Into the Light(2)

“Where’s Lex?”

“Still sleeping I guess.”

“Shit, Rocky. What did she say? Was she upset? Of course she would be upset.” I was panicked.

“Babe, calm down.”

I grabbed my cell and tried to dial her number. Straight to voicemail. I left a message as well as texted her. Lex needed to wake up. As the thought left my mind, he walked into the kitchen looking very content. He looked different, jubilant, like a man who got laid by the girl he was in love with.

“Morning. Have you guys seen Charlotte?” he asked cheerfully.

If this was two weeks ago I would have gladly thrown the paper at his face and told him he was nothing more than a selfish man-whore. But like I said, something changed. He was different. I saw this side to him that Charlie was once, and still was, in love with. This happy carefree fun-loving guy who adored her. I wasn’t surprised they were fucking all over The Hamptons. There was so much sexual tension between them that a hundred dildos couldn’t ease it. It only meant they were also having hot sex all over the joint. Eww. I wondered if they did it in the hot tub that night after we did… I told Rocky it was gross to jizz in the water but he said with my tits bouncing in front of him all wet, he couldn’t help himself.

Rocky and I looked at each other as Lex asked about Charlie again. I stood there, arms folded, as Rocky passed him the paper. Lex looked at it confused. I watched his face change from confusion to rage as he read. He slammed the paper down on the table and grabbed his cell, muttering the words ‘you stupid bitch.’

“Kate. Get me Victoria on the phone right now.” He slammed the cell down, leaning on the table for support. “Where is she?”

“She went back to the city.”

“How long ago?”

“About half an hour.”

“FUCK!” He slammed his fist against the counter startling the both of us. “This is the fucking bullshit press. Victoria is a fucking business colleague and nothing more. These pictures are not of us fucking. I’ve never touched the stupid whore nor would I ever!”

I don’t know why I believed him. The thing is that even though I disliked him, he proved me wrong, something quite unheard of. He loved Charlie. And yeah, I knew the past was fucked up but that was seven years ago and they had both grown since then. I didn’t understand why Charlie had this massive trust issue, why she couldn’t see how much he loved her. I also knew tabloids could spin shit out of their asses and manipulate photos. I learned that the hard way when there was a photo of Rocky a few years back at a sporting event and it looked like a chick was blowing him. Now, I didn’t want to go taking his side, but I knew how stubborn Charlie was and right now I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy. Not that I was gonna tell him that.

We needed to get back to the city as soon as possible and fix the damage that had been done. I knew Charlie and right now she would be shutting everyone out because that’s what she did. I tried her cell again, it went to voicemail. I asked Rocky to get Will from next door. It wasn’t long before Adriana and Elijah walked in.

“Hey guys, what’s happening?” Adriana asked as she sat down at the table grabbing a banana and peeling it. She looked from me to Lex, confused by our silence.

“Charlie’s gone,” I answered.

“Gone? Where?”

I handed her the paper, watching as Lex was standing at the window gazing outside. His eyes were glazed over and his expression looked heartbroken. Maybe he knew just like me how Charlie would take this.

“Lex, is this true?”

“Are you fucking kidding me, Adriana?” he shot back.

“But the photos look, well...”

“What, Adriana?”

“Well, they look like what the article says.”

“FUCK, ADRIANA!”

“Lex, calm down,” Elijah said.

“Don’t you get it? She finally fucking told me she trusts me and wants a future with me and then this happens. THIS IS SO FUCKED UP!” He slammed his fist on the counter, startling us. “Last night…” he mumbled.

“Last night what?” Adriana asked as she put her arm around her brother’s shoulder, attempting to comfort him.

“Lex, we need to head back,” I said. “Let me deal with her in the meantime. She needs to calm down. You need to make sure whoever posted this article retracts their words. Look, Will is going to be here any minute. Can you please not mention why she left?”

A few seconds later Will walked in. He was elated to see Lex who tried his best not to show any anger in front of the child. I had to hand it to him, taking a kid’s feelings into account was hard to do when you were feeling like complete shit. Will asked where Charlie was so of course Adriana quickly explained that something urgent came up in the city. He didn’t seem to notice anything else but he begged Lex to ride in the car with us. Of course Lex agreed and that was the end of the conversation.