I'm going to confront her about Chris tonight. I'm going to make her tell me once and for all what is going on.
***
"Hey, Beth? I looked over at Beth, who was cutting up some limes for the bar.
"What's up, Damian?"
"You got any aspirin?" I grabbed my head and winced. "Fucking hangover."
Beth looked over at me and laughed. "Looks like someone had too much fun last night."
"Right."
"Here you are." Beth handed me a bottle from her purse.
"Thanks."
"What did you do last night anyway? Sam said you left suddenly." She tilted her head to one side and studied me.
"Absolutely nothing."
"Oh, come on. You look like shit. Seems like you definitely hit it hard last night."
I laughed at the irony. "Actually, I had a horrible night." I looked over at her and saw the confusion in her eyes. "Long story."
"Everything okay?"
Just then, a text came through on my phone. When I saw Alexis's name pop up, I instantly forgot about my headache.
Hey babe. See you at 7 tonight? Love you!
I smiled. "Yeah. I think so." I texted her back:
Sure. I'll pick you up at your place.
"It will be after tonight," I continued. Maybe this is all in my head. I do love Alex and I know she must love me. I shook my head at how obsessed I had been with something that probably wasn't true. I looked down at my watch. 5:30 p.m. She might be home from work already.
"Hey, Beth? You think you can manage the bar by yourself for the next couple of hours before Sam gets in?"
"Yeah, no problem. Is something wrong?"
"No. I'm having dinner with Alex tonight and want to leave a little earlier than I initially planned."
"Aww. Nice. You guys are such a cute couple. Have a great time."
"Thanks, Beth."
I walked out of the bar feeling better and more hopeful than I had this morning. I thought about how paranoid I'd been lately and laughed at myself. My gut told me that even though Alexis was withholding something from me, she wouldn't had betrayed me and slept with another guy.
Your gut has never been wrong.
I went to the floral shop down the street and picked up a bouquet of pink peonies-Alexis's favorite. I then walked back to the apartment building feeling excited about tonight. I knew she would smile when she saw the flowers, and I was dying to see that smile again. When I walked through the front lobby door, I ran up the two flights of stairs to Alexis's apartment two steps at a time. She was probably home from work now, and I couldn't wait until dinner to see her. I'll just stop by and give her the flowers real quick.
When I got to her door, I heard the TV on inside and smiled. She's home.
I knocked and heard her footsteps approached the door. I took a deep breath, waiting impatiently for the second I could hold her in my arms.
When the door opened, the bouquet of peonies in my hand fell to the floor because who I saw at the door was the last person I had expected to see. It wasn't Alexis.
A tall, built guy with only a towel around his waist opened the door. His hair was dripping wet and I could still see water drops on his face and chest.
I glanced quickly at the number on the apartment door. 204. It's the right apartment.
"Hey, can I help you?" the guy asked me as he readjusted his towel.
"Who the fuck are you?" I stared at him in disbelief as my mind tried to think of a logical explanation that wouldn't involve Alexis cheating on me. I tried to push past him to go inside and confront Alexis.
He pushed me back and raised his hands in front of him. "Whoa, man! Calm your shit!" He stood in front of the opening of the door and blocked me from passing.
"Answer my question!" I spat out. "Who are you?!" I felt the rage rise inside me.
He extended his hand at me like he wanted to shake my hand. "I'm Chris, Alexis's friend. Who are you?"
Something inside me had known that this man was Chris the second I saw him, but his confirmation of the fact was what pushed me over the edge. Instead of shaking his hand, I clenched my fist and socked him in the face with all of my strength.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Alexis
Tonight was the night that would make or break our relationship. Because after tonight, I would know the depth of Damian's love for me.
I walked home from work in a fog as thoughts of how tonight was going to go whirled around in my head. I still hadn't figured out how I was going to break the news to him, but I hoped that when the time came, I had the courage to tell him.
When I got to the door to my apartment, I noticed a bouquet of pink peonies on the floor.
"Huh. That's strange." I picked up the bouquet and several of the petals fell on the floor. There was no card and several stems were damaged. "These don't look like they were placed on the floor on purpose."
I opened the door and saw Chris lying on the couch with a bag of ice against his face.
"Hey, what's wrong?" I dropped the flowers on the kitchen counter and hurried over to him.
"The fuck I know," he groaned.
"What happened to your face though?" I noticed the towel around his waist. "Did you hurt yourself in the shower?" I stifled a giggle at the thought.
"No." He shot me a look. "Some guy came by and punched me."
A jolt of panic spread through me. "What guy? What's his name?"
"He didn't give me a name."
"When did this happen?"
"Just a few minutes ago."
"And he came to my door?"
"Yeah. He looked like a lunatic."
"Why do you say that?" Could it have been Damian?
"Well I opened the door and he looked like he was about to kill someone. He demanded to know who I was, and when I told him, he punched me. I've never seen or talked to the guy before in my life, and he fucking punched me. Does that sound like a sane person to you?" Chris readjusted the ice pack on his face.
"Did he have flowers with him?"
"Yeah. I think so."
"Did he ask for me?" I looked at Chris and cringed. "Were you wearing just that towel when you answered the door?" I didn't need Chris to say anything further to know what had probably happened. It all made sense. Who else would knock on my door with my favorite flowers and then punch Chris when he appeared at the door with only a towel around his waist? My stomach twisted into a ball of nerves as it dawned on me how bad it must have looked to Damian.
"Yeah, I was wearing this. I had just gotten out of the shower when I heard someone at the door." He rubbed the back of his head as he thought back to the encounter. "I don't think he mentioned your name, but I did tell him I was a friend of yours."
"Shit. I think that was Damian." I collapsed onto the couch and groaned. "What a mess."
"Oh … " Chris looked down at his towel and his expression changed. "Fuck. This looks bad."
"Yeah. You think?" I mumbled sarcastically.
"I'm sorry, Alexis. I didn't realize that it was him."
"It's okay. It's my fault for keeping this a secret for this long." I let out a deep sigh. "This was not how I wanted to start off my talk with him tonight."
"Alexis, go find him and talk to him. The sooner you tell him, the sooner he'll stop driving himself crazy thinking there's something going on between us."
"You're right. I need to find him."
I pulled out my phone and dialed Damian's number. His voicemail picked up after several rings. Crap, he's ignoring me.
I texted him:
Hey, where are you? Can we talk?
I stared at my phone and waited for him to respond back. But after a few minutes, there was nothing.
Just as I was about to give up hope that he'd text me back, my phone beeped and I saw a text come through from him:
I'm at the bar. Come down now.
I quickly responded:
Great. I'll be there in a minute.
"I don't even know where to begin when I see him," I said to Chris.
"Begin with the truth." Chris looked over at me sympathetically. "Tell him you haven't cheated on him."
"Okay." I got up from the couch and took a few deep breaths through my nose. "Oh God. Wish me luck!" I rubbed my hands together nervously as I headed toward the door.
"Good luck, Alexis. Just be honest with him. If he really loves you, he'll come around."
"If he really loves you … " Chris's words were not at all comforting, because it was what I most feared.
What if Damian doesn't really love me? I wasn't sure Damian could handle the truth. He'd been a playboy bachelor all his life, and I was the first real relationship he'd been in. I wasn't sure he was ready for something this serious and life-changing. If he ended up leaving me because of this, I'd know that he didn't truly love me enough to be there for me and our baby. I wasn't sure if I was strong enough to handle that truth and do this on my own.