I Broke My Heart (2 page)

CHAPTER THREE

I was driving towards Max’s house for dinner, but I was cursing the name of Cleve Reeves all the way.

Damn that man, and his skillful way of invading my thoughts.

He had successfully taken over all my thoughts. More and more lately, he seemed to be the only reason for my happiness with my life. Before he came along, I considered my life and my job very stressful and boring. However, in the past few weeks, I looked forward to going to my workplace every day because of him. Even when I left work, I couldn’t let my phone out of my sight for a second, because I knew he would call me. When he called, we would talk for several hours non-stop. Al
t
hough most of the things we talked about were usually not important, but I didn’t mind. Even nonsense makes sens
e when it is spoken by the ones we love
.

I pulled up in front of Max’s house. Cleve had o
c
cupied the whole of my thought so much that I have started to neglect my best friend, Max.  I was going to make it up to him today. We had both gone through a lot together and not even Cleve could come between us.

I pressed the doorbell and waited. F
ew seconds later, Max opened the door.

“Where the heck have you been?” he asked, e
x
tending his arms.

I threw myself into his arms. “I guess that
is you
trying to say that you missed me.”

“Of course, I’ve missed you. A lot.” He released me from the hug. “It’s been more than two weeks since we last saw each other.”

“I know, right?”

“You can’t do without seeing me for more than two weeks. Spill it, Addie
. I know something is fishy.
”

I playfully punched his chest. “Okay. You’re right. I’ll tell you about it over dinner. What’s for dinner?”

“I was thinking spaghetti and tomato sauce.”

“That’s fine with me.” I threw my purse on the couch. “To the kitchen.”

When we got to the kitchen, I grabbed a sauc
e
pan for the spaghetti while he prepared the tomato sauce. I rinsed the saucepan, filled it water, added one tablespoon of salt and placed it on the stove. While waiting for the water to boil, Max started a convers
a
tion.

“Don’t you dare try to avoid telling me about what is going on?”

“Okay, Max, I’ll tell you, I promise,” I said, smiling uncontrollably.

“Let me guess, you met a man.”

“Yes, how did you know?”

He chuckled quietly. “Addie Warren, those shy smiles of yours only comes when you are in love. So, tell me, who is he?”

“He’s my boss, Cleve Reeves.” I shook my head. “Well, not exactly my boss. He was transferred from the head office to come oversee a research at our lab here in Baltimore.”

“Are you in love with him?”

I shook my head. “No, I wouldn’t say I love him, but I’m quite fond of him and he’s fond of me too.”

“If you want me to check up on him so you can know more about him, I will be willing to help.”

When Max said
check up on him
, I knew exactly what he meant by that. Max was a private investigator, and he was an expert in finding out things about people.

“No, please, don’t bother to check. Besides, we’re not dating yet. We’re just friends. Maybe a little more than a friend, but we’re not having sex.” I poured the pasta into the boiling water and stirred the noodles with a long serving spoon.

“So, this Cleve, do you think you know him enough to be a little more than a friend to him.”

I stopped stirring the noodles and took a quick look at Max. “Spill it, Max. What exactly is it that bothers you about Cleve?”

He lowered his head. “Addie, I’m just trying to protect you. When Tyler broke your heart five months ago, you almost lost yourself. Now that you are begi
n
ning to pick up the pieces again, I don’t want anything to take you back into that dark place again.”

“You are afraid that I might have my heart br
o
ken again?” Was all I could say at that moment.

“Addie, all I’m trying to say is that we could have prevented your relationship with Tyler if you had a
l
lowed me to run a background check on him. Tyler was wanted for murder and you didn’t know. Who knows, maybe this Cleve is also a criminal or maybe he’s even married and he’s just playing with you.”

I sighed. “Max, I understand what you are saying, but if I allow you run a background check on him, it means that I don’t trust him.”

“Trust has to be earned, Addie. Besides, it doesn’t mean you don’t trust him, it means you are just trying not to get hurt.”

I nodded and shrugged. “Okay. Go ahead and run a background check on him.”

We finished cooking the pasta and the sauce, and then we sat down to eat our dinner together. After dinner, we talked into the night. It was well past 12:00 am when I left Max’s place. We lived few blocks away from each other, so it took me less than three minutes to drive home.

CHAPTER FOUR

I slightly opened the door to Cleve’s office and peeped in. He was clearing his desk and getting ready to leave for the day. “Cleve, do you have a minute, please?”

“Sure. What is it?” He dropped his portfolio on the desk.

“Come with me, please.”

He followed my lead as we walked out of his o
f
fice. “Where are we going?” he asked.

“To the courthouse, to get married,” I jested.

