The Contingency Plan (The Lonely Heart Series) (20 page)

“This is New York, man.  The calls don’t start to nightfall. You know that.”

Alex debated.  “I’m going to try it.”

Just then, the alarm sounded for the men to dress quickly and head out to a call. 

Alex heart dropped again.  The night just kept ge
t
ting longer.  Why couldn’t he catch a break?  All he needed was for one thing to happen right, one oppo
r
tunity not to mess things up any more than he already had. 

Putting his over-the-counter medicine on the table, Mason raised his palms. “What did I tell ya?”

***

The night was dragging on for Charlie and she had to go to bed. Tomorrow would be here before she knew it with many obligations, starting with the requirement of being punctual to all of her meeting which would start early.  Crawling into the comfort of her Egyptian cotton sheets, she turned off the lamp and closed her eyes.  As she inhaled a deep breath, all that she could smell was Alex’s cologne.  The fact made her cry again.  Letting out a moan, she rolled over on her side and let the tears flow. 

“Do I deserve this?” she asked aloud. 

The room was silent. 

Shaking her head, she pushed the pillow under head. “Like I actually expected an answer,” she said, scratching her scalp in between her rollers. 

She stared blankly at the green glow of the nu
m
bers on her alarm clock.  1:00 a.m.  It was another day.
A new freaking day. 
And yet, she didn’t feel revived. She felt confused.  She felt alone and aba
n
doned by the man whom she had thought was a pillar of support. 

Now, all she wanted was to hear a warm voice, someone who wanted only her.

The thought of Sully inched into the back of her head again for the millionth time.  

Would he be awake at this hour? 

Sitting up in bed, she grabbed her cell of the dock and called.  This time, she wasn’t the least bit worried if he was awake or not.  That was the funny thing about having sex with a person.  It knocked down the barriers of civility and convenience and made that person a target to unleash all of your raw, open emotions on.

“Hello,” Sully answered quickly when he saw her number on his cell phone.

“It’s me,” Charlie said, wiping her face.  She sni
f
fled. 

“What’s wrong?” Sully sat up in bed. 
Was she coming back?
 

“He’s cheating on me,” Charlie said in a matter-of-fact tone.  Saying them aloud was a bizarre experience for her. Alex had never…

“You cheated on him,” Sully said in an equally matter-of-fact tone.  He didn’t say it just to remind her, but to keep her from doing anything stupid. 

“I know, but I just started.” She sniffed. “For all I know, I could have wasted a decade on him.”

“You didn’t waste anything on him.  You’re both just…”  Sully tried to find words.  Wiping his face again, he smacked his lips.  “You’re in different places right now. You said so yourself. He’s a good guy; he’s just confused, just like you are.”

“Are you taking his side?” Charlie asked with a frown.

Sully smirked. “No.  Hell no.”  He yawned.  “Have you thought about what we talked about?  Have you talked to him about it?”  That was more important to him at the moment then Alex’s affair.  The man deserved to know the truth about the children. 

“I went to talk to him tonight. That’s how I found out that he was cheating on me, but this changes everything.”

“How does it change everything?” he asked i
n
trigued. 

“It makes me feel less sympathetic for him.”

Sully wiped his tired eyes. “Good…well
good for me
. 
Not good for him
.”

“I expected you to be different,” Charlie said, rol
l
ing her head around to get out the kink.

“How so?”  he asked. 

“I don’t know, more sympathetic.”

“Charlie, I want you. I’m the
other
man. The fact that you found out that your husband is cheating on you only makes my case more valid; my point more concrete.”  He moved the covers from his legs and sat on the end of the bed.  “This must be hard on you, every bit of it. But I assure you once you tell him, you’ll feel so much better.”

“I know that I will, but it still hurts.” She wiped her eyes. 

“Well, it’s going to hurt. You loved him. You may still love him, but you all have moved to different places in your life
and I can’t believe that I’m giving you marriage advice right now
.” He checked himself quickly. 

They both laughed.

