Conrad Grayson watched the amber liquid twirl as he tilted his glass back and forth. Every few seconds, he turned to glance out the window but he knew he wouldn't get that lucky. She wasn't coming back.
He ran his hands through his silver hair, silently cursing himself. He knew better and yet he was powerless to stop the words from spewing from his lips. He didn't mean it and he knew that, but she was a different story. By repeating the very words he knew she was most self conscious about he had broken her in an entirely different way.
He tried to think of something else, anything else but the fight replayed in his mind. He couldn't even remember what started the fight. Lately, it seemed that they didn't need anything to start a fight. They could go from playful banter to full on brawl instantly. That was what happened tonight. He made a snide comment, she threw a witty comeback his way and by then it was on.
He hadn't meant to say it, but before he could stop himself he uttered the words he had sworn he would never say to her.
"You're incapable of loving anyone, Victoria."
It didn't seem like a game changing insult, but to her it was everything. He saw the tears immediately forming in her eyes and the way her lip quivered. Suddenly, he remembered how nervous she was around Daniel as a baby. She never admitted it, but he knew she was terrified she would be the type of mother she had growing up. The kind that would toss you out on the streets without a second thought. Victoria had always worried she wouldn't know how to love, just like her mother. And in one slip of the tongue, he had confirmed her deepest fears.
In one swoop she had cleared an entire shelf, breaking it all with one long stroke. He didn't care about that. He barely remembered. But he remembered the blood that dripped from her hand.
"Victoria stop! You're hurt!" He cried.
"You can't be hurt if you don't feel." She said coldly, rolling her eyes as she turned on her heel. Before he could stop her, she was out the door.
It wasn't until he heard the car screeching that he realized she had her purse, which meant she had her car keys. He tried to remember if she had been holding her purse the entire time. But all he could see were the tears in her eyes. And the blood.
He now realized how ridiculous it was for him to assume she'd calm down. He called the South Fork Inn but she hadn't been seen there. He knew she wouldn't go to his hiding spot. He called both kids, but neither knew where she was. Out of sheer desperation he had even called Emily Thorne, wondering if Victoria would go to the one place he knew she wouldn't go. Not even the fight had forced her to stoop to going to Emily's. He wondered if that was a good thing or a bad thing. With the heels she was wearing he knew she wouldn't go to the beach. Where was she?