| "OVERHEARD" Part 21 |
Author: CBW1986
DISCLAIMER: Story material is not based on actual events and all content (with the exception of character names) is completely fictional, as a result of creative story telling for recreational purposes only. All story material is copyrighted and all rights are reserved to the original creator.
Tyler abruptly stopped the kiss he and Denise shared, pushing her away slightly, realizing that Briana had just walked out of the elevator.
TYLER : (dropping his head) "Damn!"
DENISE: "What? What is it?" (searching Tyler's face for an answer)
TYLER : (rubbed his hand over his face, tightly squeezed his eyes shut, and prayed it was just his imagination)
DENISE: (proceeded to continue the kiss with Tyler, but was pushed away)
TYLER : "Stop!"
DENISE: "Tyler, what is your problem?!"
Tyler looked up at the digital display inside the elevator to see what floor they were on, and pressed the nearest number button to get off on the next floor. He did so without a word, leaving Denise standing in the elevator very hot and extremely bothered.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Tyler had to find Briana. He looked to the right and then to the left, once he got off the elevator. The numbers on the doors indicated it was the third floor. He remembered getting on the elevator with Denise when he entered the lobby...the floor where Briana had just got off, so he figured that's where she was. Tyler hoped she wasn't leaving, because he just had to find her before things could get any worse. As if they could! He cursed himself for being so stupid as to get involved with Denise, not even two hours after he had just confessed to Briana that he loved her, and wanted to be with her. Briana had seen him in another woman's arms, and he knew exactly how it looked...bad.
Tyler also knew that he would really have to pull off a miracle to get her to even look at him, but he had learned from past experiences with Briana, that if he tried his best to correct the situation right away, instead of leaving it to fester, than she wouldn't be as upset. If he could just get to her and immediately apologize, things wouldn't get as bad as he knew they could get, with Briana. But what the hell was he supposed to say to her anyway? Tyler decided he would just cross that bridge when he got to it, but the goal was to first get there. Tyler thought the fastest way to get to the lobby was to simply take the stairs back down, so he quickly found the stairwell and practically flew down the steps, preparing himself for the worst.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Briana was disoriented. Her vision was so blurred with tears that she could barely see the letters and numbers on the vending machine's keppad. She stood in front of its glass display case, looking inside as if she had never seen any of the items before in her life. Briana felt as if she was going to throw up. It was at that point that she prayed to God for the child she was carring to be Eli's, because if that wasn't a clear enough sign that her and Tyler could never be together, she didn't know what was.
Instantly losing her appetite, along with her cravings, Briana just wanted to get back to her room to call and tell Eli everything. She turned around to find a way out of the tiny corner that seemed to get even smaller with each breath she took. She started sweating, and her head was pounding. "Am I having an anxiety attack?" she thought to herself. Briana hadn't been formally diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, but she knew she often showed signs of such. This has never happened to her. Briana imagined this was how wives must feel when they walk in on their husbands sleeping with their mistress or something like that. Briana had been through a hell of a lot, but she'd never been hurt this way. The tears that had blurred her vision, had now raced down her face in almost uncontrollable sobs.
She knew she had to get out of the lobby to avoid anyone seeing her this way. She tried to move her legs to walk, but they would only allow her to slump against the wall and slide down to the floor. Briana was in utter disbelief. She pulled her iPod ear buds out of her ears because she definitely wasn't in the mood to hear Toni Braxton sing about how she loves her some him...
~*~*~*~*~*~
After racing down three flights of stairs, Tyler breathlessly flung open the door that led to the side of the lobby, pleased that he had made it downstairs in what he felt was record time. He nervously looked around for Briana, and was not prepared when he saw her sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees, staring into nothing. She was motionless, and for an instant, Tyler was terrified. Was this the straw that broke the camel's back? Tyler admited to himself that he had put Briana through some pretty bad things in the past, but the way she looked at him, or past him rather, was as if she was staring straight into his soul, and it scared him half to death. Tyler didn't know how to approach Briana, or even if he should. Reaching out to touch something extremely soft may sound like a good idea, until you actually do it, and it takes your hand off, so he abandoned that idea. Tyler just walked over to Briana slowly...
