One Day You'll Be Mine(26)
“What is?” I sat down at my desk, waiting for her to explain “what” was “worse” than imagined, and since when. As she started to explain, it didn’t take but a couple of minutes before I realized there was no way in hell I would make it to P.F. Chang’s for lunch. Grabbing my purse, I told her to hold on, and walked outside.
Chapter 11: Rose
There were a million things I expected to hear when I answered my sister-in-law’s phone call. I expected to hear a “hello” back, or a “hey.” I expected to hear that she’d gotten into another fight with Hollis. Part of me may have even been prepared to hear that one of them spoke of possibly filing for divorce. Things like that happened when you’re together and things get really tough.
But I did not expect to hear about Hollis having an affair, nor the scandalous, sordid details of him being involved with another man.
I went downstairs to the juice bar, and ordered a green drink while Natalia recounted the experience hysterically. She filled me in on the roses she thought she’d gotten from Hollis, the argument that followed when she learned he never bought her any roses, and the cold shoulder and accusations of infidelity that followed. She spoke of being at home with her friend when his lover – Presley, or something to that effect – knocked on her door somewhere close to midnight claiming to be the reason he wasn’t at home.
She even broke down his entire side of the story, and how he walked out after telling her he had fallen in love with Hollis, and wasn’t able to let him go. This was entirely too much for me.
“Oh, my Lord!” My mouth was agape at the information. I didn’t know how to process what I’d heard. That was a lot to take in – and Hollis wasn’t even my husband.
“Have you spoken to him about this?”
“I tried, but he refuses to talk to me. I asked if he was having an affair, and he exploded on me, telling me that he’s not answering my stupid questions and to find something productive to do with my life.” She sobbed. “When I brought up Presley’s name, he exploded even more.”
“Whoa.” Hearing that appalled me. “That’s completely unacceptable. Why is he talking to you like that?”
“I don’t know,” Natalia said. “But it’s been three days since that man showed up at our house, and I can’t eat. I barely sleep. I can’t think straight. Jordan’s asking what’s wrong, and all I can do is tell him ‘Mommy doesn’t feel well.’ And he asks what he can do, and…” Her voice trailed off as the sobs started up again.
I did my best to soothe her through the phone. “Shh… It’s okay, Nat. Let it out. I’m here for you.”
Looking at my watch, I realized I didn’t have a lot of time left on my lunch break. This wasn’t the type of conversation I wanted to have in the office, so I had to cut it short. I asked Natalia what she wanted to do, but she wasn’t sure. I stayed with her for a couple of minutes and told her to get a couple of ideas together. I didn’t want to throw her into a divorce or marriage counseling; she would have to figure out what she wanted to do herself. However, I did want her to start thinking about her options – whether she’d want to stay, go, or at least get some space – so she could make a clear decision for herself with certainty.
“Please be careful,” I added. “Protect yourself, and get tested too. One man came forward. You don’t know if there were others – and how many others there are if so.” I also prayed internally for her safety. Hollis sounded like a wild element. He clearly wasn’t playing with a full deck, and if he snapped…
The rest of my day was spent reeling between utter shock about all I’d heard, and rage. I loved Hollis like a brother, but I knew Natalia was anything but a drama queen. She really loved him, and all she wanted was another child. To think she’d been minding her business, trying to make her marriage work, only to discover her husband was trying to make a home with someone else.
Trying to make sense of this all was impossible. I found myself scrolling through Facebook pictures of Hollis and Natalia, looking for signs of discord or strife. I found nothing. I spent another hour going through Hollis’ pictures, piece by piece, looking for any indications that he was homosexual. I don’t know who I was fooling; I knew better than to believe you could simply look at someone and know they were gay, but I couldn’t help trying to see if there was anything I’d missed.
Ellis hadn’t emailed me back during the day. I was dying to speak with him too. I wanted to know how he was, and his take on the story. Chances were he hadn’t spoken to Hollis at all; they didn’t really communicate outside of emails. Yet and still, my hope was that he would have something to help me temper the blow to Natalia’s heart.