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Ferris and I spent nearly an hour wandering through the ruins, talking and taking photos of one another. After some time, we decided to head back down to the lodge. As much as I was weary to do so, I felt much better about my return to reality now that Ferris was by my side. It had been completely unexpected, but he arrived right on cue to provide me with the comfort I truly needed. Now I had a companion and couldn’t be more thankful for it. The two of us made our way back down as the sun slowly crept down to hide behind the mountains and the evening took over.
“Are you hungry?” Ferris asked as we approached the lodge.
I stopped walking and turned to look at him. “Are you staying here?”
Ferris nodded, goofy smile back in place. I held back the urge to sweep my hands through his fiery red hair. He had always been good-looking, but I couldn’t deny he had aged well. Most of all, he brought a vibe now that had been completely absent back in our college days. It was more relaxed and confident. I wondered if it had anything to do with his acquired fame.
The two of us headed into the lodge to have dinner at the restaurant. I sincerely hoped we wouldn’t bump into Hayden. I didn’t want to see his face, much less deal with his shit. All I wanted was to enjoy a wonderful dinner together with Ferris at the lodge and revel in my newfound solace.
The appetizer and main course went off without a hitch. The two of us talked, laughed, and reminisced about old times without a single hint of awkwardness. Our chairs had even moved closer to each other’s somehow and I was completely okay with the way things were going. Sure, it seemed completely out of left field and it all escalated quickly, but I was glad for it in that moment.
It was helping me take my mind off things and helping me forget Hayden and all the confusion he brought into my life. If I stuck by Ferris, I wouldn’t have to deal with Hayden– at least not any of my personal confusion regarding him. I knew it wasn’t going to change any feelings I had for Hayden, but in that moment I didn’t care. It was the only moment of peace I had found over the past few days.
As we were finishing up desert, everything went south. I frowned and Ferris immediately turned to look over his shoulder to see Hayden and Gina walking into the restaurant. Gina was staring directly at me with a sort of angry determination. Hayden, on the other hand, was trying to ignore us completely. The two of them were seated at a table on the other end of the restaurant, but I could still see them in my peripheral vision.
“Do you want to leave?” Ferris asked cautiously.
“No,” I responded, reaching forward to have a sip of my latte. “I refuse to let him ruin yet another good thing in my life.”
Ferris smiled awkwardly, like he was unsure what to do, but he still hoped to be encouraging in some way or another. I would have found it endearing had I not been preoccupied with Hayden and Gina.
“Did you see who she was with?” Gina told Hayden in a hushed tone once they had been seated, trying her best not to stare at me and Ferris overtly. “The nerve she has.”
“What are you talking about?” Hayden asked, trying to ignore the swell of jealousy in his chest at seeing me enjoying dinner with another man. He would have given anything to be in Ferris’s place. Instead, he was having dinner with Gina of all people while he continued to struggle with his feelings for me. By that point I had done my fair share of hurting him, but he couldn’t shake his feelings for me.
“That’s Ferris David from the band The Close Callers. Don’t tell me you’ve never heard of them Hayden,” Gina said.
“Of course I’ve heard of them,” Hayden snapped, the swell of jealousy now even more pronounced. He didn’t want to keep sneaking glances over at us, but it felt like something beyond his control. I looked to be enjoying Ferris’s company when Hayden had walked in. Now knowing he was a celebrity, it bothered him even more.
Gina quickly figured out what was going on as she noticed Hayden’s constant looks over at Ferris and I. It made her skin crawl it bothered her so much. She didn’t take things this far to let me take the man she’d been after for so long. Gina took a sip of water and quickly formulated a plan. It was easy, really. I had practically done all the work for her.
“She’s a wily one, that’s for sure.” Gina said. It sounded like an offhand remark, but she knew exactly what she was doing.
“Why do you say that?” Now she had his undivided attention.
Gina took a sip of water to hide the devious grin that curled up her lips before she began to talk. “She’s made this huge fuss of things, Hayden, to keep you cornered. She’s made it easier to play you.” Gina paused and looked over at me. “Can’t you see this was her plan all along? Not that I can blame her, really. If I was in her shoes and I looked exactly like a wildly popular video game character, I would also want to capitalize on the situation and use it to catapult myself into fame.” She took a long, slow sip of water while Hayden ruminated on what she had just said.
