The Beauty of Us (Fusion #4)

“What are you thanking me for? You want to move to Portland.”

I laugh and stand to leave, leaning over the desk to shake his hand first. When I get to my office, I glance at my phone and see that I have a text from Riley.

Jesus, I just left her last night, and I miss her so much it hurts.

Just got another message from Angie. Would you please take care of this?



What the fuck? I scowl as I reply.

I’m on it. I’m sorry. I hope you’re having a good day.



Jesus, I’m sick of this bullshit. I take a minute to run to the restroom, and when I’m washing my hands, my phone falls in the motherfucking sink.

The sink that has a slow drain, so the phone is submerged.

“Son of a bitch,” I mutter, and shake the water off, wipe it off with paper towels, and sigh when I see that it’s dead.

Great.

Once back at my desk, I open my Facebook messenger on my computer and bring up the message that Angie sent weeks ago. I never did reply. I’m not afraid to. Conflict doesn’t bother me, but I wanted to talk with the other guys first, and frankly, I was putting time with Riley at the top of my priority list.

But I’ve heard from all of the guys, who agree that she should go.

So she’s going to go.

I quickly type out a message to her.

Angie,

I would appreciate it if you would stop communicating with Riley. She and I are very happy together. In light of your recent behavior, the guys and I have decided that it’s best if we no longer game together. I wish you well.

Trevor





I hit send and dive back in to work, forgetting about everything except a restaurant in Baltimore that has gotten excellent reviews that I need to go scout out for the show. I’m combing through their website when my assistant calls.

“Um, Trevor, I have a woman named Angie on the phone for you.”

Without moving, I shift my eyes to the phone and scowl.

“Are you there, Trevor?”

“Yeah. Sorry. Send her through.”

What in the hell is she doing calling me?

My phone rings and I answer on the third ring, taking the time to take a deep breath so I don’t tell her to go to hell.

“Angie.”

“Hi, Trevor. I must have lost your cell number, so I figured I’d just call your office.”

“I never gave you my cell. How do you know where I work?”

“You’ve mentioned it before,” she says with a little giggle. “Are you having a good day?”

“Angie, why are you calling?”

“Because I wanted to discuss your message. Trevor, you can’t just kick me out of the gaming group. I’ve been in it as long as you have.”

“But I’m not trying to make trouble in your private life,” I remind her, and take my glasses off so I can rub my eyes. “It’s already been decided.”

“By who?”

“By all of us.”

“So, you talked behind my back.”

“Angie, you’ve been sending messages full of lies to my girlfriend. Fuck yes I talked it over with the guys behind your back.”

“Riley is not your girlfriend.” Her voice is shrill now, and I can’t help but wonder just how many issues Angie has. “You and I have something special, Trevor.”

“I don’t even know you.”

“That’s a motherfucking lie!” she screams, making me pull the phone away from my ear. “We’re in love. Riley needs to back the fuck off.”

“I’m telling you this right now. You leave her alone, Angie. Leave both of us alone.”

“You’re just confused,” she says, her voice softer now, but no less full of the crazy. “We haven’t talked in a while, and you’re confused.”

“Angie, get some help. Seriously, this isn’t okay.”

“Listen to me, Trevor. You belong with me, and if you think I’m going to sit back while some cunt tries to steal you away from me—”

“That’s enough,” I yell, catching her attention. “We’re done. I’m telling you again to leave us alone.”

She starts to yell again, but I end the call and send a text to Scott.

Angie is officially crazy. We might want to block her from the group.



Without waiting for a response from Scott, I switch over to my text thread with Riley on my desktop.

Hey, babe, I just spoke with Angie. She has some serious problems. Please block her on Facebook so she can’t contact you anymore. I’m doing the same on both Facebook and the Xbox. Also, FYI, I dropped my phone in the sink, and now it’s acting dead. I’ll try the rice trick tonight. In the meantime, I’ll have to call from work, or text on my computer.



Both Scott and Riley reply at the same time, agreeing that Angie should be blocked. I promise to call Riley later and set the whole thing aside so I can get through the bulk of my work before I head to dinner with Colleen.

Where I get to talk about my ex-wife, who has managed to avoid starting drama for two years, but seems to think it would be fun to do so now.

Great.



“I beat you,” Colleen says with a smile as I hurry to the table at our favorite restaurant. She stands so she can hug me, then sits across from me.

“I’m sorry, I hope you haven’t been waiting long.” I take a sip of the water waiting for me and smile over at her.

“I haven’t. Just long enough to decide what I want to eat.”

“We always get the same thing.”

“See? I haven’t been here long at all.”

I chuckle at her and set my menu aside.

“How are you?” I ask.

“I’m fine. I have a new job.”

Colleen switches jobs at least twice a year, much to my dismay.

“Where is it?”

“Disneyland,” she replies with a wide grin. “I’m the new Cinderella. Well, one of them anyway.”

“You’re serious.”

I stare at her in surprise. This is the last thing I would have expected because Colleen is not a girlie girl. I can’t imagine her wearing a big, heavy dress in the Southern California heat.

“I’m totally serious,” she says. She’s definitely pretty enough to be a princess. “It’s fun. Kids love me.”

“Of course they do, you’re a princess.”

“It’s nice to hear you finally admit it after all of these years.”

I laugh and shake my head. “You’ve always hated dresses.”

“I hate this one too,” she says, rolling her pretty blue eyes. “But it’s a good job. They have good benefits, and they pay well.”

“Those are both good things.”

“I can’t get medical insurance waitressing,” she says reasonably. “And I don’t really like being a waitress. I’m already used to being on my feet all the time, and now I get to hang out in Disneyland all day. I mean, that doesn’t suck.”

“No, you’re absolutely right. That doesn’t suck.” I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the next question. “Have you given any thought to going back to school?”

She immediately glares at me. “Stop asking me that.”

“No. C, what are you going to do? Be Cinderella forever?”

“Maybe I’ll get married and have kids like Lisa,” she says, referencing our sister.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but you’re not even dating. Maybe you should work on a career in case Mr. Wonderful doesn’t show up for a while.”