Chapter 41

Tessa’s POV

“Can we please talk?” The text message from Brian read.

I wasn’t sure what he could possibly want to talk about. It didn’t make sense to me. We spoke all that we needed to speak earlier. He promised that he would leave me alone.

I didn’t want Joseph to know that Brian was still communicating with me, so I shoved my phone into my pocket without saying a word.

Joseph only looked at me curiously for a long while. Probably trying to figure out why I was acting so suspiciously.

I grabbed his plate and my plate and started to make my way into the kitchen area to clean the dishes, but Joseph stood up quickly, stopping me.

“I can call back Monica and have her do the dishes,” Joseph said, eyeing my face carefully.

“No, that’s okay,” I said quickly. “I wouldn’t want to trouble her. Besides, I’d rather do it myself.”

“Then, I’ll help you,” Joseph surprised me by saying. “You cooked me a nice meal. It’s the least I could do.”

I felt a smile tugging at my lips as I nodded. He was right. I cooked him a nice meal and it was a lot of food. Which meant there were a lot of dishes.

I wasn’t going to turn down the help, so I nodded to him and turned toward the kitchen.

I stood at the sink and started to wash the dishes as he collected the rest of the dirty plates and silverware. We were both silent for a long while, neither of us really knew what to say.

“Was that Ruby who was calling you?” Joseph surprised me by asking.

I glanced at him, feeling the heat tickling the back of my neck.

“Yes,” I lied, not wanting him to know that it was actually Brian and that he texted when I didn’t answer. “She was just worried about me.”

“Where did you tell her you were staying?”

“A hotel,” I answered, placing a dish on the drying rack, and picking up another dirty dish. “She’s afraid of being alone… not that I blame her.”

“She’s a lot safer being alone than she would be if you were to be living with her,” he said, lowering his tone slightly and meeting my wandering gaze. “I’m sorry you can’t express that to her.”

My throat tightened at his words, and I found my face growing even warmer as I quickly looked away and back at the filled sink.

“I get it,” I said shortly after. “I understand why you don’t want anyone to know about this and I don’t blame you for that.”

He was quiet for a moment longer before I asked, “Do you have any siblings?”

It was a stupid question, and I was aware of that. I regretted it as soon as I left my mouth. But I couldn’t take it back once it’s been said and honestly, I was kind of curious. There’s nothing about his family or his life as Christopher Moore, only about his writing. So, I wanted to know about the guy I was temporarily living with.

Plus, I wanted to change the subject before he figures out that it was actually Brian that called me.

“I had a sister,” he answered, handing me another dirty dish.

“Did she die of the plague too?”

“No.”

I was surprised by his answer, and I snapped him a look.

“She lived?”

“It's to be assumed,” he shrugged.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“I lost touch with her after my family dropped me off at that orphanage.”

His voice had gone dry, and I realized I had asked too many questions. With all the fiasco of things, I had completely forgotten that he was abandoned by his family. Of course, he didn’t want to talk about this.

I wanted to slap myself for bringing it up. I felt so incredibly stupid.

“She was a little older than me,” he continued. “Obviously the favorite.”

“Did you have a good relationship?”

“We did.”

He paused for a moment.

“I don’t remember much about her because I was young. My time before my transition was a bit blurry. I remember mostly my adult years.”

I went back into the dining room to clean the actual table. I really did make a mess while cooking and preparing everything. I didn’t mind cleaning it though. It kept my mind off things like Brian and lying to Ruby.

I hated keeping this huge secret from my best friend.

I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, and I was almost afraid to see who was calling me. I glanced at the screen and saw Ruby’s name appear.

“Hello?” I said into the phone.

“Oh my god, Tess. Brian is out of control. He won’t stop blowing me up. He’s obviously shit-faced and doing terribly. But he keeps asking to speak to you. He thinks you’re still living with me. I don’t know what to tell him.”

“Don’t tell him anything. Or… tell him I'm in the shower…” I paused. “Actually, just don’t answer the phone when he calls. I’ll give him a call right now.”

“Good luck.”

I hung up the phone with Ruby and glanced back over at the kitchen door to see if Joseph was listening, but I heard the sink going off, indicating he was in the middle of washing dishes.

I pulled up Brian’s number on my phone and gave him a call.

“Tessa?” Brian answered the phone on the second ring.

“Why are you bothering Ruby?” I asked firmly, annoyed by the interruption.

“Because you won’t talk to me,” Brian said; his words slurred slightly and I knew he was drunk, making me roll my eyes. “I just wanted to explain myself from the other day. I didn’t like how that conversation ended.”

“Have you been drinking?”

He was quiet for a minute.

“Maybe a little,” he admitted, sounding a little sheepish.

“God Brian,” I murmured, even more annoyed. “You need to stop calling me and texting me. You are embarrassing yourself. And stop calling Ruby. She doesn’t need to deal with this right now.”

“But Tessa…”

“What you said the other day really hurt my feelings, Brian. It’s obvious you don’t have any faith in me so I why would I want to continue having this conversation with you?”

“I wasn’t trying to hurt your feelings,” he said, and I could hear the firmness in his voice. “I’m trying to get you to think logically. You are going to ruin your life by chasing this fake dream of yours. Why can’t things go back to the way they were?”

“Oh, you mean before you kissed your best friend? Back to a time when I was your puppet, and I did whatever you wanted me to do? That’s not really a time I’d like to return to,” I murmured.

“I mean back to a time when we were a power couple and planning our future,” he said a little sadly. “I miss the Tessa you used to be.”

“That Tessa was a doormat and would have done anything to make you happy, even at the cost of her own happiness. That’s a version of myself I didn’t recognize, and I don’t want to return to that. I’m working on something much greater than both of us and I don’t need your permission or blessing to do it.”

“Look, I wasn’t going to say anything, but you deserve to know. I read some of your blog posts and they aren’t good, Tessa. You don’t know how to write good.”

His words shouldn’t have affected me as they did; but admittedly, they hurt. I was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out what I should say in return. Tears were stinging the back of my eyes, but I didn’t want to return to Joseph crying.

“I guess I’ll have to keep working on it then,” I said, glad that my voice didn’t sound choked up.

“You’re working toward a false dream,” he muttered. “You sound stupid.”

“And you’re acting stupid,” I said in return. “Leave me and my friends alone. I’m serious.”

I then hung up the phone and sent Ruby a text telling her it was taken care of. After I shoved the phone back into my pocket, I went back into the kitchen.

Joseph’s shirt had become wet from the water splatter and a smile tugged at my lips. I went towards him and grabbed the clean dishes he had washed so that I could dry them and put them away.

We were both silent for a long while until he asked, “Do you need me to speak with Brian?”

I was surprised by his question.

“You heard that?”

He said nothing, but he glanced at me and pointed to his ears.

Right. I forgot he had vampire hearing. Once again, I was feeling stupid.

“I’m sorry. No, it’s okay. He shouldn’t be an issue anymore. I hope he actually heard what I was saying this time,” I said, shaking my head.

“He seems relentless,” Joseph pointed out. “I can see why the poetry you have written on your blog is so passionate.”

I nearly dropped the plate I was drying, thankfully, I caught it before it fell to the ground. I felt heat tickle the back of my neck as I looked up at him.

“Y… you’ve read my blog?”