Pretty Falling Pieces by Isabelle Culpo

Chapter Nineteen

When we get back to Theo’s place, he lights a fire while I curl up on the couch, mesmerised by the amber flames, and contemplate how what started as one of the best weekends of my life has ended as one of the worst.

I don’t know what’s more distressing, knowing that my entire apartment has been completely destroyed and contaminated, or knowing that there’s someone out there who wanted to do that to me in the first place.

At the end of the day, most material items can be replaced. I’m not sure if my sanity on the other hand is salvageable. Until I know who did this, and I know they’re locked up behind bars, I don’t think I’ll ever feel safe leaving my home again.

Before I came back from Africa, I was invisible to most people. I never really had to worry about attracting unwanted attention. My appearance took care of that for me.

There were times I resented my complete anonymity and wished that I could be one of the Jess’s of the world, undeniably beautiful with the charm to get people to do anything you asked.

On one hand she had to deal with people pestering her everywhere she went but at the same time she could get away with pretty much anything if she flashed one of her dazzling smiles.

Not that I think my apartment being vandalised has anything to do with my recent change in appearance, it doesn’t. Just that I don’t think I ever took a moment to appreciate how peaceful and safe the little world I created for myself felt. I spent most of my time coveting the beauty of others. Jealous of a lifestyle I thought I wanted.

Now I’d give anything right now to just be back in my apartment.

Invisible, anonymous, and alone.

Theo sits down next to me and hands me a cup of tea. “I hope I made it, right? I’m pretty sure you can’t mess up hot water and a tea bag.”

I take a sip and grimace. “Just kidding, it’s fine, thank you. And thank you for coming to get me.”

“I’m glad you called me. I didn’t know whether you were going to speak to me again after you got that text from Jess.”

Of course I would have. I won’t pretend that I wasn’t angry and embarrassed, but it wasn’t worth ending our relationship over. In hindsight my reaction seems so petty given what I was about to come home to. “I never said I wasn’t going to speak to you ever again.”

“Don’t take this wrong way, baby, but sometimes it can be difficult to know what you’re thinking. You have these walls up so high and I’m trying my best to knock them down one by one and prove that I only want the best for you. When I saw the look on your face after Jess texted you, I felt fucking awful. Before we got together Jess mentioned you hadn’t had any experience with guys before.”

She said what?

“And before you get mad, she was only looking out for you. I never told her or Trent we had sex, Imogen. She was just assuming because I told her when you left the Mission Ball, I wanted to take you away for the weekend and how serious I am about you. And I am. More than you know. Trent rang me the next morning while you were in the shower and I swear to you I didn’t tell him anything. I’d just had sex with my girlfriend for the first time and I guess the fucker could tell from how happy I sounded. I’d never betray your trust like that. You have to believe me.”

Okay, that makes sense.

Sort of.

Now I feel bad for having a go at him.

It would be bloody typical of Jess to say something like that and hope that if she guesses it right I’ll confess. “I’m sorry then for jumping to conclusions. I guess I just thought you might think I was a loser or think I was going to become obsessed with you or something. Which I’m not by the way, so please don’t feel pressured to stay with me because you were my first.”

It’s a lie.

I am obsessed.

Completely.

But he doesn’t need to know that right now.

He stares me straight in the eye. “That’s a shame because I’m already fucking crazy over you, and I can’t stand to think you don’t feel the same way.”

His eyes travel down to my lips and they tingle from his stare.

Does he really feel that way about me?

I lean forward and touch my lips to his. Then trace his bottom one with my tongue.

It feels sexy but who knows.

I’ve always relied on Theo to take the lead, but I think it’s time I change that. I pull the blanket from around my waist, push him back on the couch and straddle him.

I run my hands down his chest all the way to the waistband of his jeans, then fumble with the button and pull down the zip.

Now what?

As if reading my mind Theo laughs, then helps me out by pulling them down his legs even though I’m sitting on him.

He lifts my shirt over my head and unsnaps the bra with one hand. “Have I ever told you how fucking incredible your tits are? You have no idea how glad I am that I’m the only one who’ll ever see you like this.”

I laugh at his possessiveness. “Who said you’re the only one?”

He presses his face into the middle of my cleavage and growls, “I better be.”

I push his head away then back up off the couch, kneeling in front of him.

