The Sinful Scream

35 - the past

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Third Person POV

"Ace?"

Renee called out his name, now positive that he was exactly who she had thought he was. She removed her sunglasses, placing them on top of her head so that her eyes were no longer shielded from the familiar man in front of her.

   Ace faltered for a moment, balling up the napkin he had been using to dry off his shirt in the palm of his hand. He slowly looked up, his steel gray eyes meeting Renee's emerald green ones. He observed her appearance, noticing the puffiness around her eyes, the tear stains on her cheeks.

She looked just as beautiful as she did 3 years ago when he had last seen her, he decided.

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Three years prior:

Renee wasn't much of a party person.

It wasn't difficult for Ace to come to this realization as he watched the blonde girl she had arrived with grasp her hand and try to lead her to the dance floor.

   Ace sipped on the cold beer he held in his hand, completely ignoring the conversation his friends were having beside him. Renee had finally given in, it seemed, and followed her friend to the dance floor, which was the hardwood floor of the living room.

   Ace noticed the way Renee's hips swayed back and forth effortlessly as she walked. The fitting black dress she wore accentuated her curves, the glittering silver heels on her feet adding an inch or so to her petite height. She visibly started to acclimate to the party atmosphere, laughing and dancing with a group of friends.

The colored lights reflected off her porcelain skin as she ran her fingers through her dark brown hair to get it out of her face. A few strands still framed her face, though, perfectly at that. The way she moved was simply mesmerizing. Ace found it hard not to stare, in a daze.

   Part of the night went by like this, Renee dancing with her friends while Ace looked over at her every so often. He noticed when she walked to the kitchen to take a seat, the blonde girl tapping her on the shoulder and telling her something before walking up the stairs.

   Ace took the opportunity presented to him, walking up to her and sitting beside her on a stool at the kitchen counter. She noticed him and smiled, her green eyes sparkling beneath the light of the chandelier. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she took a sip of the glass of water she had filled for herself.

Another observation, Renee didn't drink.

Smart girl, Ace thought.

   They began talking, the conversation continuously flowing between them. It was simply easy for them to talk to each other, the awkward stage was nonexistent when it came to their friendship.

They spoke for quite some time, and then spent time with their friends, dancing together.

This would happen at every party from then on, until Ace graduated and never saw her again.

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"Renee," he spoke in a questioning tone.

She nodded, smiling.

   The two were quite close friends in high school, although they never had any classes together. Parties were where they spent time together, him and Savannah encouraging her to let loose and talk to new people.

Ace was a senior, though, and only met Renee in her sophomore year. It felt as if in the blink of an eye, graduation passed and he was on the way to college. She hadn't seen him since.

Ace smiled back at her, flashing his pearly white teeth.

"I would hug you, but..." He chuckled, looking down at his coffee stained shirt and back to Renee.

"I'm so sorry! I'm a complete fuckin' mess right now," Renee sighed, running her hand over her forehead in pure exhaustion.

Ace's previously calm stance melted away as a concerned expression painted his face.

"What happened, Ren?" He asked, leading her to a table so they weren't standing awkwardly by the coffee station.

Renee almost cringed at the thought of having to explain the situation. The reality of it was sinking in a bit more each time she verbalized what had happened.

She found it hard to even form the right words to answer Ace's seemingly simple question.

"My boyfriend was hurt, badly. He's in critical condition right now." Renee replied, her voice shaking slightly.

She kept her explanation short, for several obvious reasons. Renee was happy to see Ace, but the timing and circumstances simply could not be any worse. She wasn't in the talking mood; most certainly not when it came to the awful events of the night. She couldn't even think about Maddox without shutting down.

On the other hand, this was a mafia-related incident in its entirety. She couldn't just tell Ace, who she hadn't spoken to in years, that her boyfriend had gotten shot. It would raise too much suspicion, and she wouldn't even think to do that to Maddox and Jay.

"I'm so sorry," Ace said, leaning over the table and taking her hands in his.

Renee could only nod slowly and offer him a small smile. Tears began to brim in her eyes and she looked down, refusing to cry in front of him. She hated feeling this way, and was not the type of person to unload all her baggage on the next person to show the slightest bit of interest.

She collected herself as best she possibly could, squeezing Ace's hands before pulling away.

"I really have to go, it was so nice to see you though, Ace." She said softly, starting to get up from the table.

"Wait, Renee." He called out.

Renee stood by the table and made eye contact with him, willing him to continue.

"Can I have your number? That way, we can keep in touch, and maybe get lunch sometime." Ace suggested, smiling warmly.

Renee found his suggestion to be rather flirty, which caused her to feel a bit uneasy.

She mentally scolded herself for thinking such a thing. This was Ace, someone who she'd been close friends with for some of her high school years. On top of that, he now knew that she was taken. She explicitly stated so just moments ago.

She came to the conclusion that his suggestion was simply platonic. Renee was just overly emotional, and bombarded with too many different thoughts to comprehend even a single one of them correctly.

That was all.

Renee and Ace quickly exchanged contact information, saying their goodbyes before Renee walked back over to the coffee station to remake the coffee that she had spilled.

A few minutes later, she returned to Jay, who was still sitting in the waiting room. He was staring at his phone intensely, playing a game to pass the time. She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention, handing him a cup of coffee.

"You were gone longer than I'd thought you'd be," Jay took a sip of his coffee before continuing to speak.

"Is everything alright?"

Renee inhaled deeply, warming her hands with the cup of coffee she held.

"Yeah, I just ran into an old friend."