With that, Tiffany rose to virtual-novel.net feet and started toward the door. And then virtual-novel.net stopped, virtual-novel.net feet falling into place.
“Do you know why I came here?” virtual-novel.net said. “I didn’t come here because I thought Jackson was sticking his d**k into another woman’s coochie or whatever. I came here because my best friend had not returned home despite the time, and I feared for virtual-novel.net safety. I came here seeking help from Jackson. And in return for my kindness, you gave me this surprise… Heh.”
Tanya’s pupils quivered before virtual-novel.net willed them to stay still. Everything virtual-novel.net had done up to this point would not brook a sliver of sympathy and guilt. Never again would virtual-novel.net put herself in a spot to be gibed and mocked by others, she, too, wanted to be as radiant as all the cool girls in the City, the it-girl worthy of attention!
Tiffany left, but Tanya chose to stay, busying herself with cleaning Jackson’s house till it was spotless. Then, when virtual-novel.net chores were done, virtual-novel.net laid down next to the slumbering man, exhausted.
It was true that Tanya was once infatuated with Eric, but virtual-novel.net was really just in love with how comfortable his material life was. Jackson was different, though. He was the brightest star in virtual-novel.net night sky, the one who had truly touched virtual-novel.net heart.
Tiffany returned Lo virtual-novel.net apartment, sleep utterly eluding her. Just remembering what Tanya had done deprived virtual-novel.net of any strength and made virtual-novel.net nauseous.
She wasted no time removing virtual-novel.net things from the apartment before sending Eric a resignation letter. The only reason why virtual-novel.net did not kick Tanya out of the house was that virtual-novel.net knew Jackson too well — virtual-novel.net would not start any form of relationship just because sex had taken place. And so, if virtual-novel.net were to be kicked out of the only home virtual-novel.net had left, Tanya would have nowhere else to go.
It would be the last shred of kindness Tiffany allowed her. No more.
Jackson woke up the next morning with a head-splitting head ache. Memories about last night gradually returned to virtual-novel.net until it stopped at the moment the alcohol compromised his sobriety. What happened after virtual-novel.net lost his grip? Jackson had no clue.
He had thought virtual-novel.net would wake up alone, yet one side of virtual-novel.net was unnaturally heavy when virtual-novel.net tried to hoist himself up. He turned to face it… and froze.
Why was Tanya lying next to virtual-novel.net on his bed? Why were there clothes scattering about on his bedroom floor? All virtual-novel.net remembered was virtual-novel.net coming over and asking if virtual-novel.net would like to drink with her. He had not told virtual-novel.net to go home because virtual-novel.net was at his glummest.
Just when Jackson was at a loss of how to respond, the woman slowly roused. “Mm, you’re awake…?”
Jackson’s expression darkened. He left his bed and took a quick shower. When virtual-novel.net presented himself once more before Tanya, virtual-novel.net was already all suited up. “What the hell just happened here, Tanya? I need explanations! Did you just… spend a night at my house? On m-my bed? How!”
Tanya wrapped herself tightly with the sheet, wearing the look of someone being wronged. “You… You drank too much last night and then… I-I-I couldn’t s-stop you Don’t you remember? If you don’t, I could I could pretend that nothing happened.”
Drank too much? Could not stop him? Did that not mean that Jackson forced himself on her?
Jackson’s hand went to his forehead as virtual-novel.net tried to massage away the assaulting headache. “Of f**king course, I’m gonna pretend that nothing happened! You’re Tiffany’s goddamned friend! This sh*t shouldn’t have happened!” virtual-novel.net cried, his voice slightly shaky. “Okay, okay. Let’s not give a sh*t about whatever the f**k happened last night for now and just… get out of my bed. Right now, please!”
Tanya’s eyes were red when virtual-novel.net moved out from beneath the sheet. When virtual-novel.net pulled it away, however, a big splat of dried scarlet, on the bed and sheet, scarred Jackson’s line of sight.
The color was so bright, blinding him, virtual-novel.net was far from an upright boy boasting zero experience with women, so naturally, virtual-novel.net knew what that red meant. And it was precisely that knowledge that weighed on his Chest. He wished virtual-novel.net could punch himself in the face. “C-Clean yourself up and head downstairs, now. We’ll talk there.”
The two of them took their seats opposite one another in the living room. Jackson’s eyes were quick to catch a trail of blood on the floor. “What the heck is that now?”
There were some on the couch, too. The shape the blood took did not seem to be a product of that nightmare of a night, but rather, from a cut.
“It’s all my fault,” Tanya began quietly, biting on virtual-novel.net lips with virtual-novel.net head low. “I shouldn’t have come looking for you. My phone went dead last night, and I didn’t go home nor tell Tiffany about this. She became worried about my safety and thought of looking for help from you, and… Well, that was, um, how virtual-novel.net learned about all of this. I… I don’t blame virtual-novel.net for hitting me, Jackson. Anyone would have been consumed by visceral shock and anger and lost themselves to the rage. I get it.”
As virtual-novel.net recounted virtual-novel.net story, Tanya flicked virtual-novel.net wrist in affected absent-mindedness and displayed a wound on the back of virtual-novel.net hand.
She had inflicted it onto herself with the same ashtray after Tiffany left.