The look of surprise on his face as I take his erection in my hands is a look I wish I could remember forever. Not knowing what the hell I’m supposed to be doing, I run my hands up and down his length a few times getting used to the feel of it.

He studies me with a calmness, but I can see his chest rising and falling. His pupils dilated.

Then suddenly my phone rings.

“Ignore it. Don’t stop.” I do as he says and continue, watching his head roll back in pleasure. It makes me feel feminine and powerful.

There’s a bead of pre-cum on the tip and in a moment of boldness I lick it.

“Jesus fucking Christ!” His chest is moving up and down rapidly now.

I go to do it again, but the phone rings once more.

It’s Jess.

“I better get this. She’ll be relentless until I answer,” I say apologetically.

“Hey Jess,” I answer.

“What the hell is going on with you, girl? You disappear off to Queenstown and don’t even call me! What happened? I need the details. All of them. And why did you think I’d been at your place? I know you’re OCD about it, so you know I’d never go there without checking with you first. Are you with Theo now?” she rushes out.

Where do I start?

I go with the easiest.

“Yes. I’m with Theo.” I look at him as I say it, noticing how…unsatisfied he looks. “Someone broke into my apartment while I was away and did some pretty messed up things. The police are there now investigating.”

“Oh my God, Imogen, what did they do? Do you know who it was?” I can hear the protectiveness in her voice already.

“We don’t know yet.” I hope they find out soon though, whoever it was is currently walking round loose.

“It better not have been Allie. I swear I’ll ruin that bitch if it was,” she says, venom in her voice.

To be honest, the thought has crossed my mind, but until the police have had a chance to check everything out, I don’t want to throw her name in the mix.

“At this stage we’re only guessing. Until we hear back from the police, we won’t know for sure. It could be anyone.”

I look up at Theo again and he looks grumpy this time, making a move to get off the couch.

Before he can, I stop him with my hand.

He looks down at me as if to say what? And then I take him in my hand again, stroking it like I was doing before.

“Who would do this to you, Imogen? You’re the most non-confrontational person I know. I’ve never even seen you get really mad at someone before.”

I’ve asked myself that question about a million times today.

“Well hopefully the police can find out who’s responsible. The sooner the better.” I have no idea how long this sort of process takes but surely with the amount of CTV footage around they’ll at least have a suspect to go off.

“Where are you right now? Come to my place. You can stay with me till they catch this psychopath,” she offers.

“Thanks Jess, but I’m staying with Theo.” The end of the line goes silent.

And I don’t think he’ll appreciate me getting up and leaving right now.

“Oh…okay, well I still want to see you, do you think he’d mind if I come over?”

Theo must have heard that because he shakes his head.

I release my grip and he snatches my hand bringing it back to him.

“Okay,”he whispers, making me giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Jess asks.

“Nothing. I’m sure he won’t mind; I’ll text you the address. We were actually planning to get Japanese tonight anyway, if you and Trent want to meet us there instead.”

“Oh yeah that’s right! Okay, we’ll meet you there. That sounds fun. What are you going to wear? I might wear that red and black dress I got a couple of years ago, it’s got geisha vibes—”

Hang up,Theo mouths.

Deciding to put him out of his misery, I reply to Jess, “That’ll be pretty. Look I’ve got to go, Jess. I’ll text you what I decide. Bye.” Then I hang up.

He threads his fingers through my hair, gripping it tightly, and I finish what I started.

Who is this imposter and what have they done with the old Imogen?

* * *

Jess, Trent, Theo, and I enjoy a night of good food and alcohol. We don’t discuss my apartment and instead just try to keep things light hearted. We also plan to go on a group trip to Rarotonga in August. Trent and Theo have never been and Jess and I had a girls’ trip there once and loved it. The thought of making plans that far in the future with the four of us makes me feel happy and whole in a way I never have before. It feels nice to be accepted and included by more than just Jess. I can feel myself slowly starting to open up and get out of my shell the more time I spend with them.

Later that night when we’re both in bed exhausted, I hear a text notification coming from the lounge. The sound startles me and instantly I think it might be the police.

Theo is out cold in a deep slumber, one arm draped protectively across my waist.

Careful not to disturb him, I jump out of bed and head towards the lounge.

What if it’s the police?

No one else I know would text this late at night, unless it was something urgent.

