1. Wilde

August 2026,

Scars Bay, USA

Jayden

"Thank you for your service," I said as I fastened my belt and opened the door of the bathroom stall.

My phone rang and my eyes flew to the screen. Kate. Goddammit. I put my phone on silent and slid it into my pocket.

"Who is that? Is she your girlfriend?" she asked in a high-pitched, slightly annoyed tone.

"She is none of your fucking business." I walked out and began washing my hands, which seemed to aggravate her further.

"I had a great time. We should go this again sometime." I would not consider having sex in the bathroom stall of a bar a great time but each to their own.

"I'm flattered but not interested," I said the truth without sugar-coating it because frankly, I did not care enough to lie.

Oscar Wilde said that everything in the world was about sex except sex. Sex was about power. One of the very few quotes of his that I didn't agree with. I thought that sex was a means to an end. A thing to cross off my week's to-do list so I didn't become an unbearable asshole.

"God, you're such an asshole!"

Correction. Too much of an unbearable asshole.

"He is indeed an asshole." I completely agreed with her. With that, I walked out of the restroom.

I walked back to the bar, paid for my drinks, and left.

Once I was in my car, I released a deep breath. Sex always left me feeling cold and empty. It fulfilled my needs, sure, made me less frustrated and slightly easy to be around. But it weighed heavily on my shoulders. I hated sleeping with random women. It was monotonous while it was happening, felt good for a couple of seconds, and once it was done, it made my skin crawl.

My phone vibrated and I groaned. Without even looking at it, I knew it was Kate. For some reason, she had been trying to get a hold of me for the last couple of days.

I picked up. "What the hell do you want?"

"Jayden Carlton!" Mum reprimanded. "Is that how you talk to your mother?"

"I'm sorry, Mum. I thought it was someone else." My eyes slid shut. This was the last thing I wanted.

"Where are you?"

"I'm going home," I replied.

"Stella came over earlier. She was crying, Jayden! How could you forget your four-year anniversary? I raised you better than this!" Mum seemed really worked up.

Stella had long blonde hair, brown eyes, an ever-present smile on her face, and a great figure. Anyone would take one look at her and think she was beautiful. She was once a good friend of mine. I had pushed most of my friends away but Stella stayed. She stayed by my side on days I wanted to kill myself. She took care of me when I couldn't get out of bed for weeks. She seemed to be the one I turned to for comfort. But I didn't have romantic feelings for her. I couldn't.

When she made a move, I was drunk out of my mind and mistook her for Alya. They had the same long blonde hair and similar brown eyes. I slept with her that night. I knew it was a horrible mistake the moment I opened my eyes the next morning. But I felt like I couldn't reject her after everything she had done for me. It just felt wrong. And while being with her felt more wrong and made me feel like the biggest piece of shit ever, it made my parents happy. They didn't worry about me as much after we started dating. So I tried to keep the only three people left in my life happy.

I thought I could learn to love her but I couldn't do it anymore. I used to think of her as a good friend but now, just being in her presence felt suffocating. I couldn't pretend to be in love with her anymore.

And lately, she was becoming more and more of a pain in the ass to tolerate. I wanted her out of my life but she was everywhere I looked. She showed up at my home unannounced and had started to 'forget' things. She thought I didn't notice her growing collection of things in my apartment but I did. I wanted to end things but every time I brought it up, she seemed to find a way to evade the conversation.

Eventually, I figured that if I stopped being the guy she wanted me to be and started being a shitty boyfriend, she would get tired and break up with me herself. I had been trying to break up for three years and had been a shitty boyfriend for two years. But I had been as unsuccessful as I had been at rejecting her the first time she came on to me.

"I was busy," I replied. I didn't say too much or else it would turn into another lecture and I was so not in the mood for one. I just wanted to go home and sleep through the weekend.

Mum took in a deep breath and I just knew she was trying to calm herself down. She released her breath. "She just left and is coming to your apartment. Apologize and then make it up to her." I gritted my teeth. I was in no mood for company. Maybe I could pretend that I wasn't home and not open the door for her when she rang the doorbell. "You are also coming home for dinner tomorrow. No excuses. And if you don't, I will hunt you down and bring you home myself." And then she cut the call.

