“Come on, Hope. We’re going home,” I spoke as I sat her up.
“We are? Where’s Jack?” she sleepily asked.
“He had to go out for the night. I can take better care of you at home. Come on; the cab will be here soon.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck as I picked her up and carried her down the stairs. I told her to sit down on the couch while I wrote Jack a note.
Jack,
Hope is sick with a fever and there was nothing here for me to give her, so I packed us up and went home.
Lorelei
My phone rang and it was the cab calling to let me know he was waiting for us.
“Hope, you have to walk to the cab because I have to carry our bags.”
“I don’t feel good, Mommy.”
“I know, baby, but we’ll be home soon.”
I held her hand as we took the elevator downstairs to the lobby and climbed into the cab.
****
Jack
I arrived home at one a.m. and headed to the kitchen. That was when I saw the note that Lorelei had left. FUCK! I never should have gone out. I slammed my fists on the counter. I had met Holly, a girl I occasionally fucked, for dinner. She had called earlier and asked if I wanted to go out. I figured why the hell not. It wasn’t like Lorelei would give me the time of day. The problem was that I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Holly would be talking and I would zone out. I would try to act like I was interested in what she had to say, but I wasn’t. I could have cared less about Holly. This went on for over three hours. After we finished dinner, I put her in a cab to go home, and I went and sat in a bar, kicking back a couple of drinks and thinking about Lorelei and this mess of a situation Sutton Magazine was in. I never dreamed that I would come home and she and Hope would be gone.
A worry swept over me for Hope. She had a fever and I wasn’t here. I desperately wanted to call Lorelei to find out how she was, but I couldn’t very well call her at this time of night. Damn her for leaving and damn her for walking into my life and turning my whole fucking world upside down.
****
Lorelei
The next morning, as I was in the kitchen getting Hope some more Tylenol for her 102 fever, my phone rang and it was Jack. I debated whether or not to answer it, but I did anyway.
“Hello.”
“How’s Hope?”
“She’s sick.”
“Does she still have a fever?”
“Yes,” I replied in a short tone.
“I was not happy when I came home last night to find you and Hope gone.”
Was he serious? He went out on a fucking date and then took an attitude with me for leaving?
“I needed to get my daughter home to where her medicines were. This is her home, Jack, and this is where she’s most comfortable.”#p#分页标题#e#
“You should have called me.”
“And interrupted your date? No thanks. I did what was best for us and that was going home. I have to go and give Hope her Tylenol.” Click.
Yep. That’s right. I hung up on his dumb ass. How dare he! After giving Hope her medicine, I called her doctor’s office, and luckily, they had an appointment available in an hour. I helped her get dressed and we headed out the door.
Chapter Forty-One
Jack
I threw my phone across my desk after Lorelei hung up on me. Who the hell did she think she was after everything I’d done for her? As I leaned back in my chair, staring at the empty desk that sat outside my office, Coco walked in.
“I’m surprised you’re here. It’s Saturday,” I spoke.
“I kicked Joshua out and broke up with him.”
“What?” I quickly sat up.
“I told him last night that I knew about the woman he was seeing and to get the hell out.”
“What did he say?”
“He said good riddance and that he didn’t even know why he bothered staying as long as he did because he was never in love with me.” She started to sniffle.
I got up from my chair and walked to where she was standing and pulled her into me.
“Don’t, Coco. He’s a scumbag. You know it. He’s not worth a single tear.”
“I know he’s not worth it. I’m crying because I didn’t break up with him sooner.”
I broke our embrace and handed her a tissue.
“Things with him fizzled fast, Jack. I haven’t been in love with him for a long time.”
“Then why did you stay with him?”
“Because I was afraid nobody else would want me. Every guy I had met over the years was intimidated by me and my career. Joshua was the first man who wasn’t because he had that same craving for success. I still can’t believe he’s blackmailing our mother.”
“Have you seen her yet today?”