Andrew left Maxwell's home, wincing at the bright sunlight that assaulted him as soon as he was outside. Thankfully, he didn't need his keys to get into his apartment since it was fingerprint locked, and he had to key in a code.
Trudging up the stairs, he ran into one of his neighbours who took in the time, and his disheveled look, and smirked. She was an older, nosy lady who Andrew often helped carry her groceries. Andrew knew that news of him getting in late was going to spread around the neighbourhood, and he only worried that it was going to bother Maxwell if it got out where he was coming from.
"Andy, coming in so late? I hope your friend had as good of a night as you did." Andrew laughed nervously, and she patted his shoulder. "Get inside dear. You look ill." Andrew nodded, thankful that she didn't want to stay and chat his ear off.
Getting to his door, he unlocked it and stepped into his apartment, only to find that his phone was ringing on the kitchen counter. Thankfully, he'd plugged it in before he began drinking, otherwise it would have been dead. Unsure who would be calling him, he raced over to catch it, only to stare at the caller id. He felt his body jerk to a stop.
The call went to voicemail and he stood staring at the evidence before him.
She had called him 15 times, and there were several texts and voicemails as well. He ran his hand through his hair with a sigh. Fuck. What was he supposed to do?
Not giving him much time, the phone vibrated again. Knowing her, and knowing how stubborn she was, he sneered and yanked it from its charger, not bothering to change as he headed for the door. Sliding the phone call, he answered as he closed the door to his apartment behind him loudly, and headed down the steps.
"What do you want?" He growled into the phone, and it was clear he had taken her by surprise. She had probably assumed that Andrew was always going to be nice and sweet with her, but given what she had done, and that he had publicly called it off with her, he had no reason to be nice with her. Especially with how everything had gone down.
"A-Andy, why are you-"
"Don't you dare call me that. You know damn well what you did." Andrew was surprised to see his elderly neighbour at the base of the stairs, but remembered he'd spent barely a minute in his apartment. He was also jogging down the stairs quickly, wanting to get to Maxwell's side for comfort. He knew the man would easily, and willingly tear into his ex. He didn't know why he knew that, but he didn't look too hard at that feeling inside of him.
His neighbour seemed stunned that Andrew had spoken in such an intimidating tone, and he gave her a tight smile and a wave as he passed her, just as another neighbour, her gossip buddy, opened the door to his apartment to let her in. Andrew knew now that he was screwed as he made a bee-line for Maxwell's house.
"W-Well, I was hoping-"
"If you dare to say repair this, there is nothing to repair. You're the one who hurt me, Tracey. Do you even know how much it hurts to find you accusing me of something horrendous? And you didn't even apologise. You just sat there like a fool and didn't defend me in the slightest."
"W-What was I supposed to do? My superiors said it was you! They had camera footage! And my keycard had disappeared and I couldn't think of anyone else who could have taken it." Andrew's laugh was harsh, and sent chills down her spine. Andrew didn't even knock when he opened Maxwell's front door, and kicked off his shoes as the door closed behind him. Maxwell came out from the kitchen, his mouth open to ask him a question but paused when he noticed Andrew was on the phone.
"Are you fucking kidding me with that shit? You could have defended me. You could have been a character witness for me. Instead, you opted to lie and hurt me. You didn't even admit that we were in a relationship! You told them you had lunch with me once or twice? Fucking really? When we'd been going to lunch together for damn near two years, and it wasn't as if I didn't want more or make myself clear. You were the one who was hesitant to go on dates with me outside of work. You were the one who was blocking our relationship from going further. Fuck. If you didn't want to date me, you could have told me in any other way. You didn't have to air it out in front of our whole fucking company." Andrew pushed his hair out of his face, tired already, and his headache back.
Maxwell came closer to him, his expression quizzical. It was clear he was concerned for him, and Andrew felt his harsh emotions soften slightly. He didn't fly into a rage when he heard her start to cry on the other side.
"Don't you fucking dare try to make me out to be the bad guy here, Tracey. You're the one who made this bed. You have to lie in it."
