Maybe he was just too good at acting; I couldn’t see any signs of deceit in him.
But the truth was right in front of me; anything he said felt like classic gaslighting.
“Julian! There’s no point in denying it. I know everything. I heard it and I saw it.
“If you admit it now, I can talk to you calmly. Don’t think about trying to deceive me again. You definitely don’t want to know what I’m capable of doing!”
I gazed deeply at Julian, rubbing my temples to ease the headache that had settled in. The events of yesterday haunted me – after receiving his drunken call and driving him home, I had accidentally caught a glimpse of his messages.
There was a girl’s avatar, stunningly beautiful, with the name Kelly followed by a heart emoji. The messages read:
Julian: [What time is your flight back tomorrow afternoon? I’ll pick you up.]
Kelly ♡: [It’s at 3:30 PM. Julian, you’re so sweet for picking me up yourself. Love you.]
Thinking back to the phone call that led me to his private room, I had overheard snippets of conversation with his friends.
“Julian, are you still not a man? You’ve kept her waiting for so many years. If you don’t make a move soon, someone else will take her away, and you’ll regret it.”
“Yeah, you fell for her at first sight. We asked you about it, and you kept it a secret…”
“Shut up! You old perverts don’t understand…”
Seeing those messages now left no room for doubt: Julian had been in love with this girl for years, and her return was making him drunk with emotions.
“Eliza, you need to clarify. You can’t condemn me over some baseless assumptions. Even a condemned man has the right to appeal!”
Julian’s eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging in his hands, his voice low and fierce.
I was taken aback; it was the first time I’d seen him like this. His red eyes made my heart ache.
“Julian, that day when I went to pick you up from the restaurant, I heard your conversation outside the door. I heard you say you had a girl you’ve liked for years. And on the way back, I saw your messages with Kelly… Do you want me to continue?”
Julian froze for a moment after hearing this, then unexpectedly laughed.
“Is that all?”
“Isn’t that enough? Your long-time crush is back, and the very next day you start avoiding me. What else do you expect me to think?”