Beyond 10 Nights (10 page)

Her life was a catastrophe, she
thought with a bitter sigh as she kicked off her heels. Her heart ached at the
thought of losing Rhett, but balked at the idea of living with a man who
couldn’t control his temper, and who flew off the deep end at the slightest
thing.

She couldn’t cry anymore, she simply
didn’t have the tears; that was something, she thought, though she wasn’t sure
whether it was good or bad that she seemed to have cried herself dry. On the
plus side, it did leave her able to think more clearly, and clear-headed
thinking was what she needed just then because the things she had to decide
could affect her life for a long time to come.

Everything had moved too fast, she
knew that now. No matter what she felt for Rhett, accepting a proposal of
marriage after knowing him for barely a fortnight wasn’t sensible; not when they
couldn’t even be engaged for two days without having an argument.

It didn’t make her heart ache any
less to realize that, but it did make her appreciate that she needed to spend
more time considering such important decisions in the future. Her resolution
firmly in place, Leah fell back onto the couch in the living area of the suite,
where she rested her back and closed her eyes while she contemplated her next
move.

When she was calmer, and he the
same, she and Rhett would sit down and discuss the situation; she would explain
that rushing into things had been a mistake and they should slow things down.
She could only hope he would understand.

It was time she built a life for
herself. She wasn’t a child anymore; she couldn’t keep jumping from one
situation to another, reacting without much in the way of thought. She needed
to sort herself out. She had a job, that was a start, earning her own money
gave her financial freedom; the next thing she needed was a place of her own,
somewhere that was hers. With an apartment of her own she wouldn’t have to
worry about finding herself staying in a virtual stranger’s hotel suite again
in the future because she’d argued with her best friend and her fiancé within
the space of two days.

4

Learning
The PAst

Prepared for a confrontation, Alex
brought his car to a stop in front of his friend’s mansion and got out. He
wasn’t looking forward to explaining to Rhett that he was there to pick up
Leah’s car, and that she was going to be staying at his hotel suite. He hoped
his friend was in a better frame of mind than he had been earlier, but even if
he was, Alex was sure the news would set him off again.

He had seen his friend’s anger
before, mostly when he was younger, before he learned to control himself and
his life, but never had it been directed at him. They had disagreed, it was a
rare friendship that survived the test of time without disagreements, but not
once had they reached the point of coming to blows. He fervently wished that
wasn’t about to change.

As he made his way up the steps to
the front door, Alex reminded himself that the best thing he could do was
remain calm. No matter what Rhett did or said, he had to stay calm and not
react unnecessarily. He wasn't a violent man, and he hoped their situation didn’t
come to that, especially since he wasn’t entirely certain which of them would
come out best in a fight.

One thing he was certain of, if it
did come to blows, as he knew Rhett had been on the verge of before, it
wouldn’t manner who won the physical confrontation, they would both lose in the
long run. Their friendship would almost certainly be over if things between
them became violent.

Alex was a little surprised when
Rhett answered the door himself. “Where is she?” his friend demanded as he held
the door wide for Alex to enter.

“She’s back at my hotel suite, where
she is going to stay for the time being; and before you go blowing your fuse
again,” Alex quickly held up a hand to forestall his friend, seeing the dark
look that came into his eyes, “I have no intention of being anything other than
a friend to your fiancé.

“Jesus, Rhett! What the hell has
happened to you?” Alex asked as he stepped past him and into the reception
hall. “I haven’t seen you acting like this since we were kids.”

Shutting the door, Rhett ran a big
hand through his hair. He didn’t doubt his friend’s words, his voice was as
sincere as always; if there was one thing he was certain hadn’t changed,
despite the years that had passed since they’d seen each other, it was that
Alex was still a painfully honest person.

“I don’t know, Alex, I just don’t
know,” Rhett told his friend with a heavy sigh. As he spoke he led the way to
his study, where he sank into a leather armchair. “I honestly have no fucking
clue why I overreact with her, I really don’t. You know me; I’ve been in
control of myself since college, but since I met Leah, it’s like I’m a bomb,
waiting to explode at the slightest trigger.” He hated who he had become. He’d
worked hard to put his problems with anger behind him, and thought he had
succeeded, decades before.

“I appreciate that you have deep
feelings for her, Rhett, but what you’re doing now isn’t love, it’s bordering
on abuse. You do understand that, don’t you?” In his opinion, if his friend
couldn’t control his temper around Leah he needed to stay away from her until
he could. “I think it would be good for the two of you to have some space while
you deal with whatever is making you react the way you have been.”

The thought of being without Leah
terrified Rhett. His mother’s sudden death when he was a young boy, coupled
with his father retreating into himself and almost completely shutting him out
of his life, had left him scarred emotionally. Because of his childhood
experiences he had never allowed himself to get close to women emotionally, for
fear that they would leave him, just as his mother had left him.

Now, as an adult, he knew his mother
hadn’t left him on purpose, but he still feared rejection, in any form. That
fear of rejection had led him to a life of control, where he was in charge of
everything around him, in all aspects of his life, so that he could never again
be hurt. Except that was no longer working, Leah was filled with a defiance and
an independent spirit that led her to do things that challenged his control,
and he couldn’t cope with that.

“Look, it’s not permanent,” Alex
told his friend. “You guys can talk after you’ve both had some time to cool
down and have given some thought to how to fix things.  Have you
considered going to counseling?” he asked, hoping his friend wasn’t going to
overreact, like he had in the past when the subject had been brought up.

He was one of the few people that
knew the story behind Rhett’s need to be in charge of everything, and knew it
was something that could only be fully resolved with professional help. He had
always been cautious with the subject before tonight, having seen Rhett’s
reaction when others had broached it.

