CHAPTER 18 :

“Because misery and degradation, and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your own will did it.” — Heathcliff Earnshaw.

Two weeks had passed after that incident and I hadn’t seen, nor heard from Roulette. He didn’t attend swimming practice and neither college. Presently, I was in my condo, slumped on my couch with Niall on the other side, who looked like he wanted to say something. I cracked open the beer can which I was holding, tipping the opening to my mouth. The bitter, frothy liquid slid down my throat, leaving a burning sensation behind; leaving a subtle hunger for more.

“Jeremy called you. Thrice. Said it was important.” Did he now? What could it possibly be? Though, Jeremy and I were going on our full swing — we used to fuck around the clock, and whenever we weren’t fucking, we atleast called eachother to keep up with the other's activities in order to fix the next date of when we'd meet. Pulling the phone out of my pocket, I dialed his number as I put the device against my air, waiting for him to pick up. He picked up after three rings.

“Hey, Jer. You called?”

“Oh yeah. There is a news which I'd like to inform. Every year, on this month, we go to Jacksonville and visit my farm house. We stay there for two or three days before we come back to the city again. It’s a team thing. I'd hoping you'd arrive, unless you have other plans, that is?”

“Consider it a yes from my side, because I don’t have any plans, plus I'd love to. By the way, is Alexander coming?” There was a silence on the other end of the line, which was quite unusual. But, I couldn’t help asking. Would he be there?

“He is. He’s the one who will pick you up from your place and drive you both directly to Jacksonville. Cole and Adrian would drive there by Cole's car. I would go with my own car.” What? Why the fuck was he supposed to drive me when there were other members who could do it?

“What? Why can you and I not go together? You know that he and I aren't on good terms.” There was a deep sigh from the other person and I got the nagging feeling that he was hiding something from me, which I couldn’t quite put my finger at.

“No, we cannot. He insisted on giving you a ride with his car. We can't disobey the captain as much I'd like to, Toby.” He let out a dry laugh at the end of the sentence, making me really wonder if there was something which he wasn’t telling me.

“And we could, you know, have some time to each other only. Because, I have four separate bedrooms in the house, because we were four earlier, and now we still are four because I'm not in the team anymore. But despite that, number of people who will be staying are five, and we could share a room.” His voice was cheerful, enthusiastic even and I could feel that he was looking forward to the weekend, hell even I was.

“Sounds like an amazing plan to me, Jer. Just tell Alexander to be at my place in time, and I and you, are going to have a lot of fun.” Slightly emphasizing the word ‘fun’ made the other personal chuckle heartily and I was glad that I said it. Although, I didn’t have any feelings for Jeremy except caring for him as a friend, I wasn’t sure if that was the way with him. Whenever we used to hang out, he flashed me one of his most genuine smiles, believed in subtle touches on the hand and on the face, and had warm eyes flickering to look at me.

I didn’t return his feelings if he had any, but the least I could do was make him happy before we fell out. Because if he had caught feelings, it would end in heartbreak from his side; and I wanted to enjoy our moments together before that happened, though I  believed he'd still be friends after that. Life was hard and complicated, and was to be dealt with very carefully.

“See you in my farmhouse then, Toby.”

“Yeah, man. See you there. I can't wait for the weekend. I'm so excited!”

“So am I. Don't forget to bring some clothes and other necessary stuff as we're staying for two days or so. We set for Jacksonville on Friday, after college ends. But, Alexander knows the directions and all, so you needn't worry. He’s a good driver too.”