Lost in Us by Layla Hagen Page A

morning." I don't know when my pain transformed into anger, but I welcome the change. Being angry is so much better than being in pain.
    "I never meant for you to walk in and witness something like this, but Serena," he says in a low voice, walking toward me, "I was honest with you from the beginning…"
    "I know. But seeing you with other women…" I pause to find the word that would sound least dramatic, "…bothers me." I make a go for the door but he puts an arm around my waist.
    "You didn't seem too happy yesterday when you thought I was going out with someone," I say angrily.
    "Don't go," he pleads in my ear. "We can find an arrangement that works for you. I don't want to stop seeing you. I don't."
    His lips are so close to me now, his blue eyes peering into mine. I think I see somewhere behind their infinite blue the same desperation that churns inside me. I was right, it was fake. All of it. Yet as I stand here, one word away from shattering altogether, I can't help asking for one last chance to make it real.
    "I doubt we can, unless that arrangement includes you not seeing anyone but me."
    He doesn't need any words to shatter me. The stone silence and the sudden coldness in his eyes do the same cruel job.
    Still, I keep hoping, I keep waiting.
    But they don't come. The only words that would keep me from leaving. He doesn't object when I remove his hand from my waist and walk past him. He doesn't come after me when I put the coffee cups on the table besides the entrance and open the front door.
    So I walk out, without a word or a look back.
     
     

 
     

     
    P arker unhitches himself from the wall when he sees me. "That didn't go too well, huh?"
    "I just want to get out of here," I whisper, and run toward the elevator, fighting hard to hold back my tears. To my relief, the doors open the second I press the button and I slide in. So does Parker.
    "I meant what I said about that breakfast."
    "No offense, but I want to be alone right now."
    "You don't look like you should be on your own," he says softly.
    "Parker, please… I…" A sob escapes my lips and I look away from him.
    "Fine, I'll drive you home."
    "But—"
    "No argument accepted. Give me your car keys." I hesitate for a second, then retrieve the keys from my purse and hand them to him, because I don't feel capable of driving. I barely have enough energy to keep from bursting into tears.
    "How will you come back?" I ask once we're in the Prius.
    "Cab. Can you enter your address in the navigation system?” he says, pointing at the navigation system.
    "Sure." I enter the address, then lean back, staring out the window as the car starts moving.
    "He's not a bad person, you know."
    "Don't start defending him."
    "I'm not. I just want you to know that—"
    "I don't get why he bothered getting involved with me at all," I spit. "He has an army of… women … who happily climb in his bed at the snap of his fingers. He didn't need one more meaningless name to that list."
    "You were anything but meaningless, Serena," Parker says.
    I turn to him furiously. "What's that supposed to mean?" 
    He looks at me shortly then focuses on the road again. "The way he talks about you… he admires you."
    I snort.
    "I mean it. He thinks you're smart and—"
    "Are you making this stuff up?" I ask, the muscles of my neck quivering violently. I catch my reflection in the rearview mirror and discover there are no tears on my cheeks. Something about acute anger seems to be keeping them back.  
    "I'm not. He went on and on about your hospital thing last night."
    "It didn't keep him from jumping in bed with Sophie."
    This earns me a few minutes of silence. I don't want to know any of this. What he said or what he thinks. What purpose will it serve except making it that much harder to piece myself together again?
    "James went through some rough stuff a few years ago."
    And I finally do snap. "Everyone does, Parker. That's life. And honestly, his high school girlfriend leaving him isn't