Page 80 of What I Like About You

Chapter Twenty-Seven

What had startedout as a pretty amazing day had come crashing down around her like a broken window. When Zara talked about breaking the glass ceiling, this was not the one she had envisioned.

Standing in the middle of the living room, surrounded by the pieces of her broken heart, Zara felt paralyzed. A few moments later, when Antwan emerged from his shower, she was still standing in the same place, her whole body wracked by sobs. She knew the only reason she was still standing was she didn’t have the energy to collapse. It had taken a good deal of effort on his part, but Antwan had finally gotten her into bed a little while later, giving her some anti-anxiety medication that he had squirrelled away.

The next morning came way too soon, her head still foggy from whatever mystery pill Antwan had magically produced, but at least she had slept. She felt numb inside, replaying the argument in her head as she packed up her belongings.

Maybe I should have been more willing to compromise,she thought as she placed her toiletry case into her luggage. At least said that I would ask if it was possible to not be based in Atlanta.

Collapsing onto the bed, she inhaled deeply, fighting off the sting of tears in her eyes.

No, she told herself. If he had really wanted to compromise, he would have found a way. He would have asked you what you thought about asking your new bosses rather than just assuming you’d find a way to make it work.

“All set?” Antwan asked, poking his head into her room.

“Yeah, let’s go,” she said, her heart heavy. “I’m ready to leave this place behind me.”

Making their way into the lobby to check out and catch their ride to the airport, Zara’s stomach dropped upon finding Drea waiting for them. Regardless of the early hour, the sweet brunette Zara had come to really like looked bright-eyed and ready to take on the day in running shorts and a tank top. If losing Dalton for a second time wasn’t bad enough, the idea of losing the new group of friends she had found this last week was like salt in the wound. Forget that they’d only just started to get to know each other—she knew that friends like these weren’t easy to come by, and she’d mourn the loss of their potential relationship too.

“I’m glad I caught you!” Drea said, approaching Zara and Antwan in a corner of the lobby away from the main path of travel. “I was worried you might have slipped out earlier.”

“You didn’t have to get up early on account of us,” Zara said.

“Nonsense, I’m an early bird! I run on the beach every morning,” she told them. “Gives me a clear head for the day.”

“You’re one of those people,” Antwan said, only slightly hiding the disdain in his voice.

“I am,” she giggled. Turning back to Zara, her face went serious again as she asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” she said, trying to play it off. She could hear the tremble in her own voice and knew that Drea didn’t buy it, but she couldn’t let herself break down. Not here. “What’d he tell you?”

“Dalton? Nothing. Kyle told me that you two had a fight, but that’s all I know. He and Cullen were out with Dalton all night. I don’t know where they were or what they were doing, but based on Kyle’s texts, he was pretty upset.”

“Better fucking be,” Antwan muttered under his breath. Zara shot him a look, telling him to stop. She didn’t need his sass right now.

“It was a rough evening for us both,” Zara replied, trying to remain as diplomatic as possible. As much as she liked Drea and had hoped they would become close friends, she was still Dalton’s friend first. She didn’t want to put Drea in the middle of this.

“Can I ask what happened? You both seemed so happy at the dance.”

“Like I told Maeve at the beginning of the week, Tripp and I have a long history. And it’s complicated,” she sighed. She wanted so badly to just confide in Drea, to let her know how bad her heart was breaking and how she didn’t think it would ever be whole again. But it was too much to get into right here. “All I will say is this—I thought I was heartbroken ten years ago after what happened at prom and that I would never feel pain like that again, but I was wrong. This…this is infinitely worse.”

A single tear escaped as she finished talking, and Zara quickly wiped it away.

“I still don’t actually know what happened between you guys,” Drea said quietly, like she was sharing a secret.

“How do you not know?” Antwan asked. “You were in on the re-do.”

“All he’s ever told us is that you were his childhood best friend, but you haven’t talked since high school because he did something ‘unthinkable,’” Drea answered, making air quotes around unthinkable. “Which is hard to believe since the Dalton I know is about as sweet as can be. But whatever it was, he was determined to fix it. He said he wanted to give you the night you guys never had. And the romantic in me couldn’t help but want to help make a dream come true.”

“Oh,” Zara said, unsure of how to react. Should she tell Drea? If Dalton hadn’t brought it up, there was a reason. Then again, this was Dalton they were talking about. The guy held on to secrets tighter than Fort Knox, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that he’d brushed it off with such a simple explanation.

Sighing, she launched into an abbreviated version of her and Dalton’s history. Skimming over most of the details about their childhood friendship, she concentrated on how everything took on a different form as teens, her secret crush on him, and how he’d made almost all her dreams come true on prom night. Only to crush them.

When she finally told her about the overheard conversation and the terrible words he’d said that night, Drea’s face was unreadable. Simply staring back at Zara, wide-eyed and slack-jawed, she managed to blink rapidly a couple of times before finally finding some words.

“Oh, fuck,” she sputtered. “How did you not castrate him right there?”

Fiddling with the bracelet on her wrist, she couldn’t help but smile. She’d put it on this morning out of habit, just like every other morning since he’d given it to her. All these years it had served as a reminder to her to be herself and follow her dreams. Despite all the pain caused by his words, then and now, she couldn’t bear the idea of not wearing it.