Chapter Nine

Bronne turned down a familiar street and glared at the expensive cars. When he reached his destination he lit a cigarette to calm down before heading inside. He eyed a black Lamborghini that cost more than his life was probably worth and thought of all the things he could put that amount of money towards. He'd start with his student loans and then put the rest towards a house. Maybe even pay off some of his dad's medical bills. He inhaled one last time on the cigarette then flicked it towards the car before selecting the apartment number to get buzzed in.

“Yeah?” Carlos's voice asked on the other end. It sounded as if he'd been sleeping, and when Bronne checked his watch he realized it was nearly four in the morning.

“It's me. Let me in.” He responded. There was silence for a few seconds before he heard the loud buzz and the sound of a door unlocking. He pushed himself in and once again punched in the apartment number on the elevator. While he waited he checked his pockets for his phone, but realized that it wasn't there. He hoped for a second that he'd left it at home and that maybe Eva would snoop through it and find something to upset her, but he knew that wouldn't be the case. He'd never done anything to hurt her.

He stepped into the elevator when the doors opened and stared at his reflection in the mirrored doors. The man who stared back at him was one he hardly recognized. He ran his fingers through his disheveled dark brown hair and grimaced at the unkempt beard that was a product of going too many days without shaving. Though he knew his eyes were chocolate brown they looked nearly black in the reflection. He looked beyond his years and he realized that his 26^th birthday was in just three days. He eyed his leather jacket wearily and remembered the night Eva had given it to him as a gift�"she'd said it was to give him some style. Prior to owning the jacket he'd always worn hoodies and she absolutely despised them. Come to think of it, what did she even like about him?

Before he could finish his thought, the elevator doors opened to Carlos's entryway. His friend stood at the end of the hallway in his pajama pants and holding a pair of half-filled glasses.

“My friend,” he spoke just loud enough for Bronne to hear, “Come in.”

Bronne walked the length of the hall and reached for the second glass without acknowledging Carlos. He threw back the drink and savored the burn of alcohol. He waited until the warmth filled his stomach before speaking.

“How long have you been f*****g my girlfriend?” He asked passively. It was late, he'd had a long night, and he knew Carlos wouldn't lie to him. He'd never lied about his behavior. And it wasn't like he was surprised.

“Bronne, why don't you have a seat. Take off your jacket... it's been too long--”

“Cut the s**t. I'm not here to socialize. I just want to know how long you've been sleeping with her.” He turned to face his old friend for the first time. Carlos was a good three inches taller than Bronne who stood at 5'11” on a good day. That was if he wasn't slouching, which he normally did. His hair was immaculate and he was clean shaven, a far cry from the image Bronne had seen in the elevator door. Bronne mentally cringed at the back satin robe he wore�"he could be so pretentious.

Carlos sighed and sipped from his glass. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped when his cell phone rang to life on the counter. Bronne was close enough to see Eva's name flash across the screen. Carlos hesitated before silencing the call.

“You don't have to ignore her just because I'm here. By all means, take the call.” Anger crept into his voice. Was this where Eva so often disappeared to in the middle of the night? Was this where she'd been running off to when they'd been getting into fights lately? He pushed the phone toward Carlos, beckoning him to answer. Exasperated, he put the phone to his ear.

“Hello?” He eyed Bronne as he answered. “Eva, my dear, calm down--”

“My dear?” Bronne snorted. “When I said you didn't have to ignore her I didn't mean you could just act like I wasn't here--”

Carlos ignored him. “What do you mean?--” Bronne listened to the urgency in Carlos's voice and felt a jolt of jealousy. “Somebody is following you? Eva, please stop crying, I can hardly hear you--”

“What's going on?” Bronne interrupted. “Carlos! What the hell is going on?”

Carlos held up a finger to silence Bronne. He felt a surge of anger swell in his body and snatched the phone from Carlos's fingers.

“Eva, it's Bron. What is going on?” He listened to her incoherent sobs and tried to place her words. “If this is about me finding out about you and Carlos�"”

“Bronne?” She cried into the phone. “Is that really you?” She sobbed.

“Have you forgotten my voice? Must get tough when you're juggling two guys--”

“Listen to me,” she whispered with venom in her voice into the receiver, “there is someone after me. He followed me. He has your phone... I thought he'd... I thought you were--”

“What are you talking about?” Carlos stared at him intently, his eyes searching for answers in Bronne's. Bronne heard a door slam in the background and the sound of the phone dropping to the floor. He heard Eva's scream and a man's low voice tell her to be quiet. Then he heard footsteps and someone scrape the phone across the floor.

“Please help me...” Eva's voice trailed off before the phone went dead. 

Reviews

[Steve]

Nice twist! Again! I like this story... (obviously)