He wakes up abruptly. He quickly takes in his surroundings as he lifts himself up from the sofa, supporting his weigh on his arms. In a heartbeat, he recognizes the familiar setting: he's home. He's unsure why or how he even got there. His fragile memory seems to be shattered into a million pieces, much like a mirror. His mind is in a daze, slowed down and clogged up, due to a reason still unknown to him. He also doesn't know why his head is throbbing so dangerously. In fact, his recollection seems to be disappointing him in even remembering that what has occurred in the past few days.
What's going on?
Reluctantly, he decides to get up, rising to his feet as slow as he possibly can, because a sharp, stinging pain immediately strikes his left lobe, settling there and increases the previous mere tease of a headache. He reaches a hand up, digits carefully caressing his forehead.
"Ugh," he utters, realizing it's not fading away or decreasing in intensity after standing up for a few minutes, "Great".
He manages to reach the kitchen with much difficulty and slumps down into one of the chairs there. Seth leans forward. A hand is still firmly pressed against his head, with his elbow now resting upon the surface of the kitchen table. He closes his eyes, mouth tense as though he's just eaten something sour, moments before he lets out a loud, defeated sigh.
"Look who's awake", Mike speaks tongue-in-cheek as he enters the kitchen, taking a seat opposed Seth.
"Ssshh", Seth demands through gritted teeth, frowning heavily. He's obviously in immense pain, so Mike does as he is told. An awkward silence between the two men commences.
"What happened?", Seth suddenly asks after a couple of minutes of intense silence, which were only intensified in the first place by Mike's piercing and in compassionate drenched eyes.
"You really don't remember or you don't want to remember?"
"Probably both", he exhales as vivid yet unwanted images come to life in his head: the phone call, how he was given a second chance, how thrilled and excited he was about that, and then - how much he fucked it up by caving into his primal instincts. Had he not done so, then he would be with his wife now, holding her, kissing her passionately on the lips, constructing their future together.
He shifts in his seat and covers his face with both hands before groaning loudly in frustration.
"I fucked it up, didn't I?"
"I don't know", Mike pauses, "She seemed pretty determined, though".
Seth removes his hands from his face and abruptly stands up, the stinging pain of his head immediately reminds him of his injury as it rapidly regains strength.
"You know what? I'm not going to sit idly by from the side line and watch how this unfolds. She loves me. I just have to remind her of that"
His strong determination is a sign of desperation as he reaches for his cell phone, swiftly fishing it out of the front pocket of his jeans.
"That might just be the dumbest thing you've ever done"
Seth looks up from his phone, his index finger momentarily coming to an abrupt halt, "There's still hope. Maybe I can change her mind before she signs the papers".
Seth continues scrolling through his contacts straightaway. It alarms his best friend, who quickly rises to his feet and approaches Seth. Seth presses onto your contact information. Moments before his thumb hits the call button, Mike snatches the gadget from his hands, "Don't do anything rash".
"I'm not doing anything rash. I just want my wife back"
"Calling her now, after all that has happened, would be an unwise thing to do".
Seth reaches for the phone, but Mike stretches his arm out, holding the piece of technology back.
"Mike", Seth warns, his tone of voice strict, dominant, "Give me my phone back".
"No. I'm giving you two options: either I'm going to drown your precious phone where you're bound to lose the contact information of your wife, or I'm going to put it near my junk. And man, you don't want to touch it after it's been down there".
As Seth eyes Mike suspiciously, he takes a step back.
"Good boy", he puts the phone away by putting it in his pocket, he then gazes woeful into Seth's eyes, "Get a grip of yourself, man. She doesn't want to talk to you right now, but that doesn't mean she won't ever talk to you in the future. She will. Give it time, give her time to cool down".
"What if it's not enough?", Seth sinks into a nearby chair, placing his head in his hands. Mike takes a seat beside him. A firm hand takes a hold of Seth's shoulder and squeezes it gently.
"Only time will tell – just don't do anything you might regret later on"
Seth chews onto his lower lip, nodding, "Yeah. Thanks". He then, out of nowhere, holds his hand up.
"I'm not going to give you your phone back"
"Don't you trust me?"
"In this current state of yours? No. You're an emotional wreck. Who knows what you're capable off"
A couple of hours later, Seth has learned why his forehead feels as though he's been hit on the head several times with a firm hockey stick.
"As you passed out, you hit your head", Mike says slowly as he takes a sip of coffee, the dark liquid pleases his buds, yet his eyes are worringly focused upon his friend, who has just woken up again. He had gone back to sleep, hoping it would've stilled the headache.
"It's not going away anytime soon"
"Ugh", Seth breathes before falling back down onto the sofa. He stares up at the ceiling, "So, you just brought me home instead of taking me to the hospital?"
"Don't bitch, the fall wasn't that hard"
Mike's lips curve upwards into a sly smirk, pleasing his features.
"Why does it still hurt then?", Seth bitterly bites back.
"Because your wife just left you"
"Do you really have to emphasize that on a constant basis?"
"I do, until it seeps into that thick skull of yours"
"Message received. Now put it to rest already"
Seth sits up.
"You need to face the issue, not tuck it away in the farthest dark corner of your mind. This is really happening"
"Maybe, just maybe, I've faced it enough already and, when I'm spending time with my supposed best friend, with whom I assumed I could have a great time with, I don't want to be frequently reminded of it"
"I'm here for you, Seth. I'm only trying to help"
"You're doing a poor job so far"
"Really? Me?! At least I'm not the one thinking solely about sating my own needs and cheats on his pregnant wife, with his assistent for fuck's sake!"
Seth immediately directs his gaze from the ground to Mike, eyes blazing furiously with fire. He stands up, "What did you just say?!". The threatening pose results into Mike standing up as well, mimicking his so-called friend.
"You heard me. Stop playing the victim card. You're a grown man with a baby on the way. Man up and admit your mistake!"
"It was Lindsay's doing, she manipulated me!"
"There's such a thing as free will, but go on, continue blaming others for your own deeds. See how everyone around you will disappear as you wallow in self pity, until you're left alone and all by yourself", Mike says as he starts to make his way to the front door.
"I don't need you!", Seth shouts, brown eyes widened in shock, realizing this is really happening, as he watches Mike turn the handle and open the door, "`you'll come crawling back to me anyways!"
Mike swiftly manages to flip Seth off before he exits the house.
"Fuck!", Seth shouts on the top of his lungs, frustration coursing through his body, as well as regret – for he has just lost the most loyal best friend he has had since college, who only wanted to give him a helping hand, who only wanted to show him his support, and now, Mike is right, he is truly and utterly all alone.
What has he done?