Rhett was silent for a short while.
“I’ve thought about it before now,” he admitted, though he wasn’t prepared to
say that the one thing had stopped him was the thought of being considered weak
for visiting a psychiatrist. “But it never seemed a major issue. I haven’t had
anger issues since college; when we got into his lifestyle, it seemed to be
what I needed to keep me under control, but now…

“If I can’t control myself anymore,
perhaps I should.” He didn’t like the thought of seeking professional help; he
had always had a low opinion of people who couldn’t deal with their problems.
“I don’t want to lose Leah, and I don’t want to hurt her.”

“I’m glad you’re admitting to having
a problem, and are at least willing to consider getting help.” Alex was
relieved, admitting he had a problem was a huge step for Rhett, he knew, he just
hoped his friend would actually do something about it. “Listen, I told Leah I
wouldn’t be long, I was just coming here to fetch her car; if you want me to,
I’ll come straight back after I’ve told her what is going on and we can talk
some more.”

“Thanks, Alex, I appreciate it, but
I think I’m just going to take some time tonight and try to get my head
together. Tell her I’m sorry, okay?” Alex nodded. “I’ll get her keys and her
phone.”

Alex was relieved to see that the
man who got to his feet was the man he remembered, calm and level-headed, and
he was glad to see him back. “Listen, I offered her a job, that’s what she was
doing with me today. We spoke this morning over breakfast, she told me she was
looking for an internship and I offered her a place at my firm." 
With everything going on, the last thing he wanted Rhett to think was that he
was making moves on his woman.

“I took her in so she could take a
look around and make a decision. I just thought you should know. Nothing was
going on, nothing except me offering her a job and her accepting it.”

“I’m sure she was grateful.” Rhett
said in a voice that seemed mockingly calm, even to himself. He wasn’t sure how
he felt about his Leah working for Alex, but knew if he said anything, then or
to Leah, he would most likely wreck everything for good.

As he made his way out of the room
to fetch Leah’s things he found himself dwelling on the thought that she might
never forgive him. It was a thought he didn’t wish to contemplate, but it
wouldn’t leave his mind. If she wasn’t prepared to give him another chance, he
didn’t know what he would do.

Always before he had been the one to
end things with women; there had always been another to replace them when they
had served their purpose and no longer pleased him. He didn’t think he would
ever be able to replace Leah if she left him, and he didn’t want to.

He definitely needed help, he
realized. Help to come to terms with finally having fallen in love, and help to
deal with the feelings of jealousy and anger she aroused in him.

Reaching the bedroom he retrieved
the iPhone from the table where Leah had left it. At the same time he grabbed
up her purse and her keys. Taking his wallet out, he removed one of his credit
cards and slid it into her purse. The thought of her not having the money to
pay for whatever she needed, while he couldn’t, bothered him greatly.

He was about to leave the bedroom
when he saw the bags and boxes that Delilah had sent over, at his instruction,
that morning. The sight reminded him that Leah had little to nothing in the way
of clothes, he quickly took out a small suitcase and carefully packed up the
clothes, absently admiring the selections that Delilah had made on his behalf
as he did so.

Alex accepted the case Rhett held
out to him, assuming it had everything Leah was likely to need. “Just give her
a little time, Rhett, and let me know if you need anything. I’m always here to
talk if you need me.”

“Thanks, Alex, look, if she needs
anything, just let me know. I don’t want her suffering because of something I
did.” He knew she had nowhere to go but his friend’s hotel suite. She had lost
her best friend over him, and it occurred to him that he had cost her virtually
everything she’d had. The thought of her being hurt because of him made him
wonder if she wasn't better off without him in her life.

“You have my word, if she needs
anything, I’ll call you. Try not to worry, this will all work out the way it is
meant to.”  It bothered him on a deep level, seeing Rhett so lacking in
confidence, but maybe he thought to himself, this is what he needed to finally
heal.

Rhett nodded, though he couldn’t
quite bring himself to believe his friend. “Leonard,” he called out for one of
his servants. “I need you to follow me as I drop off a car and then drive me
back home,” he said once the servant had appeared. Without waiting for a
response he crossed the reception hall and left the house.

Alex wasn’t sure it was a great idea
for Rhett to drop off Leah’s car at the hotel, but decided to keep his thoughts
to himself. As long as Rhett remained calm, and didn’t try and go into the
hotel to see Leah, there was no reason for there to be a problem. Getting into
his car he led the small procession through the streets of Chicago to his
hotel.

When he arrived at the hotel, Rhett
followed Alex into the underground parking and stopped the yellow Lamborghini
alongside his friend's silver Audi R8. For a few moments he sat there behind
the wheel as he contemplated going up to Alex’s suite to talk to Leah, he knew
he couldn’t though, as much as he wanted to. If he tried to speak to Leah
before they both had a chance to calm down he would only push her further away,
and that was the last thing he wanted to do.

Conquering the urge, finally, he got
out of the car and handed the keys to his friend. After reminding Alex to call
him if Leah needed anything, he made his way out to where Leonard was waiting
for him with the limousine.

When he entered the suite, Alex
looked around for Leah. Not seeing her he checked the bedrooms, and found her,
curled up on the bed in one of the two spare bedrooms the suite had; she looked
so young, and beautiful, he thought as he smiled down on her. Shaking his head
at the thoughts that had suddenly decided to wander through his mind, he
realized that it wasn’t right for him to be in there.

Putting the case down in front of
the closet, where she would see it when she woke, he put the keys to her car
and her purse on the nightstand and then left, quietly closing the door behind
him.