“Perfect, but I think we could do better than ge
t
ting married wearing a laboratory suit,” he played along.

I laughed.

We entered the main laboratory and I took the Petri-plates out of the incubator. Holding one of the plates, I began, “These Petri-plates were inoculated with different strands of bacteria that we are aware have resistance to antibiotics. This plate in my hand was ino
c
ulated with Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA to be specific. After inoculation, we added a piece of the new antibiotic that we invented. Now, S. aureus is known to be very good at resisting antibiotics. But because there was no growth on this Petri-plate, I want to believe that S. a
u
reus could not resist our antibiotic. MRSA is totally su
s
ceptible to our newly invented antibiotic.”

Before I could finish my explanation, he spread his arms and wrapped me up into an exuberant hug. “We did it. We did it. We did it,” he said.

“Yes, we did it,” I said as he finally let go of me.

He took another of the plates and took a good look. Satisfied, he stared back at me. “Now, before we can go public with this, we will have to replicate this experiment again. If we arrive at the same positive r
e
sult, then we can go public with it.”

“Alright, I’ll start the procedure immediately.”

He grabbed me by the arm. “You can start the experiment tomorrow. Go home, Addie. It’s late.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded gently.

I took off my gloves and threw them into the a
u
toclave trash. I grabbed my cell phone and began to dial.

Cleve gave me a questioning look. I mouthed, ‘
calling a cab’
in response.

“I can give you a ride home,” he said.

I quickly hung up. “Really? Thanks.”

“What is wrong with your car?” he asked as we stepped out of the Lab.

“I had a flat tire this morning. I wanted to get some air, but I was running late for work, so I called a cab.”

“Are you sure you didn’t burst your tire with those high-heeled shoes of yours?” he jested.

I laughed. “How is that even possible?”

“I thought I told you to quit trying to look beaut
i
ful in them heels
,” he teased.

“I’m a woman, Cleeve. It’s in our DNA to want to look beautiful.”

“Really? And why…?”

I cut him off. “Remind me again, Cleeve Reeves. Why are we talking about my high-heeled shoes?”

He gave a sarcastic look. “That’s because I’m a microbiologist. Since you said it’s in your DNA to want to look beautiful, I’ll be testing your DNA for that.”

I laughed and punched his shoulder.

Fun was the word that could best describe the drive to my house. Cleve wouldn’t stop teasing me, and I enjoyed it.

****

Finally, he pulled up in front of my house. Even though the drive to my house took about thirty minutes, it felt as if it were only five minutes with Cleve. I wanted to spend more time with him. “You should come in for champagne. Our success at the laboratory today calls for celebration.”

“Okay.”

That was easy. I had thought it would take a lot more to persuade him to stay. 

When we stepped into my house, he helped himself to the couch. Pulling at the knot of his tie, he loosened it a bit. He was relaxed in my home, and that alone made me feel that he belonged with me, that he had always been a part of my life.

Quickly, I dropped my purse and rushed to the refrigerator to grab a bottle of champagne and two clean cups. When I got to the living room, I set the cups on the table and began to shake the bottle of cha
m
pagne to create a bubble. As I opened it, I turned the bottle toward his direction so that the bubbles would splash on him.

Before I could open it, he stood and rushed t
o
ward me to stop me from splashing it on him. When I didn’t yield, he subdued me in his arms. As we struggle together, the bottle opened. I swirled and let the cha
m
pagne splash all over him. Twenty seconds later,
he was drenched
.

He staggered back, his expression completely blank. I couldn’t make out what exactly he was thinking. For a moment, I thought that maybe I had annoyed him by splashing the drink on him. I was at a loss as to what I should say or if I should apologize.

Suddenly, he gave a loud laugh. Relieved, I laughed too. He was just trying to psyche me out by pretending to be annoyed and it worked.

He held the two glass cups in his hands and I filled them with the small amount of Champagne that was left. Although we had wasted most of the drink, the little left in the bottle was enough to celebrate the m
o
ment. He handed one of the cups to me and then he took the empty bottle from me. He dropped the bottle on the floor and came closer to me. So close was he that I could feel his breath on my face. We stood frozen for a few silent seconds and I realized that I was holding my own breath.

I lifted the cup. “To our success at the laboratory today.”

He lifted his cup, and his strong charming eyes crashed confidently into mine. “To you, Addie Warren, and to me Cleve Reeves, for a hope of a future toget
h
er.”

Did I hear what I thought I heard in that toast? Did he just say to a hope of a future together? I was so surprised that I found it difficult to gulp the wine down my throat. I swallowed hard and forced the drink down. I didn’t know if he meant more than what he said. I didn’t know if I should attach more meaning to what he said. I didn’t even know if I should ask him what he meant by
a hope of a future together
.

