat's cry. “Me? Kneel in front of a woman
“When she does it, I swear it makes me want to cry.” Victoria whined.“Cry?” June snorted. “I swear it makes me want to grab her tablet and smash it against the wall.”They thought she couldn't hear them going on and on about how frustrating she was being, but Eva did perfectly. Easy for them to say. After all, they weren't the ones whose love had left and hadn't even bothered to contact them.After Ethan had told her over the phone that Adam had left LA, she'd assumed that he'd gone to his cabin in Jackson Hole since he'd once mentioned that he went there to find solace whenever his life got shitty.She'd been woefully wrong. After sitting in the hammock on his porch for about twelve hours with all her calls going straight to voicemail, Eva had finally left, booking a hotel to sleep in before taking the next flight to LA the next day.Still, she'd told herself that Adam had been going through a lot, that he just needed some time to sort his emotions out and to grieve his father. She
Before Eva could decipher what June was talking about, her phone had been whipped out of her hand. She shot to her feet to get it back only for Victoria to block her path and hold her in place.“June, I swear that if you do something stupid, I'm going to kill you!” Eva warned.June handed her phone back to her just then. Eva looked done at it and was sure she blanched. “No June you didn't.” She threw a glare at June over Vicky's shoulder. “'I'd love to go out with you?' Seriously?”“Come on, it's not that bad.” Vicky finally let go of Eva's arms. “Eva I think you should give Xander a chance. Who knows what might happen?”Sighing, Eva slumped back onto her bed. How could she explain to her friends that she loved Adam in a way no man could ever make her love him?But Adam doesn't care about you! He has moved on! Her subconsciousness screamed.“So?” it was June who spoke.Eva scanned her friends' faces, taking in the hope that shone so brightly, and she nodded. “Yes, I'll go out with him
Eva gritted her teeth in annoyance, wishing the earth would swallow her up as Vicky applied some blush to her cheeks. Done, the woman leaned back to assess her handiwork.“Wow, my God, and I thought I was already used to your beauty.” June sighed dramatically, standing behind Eva's chair. Eva rolled her eyes.After June had sent that text to Xander, the man hadn't wasted time dialing her number. He'd been so excited that she'd decided not to tell him that June was the one who had sent the text, and they'd arranged their date for this afternoon.Vicky had wanted to doll her up like it was her freaking wedding. Eva protested for no make up, but her friends had bargained for a light make-up instead.Vicky shifted from Eva's front so she could look at herself in the mirror. Eva had to admit that she looked stunning. Wearing the strapless pink chiffon straight dress that ended above her knee which her best friends had purposefully selected for her with her hair styled to look wavy and a sma