Kelly stole him

Chapter 30 - Kelly stole him

Torin and Leena parted at the stairwell.

She headed toward her apartment while Torin continued down to the ground floor, where his own apartment was waiting for him. He unlocked the door and stepped inside, expecting to hear the television or Gia moving around somewhere in the kitchen.

Instead, the apartment was quiet. He closed the door behind him and stood there for a moment. Gia had been there that morning. He remembered seeing her before he left, but sometime during the day she had gone out without telling him.

Torin looked around the apartment.

Her shoes were gone from beside the entrance. A few of the things she usually left scattered around the living room had disappeared as well. Even the camera equipment she had been using lately was no longer there. The softboxes and stands had been packed away, leaving only faint marks on the floor where they had stood.

He stared at those marks for a while. It didn't surprise him.

Gia had been distant for days. She barely spoke to him anymore, and whenever he tried to ask what was wrong, she either changed the subject or found a reason to leave. He had already started expecting that one day she would simply walk out without bothering to tell him.

Apparently, today was that day. He didn't call her.

Instead, Torin went into the kitchen, filled a pot with water, and started making ramen. There was something strangely comforting about doing something ordinary when everything else in his life seemed to be getting more complicated.

By the time the noodles were ready, he had convinced himself not to think about Gia for at least the next hour. He carried the bowl into the living room and turned on the television. An old political commentator was discussing the current state of the government. Torin wasn't really listening until one sentence caught his attention.

“Power has always mattered more than morality,” the old man said. “People only pretend otherwise when they don't have enough power to control the situation.”

Torin paused with his fork halfway to his mouth. He stared at the screen for another few seconds before shaking his head and changing the channel.

He wasn't in the mood for politics. The next channel showed a program. He almost changed it immediately.

Then he saw her.

Gia.

She was sitting in a bright studio beside a man with white hair. Torin's hand stopped.

The man wasn't particularly old, despite the color of his hair. His face was sharp, almost unnaturally composed, and there was something about his eyes that Torin recognized immediately.

His stomach tightened.

He had seen that face before.

The memory came back so quickly that for a moment the apartment seemed to disappear around him. His fingers tightened around the fork, and his left leg began to tremble beneath the table.

Torin stared at the screen. Gia was smiling at the man and the sight bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Before he could make sense of the feeling, the doorbell rang.

He remained seated for another second before putting the bowl down and getting up. When he opened the door, Alisha was standing outside with a basket of fruit in her hands.

She looked different from earlier.

At the café, she had been dressed for business, but now she had changed into a softer blouse and a simple skirt. Her hair was still neatly arranged, although a few strands had fallen loose around her face.

She lifted the basket slightly.

“I know you told me I didn't need to thank you for the apartment,” she said, “but I didn't feel right just disappearing after you went through all that trouble for us. So I thought I'd at least bring you something.”

Torin looked at the basket and smiled. “You brought enough fruit to feed everyone in the building.”

Alisha laughed softly. “I wasn't sure what you liked, so I bought a little of everything. If you don't like it, you can blame the shopkeeper.”

“You came all the way here just to give me fruit?”

She hesitated for a moment. “Not exactly.”

Torin noticed the hesitation but didn't press her.

Instead, he stepped aside. “Come in. I was making ramen.”

Alisha looked past him into the apartment. “Ramen?”

“It's not exactly a proper dinner, but it's what I have.”

“That actually sounds better than whatever I was planning to eat tonight.” She walked inside.

Torin took the basket from her and placed it on the kitchen counter before returning to the stove. Alisha followed him, looking around the apartment. “You live alone?”

“Usually.”

She glanced at him. Torin caught the look but continued preparing the food.

“Gia was here this morning,” he said. “She went out while I was gone.”

Alisha didn't ask where Gia had gone. She simply nodded and took a seat at the small table. Torin brought over two bowls and poured each of them a glass of wine.

For a while, they ate without talking much.

It wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, the silence felt easier than most conversations Torin had been having lately.

