My Best Friend's Dad

To Breathe

­Tristan’s POV

I simply didn’t need more drama here in my house. Now, with these documents from Camille... I needed this not to be real. Was this even real? I picked up the documents and went over them again as Camille remained standing in front of my desk. My heart was racing in my chest because I had two things to fight for.

“So?” Camille brought me out of my thoughts as I looked up at her. She stood with her hands crossed over her chest. “What’s Elona really doing here?”

I let out a sigh as I shifted in my seat and placed the documents on the desk. “Not that it’s any of your business, but she lives here, we are dating...happy?”

“So, she’s the one you got pregnant?” she asked in thought.

“Yes. Now, I don’t know why you’re still here, but I prefer that you leave,” I stated. I wanted her gone.

“I have the right to be here, and I can live here according to those documents,” she said as she began to walk towards the bookshelf, inspecting the books.

“I think you need to leave. I will let my lawyer decide if you do have that right to live here. So, please leave,” I watched her intently.

She nodded as she turned around to face me. “I will give you until tomorrow,” she said, and then walked towards the door. “Be careful with the woman you choose, this won’t be pretty for you,” she said over her shoulder, and then she was out of sight.

This won’t be pretty for you.

Those words echoed in my mind. I sucked in a breath as I focused on the documents from Camille’s lawyer. I typed an email out to my lawyer and sent it. I have also informed my lawyer in the same email about the Grace case.

An email reply came stating that I needed to meet up with my lawyer at 9 am tomorrow morning. I still can’t believe that this was happening. A young woman who was making trouble out of having a crush on me and my actions of just confronting her in public. And now I might lose my house that has so many memories in it.

I stood up from the chair and went to see where Elona was. I walked into my bedroom, and she had a towel wrapped around her body, while she brushed her hair. I took my suit jacket off and hung it on the chair in the corner, and she watched me in the mirror. “I bathed already, the water was getting cold,” when I didn’t reply, she asked. “Are you okay?” she placed the brush on the dresser and turned around to face me.

I pulled her against me, she let out a gasp, her hands against my chest and I pressed my lips against hers. I pressed her against the cupboard as I continued to kiss her. As my hands moved down, searching for the opening of the towel to find her p^ssy, she pulled inches away from me, her chest heaving as she was trying to catch her breath,

“Is everything okay?” I asked.

“I got my period, so I don’t think sex is wise for me this evening. I’m sorry this evening didn’t go as planned,” she licked her lips.

“There’s no need to apologize for that. I’m the one who is sorry... Um, do you need your heating pad? Do you have cramps? Do you need anything?” I asked.

“A heating pad would be fine,” I nodded before pulling further away. I was still hard. I thought that maybe sex would help to forget about the situation I’m now in. Without another word, as my thoughts were now consumed with the situation, I walked over to the dresser and made sure that her heating pad had been charged before I turned around to face her, but she was still standing in the same spot.

“What?” I asked.

“Is everything okay?” she asked with concern.

“I think Camille might be moving in. She has papers that she can either live here with us or I have to move out. I’m seeing a lawyer about it tomorrow morning,” I took in her appearance, not sure if she was going to change into pajamas.

“But Aunt Camille can live here, she’s family,” she shrugged.

“Well, I don’t want that. What I can do is let her live upstairs where nothing is going on in that section. But I will see what goes on tomorrow. I’m sorry about this and that we may have to move out or let her to live with us,” I said as I placed the heating pad on the bed.

“I’m okay with either one. As long as she does have a roof over her head, I think it would be fine. I do know that you two have a love-hate relationship, and I have always found it to be entertaining over the years,” she smiled.

I took in a deep breath, “All the more reason for her not to be around us,” I said as I started to get undressed.

Camille and I have always had some sort of issue with each other over the years. It was how it was between us. I always thought she was being unnecessary or just looking out for Estelle, but maybe I was wrong about her. Did she have a motive? Where and what has she been doing for the past three years?

***

I couldn’t sleep. The sheets were tangled around my legs, my chest was tight as if something invisible was pressing against it. Elona lay beside me, curled up beneath the covers, soft breaths rising and falling in a rhythm that should’ve brought me peace... but instead, I was unraveling.

My eyes burned from the hours I had spent staring at the ceiling, trying to pretend the world wasn’t crumbling beneath my feet, but it was. Delance, Grace, that picture, the damn lawsuit and now Camille.

The moment I shut my eyes, it flashed behind my lids again, the distorted photo, the twisted narrative, the threat of it all becoming something bigger than truth. And now, the sickening weight of knowing someone was trying to use Elona’s pain against me. My chest constricted, a short breath catching halfway up my throat like it had nowhere to go.

Breathe. Just breathe.

I just couldn’t breathe. My lungs were locked and the air felt thin. My pulse drummed in my ears. I sat up suddenly, throwing off the blanket, desperate for space and air....for something.

My hand pressed against my chest, the pounding heartbeat beneath my palm was thundering like it would burst through my ribs. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, I hung my head down, trying to remember what the doctor told me years ago about panic attacks. It had been a long time since I had one... Too long.

Count something. Focus. Ground yourself.

The cold air touched the sweat along my neck. I pressed my fingertips against the edge of the mattress, grounding myself to the moment. I stole a glance over my shoulder. Elona hadn’t stirred. Her dark hair was fanned over the pillow, she seemed peaceful. I couldn’t wake her and I wouldn’t. I didn’t want her to worry about me either. She had been through enough.

I got up, moving with the quiet desperation of a man trying not to fall apart. My feet hit the cool floor and I walked straight to the bathroom. I didn’t turn on the light, the mirror didn’t need to see me like this. I twisted the cold tap until the water ran sharp and icy. I cupped it in my hands and splashed my face. Again and again. The cold stabbed into my skin like clarity and my shirt clung to me, it was damp from the sweat and panic.

Leaning over the basin, I gripped its edge and let the water drip off my jaw. The image of Grace’s eyes, wide and feigned innocence, the photo... the image of me, furious and looming and Delance’s smug detachment, all spun behind my eyes like a sick carousel. They were trying to make me a monster, and they were painting me as dangerous.

Harassment.

The word made me want to throw up and yet it was there, in black and white on a document that threatened everything I cared about, not because I did anything wrong, but because I did something right. I stood up for Elona, and now I was paying for it.

My jaw clenched. My heart still raced, but the cold water was working. I looked up at the faint outline of my reflection, my eyes were hollow. I barely recognized myself. This wasn’t about me anymore. It hadn’t been for a long time. They wanted to distract me... tear me down, but I wouldn’t let them touch Elona again. I wouldn’t let them bury her in silence or pain.

I shut the water off and stepped back, running a hand through my hair, forcing myself to slow down, to breathe. I leaned against the vanity, staring at the floor ahead of me. I was going to fight this, even if it meant fighting ghosts, lies, and the system itself.

I was going to win, because the only thing more dangerous than a broken man, was a man who still had something left to protect. My company is in trouble too because of Grace's lawsuit, and I worked very hard for it, just for someone to destroy it. I will fight against this.