“Good evening, Mr. Edwards,” Kate greeted.
“I’m glad you could make it. No wild parties to attend tonight?”
“No, sir. I believe we partied to our full capacity last night.” She chuckled.
The restaurant was busy, waiters scurried about carrying exotic dishes, the aroma enticing me. It made me realize how much I missed food. Yeah, I had barely eaten in the past week. What’s fucking new, I thought. Mr. Daniels and Mr. Beam had become my buds of late. I made my way to the concierge as Kate followed.
“Reservation under Edwards.”
We followed the head waiter to our table.. The noise was a little overbearing, just your typical Saturday clientele. I pulled my blackberry out, checking my messages as I followed him through the crowd, lifting my head for a moment as the image caught my eye and halted me on the spot; Kate was also checking her blackberry and ran straight into the back of me.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I was checking my messa…” her voice trailing off.
She sat there, her body leaning into him. Her face looked slightly different, perhaps tired. There was no smile, no spark in her eyes, no glow to her skin, she looked gaunt. Her light had gone out. Frozen on the spot, I stared, my name being called but sounding so distant. The bastard leaned in further, gently reaching for her hand and entwining his fingers with hers. He cupped her chin, and she smiled slightly which prompted him to lean in further to steal what was mine. I don’t know how I moved, but suddenly I was standing there in front of them, Charlotte was shocked, the look of shock quickly turned to anger. As I got closer I could see the dark circles around her eyes, the prominence of her cheekbones. If this had been hell for her, then why was she here with him?
“Charlie?” Kate gasped before I could get a word in.
“Kate?” Charlotte responded equally in shock.
What the fuck was going on and how on Earth did they know each other? The Louboutins flashed before me. It was her. It was her last night in Kate’s suite. It was her who Kate always talked about, her friend in New York with the fucked up love life.
“So I don’t even deserve an explanation? You fucking run to him the second things get a little tough with us?” I yelled.
“Are you kidding me, Lex? A little tough, is that what you think this has been?” She laughed while gesticulating with her hands.
“Well, I wouldn’t know, you won’t fucking talk to me!”
I clenched my fists as her laughter slapped me in my ears. Did she honestly think this was one big fucking joke? My body stiffened, unable to compose myself, I was barely holding on. The fury and rage was consuming me. I was a time bomb ready to go off at any moment.
“I’m busy here, Lex, as you can see. Perhaps we’ll discuss this another time.” Her voice was calm as she spoke the words, her eyes directly on mine, not flinching for one moment.
“Okay, Edwards, she told you to leave.” Julian stood up. Oh, so he finally found his balls, I thought. Yeah, soon you’ll be fucking choking on them for trying to steal my girl.
My temper got the better of me. The room felt stifling hot, my blood was pumping. There was nothing left to do but the obvious. I swung my arm punching him right in the face as he stood there before me trying to take my world away from me. If he didn’t exist, she would have come back to me; that murderous thought flashed before me. The rage was overpowering as I went to swing at him again, the blood bouncing off his face as he screamed my name, yelling at me, the voices around me in a panic. The image of Charlotte as she pulled Julian back caressing his face only added to the violent behavior that had consumed me. Kate was calling my name, pulling my arm back, begging me to stop. I turned to face her.
“Mr. Edwards, don’t do this. You will regret it and lose her forever.”
Was that true? If there was anyone who knew how Charlotte really felt it would be Kate, her new confidant. The adrenaline still running through me, I turned to face Charlotte, ready to apologize for my behavior. I really had no option. I had to man the fuck up.
“Lose me forever? Too fucking late, Lex. You lost me a long time ago. I was just stupid enough to think it was fixable.”
The apology was devoured now by rage which again was rearing its ugly head, the hurt and pain of her words stabbing me in the heart. I needed to let it out, how I really fucking felt. But people watched, waiting for my reaction. This wasn’t some soap opera, no, this was our life and I didn’t want them to hear the words I was just about to speak.
“¿Por qué no puede usted ver cuánto te amo? Que cada momento en el que no está conmigo, me muero un poco todos los días. Este error no era mío, que quería mi confianza? así que tal si gana la mía también. No todo es culpa mía, Charlotte. Usted quiere hacerme daño por lo que te hice, Charlotte? Bueno, usted ha tenido éxito. Para citar a usted, he terminado.”