Chapter 19 - Talk

It was a beautiful Monday morning in Craigsburg. The weather, unlike the past days, was full of promises of a bright and sunny day, and this made the people of Craigsburg happy.
All but one.
Wren Austin.
She didn’t want to leave her room. She was grateful for the rain the past days as it enabled her to stay in the comfort of her apartment. But now that the sun was out, no later than seven a.m., she had to leave her apartment.
She had a couple of things planned for the day. Things that she was thinking about postponing to another day and just locking herself in her apartment. But a call from Gwendolyn Jefferson had the blonde grumbling as she walked to her bathroom to get ready.
It was exactly nine thirty a.m. when Wren Austin made it to ‘cold stone’ a spot where both ladies liked to visit whenever they had something to catch up on.
Gwendolyn spotted Wren first and raised her hand. At once, a smile there blonde face as she walked toward her friend, and gave her a quick hug when she was next to her.
“Someone finally decided to leave their apartment” Gwen commented as she took her seat.
“Ah, you know me. I love my apartment” Wren clapped back.
“I wonder why” retorted the other lady.
After earning a smile from Wren, Gwendolyn raised her hand, calling out to the waiter. Their orders taken and the waiter gone, both girls fell into a line of conversation which quickly escalated to the events of Friday night.
“So, the entire town is talking about Friday night. Do you want to tell me how that went down?” asked Gwen as she gave her friend a corner look. She knew there was a high chance Wren wouldn’t want to speak on it, but hell, the girl needed first-hand information.
Wren sighed. “There’s nothing much to say. I left him there” she replied nonchalantly.
“As you should. I mean, the nerve he has. Going through Hunter for something, has he lost all his charms?” Gwen fired.
When Wren didn’t react to her statement, the young girl understood she may have gotten a little out of hand, so she reached for Wren’s hand on the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She was about to speak up but she spotted the waiter walking toward them and paused with her speech until their order was served and the waiter was gone.
“Hey, are you okay? Talk to me” Gwen said in a concerned tone whilst taking a sip of her drink.
Wren swirled her straw and shrugged. “I don’t know what to say. I can’t find the right words”.
“That’s alright. Just throw words at me and I will put them together” Gwen added.
“Hurt. Betrayed. Disappointment” Wren brought the straw to her lips.
Gwendolyn nodded at her friend’s response, pushing her drink aside and folding her arms, making her go into full shrink mode.
“You feel disappointed at Giovanni for stooping so low. His actions hurt you and you feel betrayed by him” Gwen said, earning a nod from her friend.
“Yeah”
“And given your determination to avoid him, I guess the events of Friday night make you more determined to avoid him” Gwen added, earning another nod from Wren.
“What if he goes through Hunter again?” Gwen questioned.
“I’ll do the same thing I did Friday night. I will avoid him” Wren’s reply came in almost immediately.
Gwen’s next question to her friend was well calculated and was posed with cautiousness as she didn’t want the blonde to feel she was against her.
“Wren, I’m going to ask this and I need you to keep an open mind to it. Do you not think it will save you the ache and the stress of avoiding him if you just hear him out?”
Gwen’s fear happened because Wren briefly looked at her with betrayal, but it quickly disappeared.
Wren sighed. “What does he have to say for himself? What could he possibly say to make up for what he did to me?” she fired back.
“Maybe he had a reasonable explanation for leaving. Perhaps he feared dropping such a piece of news on you knowing what you were going through” Gwen defended.
“And that makes leaving without a word better? I’m sorry but I find it hard to hear him out because there were several ways he could have handled things. I won’t lie and say I wouldn’t have made him feel guilty for choosing whatever took him out of Craigsburg over me. All I’m saying is, the days amounting to his departure, he could have at least showed up at the house like you and your mom did, he could have sent messages or at least called, but nothing of that sort happened. He didn’t show up during the wake keep, and neither did he show up as I watched the person I loved the most slowly being lowered six feet down. I left the cemetery that day, I should have returned to my house and rested. But I was worried for his sorry ass, and I drove to him, only to find out from his father that he left and wouldn’t be back for who knows how long. Do you have any idea how that made me feel? Because heartbroken doesn’t even come close to what I felt that day” Wren finalized.
Gwendolyn swallowed a not. She didn’t know how to say what she was about to say without sounding inconsiderate. She cared deeply for Wren, and she knew that the grudge she felt towards the young man would only hurt her more. If she wanted to move on from the past, she needed to be open to the young man about her feelings.
“I think it will help you heal if you told him this” Gwen said.
“Why? He did not come back to Craigsburg for me. Hell, the bastard didn’t even come home when his father past away. My life has been great without him, and his presence has managed to bamboozle everything I’ve become accustomed to. I would appreciate it very much if he just carried on with what brought him back in town and forget that I exist” Wren’s expression was stoic as she spoke.
“Wren-“ Gwen was abruptly cut off by Wren.
“No. He hurt me, Gwen. He broke my trust and I don’t think I can look at him without being reminded of the worse day of my life. So please, just drop it” with Wren's final words, Gwendolyn gave up.

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