Sorry about the delay guys, a hardware malfunction fucked this one up for me. Thanks for sticking with me. As ever, your constructive comments are all appreciated. Please go back and read chapter 1 and 2 if you haven't already done so.
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I woke up to the sound of my alarm clock.
Rolling over, I noticed it was 5AM.
Then the usual ache hit my stomach, almost doubling me over.
I'd been getting this for a long while, and I knew it was all psychological. Ever since Alice had left, I had been in a state of constant pain. It decreased to a dull ache as the day progressed, but as soon as I arrived home, it became much, much more.
I groaned and pulled on a faded pair of jeans.
My company had moved into construction since this time last year, and I was heading up a new project for a local swimming pool. Naturally it wouldn't be open air in Forks, so we were also handling the building around it.
I'd started as a one-man band, and I now employed over 250 people. I had a small army of pencil pushers to handle paperwork, but a lot of my time was now spent in an office. I despised it, but it came with the job.
I was brought back into the present by a craving for coffee. I practically lived off the stuff, so it was only natural I should need a cup now.
I downed my coffee and hit the road. It wasn't too far to my office, and I wanted to be on site by around 8 O'clock. I had a mountain of forms to fill about general shit, so I figured now was as good a time as any. ---
I didn't really relish the paperwork idea, so I decided to grab a coffee before I went to the office. I decided on the Forks Coffee Shop. It was the only place that served coffee strong enough to sink a battleship.
I got seated at a booth, and pulled out my laptop. Whilst I had no internet, I did have a spreadsheet that wanted finishing.
As I waited for the laptop to load, I glanced around. A flash of red caught my eye.
I looked towards it. A decidedly unhappy redhead sat at a table, staring into her cup. It was the same color as Alice's, I noticed idly. Then I looked closer. As I looked, she pulled out a laptop computer and started tapping away.
It was Alice.
I grabbed my stuff and made for the door.
She didn't look up.
---
I reached my office building. Our employees weren't based out of here, we had a separate unit for them, which housed parts and suchlike.
The office building wasn't exactly huge, but it had space for over 150 people. My company only occupied two floors of the five floor building, and we leased the other three floors to other companies.
I entered my office and flipped the light switch, noting with displeasure that the stack of paper on my desk was double the size it was the day before. As if I wasn't upset enough.
I let out a sigh of frustration and sat heavily in my chair.
Why was she here? What did she want? Hadn't she hurt me enough?
Oh well, duty calls.
I turned on my PC.
Turning to the stack of paper, I signed three or four of the documents. They were just general crap about vehicle maintenance or something.
"You have mail." My PC announced.
I turned to the brightly lit LCD and tapped in my password.
It brought up six emails.
Inbox:
Mark Derry - Subject: Cement mixer.
Michael Pall - Subject: Meeting.
Ford Commercial - Subject: Your truck is due for service.
United Rentals - Subject: Excavator hire.
United Rentals - Subject: Generator Hire.
Alice Fort - Subject: I love you.
I did a double take.
I clicked on the email from Mark Derry.
I'm joking of course, which do you think I clicked on?
Alice Fort: sent 6:13AM
Mike,
I'm so sorry you had to see that a few weeks ago. I didn't know you'd be calling around or anything. I thought you'd moved on to your own little way of life and had forgotten about me. I think about you all the time, but life with Jay is perfect. Let me know how you're doing.
Your sister; Alice.
What the fuck was she on? She honestly thought that I'd moved on? Had Lewis told her nothing?
That was a very good question though. What had Lewis told her? I mean, I hadn't stuck around after I saw her. I just left and got on the next plane home.
I decided to call him.
"Hello?"Lewis' voice crackled down the phone.
"Hey bro." I tossed back.
"Listen man, I'm real sorry you had to see what you saw." Lewis immediately stated.
"Yeah, whatever. Didn't you tell her I was trying my best to track her down?" I asked.
"...no. I... I figured it was better that you both moved on. It ain't right man. It's like me and Beck getting together." He justified.
"Well, to be honest I wouldn't have lied to her." I countered.
"I'm gonna have to go. I'll call you later, okay?" Lewis tossed down the phone.
"Whatever." I spat, closing the phone. Fucker.
I didn't know whether to reply to the email or not, so I just left it alone and carried on with the stack of paperwork.
Once I'd done that, stomach churning, I decided to reply to the email and gave her my number.
I was sure I'd made about a thousand errors due to my mental state.
Only three minutes later I got the phone call.
"Hey." She said breathlessly. "I didn't expect you to reply, to be honest. Listen, you wanna meet for lunch or something? I need my brother at my wedding."
Callous bitch.
