Confrontation
Cadence decided to take the stairs rather than the elevator. Though she was heartbroken and overwhelmed with despair, she was also extremely pissed and flying down each flight, she felt more and more rage welling up inside of her. By the time she reached the bottom floor, she was ready to take her frustration out on the appropriate party--just as soon as she found him.
Luckily, she wouldn't have to look too far. She flung open the exterior door to see Christian leaning against a tree, his motorcycle nearby, the expression on his face letting her know that he was fully aware of what Aaron wanted to talk to her about, that he likely had been before she even left the coffee shop. "You son of a bitch!" she yelled, as she flew at him, both hands balled into fists
He threw up his arms in a defensive stance. "Cadence, wait, please! I can explain!"
Her heart hammering against her rib cage, she stopped short of punching him in the face, though it was all she could do to control her anger. "Start talking, asshole!" she demanded, folding her arms across her chest to keep from assaulting him.
"Okay, okay," he replied, his hands still up. He had to know she could do some real damage if she wanted to in her current state of mind. "First of all, I'm so sorry. I should have never recorded that. I didn't mean for anyone to ever see it!"
"Well, someone did!" she replied, straining against the urge to pull her arms out and take a swing.
"I know, I know," he agreed, backing around his bike and taking a few steps away from her. She followed. "And I should have never showed it to anyone either, but I thought she could help. I forgot--I forgot about her power of persuasion, and I didn't realize she was tricking me."
"What? Who the hell are you talking about?" Cadence asked. She was certain that Christian must have given the recording to Aaron himself in an attempt to get Cadence to come back to him, to cry on his shoulder. Although, now that she stopped to consider it, that really didn't make much sense. Obviously, that would only make her mad at Christian if Aaron were to mention precisely what he was mad at her about. So, it wasn't him who had given the recording to Aaron. It had to be....
"Eliza!" she shouted, the realization hitting her all at once. It knocked the breath out of her. Eliza was her friend. She would never do something like that, would she?
Cadence lifted her eyes to Christian, looking for confirmation in his face.
It was there. She could tell by his apologetic gaze that he had given the footage to Eliza, and she was the one who had passed it on to Aaron.
Still, if he’d never recorded it, this would’ve never happened.
"Cadence, I'm so sorry!" Christian said, pleadingly. "Please, forgive me. I never meant to hurt you. You’re the last person, probably the only person, I wouldn’t want to hurt.”
His words seemed so strange to her. She would’ve expected him to say she was the last person he’d ever want to hurt. But that’s not what he’d said at all….
She didn’t have time to think about it.
“I will kill you later,” she threatened the Guardian.
“Cadence, wait! You need to know something about her!”
But by the time he finished, she was off, sprinting at full speed toward the apartment building. She pushed the door open with such force, it bent back against the wall and left an indentation in the sheetrock. Not bothering to wait for the elevator, she flew up the few flights of stairs to Eliza's floor and bounded down the hallway to her so-called-friend’s apartment.
Though it was tempting to rip the door off of the hinges, she decided to try the old-fashioned way first and banged her first against the wood hard enough to shake the entire hallway. "Eliza!" she screamed at the top of her lungs, praying the woman was inside and that she’d answer so that Cadence could take the rage building within her out on Eliza’s smarmy face.
Cadence could hear her coming before she got there, despite the repercussions of the wall still rattling around her. Eliza wisely left the chain on the door. Not that that would stop Cadence from getting to her. "Cadence," she said, a slight smirk on her face. "Whatever brings you here, friend?"
"I'm going to kill you!" Cadence growled, her eyes piercing through the small space between the door and the wall.
"Is something the matter?" Eliza asked, a lilt of sarcasm in her voice.
"Don't pretend that you don't know."
"Are you accusing me of something?"
"Open the goddamn door."
"I don't think you're in any state to have a discussion right now," Eliza replied. "Are you upset? Did Aaron break up with you again?"
"I know you did this," Cadence said, holding back the temptation to knock the door in. She had to remind herself that she could kill Eliza, though, and she didn’t want the fucking bitch’s blood on her hands.
"What? You think I'm the one who fucked another guy and lied to Aaron about it?" Eliza asked, the false sweetness dripping off of her voice like honey. "No, sweetheart, I would never do that. I know better than to cheat on Aaron."
"You know that's not what happened!" Cadence countered, her voice as even as she could make it. “I didn’t fuck Christian! I barely did anything with him!”
She shrugged. "It's all in the eye of the beholder, friend," Eliza replied, a curt smile on her face.
Though Cadence was aware that Eliza was using that word--friend--sarcastically, each time she said it, Cadence felt the knife jab deeper into her back. "I thought we were friends, Eliza. I thought you really liked me. Why the hell would you do this to me?" She could hardly stand to look at the woman’s face, the act of betrayal stung so sharply.
Cadence expected these questions to draw upon Eliza’s compassion, but they didn't seem to. "Look, sweetheart, I am your friend. But I'm Aaron's friend, too. I'm not saying I did anything, but if you did something you shouldn't have, and he found out, then you get what you deserve." She sounded like a different person, the sugary sweet mock voice gone and replaced by the snarl of a real bitch.
Feeling the tears stinging her eyes again, Cadence realized she was either going to have to leave--or she would beat the shit out of this woman. And now, tears were threatening to fall down her cheeks, and she didn’t want to end up crying in front of Eliza. That was something she wasn't willing to do. "You are going to regret this one day," she said through clenched teeth.
"Maybe," Eliza admitted. Then, with a sly smile pulling at the corner of her mouth she added, "but not today."
With her hands in fists, Cadence turned to walk away, but before she got too far, she whirled back around and continued to make her point. Pointing at Eliza’s face, she shouted, "We are done. You and I are no longer friends. I don't work with you anymore. If there’s a hunt I’m supposed to go on, you’re not there. If I find out you’re going, I’m out. Never again, got it?"
Eliza only smiled back at her and said in a jolly voice, "Merry Christmas Eve , Cadence!” Then, she slammed the door.
Through the barrier, Cadence could hear the fucking bitch laughing.
She was going to regret this.
Besides, even if Aaron wasn’t dating her anymore, that didn’t mean he’d go running back to Eliza—did it?
