Tolerating The Player

“Hey Love, are you okay?” His voice was filled with concern over the phone and I guessed he must have figured out I wasn’t in my best mood tonight.

“Zach…” I broke out in tears, I wanted to explain everything to him but I couldn’t bring myself to say any word other than to cry.

“It’s okay to cry babe, I’m here even though I can’t really be with you at the moment but I’m here for you” he cooed over the phone and I kind of felt better. I guess hearing his voice alone was able to make me feel okay.

“I’m fine now” I sniffed my nose and wiped my tears off. The water in the lake was getting colder so I removed my legs and brought my kneels to my face.

“No you’re not, Maya called me and she seemed to be worried, she also said you haven’t been answering her calls” his voice was louder this time. I knew he wished he was here to see me but unfortunately he was in Brazil.

“It’s about my family Zach, everything is just depressing and I thought I was finally making it out of the catastrophe but yet another bomb exploded and it hurt me really bad” I spoke quietly, I had no tears left to cry.

“My mother came back and she said some things to me which were actually true, Joe isn’t my brother but my step brother and Grace is his biological mother, funny right?” I feigned a laugh.

“I know it’s hard for you to take in but you should at least talk to Maya too about it after all she’s your best friend, she was really scared when you were not answering her calls”

“What do I have to say to her huh? Tell me what do I have to say to Maya, she fucking knew all these while but kept it away for me and I was fooled, I was played by the people I trust the most” I thought I had no tears left but tears actually started to flow down my eyes but this time my throat and eyes were hurting.

“I’m really sorry babe, God I wish I was there with you right now” he comforted me.

Ever since I saw his call on my phone I’ve been thinking about the next step I would take because it’s really hard for me to live among people who betrayed me and I didn’t have enough money to rent an apartment yet. I have been saving for quite a while but don’t have enough to sustain me for a year still.

“Zach, can I sleep over at your house tonight, are the keys there?” I asked.

“Sure but where are you right now?”

“Your mother’s garden” I replied.

“What the fuck are you doing there by this time of the day, it could be really dangerous for a lady to be there this night!” He yelled but soon realized he was yelling and apologized almost immediately.

I knew he would freak out if he knew I was here by this time, i never thought I would come here at night because it looked really beautiful at day but spooky at night since it was in the woods. Any animal could be here but tonight I didn’t seem to mind since I was feeling numb already. I don’t think I would ever mention to Zach that I thought of drowning myself in his mother’s precious lake.

“I’ll leave now” I replied to him after a lot of “Hello’s” that I didn’t seem to hear because my mind was far away from the call. He was basically getting scared the more he said hello.

I stood up to leave the lake but sighed immediately I left, the garden was truly a beautiful place to think and relax your mind but then I don’t know how it will be once I leave the garden. It shouldn’t be that bad outside either since I would stay at Zach’s house. Our memories together in the house should probably calm me down.

Zach made sure not to end the call until he knew I was in his house, even still he didn’t end the call fearing that I might endanger myself.

“Zach, I’ve been thinking about something lately” I said to him as soon as my butt touched his soft bed and I wore one of his shirts to fill my body with his scent.

“What’s that?” He asked with concern.

“I want to come to Brazil, well I might not go to school there but I just want to be with you for a while to get myself back together” I said.

“Of course yes, why not, I’ll book you a ticket for tomorrow since it’s 1 am in Tennessee already” he said with enthusiasm and I smiled. I was going to see my love and everything should be alright.

He still didn’t end the call and we were both discussing random stuff that I didn’t know when I started to laugh really hard even though it was really late at night. The call was still on but I started to feel sleepy.

He seemed to notice I was feeling sleepy, “Goodnight baby girl” he said before hanging up and I peacefully slept off immediately.

The bright sun rays woke me up from my sleep, I looked around trying to remember why I was in Zach’s room before memories from last night came back to my head.

I should pack my luggages today then leave for Brazil really early tomorrow since Zach has taken care of the flight and his father had once granted me a visa in case I would change my mind and also want to study in Brazil.

I stood up and headed for the bathroom to take a long hot bath. I wanted the water to wash away my sorrows so bad and watch them go down the drain but I guess that only happens in movies and fictional books but not in reality.

I had been in the tub for more than thirty minutes but had no plans of coming out of the water any time soon. My phone rang from the room and I thought it must be Zach so I finally stood up from the tub and wrapped the towel around my waist as I went to where my phone was.

On seeing the caller’s name, some waves of sadness hit me but I tried to shove them away, I wouldn’t want my morning to start off bad. The phone had been continuously ringing for quite some time so I swiped on the screen to answer it.

“Oh thank goodness you answered my call” Maya heaved a sigh of relief.

“Yeah….” I replied. I honestly didn’t like to be like this to her but I had nothing to say to her. I hadn’t forgiven her just yet.

“Isabella, look I know you’re mad but trust me I had no idea about what was happening, I am your best friend after all and I wouldn’t want you to feel this way after finding out. If I had known the truth also then I would have told you immediately”

“I called as soon as I heard the news because I knew you must have been devastated after putting your trust in Grace and then she also betrayed you. I haven’t been picking her call either because she also betrayed me by not telling me all of these earlier and everything about Joe is just new and hard for me to take in” her voice broke at the end and I believed her. She was my best friend and wouldn’t truly want me to hurt, it must’ve not been easier for her to take in the truth about having a step brother for another man after having two father’s already.Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

“I’m sorry for not answering your calls” I sincerely apologised and meant it.

“Oh no, I should be the one apologizing” she said but her voice sounded like she was crying.

“Don’t be a fool and don’t make this awkward” I teased in order to lighten the mood and she chuckled. I guess it must have worked.

“I love you” she said and I replied to her too.

“How’s Harvard by the way, I would have loved to visit you also but I’ll be going to Brazil tomorrow to meet Zach. I might not stay there for a long time”

“Oh wow, so you were planning on keeping this huge deal away from me you jerk!” She yelled and I laughed. I would’ve told her if we were on good terms yesterday.

“I’m sorry” I apologized before we finally said some other few words to ourselves and ended the call. I needed to pack my stuff but then I would need to go to my father’s house.

After dressing up I left Zach’s house to head for my father’s house. Luckily it was like a desert and I couldn’t hear anything so no one was at home.

I walked up the little staircase to my room as I started to pack some of the things I would be needing for my stay in Brazil. It might be a two weeks or a month stay depending on when I feel like I’m better.

As I started to pack my clothes I stumbled on a little frame of Joe and I and memories from the day we took the picture came to my head. I shouldn’t be upset at Joe after all because he didn’t do anything. He is a sweet little boy that doesn’t know what’s going on around him and I guess he’s also a victim because he didn’t choose this type of life to come into.

After packing everything I would need, I walked down the stairs to leave the house. I don’t hope to ever come here even when I’m back from Brazil. I’d stay in Zach’s house for some while before renting an apartment of my own.

I opened the door to leave but saw a tiny figure sitting on the porch, why was he here? He seemed to have noticed the door clicking open as he turned around to look at me and his eyes immediately filled up with tears.

“Isabella!” He cried as he hugged me really tight.