I suppose I could make it to dinner tomorrow night... Who was I kidding? I had no choice. Mum could be scary when she wanted to be.

I pulled into my apartment building and got out of the car. I tossed the keys to the valet and rode the elevator to my apartment. I couldn't wait to get home.

As soon as I opened the door, mine and Alya's Doberman Storm came running towards me, wagging his little tail, excited to see me.

"Did you take good care of mommy?" I scratched the back of his ears and he gave me a happy bark.

"How was your day?" Alyanna walked in, smiling at the two of us.

"Boring as fuck," I sighed as we walked to the living room. "I keep trying to break up with Stella but she evades the topic. I act like a dick and she goes crying to mum. And now, Mum has called me over for dinner tomorrow night. I'm already dreading it."

"I'm sure it won't be that bad." Alya grimaced a bit. Both of us knew that it was going to be bad.

"Mum just doesn't get it. She knows that I'm in love with you and you're the only one I want to be with. But you know how she is. She's convinced that Stella is the one for me."

"She doesn't understand our relationship," Alya replied. "It's not her fault."

"It amazes me that this doesn't make you angry." It really did. "You have never been the jealous type."

"That's because I know you are mine. You have earned my trust, Jay. I don't care what your mother or the world thinks because I know that at the end of the day, you will come home to me." She smiled.

"How did I get so lucky?" I asked, basking in the warmth of her smile.

"Well, one day, two little shitheads were bullying you. I took pity on you, saved you, and took you under my wing." She grinned smugly. She never let me forget that.

"I was a child! And they were twice my size!"

"If I remember correctly, we were of the same size," she giggled. "I was your knight in shining armour. Admit it!"

"Fine. You were." She had earned the gloating rights after all. "And I am glad you did. Not a lot of people have the privilege of saying that they met the love of their lives when they were four years old."

"Or that they grew up with them," Alya added.

"Exactly. I thank my stars that I met you, Alyanna. And I'm not going to let anyone or anything come in between us. Certainly not Stella and my mum."

"I love you, Jay." Alya gave me a sweet, loving smile.

"I love you too, Alya." I smiled.

"Now read me some Oscar Wilde," she said, pointing at the book on the coffee table.

"As you wish." I grabbed a pillow and placed it on my lap. Alya lied down on the couch and rested her head on the pillow, smiling up at me.

Stories were our thing. After a lot of effort, I got her into reading. But her only condition was that I read to her. Ever since, we picked an author and I read all of their best books to her almost every day. And Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince was the first book I read to her. It became her favorite book and Wilde her favorite author.

Although sometimes, she said that she didn't want me to read, she wanted me to tell her a story. And what Alya asked, I delivered. I usually made one up on the spot and told her. If it was a ridiculous one, both of us would laugh and if it was an erotic one, we would end up having sex. Either way, it was a win for both of us.

"Someone's calling you," she cut me off when I was half a page in.

I looked at my vibrating phone and cut the call when I saw it was Kate.

"Who is it?"

"Your best friend," I said bitterly.

"Kate? Pick up!" She sat up and looked at me with a slight frown.

"I have nothing to sa—"

"Jay?" Stella stood in the middle of the living room. Dammit, how did I not notice her earlier?

I didn't even have to look to know that Alya wasn't here anymore.

Thunder, who had settled by my legs let out small growls. Stella wasn't a fan of dogs so I kept him away from her. After multiple failed attempts to go sniff her out, he had given up and settled for growling at her. He wasn't her biggest fan.

"Quiet," I commanded and he fell silent but kept his alert eyes on her.

"Good evening, Stella." The last thing I wanted was to be interrupted. "What are you doing here?" I seriously needed to change the security code.

"You missed our dinner," she sniffed. Her eyes were a bit swollen and her nose was red. Mum was right, she really had cried.

"I was busy, I had a long day. Now if you don't mind, I'd like to get back to my book."