“Oh Sully, it’s only been a few hours and I already miss you,” Charlie said sincerely.  And she did miss him. She wished that she was in his loving embrace right then.  All of this would not even be an issue. 

“I miss you, too,” he said, standing up to stretch.  “The kids and I have an interview with CBC tomorrow on the morning show.  It’s in Manhattan.   I could come by after to see you.”

“I’d love that,” Charlie said with a smile.  “Stop by the office.  We can take the kids to brunch after.”

“They’d love that,” he said, holding the phone tighter.  “You need to lie down and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow after we land.”

“I love you,” she said, sitting straight up in the bed.  She knew it was inappropriate to say but she did anyway.  It made her feel better, made her feel wan
t
ed. 

“I love you, too. Always.  Now, goodnight sleep
y
head.”

Charlie laughed. “Goodnight.”

205

The Contingency Plan

Chapter 13

Alex had called Charlie fourteen times between the time that he arrived back from the false alarm fire call until that morning.  Not one call had yielded an answer. 

He knew then that she was the one he had seen the night before walking away from the firehouse.  What he didn’t understand was why she didn’t say anything.  In truth, if he had seen another man kissing her, he would have beaten the man’s head in, but Charlie was just like that.  She never fought for him.  Still, he felt guilty and sick at the stomach.  What would he even say to her once she did answer the phone, once he did see her? 

Packing up his bag to head home, he went into the bathroom to get his razor.  Mason was sitting on one of the toilets telling a horrible joke to their friend and fellow firefighter, Paul. 

“So, she looks up and says to the guy, ‘why didn’t you smell it?’.  You get it?”  Mason laughed at his own joke and shook his head. “Ah, forget about it. You’re too thick to know a good one when you hear it.”

“I guess we’re all too thick,” Alex said, closing the medicine cabinet above the sink.

“Hey, I was meaning to talk to you before you left,” Mason said, getting off the top of toilet with his newspaper folded under his arm.

“About what?” Alex asked, turning around. He leaned on the sink and folded his arms across his chest.

Mason walked over and lowered his voice.  “Look, I know that you’re headed into a bit of a storm tonight; so if you need a place to crash afterwards, you can stay at my place. This isn’t my weekend with the kids.”

“Thanks, man. I may need to take you up on that,” Alex said with a huff.  “She won’t even answer my calls. I was thinking about going up to her job to see her.”

“Do what you gotta do,” Manny said, hitting him on the shoulder.  Just then, his newspaper fell from under his arm and onto the white ceramic tile floor. 

“I got it,” Alex said, bending over.  As he picked it up, he saw the story. 
Proud father of IVF twins to speak at Sophie’s Choice
.   “What’s this?” he asked, instantly recognizing Sullivan Orrin’s face.

“Oh, this guy…check this out. It’s crazy. This guy gets a woman to donate her eggs so that he can put them in another woman with his sperm and have children.  He’s some used-to-be big shot out of D.C.  And the kids are mixed.”

Alex looked at the photos.  The girl had Charlie’s eyes and the boy looked just like Sully.  He read on to find that Sully currently lived in Norfolk where he moved after giving up his job with the DLC.

“Son of a bitch!” Alex said, hitting the paper. “That’s where she was this weekend.”

“Wait. Hold up. You lost me.  Where
who
was?” Mason asked confused.

“Charlie.  She was in Norfolk with this fucker all weekend.  He’s her old boyfriend.  And I’m willing to bet double to nothing that she’s the
donor
.”  Alex was fuming now as he put together the pieces.

“Wow,” Mason said, bucking his eyes.  “That’s deep.”

“That’s more than deep,” Alex said, realizing that he had an audience. The men in the bathroom had stopped talking and started to listen to him. His private life got more and more interesting to them by the minute. Earlier that weekend he was cheating; now his wife had another set of kids with a politician. 

“What are you guys staring at?  Like your wife has never sired an extra family on the side,” Mason joked.

“That’s not funny,” Alex said, shaking his head.  Taking the newspaper with him, he headed out of the restroom, but Mason quickly followed.

