Chapter 33- Regrets

Wren Austin didn't stop running. Even when she couldn't feel her legs and she felt like she was going to pass out any moment, she didn't stop.
She wanted to get away from him. As far as her legs could take her.
How could she have been so stupid? How could she let herself be swayed by his sweet words and empty promises?
Now, not only was she heartbroken, She was humiliated. Because she knew darn well that her name will be the talk of the town by day break.
That too, being another hard pill to swallow.
The blonde had made a promise to herself to never shade a single tear for the young man, and she hoped to keep it that way. But wren quickly understood that it was going to be a lot more difficult holding onto that promise. Because the moment she slammed the door to her apartment, she dropped to the floor and cried like never before.
For someone who is always cautious and wary over something that hurt her, she had allowed herself to get carried away by the way he made her feel.
It was much later and Wren had decided she had done enough crying and decided to pull herself together. Quietly, she walked to her bathroom, showered and got into her bed.
Not even the rays of sunlight radiating through the blonde’s room the following morning could force the blonde awake. The aggressive bussing of her phone couldn’t, but the loud and steady pounding on her gradually made her open her eyes.
They hurt, and she was certain they were swollen and red from all the crying she did last night.
Wren Austin tossed and stirred in bed, trying to summon the courage to get her out of bed.
For a split second, Wren thought there was no need getting out of bed since the pounding on her door had stopped, but right as she fell back in bed, the banging resumed again and this time, followed by the Gwendolyn’s impatient voice.
At once, Wren Austin knew why she had come.
And she didn’t know if she was ready to talk about it.
Getting out of bed with a frown, the blonde slowly made her way to the leaving room. Gwen’s treat about breaking down the door if she didn’t open in the next second left Wren unfazed as she maintained her pace.
“Fina-fucking-ly! What the hell took you so long? Do you relies how long I’ve been standing out there, banging on your door like a goddam lunatic?” the dark haired spat out as she marched into Wren’s living room.
The blonde’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. Wren wanted to reply to her friend by telling her that she was indeed, a goddam lunatic, but she decided against that and instead settled for a polite greeting.
“Good morning to you too, Gwendolyn” the blonde had fished out a bottle of water from her fridge and gulped it down after she spoke.
“There’s nothing good about the fucking morning. What the hell am I hearing?” Gwen questioned.
“Honestly, I wouldn’t know. Gossip isn’t something I’m particularly interested in” how Wren Austin managed to be so calm was beyond her, but regardless, she didn’t complain.
“Is that what you’re going for?” Sarcasm?” Gwen uttered.
“Yeah” the blonde replied with a shrug.
Gwendolyn Jefferson sighed and took her sit. She saw past the façade her friend was putting up and she realized she had gone about it the wrong way.
“Wren, are you okay?” Gwendolyn asked in a more quite tone that made the brunette’s heart tighten.
Was she okay? Hell no. she wasn’t. She was very far from okay. But she had gone to sleep last night with the firm determination and surpassing this with her head held high.
And that was exactly what she intended to do.
“Tell me Gwendolyn. What time is it?” the blonde dismissed Gwendolyn’s question to ask hers.
Gwendolyn Jefferson didn’t understand Wren’s question. Regardless of the confused look on her face, she answered;
“Uh, ten-ish. Why?”
“Nothing. I’m just amazed at how fast information regarding me flies. Why are they so interested in my life?” the blonde ask.
For the longest of time, Wren Austin wondered why people were so keen in listening to the bad predicament she faces. She wondered why she was the most talked about in town, and not in a positive way.
The first years when Hunter forced her to work for him, she struggled a lot with their comments and she would sometimes cry herself to sleep whenever their remarks became too much for her to handle. But as time whiled away, she built an armor for those kinds of talks, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt, or that she didn’t cry herself to sleep.
After what happened yesterday, and with Gwendolyn in her house asking to confirm if what she heard was correct, Wren felt she needed an answer to her worries.
“I mean, it’s only ten in the morning. Barely hours after what happened yesterday and I know for a fact that the entire town is already aware of it. I can’t help but wonder why? What’s so special about my life? Why can’t they stay out of my fucking business, or you know, poke their nose somewhere else?”
By the time Wren finished speaking, Gwendolyn was giving her a pitiful stare and she hated it. She hated that the girl was looking at her like she was some fragile and defenseless puppy.
Because she was far from that.
All she needed was answers and from the look of things, she wasn’t going to get any.
“Wren” Gwendolyn started but paused when she realized she didn’t know what to say. She realized she was no different from the people who talked about her, particularly now that she was in her apartment, not comforting her, but trying to fish more information out of her.
“I’m sorry” was all the dark-hard could mutter.
Wren Austin nodded at her friend’s response.
She was disappointed. Wren wasn’t sure if she was disappointed at Gwendolyn for not giving her a reply to her question, or disappointed at herself for thinking she could give her the reply she wanted.
Regardless, one thing was for sure. She was disappointed.
“Thank you for stopping by Gwen, I appreciate it. But if you don’t mind, I’ll be going back to bed now” Wren had already gotten off the couch.
“Wren. I’m sorry” Gwendolyn called out.
“Accepted. Please close the door on your way out”

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