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“What the hell does that mean?” He counters angrily.

“Nothing.” I snap.

Not wanting to spend another second in the same room with him, I grab my pillows from the bed and go downstairs to sleep on the couch. When I wake up the following morning, Alex is already gone.

While getting the girls ready this morning, I see the news stories about the heavy hurricane winds hitting the gulf. I’ve been worried about Alex all day. Partly from the guilt over the way we left things last night. It felt wrong. This wasn’t us. We never walked away angry, and Alex most certainly never left on a trip without kissing me goodbye. It was a silly superstition of his. So yes, I’ve been worried all day.

I was just finishing the dishes after dinner when the house phone rang. Olivia immediately grabs the phone when she sees Alex’s name on the display. To my surprise, her sadness over the dance recital is already forgotten.

“
Hi, daddy.” She squeals into the phone and proceeds to rattle on about her day. After a few minutes she begins a series of “yes, daddies” in a somber tone before jumping up and down and “Yes, daddy! I will! Thank you, daddy! Ok, I’ll get mommy.”

She sprints towards me bubbling with excitement. “Daddy says I can go to my recital!”

“Did he? Well, that’s great, Liv. Now go and get your pajamas on and help Jordyn with hers, too.” She nods and scurries off.

“Hello.” I hesitantly speak.

“Hi.” His deep voice vibrates through the phone.

“How was your flight, the weather must have been terrible. I called you.”

“Yeah, I know. My flight made it in just fine. Once I landed I went straight into all day meetings and just now found time to listen to my messages.”

“Oh.” I replied quietly.

“So, about last night...” He starts but then stops.

“Yes?” I finally prompt.

“I thought about it, and you’re right, I should have talked to you first. I told Liv that she could go to her performance, but she needed to promise to finish all of her homework and read a book for twenty minutes afterward. I will call her every night to make sure.

“Sounds fair. Thanks for reconsidering.” I resist the urge to bring up the fact that yet again, he’s made a decision without consulting me, but I decide to leave it alone.

Don’t be an ungrateful bitch, Court.

“Listen, I
gotta go. My cab has just gotten to the restaurant. I told Stiller I’d meet him and his wife for dinner. So, I’ll call you later. We need to talk about some things.”

Talk about things? What sort of things? Why did his tone make me nervous?

“Ok, we’ll talk later then.”

“Yeah. Later.” Click.

Later? Later? My husband, the man I’ve loved for ten years, just ended a phone call with “later” to his wife.

After tucking the girls in, I wait for Alex to call me back. My mind races at all of the things he could want to discuss. Things have be
en strained between us and we are long overdue for a talk. Will this be a good conversation or a bad one? I decide to distract myself with checking my email and browsing Facebook. That’s when I noticed that Alex Turner has been tagged in a photo by Curtis Stiller.

In the picture, I recognized Stiller, Alex’s Houston area manager, with a beaming redhead who I assumed was his wife with the way she was sitting in his lap and his arm curled around her pregnant belly. On the opposite side of the table sat Alex and a pretty brunette who was leaning back against him, Alex visible over her shoulder, both with huge smiles. It was quite a cozy picture. My face instantly began to heat. I know Alex’s type and that chick is totally it, with long dark hair, voluptuous body and big breasts.

I hated her instantly.

She was also tagged in the picture. Ashley Danielle.

Ashley Danielle?

Oh, she was one of those girls who hides her last name because she’s a skank who goes after married men, but doesn’t want people to find her outside of Facebook!

I closed my laptop and call Alex but his phone connects straight to voice mail. I dialed it two more times hoping he would pick up. Still nothing. I go back to Facebook to see if any more pictures have been posted, but there were none. In fact, I can’t even find the picture I’d seen earlier. I checked Alex’s page, but it was gone. I tried Stiller’s page and even Ashley Danielle’s page, but they were set to private so I would have to friend them to see any of their photos.

That sneaky bastard either untagged himself or had the photo deleted!

The more I sit here and think about the picture and the fact that he isn’t answering his phone, the more panicked, insecure and pathetic I become. I called Alex three more times and sent a text each time before I finally fall asleep, emotionally exhausted.

This wasn’t the first time I discovered him with another girl.

And to make things worse, Alex never does call me that night.

Chapter Six

Past- 10 years ago
.

Finals were over, and I was feeling relieved. It had been several days since I'd seen Alex. As much as I liked his study
techniques, he wasn’t able to help me retain anything useful for my exams. I opted to study alone going forward. He wasn’t very happy about this, but I promised to make it up to him. After   five weeks of dating we still haven’t taken things to the next level. We’ve touched and tasted each other but haven’t sealed the deal, and it has by far been the hottest experience of my life. My experience with men was very small, and Alex is the only one to every make me orgasm.

It was unspoken between us, but we both seemed to be waiting for the right moment. We knew what we had was special and far from a casual hook up. The anticipation was exciting. Each time we silently wondered if this would be the night. Would he make the first move or would I? It was a delicious game.

I was positive that when we finally did go all the way, it was going to be amazing which is why I had decided that tonight was the night. I didn't want to wait anymore. I knew without a doubt that it was the right time.

I loved Alex Turner. I felt it deep in my bones. There was no mistaking it.

And I know he felt deeply for me too. I could tell by the way he looked at me, the way he touched me with tenderness, the way his lips lingered on mine just before we parted. I couldn't wait to get the words from him, hopefully tonight while he's making love to me.

Giddy with anticipation, I hurried home to shower, put on my red lace bra and panty set which was Alex’s favorite. I made a quick stop to pick up Chinese takeout and drove over to his place.