TYLER : (says quietly) "Briana?"
BRIANA: (slowly looked up at Tyler with a sad emptyness in her eyes)
(Tyler was at a lost for words. All of a sudden, simply apologizing to Briana seemed to not have any power. The look in Briana's eyes told him it was much deeper than that. Tyler stood in silence, trying to find the right words to say, when Briana finally spoke...)
BRIANA: (just above a whisper) "You said you loved me."
(Out of pure habit or perhaps even a natural reflex, Tyler wanted to tell Briana that he did in fact love her, but for some strange reason, saying those words seemed like they wouldn't have any power either. But just as Tyler was about to say something, Briana began to stand up, which caught him off gaurd, because just seconds before, it looked as if she was down for the count. He wanted to so badly to reach down and help her up and at that moment, all in one involuntary motion, Tyler did just that)
BRIANA: (in a calm yet very serious voice) "Don't touch me." (pulling away from Tyler)
Tyler obliged, because at this point he was just glad Briana was saying anything to him at all. She started walking back towards the elevator, but thought better of it because of the scene she had just witness inside it, and decided to take the stairs instead. Tyler followed her. Briana's hotel room was only on the third floor, but she would hoave climbed the stairs to the roof if she had to, if that meant getting away from Tyler.
TYLER : "Briana, please listen to me."
(Briana ignored him and continued to climb the stairs. Her sadness and hurt, had now turned to anger and disgust)
TYLER : "Briana, there's no excuse for what you saw back there..."
BRIANA: "You're damn right!"
TYLER : "...and I'm sorry."
(Briana quickened her rate of climb)
TYLER : "Briana, will you stop and listen to me!"
BRIANA: (spins around at the landing of the third floor and yells) "Why?! So you can tell me how much you love me and how much you miss me and want to be with me now that you done got rid of your girlfriend, and then go back to your hotel room where your ho is waiting for you? Is that what you want me to stop and listen to?"
TYLER : "No, that's not..."
Briana had had about enough of Tyler, and she wasn't going to stand around to hear any more of his lies. She reached for the handle of the door with the big blue number three on it, and opened it, but Tyler quickly reached around her and slammed it shut, exactly they way he did that night they got into the worst arugement they've ever had, and he hit her. Briana suddenly felt a rush of deja vu and her instincts told her to get away from him as quickly as possible. Although Tyler didn't have the same look in his eyes or the same bass in his voice as he did that night, she still didn't want to chance it. Tyler could very well snap. Briana swiftly moved around behind him and started descending the stairs.
TYLER : (yelling) "Dammit, Briana. Stop!"
BRIANA: ("Uh, oh. Here it comes." she thought as she closed her eyes. She was one step above the last, right before the brief landing that separated that flight of stairs from the next. She turned around slowly, looking up at Tyler...waiting for him to say something. To do something.)
TYLER : (he wouldn't dare approach her for fear that she'd start running again. It was like spotting a deer or a rabbit in the forest, but not wanting to make any sudden movements or noise, because they would surely run away) "Briana. Please understand that I am sorry. I don't have any excuses. And I'm not going to try and make any. I do love..."
BRIANA: (holding her hand up) "Stop! No you don't. And I don't wanna hear you say that ever again. Okay?! I'm tired of it! I don't want anything to do with you, and I'm serious! Just leave me the hell alone!
Forgetting that she wasn't exactly on the last step before the landing, Briana turned quickly and defiantly, taking too big of a step. Instead of fully stepping on the last step, the ball of her foot caught it, sending her falling forward....
To Be Continued…
Copyright ©2009 CBW1986. All rights reserved