"I was worried about you," she walked in and I internally groaned. "I tried to call you but your phone must be on silent. I just wanted to make sure you were okay so I thought I should come over to che-"

"Well as you can see, I am perfectly fine. You can go now. I'm busy." After I said that, her expression shifted and she seemed a little annoyed. Good. If I made her enough mad, maybe she would break up with me.

"Busy talking to a dead woman." My heart twisted at that brutal reminder.

She looked at me with frustration. "Jayden. It has been five years since Alyanna died. You need to at least try and move on."

"I know she is dead, alright? You don't need to keep bringing it up again and again." She doesn't understand. Why would she? She didn't even know Alya. She didn't know how awesome she was. She didn't know our relationship.

Most people got over their partners after they broke up or after they died. They moved on to be with other people. I didn't understand how they could do it. I couldn't imagine a world in which I didn't love Alyanna. She had a hold over my heart that I couldn't shake. That I didn't want to shake. She had branded my very willing soul. There was no way I would let someone else replace her.

"I will bring it up! It's been five years since she died, Jayden! You need to move on!" Hell no. "You missed our four-year anniversary!" she yelled, tears rising in her eyes. "How could you be so careless and insensitive after everything I have done for you?!"

"I didn't ask you to do anything, alright!" I yelled back. "You were the one who always came to me. So don't you dare throw that in my face ever again!"

"You are so obsessed with someone who doesn't even exist anymore that you refuse to see the one who is in front of you! I have done everything for you, Jayden, without expecting much in return. But you just... you don't see me. You're never there for me. I just don't know what to do to make yo-" I tuned her out. I wondered if she would get tired and break up with me if I continued being overtly rude to her. I should give it a try.

I faked a yawn. "Are you done? I'm tired. I need to go to bed."

She let out a frustrated cry. "You're not even listening to me!"

"Stella, I can't do this anymore. I-"

"I love you, Jayden." She came close, placed her hand on my chest, and looked into my eyes with her big teary eyes. Once upon a time, it used to make me pity her. Now, I saw it for what it was. A trick to get me to do her bidding. "You used to be such a great guy. Kind, compassionate and loving. But you have changed now. I miss my old Jayden." She trailed her hand up my chest and cupped my cheek. She came in for a kiss but I stepped away from her touch.

"The old Jayden died five years ago. He doesn't exist anymore." I hit her with the same words she used for my Alya.

Her face crumpled in pain. I saw properly her for the first time since she walked into the apartment. She was wearing a red satin dress that came to her knees and hugged her in all the right places. She had also put a lot of effort into her makeup and hair. But now, most of her makeup was running down her face with her tears and her hair was a mess.

She was a total mess.

She used to be a great woman. But right now, she barely seemed like the person she used to be. All because of me. For the first time in a long time, I actually felt bad for her.

"I want to break up," I said, deciding to give it another shot.

"Jay, I-"

"This clearly isn't working out for either one of us. Let's break up."

"I came here because I was worried about you, not because I wanted to give up on you. On us," she said and then skilfully changed the direction of the conversation as always. "Everyone is worried about you, Jayden. We care. You are in a relationship with two women, one of which isn't even alive! You are wasting your life away like this. You need to accept the past and move on. And if you need help, we are here for you. You don't have to go through this alone. Let me help. I know an amazing psychiatrist who wi—" I tuned her out again. And just like that, all the pity I felt for her a moment ago vanished.

I was so done with this bullshit. All I wanted was a peaceful night with Alyanna. Instead, I was stuck listening to Stella give me the lecture I had already heard about a thousand times in the last five years. She was giving me a headache and I just wanted her to leave.

"I appreciate your concern but it is not welcome. If I need help, I will ask for it. This is my life and I will do as I fucking wish. Thanks for dropping by. Goodnight."

"This is why you lost all your friends. I was just trying to help, Jay!" she cried. "The least you can do is be nice to me."

"Shut the door on your way out," I said and picked up my book again, signalling that this was the end of our conversation.

She wiped her tears and smiled as if everything was alright. "You clearly need some time to sort things out. I'll see you soon. Have a nice evening, Jay!" she said in a perky voice before she left.