When I arrived at Alex’s, four bedroom house he shared with Cole and two other roommates, my heart sank just a little. The driveway and the curb out front were filled with cars. The garage door was open, and I could hear music and laughter coming from inside. Alex didn’t mention anything about a party when I spoke to him yesterday.

So much for my night of planned seduction.

I entered the house through the garage and passed five or six guys some of whom I’ve seen before but didn’t know their names. My general hello to the group was returned with a few nods and whassups before I continued through the door leading to the kitchen.

Morrison, Alex’s roommate, was sitting at the small kitchen table playing a drinking game with a group of other people. He was your typical rich kid with very little responsibility. His father purchased
this house for Morrison and his friends to live in exchange for his son's agreement to finish college and get into law school. I laughed out loud when Alex told me about law school. There is no way this guy would ever live up to his end of that deal. His main goal in life seemed to be smoking weed all day and hooking up with as many chicks as he could. Period.

He was a very attractive guy, if long blond hair and scruffy beards were your thing but he was also the King of Bang and Bounce.
Sometimes I worried if Alex was that way before he met me, you know, the company you keep and all that.

Morrison threw his head back at the table and laughed maniacally as he handed a petite girl a cup and shouted “Drink!”

His eyes fell on me, and the laughter in his expression immediately died.

“Uh...hey, Court.” He spoke up as he moved quickly away from the table and towards me.

“Hey, Morrison. Have you seen Alex?” I glanced around the crowded room uncomfortably. “I didn’t know you were having a party.”

“Yeah, well neither did I. These people were here when I got home.” He replied hurriedly before answering my question about Alex. “Haven’t seen him in a while. I...uh...think he said something about going for more beer. Why don’t you sit here and I’ll go call him.” Morrison placed his hand on my upper arm, trying to push me towards an open chair at the table.

“Oh, that’s okay. It’s kind of crowded down here.” I resisted. “I’ll just go up to his room and wait.” While I was speaking Morrison’s mouth opened and closed several times, reminding me a little of a fish before he just nods. I stepped past him and climbed the staircase.

Behind me I heard what sounds like a faint “Fuck” from Morrison followed by. “Not your problem, dude.” From a voice I didn't recognize.

Odd.

I reached the top of the stairs and walked to Alex’s closed bedroom door. I began to feel slightly uncomfortable about going into his room without his permission but pushed it away as soon as I heard loud roaring laughter from downstairs.

Yeah, we can’t stay here tonight.

I started to consider creative ways of convincing Alex to go to my place tonight that wouldn't force me to ruin my secret plan of seduction. Smiling, I pushed open the door and instantly had the wind knocked out of me from pure shock.

Alex was sitting on the edge of the bed with a girl straddling him as they kissed each other for all they were worth.

I gasped loudly as the air returned to my lungs, and dropped the take out bag to the floor with a splat, which alerted them both to my presence. I instantly met Alex’s guilty, wide-eyed expression before my gaze landed on the smug look on the girl’s face.

“Oh fuck. Court.” Alex wheezed as he pushed the girl away and stood. My feet began moving, and suddenly I was running away from the doorway, down the staircase and through the crowded house. I could hear Alex’s heavy footfalls behind me as he called my name. I made it out of the house and across the street to my car. I had just managed to slam and lock the door before Alex caught up to me and tugged at the handle.

“Court!” He shouted through the window and banged on the glass. “Wait. Please. Let me explain what that was.”

“Oh, I think I can see what that was.” I snorted out sarcastically. “No need to explain. I got it!” I put my key into the ignition, and the car cranked to life.

“Court. Please. It’s not what you think. Just let me talk to you.” He pleaded with his face lowered close to mine on the other side of the glass.

“It really doesn’t matter what I think. I know what I saw, Alex.” I shifted the car into drive. "Now move away from my car, or I’ll run your ass over.” I screeched.

“Listen, just give me a chance to speak and if you don’t like what I have to say, I’ll move out of the way. Just give me five minutes. Please.” The agony and desperation in his voice made me want to hear him out. I cursed my stupidity for even wanting to entertain his request as I let down the window, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to listen to him.

“Fine. Five minutes. Go.” I conceded in a clipped tone. Relief flashed in his eyes, and his shoulders relaxed slightly.

“Ok.” He paused and smiled at me shakily, just as he opened his mouth to continue we heard a voice call from the upstairs window.

“Alexander! I’m waiting. How much longer are you going to be?” I watched as Alex’s face went from relaxed to beet red with anger in three seconds flat.

“Shut up, Erica and get the fuck out of my room!” He turned and shouted up at the brunette in his bedroom window. Erica gasped in indignation.

“Who the hell do you think you’re talking to, Alexander Turner? You’re the one who called and asked me to come over. You know what? I’m done. I don’t care how many times you call me anymore and beg to fuck me. I. AM. DONE. You hear me?” With that, Erica slammed the window closed.

“Screw you! What do you care anyway?”

“Erica, I’m serious! I’m not coming after you.”

They were the couple I heard arguing at the concert.

My mind began to move in a million different directions, processing the entire scene.

He called her to come over tonight.

He called her.

Is she his girlfriend?

I could literally feel my heart cracking in my chest. How could I have been so stupid? I refused to give him the satisfaction of seeing my tears so I quickly shifted the car into drive and pushed the petal all the way to the floor. Alex jumped away from the car and shouted for me to stop. I ignored him and drove as fast as I could away from the curb, the house and him.

Chapter Seven

Present
.

“Shut up.” I giggle, I actually giggled. “There is no way. People do that in real life?”