“That can’t be,” he said weakly, staring at me.
“Think about it,” Gina said, using it as an excuse to slide up next to him. She rested her chin on her hand and tilted her head, still looking at me. “She plays you so hot and cold. It’s so you don’t grow tired of her and ignore her outright. She’s kept you on a leash and you didn’t even know it. All the best con artists have an art with subtlety and deception, Hayden. You’ve had no clue all along. Hell, even I didn’t catch on right away.” She spoke so calmly and confidently because she knew he was buying into her every word.
Hayden excused himself and quickly walked out of the restaurant, without so much as a sideways glance at me. Gina sipped on her glass of wine with a smirk as she watched me look at Hayden as he left. By the time I turned back to look at Gina, she had screwed up her face to look upset as she took another sip.
She watched me mutter something to Ferris before leaning in and giving him a kiss on the cheek. When I walked out of the restaurant, Gina took her time to follow me. It wouldn’t bode well for her story if she showed up during our fight right away.
I walked down the hall to my room, but Hayden had already gone into his. I couldn’t work up the nerve to knock on his door. Had I been able to catch up to him it would have been an entirely different story.
“Why do I care,” I muttered before walking to my room and slumping down on my bed, eyes fixated on the night sky outside the window. Last time I spoke to Hayden we ended up in a screaming match. I saw no reason why it would be any different now. I had no reason to ask him what was going on, especially not when it seemed to be a problem between him and Gina.
Then there was a knock at my door. My stomach flipped. On the surface I hoped it was Ferris, but my gut told me differently. I knew deep down—I wanted it to be him.
Sure enough, it was Hayden standing on the other side of the door when I pulled it open. He was clearly upset, but it didn’t stop him from barging into my room.
“All along you’ve tried to make my life impossible by claiming I ruined yours. But the truth of it all was that you weren’t satisfied ruining my life years ago, right? No. You had to use me even now until you could drop me when someone more famous came along. You got your own fame and now you want a partner to match, is that right?”
I was completely stupefied. His accusations were absurd and came completely out of the blue. Not once had I done anything to imply I wanted to get famous. It was quite the opposite, actually.
“All I’ve done, from the start, is try to get this situation taken care of so I can get back to my normal life. You are the one being stubborn.”
“That’s the ploy, isn’t it? Making me believe that is all a big game,” he spat back at me. Hayden walked up to my window and placed his hand against the wall, leaning forward until his forehead touched the cool windowpane.
“Where the hell is this even coming from? It’s not enough we’re at each other’s throat constantly that now you have to make up some absurd bullshit to throw at me? That’s too much even for you,” I shot back. I was sick of everything, especially the fact that I was still confused about my feelings toward him even after times like these.
“You’re always saying that and I’m sick of it, Ali. You’re always right. You’re always the victim. I should’ve known you really were a cruel person back when you ruined my life.”
“Get out!” I cried. “Get out of here! You’re so beyond being an arrogant, self-involved asshole. Never in my life...”
Hayden stared at me, mouth gaping, but he didn’t protest. Just then there was a knock and we both turned to see Gina standing against the doorframe, eyebrow arched.
“That was quite a display,” she muttered, eyes narrowed and piercing through me. She turned to Hayden, “I think it’s time for us to go.”
As the two of them walked over to Gina’s room, Ferris came into view. He had finally come to check on me after I had texted him my room number. As Hayden and Gina made their way out he stopped and looked toward Ferris, “I hope you enjoy everything she’s reaping from screwing me over again.”
When Ferris merely stared at him, confused, Hayden felt the need to insult him. “I guess you famous types are never satisfied, right? You’re already a big name on your own but you still teamed up with Ali on this.” Hayden looked him up and down with disgust before walking away.
Ferris had absolutely no idea what had just happened or why, but at that moment it didn’t matter.
“Let’s go,” he said before I had a chance to speak. “Let’s go back to San Francisco. Let’s go home.”