Eventually, Alisha looked toward him. “The building is going to get busy soon.”

“Because of Kelly and Tina?”

She nodded. “They're moving in the day after tomorrow. I still can't believe you agreed to give them that apartment for half the rent you could have charged.”

Torin shrugged. “I wanted the building occupied. That's all.”

“You're terrible at lying.”

He laughed quietly. “You noticed that?”

“Anyone would notice.” She took another bite before setting her fork down.

“I'm actually glad you're going to be around,” she said. “It makes me feel a little less strange about everything.”

“Everything?”

Alisha looked down at her glass. “Kelly.”

Torin leaned back slightly.

He had heard enough about Kelly to know there was something complicated between them, but he hadn't asked about it directly.

After a moment, he said, “You were together with her ex, weren't you?”

Alisha gave him a tired smile. “Not exactly. I was with him first.”

“And then?”

“He cheated on me with her.”

Alisha looked at the wine in her glass rather than at him. “They eventually got married. That's the part that still makes me feel stupid sometimes. I lost my boyfriend to someone I considered a friend, and somehow I'm still close to both of them.”

Torin frowned slightly. “You're still friends with Kelly, yeah, but why?”

“I don't even know if I'd call it friendship anymore.”

“Then why do you keep her in your life?”

Alisha was quiet for several seconds. “I've asked myself that question more times than you probably think.” She gave a small laugh, though there wasn't much humor in it. “Maybe I wanted to understand why she did it, or I wanted to prove that she hadn't ruined my life and I am just too attached to let go properly.”

Torin watched her. “You still loved him.”

Alisha's fingers tightened slightly around the glass. “Maybe I did.”

She looked up at him. “Maybe part of me still does. That's the embarrassing part.”

Torin reached across the table and rested his hand over hers. “I don't think staying means you're weak.”

Alisha looked down at their hands. “You always say things like that?”

“Only when someone needs to hear them.”

“That sounds suspiciously like something a politician would say.”

“I'd be a terrible politician.”

She laughed, and the heaviness between them eased. Torin picked up his fork again and caught a little of the noodles. “Try this.”

Alisha looked at him. “Are you feeding me now?”

“You said you were hungry.”

“I can feed myself.”

“I know.” He held the fork there anyway.

She stared at him for another second before leaning forward and taking the bite. After chewing, she nodded. “It's actually good.”

“I told you.”

“You said it was ramen, not that it was good.”

“Same thing.”

She smiled. They continued eating, but something had changed.

Eventually, Alisha looked around the apartment. “I probably shouldn't have come here tonight.”

Torin studied her face. “Why?”

She looked toward the window. “Because I didn't want to go home.”

“I knew I'd sit there thinking about Kelly and him. I'd probably open my phone, see something about them, get angry, then tell myself I shouldn't care.” She sighed. “I didn't want to spend the whole night doing that.”

Her eyes returned to him. “So I came here.”

Torin's thumb moved slowly across the back of her hand. “You could have gone anywhere.”

Alisha didn't answer immediately. Instead, she turned her hand beneath his until their fingers intertwined.

“Kelly always gets what she wants,” she said quietly. “At least that's how it feels sometimes.”

She held his gaze. The room became strangely quiet.

Alisha shifted closer, close enough that Torin could feel the warmth coming from her. She hesitated for only a moment before leaning toward him.

Their lips met softly.

Torin let her decide how close she wanted to be, and when she didn't pull away, he gently returned the kiss. When they separated, Alisha remained close; her forehead almost touched his.

“For tonight,” she whispered, “I don't want to think about Kelly.”

Torin looked at her for a moment. “Then don't.”

She smiled and kissed him again. This time there was less hesitation. Outside, the building remained quiet, but Torin's mind wasn't. Even with Alisha beside him, the image from the television kept returning.

Gia.

And the white-haired man sitting next to her.

Torin couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen that man long before tonight—and that whatever connection existed between them was something he had desperately wanted to forget.

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