At the end of my semester, Dom flew over to Italy for family business. I couldn’t go due to finals. Once he was gone, I decided to surprise him the way he had surprised me with so many different things. I completed all of my finals and got a flight to Italy.
Getting into his room was easy, being that I am his wife, now I just had to wait for him to return. I slipped into a lacy nightgown he had delivered to me a few weeks ago and laid across his bed, hopeful that it would take long for him to enter the bedroom.
The click of the door woke me to a dimly lit room. I couldn’t believe I had fallen asleep. I glanced to the side of the bed, searching for the time since I didn’t remember falling asleep. The clock shone it’s angry, red numbers at me. Four in the morning? Where the hell had he been all night?
Somewhat groggy, a lot pissed off, I slipped from the bed, crossed my arms across my chest and waited for him to enter. When he finally enters, he looks exhausted. His tie is hanging loosely around his neck, his dress shirt unbuttoned to the center of his chest and the expensive leather belt in his hand jingles as the clasp rocks with his movements. Suspicion flares within me quickly and I can’t help my accusing tone.
"Where the hell were you all night?"
He freezes just inside the doorway, his shoulders going rigid. The tension taking hold of his body ignites my distrust, making my scalp and fingers tingle with red, hot anger.
"Chloe?"
Dom’s eyes widen as I stalk toward him, the smell of alcohol on his breath wafting over my face.
"Where were you, Gio?"
He composes himself quickly, making me doubt my indirect accusations.
"Where was I?" He tosses the belt on a lush chair next to the bedroom door. "I was out, taking care of clients all damn night. Men who want to be wined, dined and showed a good time."
Taking long, angry strides toward the dark wood dresser, he yanks the tie from around his neck before turning back to look at me.
The look on his face, anger and something like disappointment causes me to drop my arms and slacken my rigid stance.
"I've been up all night trying to secure the next big pop star to come out of this country!" He plucks open his dress shirt until it hangs loose. "Then, I get to my room, to finally get some sleep, and you stand here making accusations." He snorts, tugging off his shirt and suit jacket at the same time.
"I just…I thought…you look like—"
"Like a man who is working hard to stay on top in this industry?" He growled.
He roughly sat down on the bed, pulling off his pants and boxers before slipping under the covers.
Since when does he sleep naked? Mentally, I slap the crazy suspicions from my head. What the hell is wrong with me? Since when am I so insecure?
"I'm sorry." I sag onto the edge of the bed.
"Chloe, I don't mean to snap. I'm simply exhausted." He sighs loudly.
"I'm sorry." Tears well in my eyes and my nose starts to tingle.
"Come, lay with me." He wraps his hand around my right arm, tugging me to lie next to him.
By the afternoon, we are up, dressed, and almost normal. Gio still seems a bit off, but I chalk it up to his late night and this morning's confrontation. He takes me around, introducing me to the sights of Italy and the tastes of local cuisines.
During our romantic dinner he received a call that he needed to take. Since I was feeling silly about how I reacted, I didn't put up an argument. Even when that call kept him away for almost forty minutes. I was just trying to make up for my blind accusations.
After two bottles of wine, we decide to retire to our suite in the hotel. Once showered, shaved, and in bed, I reach out for my husband, sliding my hand over his stomach and heading south. He grabs my wrist right under his belly button, stopping me.
"I'm sorry. I just really need some sleep."
Bringing my hand to his chest, he rolls to his side. This action pulls me flush against his back with my arm around him.
Feeling unusually rejected, the suspicions start to grow again. If there was one thing he never said no to, it was me initiating sex. Burying the hurt and rejection, I drift off to sleep.
The familiar ringtone whaling throughout the room wakes me. I grab my phone, pulling it towards me when I see a dark screen. Must be his phone. Sitting up, I look down at Gio, surprised he is sleeping through it. Guilt flips in my stomach. I was, once again, worrying over nothing. He really was exhausted.
I reach over him and grab his phone just as it stops ringing. With an annoyed huff, I go to place it on the nightstand next to me. It begins to ring again. Pressing the silence button, I notice the name of the caller. Bella Donna.
The name isn't familiar. I look at the clock on the nightstand. 3 A.M.
Who calls at this time?
Just as I get the nerve to answer, the phone stops ringing.
My curiosity is peaked and suspicion starts to rear its ugly head again. Hands trembling, I begin to snoop through his phone, starting with text messages. Nothing unusual.
Christ, what's wrong with me? Just as I'm about to set the phone down for good and quit acting like some crazy woman, the phone vibrates and a small, red number one appears next to an app – CoverMe - I'm not familiar with it.
Tapping the application, I'm greeted to Bella Donna and my stomach rolls in disgust.
When will you visit me again?