“Dude, you don’t know if this has anything to do with Charlie or not. It could all be a coincidence,” Mason called out after his friend.

“Yeah, if you believe that, then I’ve got some swamp land to sell you,” Alex said, determined to confront his wife.

“Just don’t use this as a reason for why you….” Mason threw his hand up. “Fuck
it. You won’t listen anyway. 
Just don’t get arrested.”

***

Sully sat on the set with his children getting miked up for their appearance on the nationally syndicated morning show and wondering if this was all just too much for Charlize.  She sat beside him with her head planted in her newest Harry Potter book, trying to drown out all of the noise around her.  Benny on the other hand was very much into character. 

“Get my good side,” Benny said to the tech guy as he straightened the boy’s collar. 

The crew laughed and Sully shook his head. “You were made for the camera,” he said to his son. 

“I know,” Benny replied.

“What about you?  You okay?” Sully asked, raising his daughter’s chin.

She looked up from her book and smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.  I’m just ready for this press junket to end so that I can get back to my paintings.”

Sully suddenly felt guilty. He should have co
n
trolled the tour dates more, given some consideration to what impact it would have on her.  “I’m sorry,” he said frowning. “I’ll call the White House Communic
a
tion’s Office and let them know that this is getting to be too much.”

“It’s not too much, Daddy. Stop worrying,” Charlize said, putting her head back into the book.

“Okay, we’re live in five, four, three, two…” he pointed at the host and stepped back.

“Welcome to the American Breakfast Show. I’m your host, Lillian Dawson.   I’m here with the winner of President Winbach’s Campaign logo winner, Charlize Sullivan and her lovely family.  Charlize is the second of twins born to award-winning campaign strategist, former Blue Dog and former DLC president, Sullivan Orrin.  So nice to have you all here.”

“Thank you,” Charlize said in unison with her family.  She fidgeted in the seat and kept her eyes on Lillian.

“Thank you for coming,” Lillian said with a bright smile.  “Now, you were picked out of over 100,000 students to represent President Winbach in his u
p
coming election campaign. How does that feel?”

“It’s amazing,” Charlize said, remembering her learned talking points. “My father and I were the first to find out. And it was an amazing feeling. I’m a big supporter of President Winbach and I like to think a future democrat.”

There was a brief shot of her painting posted up on the monitor, then a photo of the family at the White House being greeted by the President, following a live wide shot of them on the sofa. 

Lillian laughed. “Wonderful. Well, you are an amazing and brilliant young girl.  How old are you?”

“Ten,” Charlize said looking over at her brother. “Well, we both are.”

“And your brother, Benjamin, I am told is an e
x
cellent football player. Is that right, Benjamin?”

“The best quarterback Hamilton Preparatory Aca
d
emy has ever seen,” Benny touted.  “And please call me Benny.”

“All right, Benny,” Lillian said.  “You’re quite a li
t
tle charmer.”  She turned her attention to Sully. “Now, you all have an amazing story, Mr. Orrin?  The children are both a result of an IVF process that has taken the country by storm.  Everyone is talking about it, and a story was just released today by the Norfolk Daily Press’s Robert Guffery posting that the president of Sophie’s Choice, Charlize Mendoza, is the donor.  Now, that is an amazing story, especially considering that she has advocated for InVitro Fertilization as well as other alternative on many occasions.”

Charlize frowned. “What?  Charlie is our mom?” She looked over at her dad for an answer.

Sully put his hand around his daughter.  Frowning he turned to Lillian, “This interview is over.” Snatc
h
ing off his mic, he stood up and took the microphones off his kids.”

“But Mr. Sullivan,” Lillian said, trying to get him to sit down. 

“Don’t you dare try to raise your ratings by attac
k
ing my poor children and invading our privacy.  This conversation is over, and you can guarantee that I won’t be giving your producer a do-over,” Sully said, picking up his daughter in his arms. “Benny, let’s go.”

Benny stood up and shook his head. “You blew it, lady,” he said, grabbing his father’s hand. 

“Sir, if I could just ask what I did wrong?” Lillian said as the camera got a close-up of the family leaving.

