Page 33 of Embracing Us

Chapter fourteen

Marina

The simple front door looks terrifying as I stand in the corridor of the building I’ve become so used to being in. His name, Gordon, is written in black letters on a white plaque. This little apartment has been a haven for me these past months, somewhere to run to and hide when things became unbearable. But I’ve not maintained my half of the bargain, use of the place in return for keeping it clean.

I know the carnage that lies on the other side of this door. Max’s apartment is doing a good impression of student halls, complete with empty takeaway boxes and dirty knickers. He is going to be furious. From the little time I’ve lived in the same house as him and by living in his home, I know he likes to keep a clean space – minimalist with very little on display. Today, it is all hanging out. All my dirty laundry is literally on full display.

The key weighs heavy in my palm. I toss it up and catch it, wasting time. My confidence rises with each throw. This time I go higher, and the feeble metal misses, landing on the worn grey tiles. As I crouch down to collect it, the front door swings open, and I look up into three faces, two of which are familiar. The other is a woman with grey hair and a professional expression.

“You must be Marina,” she says simply and extends her hand. I take it as I rise. She smiles kindly. “I think you may have some cleaning up to do. The first viewers arrive this evening.”

“Viewers?” I ask, my face twisting in puzzlement.

“The apartment is being offered for rent,” Max clarifies. His voice was sharp and filled with disapproval. My stomach flips as my cheeks flush. “That’s why I asked you to come over today and move out your stuff. Obviously, there is more required to get the place ready than I thought there would be.” I brave a glance in his direction. He is openly glaring at me, and I immediately drop my eyes from his.

“Thank you for your time,” Jace interjects, moving everyone’s attention to him. “We will ensure the place is ready for the viewers on time. It would be a relief to know that someone was taking it on before you return to Spain.” His focus moves to Max, who is still growling soundlessly. “Max,” he snaps. “Wouldn’t it?”

“Yes,” he mumbles but doesn’t look at him. His fury is one hundred percent focused on me. “Thank you,” he adds. “I appreciate you coming at such short notice.”

“We are always in need of quality housing stock,” the agent sings. “My pleasure. I will let you know how this evening goes.” She dangles the key in her hand between her fingers. “Hopefully I will be handing these to your new tenant.” With that, she slides past me and then walks off down the corridor. I’m left looking at two men, who are less than enamoured to see me.

Max signals for us all to move into the apartment. I follow behind them, my focus firmly between my feet. We all stand in the living room. When I look up, piles of stuff are scattered around the room. It looks like someone has tried to tidy up and failed miserably. The room has the vibes of a house you see on those cleaning television shows where rats run around amongst the debris. My skin crawls, which is ridiculous because the mess is all mine.

“There are so many things I want to say to you,” Max says. “But I’m not sure I have the energy. In all honesty Marina, if it were up to me, I’d be happy to never see you again.” He sighs, and I feel his gaze land on me. “My home is a disaster, and all I tried to do was help you. But yesterday, at the other house, you were diabolical. The whole sorry fiasco is embarrassing.”

“I was drunk,” I say in a half-hearted explanation as if alcohol is a reason for all bad behaviour. Jace snorts in amusement at my poor excuse.

“You’re twenty-four. Being drunk isn’t a defence for hitting on your mother’s partner. The father of your brother,” Max growls. “Your mother was devastated when I told her. Her heart fucking broke, and I could practically hear it.”

“You told her!” I shriek. My eyes flying upwards to meet his. “Why?”

“Of course, I did. She needed to know what happened in case you tried to twist the situation to your advantage.” His eyes narrow and he steps towards me, invading my space. “You can’t be trusted not to make everyone else’s life more difficult. All you seem to bloody do is try to destroy other people’s happiness.”

Jace clears his throat loudly, reminding Max of his presence. He says nothing, only watches our interaction. Ready to step in if needed I assume.

“I’m honest,” I argue, infuriated that Max wants to pin all the blame on me.

“No, you’re nasty.” His hand lifts and runs through his already messed-up dark hair. “Being honest isn’t about saying whatever the hell you want and not considering other people’s feelings. When you need to use honesty as an excuse for your behaviour, you need to reflect on your actions.” I baulk at him, shocked at the direct confrontation. Not knowing how to respond, I merely stand mute and try to ignore the reality that a lot of what he is saying is true. Being in the wrong isn’t a situation I’m comfortable with.

“Whatever,” I mutter, waving the comment away. “I’ll get on with my chores.”

“Fucking typical. Always the victim, aren’t you? Snap out of your self-obsessed world and learn to consider other people. Or…” He trails off, visibly biting his tongue.

“Or what?” I grind my teeth as my jaw clenches. Previously, altercations with Max turned me on. Him all riled up was orgasmic to watch, those dark eyes and strong muscles poised, ready to pounce. Never on me, unfortunately. This argument, however, is making me uneasy. There is a finality in his words. Any softness is gone, his whole body is rigid as if ready to combust.

“Or you’ll be lonely,” he says, deadpan, then stalks off.

Two hours later, the apartment is looking liveable. Max retreated to his bedroom and hasn’t materialised. When I walked past the doorway, he was packing personal belongings into a cardboard box. A man in a morbid grey uniform delivered fifty of them after I arrived. His stuff is being put into storage for the time being until he decides if he needs to ship anything to Spain. My belongings that were in his bedroom have been dumped in the hallway for me to deal with. Discarded as trash, a bit like me.

Jace appears behind me as I start to place my clothes in black bags. It was all I had to pack my stuff, not thinking I would actually be moving out. Max’s message last night hadn’t concerned me until I stood outside the door. I assumed we would meet here and he would rant about how irresponsible my actions were. That me propositioning him was ridiculous and I should apologise. My plan, which I executed poorly, was to blame alcohol then storm away. The reality of being here then seeing the letting agent had made me do a double-take. This was happening, whether I wanted it to or not.

“Do you need any help?” Jace asks. His voice is level and calm. The few times I’ve met him he has been relaxed, no matter what the situation is. He smiles kindly, then gestures for me to give him the roll of black bags. I pass it to him, and he pulls one from the packet before placing it on the ground next to the mountain of my belongings.

“Thanks,” I mutter, embarrassed. He must be almost twenty years older than me; I know he is around ten years older than Max. Their friendship is unusual, but it’s clear they are close. As I look at him, he becomes less repulsive. When I first met him, my first reaction was that he was a balding middle-aged man with a beer belly and terrible dress sense. Which in some ways, he still is. But there is a sweetness there I never saw before, a genuine openness and willingness to help.

“The past twelve months can’t have been easy for you,” he says, leaving the statement open for me to respond. I grunt instead of speaking then crouch down and start stuffing clothes into the bag in my hand. “There’s been a lot of changes. It’s understandable you’ve been uncertain of the new situation.” He chuckles and shakes his head.

“What?” I snap, annoyed at missing the joke, not that it’s obvious.

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