"I told you my family is super strict, I just didn't want to hurt you. They don't want me dating anyone who isn't an alpha. I was hoping that the longer we were together, maybe things would change, but then my Dad brought up using a dating service. I never wanted to hurt you that way." Andrew exhaled slowly.
"Never wanted to hurt me? You never even gave me a chance to be hurt by your family, Tracey. You did that all by yourself." She was sniffling on the other end, and Andrew felt his heart twitch slightly.
"I-I wasn't calling because of this. The company said that you could have the laptop that you left behind. I knew you probably didn't want to come back to get it, so I offered to drop it off for you." Andrew shook his head, unable to believe her audacity. Now she wanted to see his place? Too fucking late.
"No. If you're going to drop it off, we're going to meet at a cafe nearby. You didn't want to see my place for two years, you don't get to now." Maxwell's expression darkened as he listened in on the conversation. Andrew knew he was probably able to hear both sides, since omegas and alphas had slightly heightened hearing, but he didn't mind. Maxwell was safe in his mind. He would look out for him. After all, Maxwell was angry for him, for the situation he had ended up in.
"I…alright. How about the small one near the gardens?" She suggested. "It's almost noon now. How about 1 pm? I'm sure you would rather get this over with." Andrew glanced at Maxwell, who gave a nod.
"That sounds fair. I can meet you there." Andrew told her, slightly relieved that he would get to see her if only to put a nice ending to everything. Tie it up with a bow, and forget about any of it happening.
"Alright. I'll see you soon, Andrew." The line went dead, and Andrew let out a huge sigh. Maxwell, unsure what to do, placed his hand on his shoulder.
"That was your ex?" He asked, and Andrew nodded. "What was this about a laptop? If you needed one, I could just provide you with one." He offered easily, and Andrew chuckled. It was clear Maxwell wasn't throwing around his wealth to rub it in his face, and instead was genuinely concerned about him. He didn't want him to meet with the girl he had been crying about yesterday.
Andrew straightened his shoulders, rolling them and unintentionally knocking Maxwell's hand off. Maxwell stepped back from him, and Andrew frowned.
"It's not really about the laptop, if I'm honest. I think I just need to see her one last time and cut everything off cleanly, without anger clouding my mind. I need to look her in the eyes and see her for the evil wench that she is." Maxwell nearly choked at Andrew's words, and covered up his reaction by covering his mouth and coughing.
"W-Well, if you say so. Are you sure? Do you want me to drop you off?" Maxwell was being very kind, but Andrew felt like he was already overstaying his welcome.
"I appreciate your offer, Maxwell, but I feel like I'd be taking advantage of your kindness if I took you up on your offer. You're already offering me a job and school fees if I 'go to the dark side'." Andrew laughed as Maxwell's expression darkened at his words. "I'm joking. I'm sure your company can't be as bad as mine was. Especially with you as the head of it." Maxwell's ears turned pink, and Andrew grinned. "Now, give me your phone number, so I can call you when I arrive at the cafe. I'll have to leave right away so I can get there in time." Maxwell frowned, but did what was asked of him.
"You'll call me right away if something goes wrong, right? Like one of the higher ups shows up and makes fucked up demands of you. Call me right away. In fact, share your location with me." Maxwell yanked the now unlocked phone and rapidly typed on Andrew's phone. Andrew was actually quite impressed with how quickly he was typing. He could make it as a receptionist, or one of those people who typed out statements in court cases. He doubted that Maxwell would like to hear that from him though.
"Of course. Do you want me to have you on the phone the whole time?" Andrew teased, but when Maxwell looked up at him, he seemed to be seriously considering it. Andrew laughed. He reached out and ruffled his hair. "You're so cute. I'll be fine, but thank you for your concern." Maxwell's ears were burning, and he handed Andrew back his phone, knocking his hand off of his head.
"Fine. Get there safely. Let me know when you get there. I have your location shared with me so I'll know when you get there, but I want to make sure." Andrew nodded, not dismissing his concerns.
"I'll be back soon."