He finished his wine and sank into the couch. “My shirt stinks.”

Really? The man makes a toast to a hope of our future together and then just changes the conversation without explaining what he meant by those words.

He was definitely trying to drive me insane. I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, so I played along.

“I am sorry for that. I could clean it up for you before you leave,” I offered.

“Oh! No. you don’t have to do that. We were just having fun, and getting dirty goes along with it som
e
times. My only regret is that I didn’t get to spray you with the wine.”

I laughed. “All the same, it was my mess and I’d like to fix it. My laundry machine takes twenty-five minutes for washing and twenty minutes to dry. Your shirt should be clean in less than an hour,” I insisted, telling myself I was just trying to be nice. But something told me I was only looking for an excuse to make him stay longer.

When I insisted, he pulled off his shirt. I swa
l
lowed hard at the sight of him bare to the waist. I found his hard, muscular arms and chest captivating, as he stood shirtless before me. I tried to tear my gaze from the outline of his magnificent form, but I couldn’t. And a knowing grin covered his devilishly handsome face as he caught me staring.

Suddenly aware that I might throw myself into those arms, I quickly took the shirt from him and hurried away. I dumped the shirt into the laundry machine and then head to my room to change my outfit into som
e
thing more comfortable. I chose a tank top and a short.

When I got back to the living room, he was r
e
laxed on my couch. It had been a long time since a man had come to visit me; except, for Max, of course, but he didn’t count. To see Cleve relaxed on my couch made me want to get down on the floor and have sex with him; wild, aggressive sex, without boundaries or inhib
i
tions.

His voice brought me back. “What kind of movies do you like to watch?”

“Science fiction,” I stuttered a little.

“I think you need to spice up your life with som
e
thing else, Addie. You can’t spend the whole of your life in the laboratory, only to get home and watch science fiction. There is more to life than science, you know.”

I smiled. “Science is my life, Cleve. There’s not
h
ing I enjoy more than to see people working their ass off in a lab making new discoveries.”

Cleve and I had nothing in common. While he loved having soda for his breakfast, I detested it. I loved sci-fi movies, but he had never watched one in his life. The fact that we shared no common interests made our time together less boring. It gave us room for arguments and friendly debates.

After a vigorous search through the stack of DVDs that I owned, we finally decided to watch
Cont
a
gion
. Of course, that was after I spent several minutes convincing him that it was a good movie.

When the movie started playing, I sat beside him on the couch. After a little while, I placed my head on his lap as I sank into the couch. I wasn’t exactly sure of what I was doing. My brain warned me against making that move, but my hormones made their argument persu
a
sively in my mind. Isn’t that the story of every woman’s life?

Slowly, he stroked his fingers through my hair. “Why do you always wear your hair up when you come to the lab?” he asked, his voice deep and sexy.

“Lab policy demands that we wear our hair up or have it all covered up for safety. You should know that.”

“That is true,” he replied. “You look more beaut
i
ful when you wear your hair down.”

His hands went from my hair to my back, and his fingers began making small circles on my lower back, sending vibrations through my body.

My pleasure was cut short when my phone rang. Reluctantly, I reached for my phone. It was a text. My head still on his lap, I tried to read the text.
Include me in your plans for the weekend, love Max
. I smiled to myself as I read the text and I quickly sent a reply:
Ok. Love Addie
.

“Excuse me,” Cleve said as he held me by the shoulder trying to push me off his lap. I lifted my head from his head and stared at him. “What is it?” I asked.

“I have to go now,” he replied, his face blank and his expression unreadable.

“But…” Before I could say anything else, he was already on his feet and walking towards the door.

“What about your shirt?”

“I have a jacket in the car,” he said and stumbled out of the house without saying a goodbye.

I stood there, confused. I tried to think of why he would leave in that manner. I couldn’t think of anything I said or did that could have made him angry, so why then did he leave?

I sat back on the couch, trying to reflect on what happened in the last minutes. I placed my head on his lap. Well, that couldn’t have made him angry, because he seemed to like it. After all, he stroked my hair with his fingers. Then, if my head being on his lap wasn’t what made him uncomfortable, then what did? Then I remembered that his expression changed immediately after I received the text from Max. I was reading the text while resting on his lap; his eyes could have easily caught a glimpse of the content of the text.

Maybe the content of the text angered him. Even if the text made him jealous or something, it would be childish of him just to walk away without asking for an explanation. Yet there seemed to be no other explan
a
tion for the reason he left my house angrily. I could only hope that I was right. That he left because he was jea
l
ous over me.