Chapter 40

Emerson

Rolling over, I placed my hand on my forehead and moaned. I heard the door open and Alex sat down on the edge of the bed next to me.

“Are you ready to talk?”

“What time is it?”

“Noon.”

Both eyes shot open. “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, Emerson. I’m not.”

“Shouldn’t you be at the office?”

“I’ve been there and back.”

“Ugh. Why didn’t you just stay there?” I asked as I looked at him.

“Because we’re going to talk about last night.”

I closed my eyes so I didn’t have to see the anger in his. But then again, he shouldn’t want to see the anger in my eyes. Maybe they weren’t displaying enough anger and I needed to fix that.

“I smell coffee. Where is it?” I asked with irritation.

“I set it on the dresser. I wasn’t sure if you were ready for it.” He got up from the bed and grabbed the cup of coffee. “Here.”

I glared at him as I sat up with my back against the headboard. “You’re not a very good hangover caregiver.”

“Excuse me?” He cocked his head with a very small smile.

“Where’s the aspirin? You should be bringing me aspirin and water.”

He reached into his pocket and shook the bottle of aspirin as he held it in front of me.

“Oh my God, stop making so much noise,” I shrieked as I set my coffee on the nightstand, lay back down, and pulled the covers over my head.

He chuckled and pulled the covers back. “Take these aspirin. Here’s some water and then we’re going to talk.”

“Can you at least wait until the aspirin kicks in?” I asked, extremely irritated.

I knew damn well we were headed for our first huge argument and I wanted to not feel like shit when I took him down.

“Fine. I’ll give you an hour to get up, shower, and feel better.” He kissed my forehead with force.

“That hurt!”

“Good.” He winked as he walked out of the room.

After showering and putting on some clothes, I checked Alex’s office to see if he was in there. He was. Looking up from his computer, he spoke, “Are you feeling better?”

“Kind of. Are you ready to be taken down, Mr. Parker? Wait, speaking of Parker, where is he?”

“Jenna took him for a walk. And what do you mean am I ready to be taken down?” he asked with a glare in his eye.

“You’ll see.”

He sighed. “Sit down.”

“Nah. I think I’ll stand.” I folded my arms.

“Emerson, SIT DOWN!” he shouted.

Stand your ground. Don’t let him boss you around. This whole argument was stemming because of him. If he only would have told me yesterday about Bella, I wouldn’t be standing here right now, hungover and defiant.

“Please, Em. Have a seat and let’s talk about this.” His voice softened. “Couples need to talk things out.”

“But see, Alex, the only thing you want to talk about is last night. About me and how I drank too much. But let me remind you of something. Have you forgotten the night that I had to pick up your drunk ass up at the bar and bring you home? Was that night ever discussed the next day? Or any day for that matter? No. It wasn’t. You refused to talk about it, yet that was okay. But now that it’s me, it’s a different story.”

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “We weren’t together and the circumstances then were different.”

Okay, he had point, but still, I wasn’t backing down.

“What was wrong with you yesterday? And I know damn well it had nothing to do with your period because you’re never like that.”

I stood there, leaning up against the wall, arms crossed and eyes staring at him. It was time just to lay it all out on the table.

“I went to your office yesterday with lunch to surprise you. When I reached your office, Olivia wasn’t at her desk, but your door was slightly open. When I peeked inside, I saw you and Bella locked in a tight embrace. I gave you the opportunity to tell me last night and you didn’t. Do you know how that made me feel seeing that? I’m going to tell you something, Parker. You’re fucking lucky that I’m still here.”

His eyes narrowed at me before he got up from his seat and began to walk over to me.

“Don’t you dare come near me,” I spoke in anger and he stopped. He knew I was serious.

“I was going to talk to you about that, but I didn’t want to last night because we were going to the club.”

“Really? You were really going to tell me? It seems to me that you’re just saying that because you got caught.” I hissed.

“Think what you want, but you’re wrong. So that’s the reason you drank so much last night?”

“Duh! You would too if you found me in the arms of another man. My God, Alex, I would never put you through that. I just wanted to forget it because that’s all I could see. My heart is so broken right now that it even hurts to stand here and look at you.” A tear fell from my eye and I wiped it away.

“I’m sorry, baby. Let me hold you.”

“No. I don’t want you to hold me. I want an explanation. If there even is one. Maybe you’ve been secretly seeing her behind my back. Maybe everything you’ve said to me was lies.”

“Are you doubting my love for you?” he asked in anger.

“Maybe I am.” I looked down.

He placed his hands on his hips and turned his back to me. “We hit one bump in the road and you doubt me and everything we’ve been through? Do you know how bad that hurts?”

“Not as bad as finding you in the arms of another woman when you supposedly are in love with me.”

He whipped himself around and the anger consumed him. “Supposedly? Fuck, Emerson. How can you say that?”

“All I wanted was for you to tell me why she was there.”

“And I was going to tell you today. But now, since you believe I don’t love you and all of this has meant nothing, there’s no need to discuss it because, apparently, you don’t believe anything I say. If that’s how you feel, then maybe you should leave.”

Oh boy, now he really had me fired up. My eyes burned into his. My heart pounded out of my chest and a wave of nausea overtook me as he walked out of the room.

“Hey, Parker!” I yelled.

He turned and looked at me from the hallway. I held both my middle fingers up at him. “Bye, Felicia. By the way, I didn’t start my period. I. LIED. TO. YOU!”

He shook his head and walked down the stairs as I went to our bedroom and slammed the door. So much for things being perfect. If it’s too good to be true, then it probably is. Isn’t that how the quote goes?

I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs. I wanted to throw everything I could get my hands on, but I didn’t. I refused to let him break me. I was a fighter and a survivor and, apparently, a very jealous person. You see what he did? He turned it around and blamed me. Did I really doubt his love for me? In a way I did only because he was holding another woman and wouldn’t talk about it last night. What else was I supposed to think? I needed to get the fuck out of here for a while. I needed to clear my head and really think about what had just happened and I couldn’t do that in this house. I was heading down the only road I’d ever known.

Chapter 41

Alex

I went out the back door and down to the beach. I needed just to cool down. For her not to believe that I loved her killed me like nothing ever had. If she never would have seen me and Bella, we wouldn’t be having this argument. I would have told her today why she was there and she would have understood. She was hurt by what she saw, but to doubt that I loved her was crossing the line with me. I had given her everything I had. My heart, my soul, my world, and in one lousy fucking moment, she doubted me. That right there hurt me to the very core of my existence.

About a mile up the beach was a waterfront restaurant. I needed a drink to calm down and to think, so I walked there. Sitting at the bar for a couple of hours, sipping on the same drink, something hit me. I told her to leave. Panic settled inside me because that was exactly what she’d do. I never should have walked away from her and I shouldn’t have been so stubborn and not tell her the truth. I threw some money on the bar and ran up the beach back to my house. I ran as fast as I could as the wind swept across my face and the ocean roared. I flew in the back door and up the stairs to our bedroom. The door was open and Emerson wasn’t in there. I looked in the closet to see her suitcase gone and empty hangers hanging where her clothes hung. Slamming my hand against the molding of the door, I yelled, “Emerson!”