Tangled Love

Jaime ducked, a tv remote hitting the wall behind him just inches from his head. His blue eyes were wide in terror as the girl in front of him screamed and yelled. She was half his size, and had small, slender features, but she was as intimidating as an angry lion. She held a wine glass and cigarette in one hand, and had the other tangled in her messy black hair. Jaime hesitantly stepped forward, picking up the tv remote and gently setting it aside.

"Leah," he said slowly. "Easy, girl. Calm down, please."

Leah looked up at him with eyes that might as well have been bright red with fury. She backed away from him and sunk down to the ground, her entire body shaking with sobs.

"We're going to get another noise complaint," Jaime sighed, "Calm down."

"How can I stay calm, you son of a-" Leah cut herself off with another long drink of her wine and a drag from her cigarette.

Jaime pursed his lips, sitting down on the bed across from her and simply watching. A year ago, he would've been the first person at her side, comforting her and wiping away her tears. A year ago, he wouldn't have hesitated to cancel all his plans to be with his girlfriend. He loved her. However, it was different now. When he looked at her, he felt absolutely nothing.

Leah used to be a sweet girl, but she was used to being spoon-fed her entire life. Her parents didn't give her any independence, so when she finally made it to college, it was a sudden shock of loneliness. She couldn't handle being alone. She began to drink and do drugs, and she found herself wearing revealing clothing everywhere so people would give her attention. Jaime had walked in on her with other guys multiple times, but he pretended not to notice.

"You're leaving me," Leah said, her voice shaky.

"I'm going home for a few months, that's it," Jaime said slowly, reaching out and taking the cigarette out of her hand. He put it out calmly, pushing the ashtray aside. He hated the smell.

"You're lying," Leah snapped, "You're never coming back, ever."

"You're being a child about this," Jaime argued.

"Moron!" she shrieked as her wine glass flew towards Jaime's head.

He snatched it out of the air, much to Leah's surprise. He felt himself flood with the anger and hatred for the girl that he had been holding back for so long, and threw the wine glass on the ground. It shattered, red wine spilling all over the tile of the apartment the two shared. They stared at each other for a moment, then Jaime turned on his heel and headed back to the bed where his packed suitcase was waiting.

He picked up the suitcase and opened the desk drawer to fish out his plane tickets. Leah watched in fear as he marched past her.

"I'm leaving," he sighed, looking back at her over his shoulder, "And you're right, I'm not coming back."

"Jaime? James! Good fucking riddance!" Leah spat.

"I'm done with you," Jaime muttered, slamming the door behind him as he stormed down the hall. "Done, done, done."

Leah swung the door open and followed him into the hallway, fuming mad, but desperate. "Well, that doesn't matter, because I'm cheating on you anyway! With Tony across the hall! He's a hell of a lot more fun than you ever were!"

"Then have fun with Tony across the hall," Jaime growled, jabbing the elevator button repeatedly.

He was always an impatient person, but everything about him got ten times worse when he was angry. His friends used to tease him and call him the "hulk twin", because you "wouldn't like him when he's angry". It wasn't something he could control, and it certainly wasn't something he was proud of, but it happened.

The elevator door finally opened, and he slipped inside and jabbed the close button before the thing had even opened all the way. He just wanted to get the hell out of there.

"Hey, Jaime!" someone called as he stepped out into the lobby. Jaime spun around, only to come face-to-face with Tony from across the hall.

"Yeah?" he muttered, trying his hardest to hold back from snapping.

"I've got two tickets to the game on Saturday," Tony grinned excitedly. "Me and you, buddy. What do ya think?"

Jaime searched his head for a cool and clever comeback, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was something that just sounded awkward and confused.

"What?" Tony frowned.

Jaime finally snapped back into reality, glaring at Tony. Before anyone could react, Jaime's fist collided hard into Tony's jaw, knocking him to the ground.

"Why don't you go with Leah?" he yelled. "It wasn't a problem when we were together, so I guess it shouldn't be a problem now that we're broken up, right?"

Tony held his jaw, staring up at Jaime with wide-eyes. Jaime sighed, rubbing his temples. It had happened in the end. He turned into the Hulk. He walked casually past Tony, waving over a cab like nothing had happened.

"Where to?" the cab driver asked.

"Airport."