“You pissed my dad off,” Benny said as they walked off the set.

“That’s enough, Benny,” Sully said with a growl.

“Sorry,” Benny said, ducking his head.

***

Charlie hadn’t watched the interview of Sully and the kids that morning as she had planned. Instead, she had called a private meeting with their family lawyer in her office and cancelled a few sidebar meetings with staff. 

The highly esteemed Eli Leskivich was discrete and honest - two things that she desperately needed at the moment.  He came right over with his briefcase and laptop, going over the statues of the laws of the state of New York on his I-pad after listening to an hour of her story on how she came to terms with her decision. 

After resting last night, she had gotten up with a new perspective on her odd situation.  Suddenly, life was clear as a bell,
at least certain parts of it
.  And she knew that she was the only one who could make the steps towards a brighter future for herself and for her family – both of her families.  They were all depending on her, and in order for her to be there for them, she had to first be honest with herself. 

“Are you sure that you want to go through with this?” Eli asked, adjusting the gold-rimmed wire glasses on his nose.  He still wasn’t convinced. 

“I’m sure,” Charlie said, nodding. “It’s best.  Ne
i
ther one of us are happy.”

“Have you tried counseling?  I hate to see young people rush to these measures when they haven’t even tried to fix things.” 

Eli had been a family friend for quite a few years and had always thought the couple to be happy.  After hearing the entire story, he wasn’t sure if Charlie’s action were well thought out. 

But she was.

“Counseling won’t help what ails us,” Charlie said, signing the paper.  She slid it back over to him.  Looking out of her corner office window, she turned up her lip.  “So much has changed for me in a short period of time, Eli.  I don’t know what I want for every part of my life, but I do know what I don’t want.”

Eli nodded. “I’ve been practicing family law for thirty five years, and I’ve seen all sorts of marriages.  All I can say is that time heals all wounds.”

“Really?” Somehow that comforted Charlie.  She turned back to him and smiled. “If you could draw those papers up and have them couriered back to my office by the end of the day, I would appreciate it.”

“You’re going to talk to him about it today?” Eli asked.

“Do you think I should not?”  After hearing her story, she was certain that he would implore her to talk to him this morning. 

“Well, I would think that you’d give it some time first.  What you feel for this other man, Sully, it could pass.”

“And if it doesn’t?  What then?  Do I continue on ignoring the sanctity of my marriage by having an affair?  Do I hold on to one man because I can’t have the other?”  Just the thought sent a chill down Cha
r
lie’s spine. “I’m not made that way. I’d rather be alone if what I feel for Sully isn’t real.”

Eli was about to answer her question when they both heard Frank’s voice outside of her door.  He was talking to someone, asking them not to come inside.  It sounded urgent and after a brief scuffle, the door opened.  Alex was standing there in his NYFD baseball cap, a navy blue uniform t-shirt that fit the muscles of his chest like second skin, cargo pants and black, perfectly shined boots.

“What are you doing here?” Charlie asked, stan
d
ing up.

Alex pulled the newspaper out of his back pockets.  “I’m here to ask you directly about these kids.”

“I should probably be going,” Eli said, standing up to excuse himself.

“What are
you
doing here?” Alex asked Eli, closing the door in Frank’s face.

“He’s here to see me,” Charlie snapped.  “And how dare you. I should be asking you the questions. Like who was that woman you were kissing last night?”

“Do you really think that you have room to talk after you spent the entire weekend cuddled up to Sullivan Orrin?” Alex screamed back, happy that he had something to save him from being the only bad guy in the room.

“Call me later,” Eli said, nodding before he walked around Alex. “It’s nice to see you again Mr. Mendoza.”  The older man bowed out quietly, walking around Alex - who stood in the middle of the floor like a giant wall – and opening and closing Charlie’s door as he went.

When they were alone, Alex shook his head and released some of the tension in his shoulders. His voice was deep and foreboding as he walked towards her desk.  “I want an explanation, Charlie.  Are those your children?” His eyes locked on hers.