I got to my apartment complex in thirty minutes. I tried to hurry up the staircase knowing that Jared would have driven behind the bus, even though we lost sight of him at the second bus stop.

I got to my door to see my boyfriend standing in front, wearing a smirk. "Thought you could escape, huh?"

"Leave me, Jared. Or I'll —"

"Or you'll what?" Jared walked to me flexing his chest muscles, knowing how to wear it made me.

I covered my eyes with my hands and turned away from him. "I don't want to see you."

Jared pulled my eyes away from my face and stared at me. "Why weren't you answering my calls?"

"I thought you were busy with work. I mean, Sara." I put up a smile as I dug inside my bag for my keys.

It would be hard to get around Jared to get into the house, but I needed to. If he decides to kiss me, the war against him would be lost.

But now, all I could remember was how he leaned against Sara's shoulder in that video. In the eyes of the world, they seemed like a couple. While my relationship with Jared was hidden from most people who knew me.

"About yesterday —" he started.

"I'm not interested. As you can see, I still have a lot of work to do." I tried to walk around him.

He placed himself in front of where I would swipe the key card. "I'm trying to make up for yesterday."

"Sorry, a birthday only happens once a year. Try again next year. Or don't. I don't care."

"I'm sorry okay. I got you a gift." He reached into his pocket and grabbed out a diamond bracelet and strapped it around my wrist. "I wanted to take you to dinner today."

I almost turned to him. My fridge was empty and I had was a single ramen packet. With the work I had to do, I wasn't ready to go get groceries but I could grab something.

"Okay, where?"

Jared smiled. But it pained me that I saw the online version of the smile first. He put his hand around me and started to lead me down the stairs.

"I'm not properly dressed."

"Don't worry. We'll be around friends."

I shrugged his hand off. "Friends? Who? Will Sara be there?"

"Listen, not everything is about Sara okay. It's Kimberly's birthday. We're both her friends."

"I think we should reschedule."

So, he couldn't show up for my birthday, but he expected me to show up for his friend's.

Jared grabbed my wrist to prevent me from leaving. "We can't reschedule. Do you understand how busy my schedule is?"