25. Another fight

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Her legs swung beneath her as she sat on the edge of the kitchen counter, biting into an apple absentmindedly. It didn’t take long before he noticed it, pausing to observe her for a second.

“Okay, spill,” He said, setting down the knife, a decided look on his face.

“Huh?” She raised her eyebrows, looking a bit confused by his statement. He had caught her off guard to be fair.

“You have been sitting there with that look on your face for the past, I don’t know, five minutes? So spill,” he shrugged.

She sighed, glancing at what remained of the apple in her hand before looking up to meet his concerned gaze. Damn! She was really falling hard for this piece of hunk in front of her.

“You and me, we like each other a little too much and I’m not complaining. I love it. It’s really great to know that what I feel for you is what you feel for me,” she paused, taking a long hard glance at Collins, “But at the end of the day, there is reality. And ours is the part where we actually lead two completely different lives. I have this whole life in the city and you have your life cemented here,”

“I love you so much, Nadia. More than you can possibly know and which is why, I’m certain we will work out. Yes, we have different lives and yet, you picked my side at the war when you could have easily picked your brother’s and be on the winning side,” A small smile found its way over his lips as he positioned himself between her legs, tilting her chin with his index finger so that she was staring at him, “We will work out, Nadia. We have to,”

“But how? My career is in the city. My agent, my only friend, the publishing company I work for. All of it,” She swallowed it down, “I can’t just decide to blow it all over and move here with you,”

“And why not? I mean, its writing. You can do it from here and your agent is only a call away,| he countered and even though very distant, Nadia could hear the hint of frustration in his voice.

“See? This is exactly why I was afraid of even talking to you about this. I knew somehow you will decide my life for me,” She shook her head, feeling a bit angry.

“I’m not deciding your life for you, Nadia. I’m trying to make us work. You need to meet me halfway for this,” He pointed out.

“No. That would be me going all the way to you and ignoring what I want,” she sighed, visibly frustrated, “I have a whole life outside of this, us. You can’t just get mad at me for not wanting to just drop it all without thinking it through,”

He shook his head, almost in a pathetic manner, “Laila was right. You would drop me once this was all over. You would leave me like I-“

“Laila said what?” She cut him off, staring at him with a questioning look. It didn’t feel like she heard him in the first place.

“Oh no, you don’t get to be mad that I talk to Laila. At least she didn’t abandon me at the worst time of my life,” he snapped, breathing a little too heavily.

“Then go back to her Collins!” The words flew out of her lisp before she could think them through, “Go back to the same ex-wife that screwed you over. You like to talk and listen to her, right? Cooking advice, being there for you because the woman you love was drowning in her own pain while you were hurting and she couldn’t be there for you, and what else? She is a much better presence than me, right? Go back to her Collins. You clearly seem to want that,”

His lips parted for a moment, almost as though he wanted to say something but then he ended up grinding his jaw. He then silently walked back to check on the Strawberry shortcake, completely ignoring her. Sighing, she stepped off the counter and was about to walk out of the kitchen, when suddenly the front door opened, Laila walking in balancing a basket of apples in one hand.

“You know, you two should really learn the aspect of locking the door when you are inside. The war might be over but that doesn’t mean the enemies are long gone,” she said, walking into the kitchen and then placing the basket on the counter right next to Collins, “And here are the apples you asked me to get you. You really should quit with the late-night calls. It’s like eleven already and seriously for apples? You can do better than that,”

“Thanks, Laila, and sorry for asking you to do this for me this late in the night,” Collins said.

“Well, I’ll leave you two lovebirds to it,” She then turned to look at Nadia, “I’ll see you around,”

Nadia’s gaze followed Laila as she walked out of the room, deliberately swaying her hips before sighing in anger. She turned to look at Collins chewing at a raw carrot while leaning against the counter.

“I think I’m going to be a little late for that dinner. I have to say goodbye to Sasha and decided when I’m leaving town,” she said, somehow hoping for retaliation from him but he was in for a huge disappointment.

“Do what you want, Nadia. I wouldn’t want to decide for you,” He replied.

She swallowed down the bitter gall that felt stuck in her throat. This was certainly not how she had expected her night to end. Feeling more hurt than angry, she walked into the bedroom, calling Sasha and asking her to pick her up and a party dress for her. She wasn’t interested in partying but more on drinking herself to oblivion part. Sasha showed up with Christian in his car and even Nadia changed into the dress, Collins kept to himself in the kitchen.

“Okay. What’s up?” Sasha questioned when they arrived at the club, Christian going off to get some drinks.

“What do you mean?” she questioned.

“You and Collins. I’m not blind. What is going on?”

“We had a fight. I mean, I kind of predicted it wouldn’t go in a good way but I kind of didn’t expect it to turn pretty bad. I told him to go back to his ex-wife,” She answered, “I mean, who does that? Who gets mad just because a man decided that she had to drop her entire life for him?” she chuckled sarcastically.

“He did what?”

“The life I have now, I worked hard for it. All of it. All those late nights and working multiple part-time jobs just so I could have reached the point I’m now and he wants me to just drop it all like it’s nothing. That city life is what I want,” she replied, her voice growing small, “Not this. Not werewolves and hybrids and whatever other creatures there are. No. It’s the busy, noisy city life I want. I want to be on my toes for my work and not because we could be attacked by some vengeful or blood-thirsty creature,”

“His loss then,” The two women shot their gazes up to stare into Drake, “Tonight, everything for you ladies is on me. No qualms about it,”