Heartbreak Warfare

I groaned in annoyance as my phone rang again. I looked at the caller id even though I was 99% positive it was Nick calling me. I saw that I was correct and immediately pressed ignore. The guys had only been gone for three days but Nick had already called me 57 times…and had left me 57 messages. Every single time he called me I pressed ignore. There was no reason to talk to him.

My phone rang again and I almost pressed ignore until I saw that it was Eric calling me this time.

“Halvo, would you please tell your best friend to stop calling me? I don’t want to talk to him and he’s being annoying as fuck.” I answered.

“Annabelle, it’s me. Please just listen for a few seconds.” I heard a voice say that wasn’t Halvo’s but it was still familiar.

“What the fuck, Nick? I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I understand that. Believe me, I understand. I’ve called you 57 times and you haven’t picked up once. I just need you to listen though.”

“How dare you trick me by calling from Halvo’s phone. I don’t want to ever see or talk to you again. And tell Halvo I won’t be answering his calls anymore either thanks to your guys’ dirty trick.” I said before slamming the phone down.

I slid down to the floor and cradled my head in my hands as I cried. I was tired of feeling so broken. A part of me wanted to listen to Nick but another part told me that what he did was unforgiveable. I just wanted to get over him once and for all.

A knock sounded on my door and I quickly wiped my eyes before answering it.

“Hey, A.J. Still feeling bad?” My sister asked as I opened the door to reveal her standing there.

“I just want to forget about him.” I said.

Stella came forward to give me a hug. “It’ll get better, I promise.”

I knew Stella was right but it wasn’t helping at the moment. After I had found out that Nick had cheated on his girlfriend with me I drove home and called Stella and Becca. They came over immediately with junk food and had listened to me cry. I was thankful for them being so supportive and caring but I was still depressed.

“Hey Annabelle? With this whole thing that happened between you and Nick I was kind of thinking about something…” Stella started.

I gave my sister a wary look as I said, “Okay?”

“I was thinking that maybe it’s time for you to go talk to dad.”

“What? Why?”

“A.J. you’ve barely talked to him in 15 years. You have to forgive him eventually. Plus, now you know what being the other woman feels like so maybe talking to dad and Meredith will help you sort things out.”

“I don’t want to talk to dad and our step-mom.” I snapped.

Stella sighed. “Seriously A.J., you need to talk to him eventually. Plus we have a half-sister and half-brother that you’ve never even met. All four of them ask about you whenever I’m over there.”

“What if dad hates me though for not talking to him? What if he doesn’t want to see me?” I quietly asked.

“He misses you like crazy and loves you. He’d be ecstatic if you went to go talk to him.”

Now it was my turn to sigh. “Stella, I honestly don’t know if I can go talk to him. I’ve dealt with enough cheating these past few days.”

“Annabelle, there’s more to the story of dad and Meredith than you know about. You need to go talk to them and make things right. There may also be more to the story with Nick.”

“Fine, I’ll go talk to dad and Meredith but I’m not going to talk to Nick.”

“At least you’re going to talk to dad.”
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I stared out the window as Stella pulled up to a mansion. This was the house my father shared with his new family. This was where he had been living for the past 15 years, and where I had been avoiding for the past 15 years.

Stella stopped the car but I made no movement to get out. She had insisted on driving me here because she didn’t trust me enough to go through with the plan on my own. She wanted to make sure I truly did talk to my dad.

“You know that you’ll have to get out of the car eventually, right?” My sister asked.

“I know. I guess I’ll go now.” I sighed as I reached for the door handle.

“It’ll be fine, A.J. I promise. I’ll see you in a couple days when I pick you back up.”

I watched my sister drive away before turning towards the house. I walked up to the door and knocked with my stomach in knots.

A girl who looked to be about fifteen or sixteen answered the door and I instantly knew she was Millie, my half-sister. She had the same brown eyes as I did; the same brown eyes as my dad.

“Hi.” I said nervously. “Is Benjamin here?”

The girl gave me a strange look. “Yeah, hold on. I’ll go get him.”

I stood on the front step for a few seconds until I heard footsteps walking towards me.

Suddenly my father’s face came into view. “Annabelle?”

“Umm…hi dad. Long time no see.”