I see my phone on the coffee table next to Theo’s and pick it up, bracing myself for what I might read. I press the home button and an image of the first elephant calf I met at Rubanza lights up my screen. No text messages.

Then it clicks, it must have been Theo’s phone, usually he always keeps it on silent in case he’s in a meeting but I’m guessing he was waiting for an update as well. I should head back to bed and try to get some sleep. I don’t know what’s in store for tomorrow, but I have a feeling it’s going to be another long day. Theo and I were supposed to head into the office to go on site again.

The battery’s on 18% so I look around for a charger to plug my phone in. I left mine at the apartment, so I’ll have to borrow Theo’s until I buy a replacement.

That’s when the second text comes through.

Usually I wouldn’t pry into Theo’s business, but I can’t help but wonder who on earth would be texting him now.

I check over my shoulder to make sure the second text hasn’t woken him.

It hasn’t. I can hear his deep breathing from here, so I go ahead and tap the screen. It’s a message from Ange. I tell myself the reason I start typing in his passcode is to check if the message isn’t urgent, but who am I kidding?

There’s only two reasons why she would be contacting him this late at night, one has to do with work the other…personal.

When I open the message, the phone nearly slips from my hands and shatters to pieces on the floor.

On a bed.

Wearing lingerie.

Is Theo’s assistant.

And a message.

Is this the kind of thing you wanted?

Instantly I see red.

Not the lace that’s barely covering Ange in the sleazy selfie. Or her long wavy locks.

My vision literally has gone red.

What the heck does she mean by is this what he wanted? What exactly did he ask her for? I scroll further up but Theo’s last message to her was on Thursday letting her know he wouldn’t be in the next day.

I check the call log and see her name, remembering how Theo had to make a call during dinner.

I knew that Ange had feelings for her boss. It was evident in her territorial behaviour the first time we met, but I thought Theo was being honest when he said they weren’t reciprocated.

How naïve of me to think this rich, good looking, and successful guy would be interested in me, let alone only me.

Clearly, Theo has his pick of women and is spoilt for choice.

Shy, inexperienced virgins must be the current flavour of the month.

If this is what Ange is sending him, I have no doubt there are plenty of others on the back-burner as well. I’m devastated but I honestly can’t say I’m surprised. This was inevitable.

Whatever was between Theo and I was bound to be short-lived.

Him and I just don’t belong in the same world.

For a second there, he felt like my prince charming.

But the clock’s officially struck twelve.

The best place to go from here is to part ways civilly.

I won’t tell him what I saw; I’ll just say it’s time to move on.

I’ve been so back and forth since we started it probably wouldn’t even surprise him.

Now that my anger has faded, and I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I knew this was bound to happen all along. There’s no point in being upset about it.

Did I honestly think that after attracting literally no interest from the opposite sex for my entire life that one day someone like Theo would see me as anything other as temporary?

I open my Uber app to arrange for someone to pick me up and then realise I don’t have a destination.

My apartment is a crime scene right now. Not that I’d even want to be there.

I could always stay with Jess, but I don’t want to disturb her at this time of night.

I could call my parents but then I’d have to face their judgement. The only other option is staying at a hotel for the night. I do a quick google search and see what’s available.

The Hilton has vacancies for a double bedroom, so I go ahead and book it then schedule my Uber.

Luckily I had the chance to wash my clothes from Queenstown this afternoon so I’ll at least have all of my toiletries and something fresh to change into.

I head back into Theo’s master bedroom to grab my suitcase and handbag.

He’s still fast asleep.

Maybe he’ll wake up, see the text, and put two and two together himself.

It’s hard to stay mad at him when I think of everything he’s done for me in the past couple of days. We never would’ve lasted but I still appreciate my time with him. Seeing him so vulnerable almost makes me feel guilty for up and leaving like this, especially given someone had vandalised my apartment only hours ago, but then I remember Ange in her red bra and underwear and the guilt vanishes.

Everyone in life is given blessings and hardships, though not always in equal doses.

Theo and my apartment aside, I live an incredibly blessed life. I have a job I love, enough money to put food on the table, and a loyal best friend who has stayed with me through thick and thin.

Maybe being in a relationship with someone and having a happily ever after just isn’t in the cards for me and right now, in this moment, I’m okay with that.