1 A Choice and Its Repercussions

"You cannot force me to have a conversation, Ayden. Get out of my way." Irene turned the handle of her bicycle but Ayden jumped in front of it the way he had, for the last couple of times.

"I am not forcing, Irene. I am urging." He held his hands up in the air, taking a step closer to her. "Please?" His voice softened, so did his eyes.

Momentarily shutting her eyes, she turned around her bicycle to make a quick escape from him. She had just pressed her right foot on the pedal when his high-pitched apology stopped her in her place.

"I am sorry!"

Though she didn't turn back at him, she could feel him advancing toward her. Perhaps, he stood just two steps away.

"I am sorry, Irene."

She heard him again and that was when she got off her bicycle, put it on the stand and turned to face him. "What are you sorry for, Ayden? Tell me, what are you sorry for?"

The woman was terrifically mad at him.

'Damn you, Ayden Webley! Why did you even let it happen?'

Her eyes were so intimidating at that moment that no words could come out him for several seconds.

Folding her arms across her chest, she stared at him with those eyes holding tremendous pain in them that made him feel so guilty that he couldn't keep looking at her. He had to shut them to take a moment to pull himself together.

"We are over."

He heard her saying what he was most afraid of hearing. She was breaking up with him and well, why not? He deserved it, he felt.

"Out of everything, Ayden – out of everything – this was the most hurtful thing that you could do to me. You set up a guy to woo me to see if I'll betray you for him or not? You… you made him act that ultra-rich way, didn't you? You think of so lowly, Ayden? So lowly? Three years. We have been together for three freaking years and still!?" Irene's eyes began welling up but she managed to hold them back.

"Irene, no..." Ayden's voice was barely audible. His palms hid his agonized face. He was guilty of doing what he did. He should have never agreed to Ash in the first place.

Ash - Ashton Garrick was his best friend. Ash had been pestering him for quite a while to spy on his girlfriend, Irene raising the possibility of her cheating on him.

"Irene, Irene, I am sorry," he held her hands, apologizing earnestly. "I am sorry. I know I have been a jerk in doing what I did. I accept it. I was insecure. You are," his palm caressed her cheek, "so beautiful. You always have been and I… an ugly... overweight... creature." His gaze dropped to the ground. "I thought -"

"And you thought that would make me give in to other guys who would hit on me? Really, Ayden? Three years… such long time. Had I had to do that, I would have done that long ago. It breaks my heart to hear you say this." Irene pulled her hands from him as she turned around, wiping the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I've always told you that I have never looked at anyone the way I look at you. I've told you that I find these chubby cheeks cuter than a toddler. More than anything else – I have always told you how much I love you. I have, haven't I? Haven't I, Ayden?" She no longer cared about her wet cheeks. She let the tears flow without making an attempt to hold them back or wipe them. She turned herself to him, exposing her broken and vulnerable self to him.

His heart went heavier watching a fresh stream of tears trickling down her cheeks.

"I am sorry," he mumbled another apology, not knowing what else he could say for what he had done had no forgiveness, not in his dictionary at least but still a part of him wanted to seek her forgiveness for hurting her had unsettled him. Every second seemed suffocating to him and every breath, difficult.

"That's it, Ayden? That's it? You think you can get away with this sorry? No, you can't, Mr. Ayden Webley. You cannot." Stepping toward him, her both palms landed on his chest, giving him a furious push.

Her raging soul wasn't going to calm down. Not anytime soon!

"Are you hearing me? You cannot." Balling her hands in fists, they began hitting him. The anger, pain, and anguish built inside her that she had been suppressing were resulting in a heart-wrenching breakdown.

A flood of tears gushed down her cheeks and it broke something within him.

She grabbed the hold of her bicycle to support her trembling legs.

There had been quite a lot of ups and downs in their relationship of three years but that day, Ayden had completely broken Irene and he knew that he did. He had never seen her as shattered as he did, that night. She was torn apart and he was the one who did that to her and that made him feel awful.

He couldn't even collect proper words to form any justification. His act anyway had no justification, he believed. He took a step toward her and his hand rose to hold her arm but it stayed in the air for a couple of moments before he pulled it to himself.

He hadn't thought that the situation would go that out of control. Ashton had assured him that he would take care of everything but he wouldn't blame Ashton for it was his mistake.

He was at fault. No matter what anyone said, he should have never agreed to do something that he knew would hurt his girlfriend to the extent where it would put their relationship at the stake.

He had made a choice and he would have to face its repercussions.

"I am sorry," was all that he could whisper.