I don't believe it's over. We are too hot together. No matter what you say.
I drop the phone in my lap, cover my mouth, and try to stifle the sob threatening to break free.
A glutton for punishment, my curiosity won't allow me to stop reading the messages. Turns out, he was securing a future pop star. There were enough group messages between this Bella Donna, a man who seemed to be her manager, and Gio, to confirm she is the future pop star he spoke about. Too bad those messages were from months and weeks ago. The newest messages were between just the two of them; innocent at first, until the other night.
The bed shifted and Gio's arm slid over my lap. My seated position must have struck him as odd.
"Hey, what are you..?"
I didn't have to look to know he saw exactly what I was doing.
"Chloe—"
"Liar," I rasped through unshed tears.
"Please, it's not—"
He quickly sat up in the bed, on his knees, facing the side of my body.
"Don't!" I screamed, unable to look at him. Or take my eyes from the last message he sent to her.
It was a mistake and shouldn't have happened. I'm sorry, but it can never happen again.
"Please, it didn't mean—"
The phone flew from my hands before I even realized I'd thrown it at him.
"Fuck," he groaned, holding his left eye.
"Yeah, I'd say that's about the most honest thing you've said since I got here!"
Hurrying from the bed, I ran to my suitcase.
"Chloe…it’s not what—"
"It’s not what I think? Are you seriously going to try that shit?" Turning on my bare heels, I zipped up my bag and began to walk out of the bedroom.
He jumped in front of me.
"Don’t leave, please? Let me explain!" He pleaded.
"There is nothing to explain! I’ve seen the messages, on top of her waking me up by blowing your phone up at three in the morning. That’s enough of an explanation," I spat the words at him, walking around to get to the door.
"Chloe, it was a mistake!" He yelled, following me out of the hotel room and to the elevator.
Turning on him, I glared, my hand pressing the button over and over, like it would make it reach the floor quicker. He got about two feet away from me before I shouted,
"Do not come any closer to me!" He halted in his steps. "You are a liar and a cheat!" I couldn’t stop the tears from escaping my eyes. "At least, now, I see what goes on when you travel, don’t I?" The elevator pinged, the doors opened, and I stepped inside.
"Chloe, please?" He put his arm in front of the d
oor. "I have never…this was the first time. I am so, so sorry! I don’t know what I was thinking. I just let things go too far. It won't ever happen again. You had to see that on the phone as well. Please?"
"Remove your arm!"
He stared, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I love you."
"Now," I screamed.
He finally moved his arm and the door shut.
In the elevator, I slipped jeans on under my nightgown and a t-shirt over. Given my ragged appearance, I garnered many strange looks. I just wanted to leave this country, this nightmare. Even airport security pulled me aside to question me. Three words spoken from my mouth had them off my back almost instantly, "My. Husband. Cheated."
After getting back from Italy, I spent a week alone in a Seattle hotel. I didn't want anyone to know what happened, not yet. I finally decided to stop ignoring my cell phone. There were forty missed calls and sixty text messages. I started scrolling; Domenico, delete, Domenico, delete. The few messages I did read were ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I was a fool’, ‘I am a fool’, ‘Please talk to me’, ‘At least tell me where you are’. After about thirty, I simply hit the delete all button. I didn’t want to see anymore.
I got up, took a shower, and slowly dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. I went back to my phone and started going through the missed calls. Deleting the call history, I simply went straight to listening to voicemails. Thirty voicemail messages! I started going through them one by one, trying to get through them without hearing too much of his crying, sobbing, pleading. No longer able to bear his raw voice and stuttered sobs, I just decided to delete all the messages. One message, however, wasn’t Domenico. I received it yesterday from Judith, she was crying.
On my way home, I called Mina. She answered on the first ring.
"Where are you?"
"I'm about halfway, how far are you?" I responded, knowing we would both have gotten the call home.
"I’m already here," she paused, "I was already here…visiting."
"Oh, okay. Well, I'll be there soon. How is she?"
"It’s not good. She won’t talk or eat. We don’t know what to do." She sighed, the faint sound of sadness tingeing her voice.
"I’ll be there soon." I hung up and picked up my speed, making it in record time.
On arrival, I went straight upstairs to my old room. The sight before me crushed my heart. The pain Dom caused was nothing compared to this.
Mina lay on the bed next to a much distraught Roni. Tear tracks stained her cheeks, a glassy glaze covered her eyes, and the pain in her face was heartbreaking.
"Oh, fuck," I whispered. Hurrying to the side of the bed, I fell to my knees beside her. "Veronica? Hey?" I ran my hand over her cheek wiping away the tears.
"She won’t say a thing." Mina sighed. "I’ve been trying, but she just won’t." Then tears started to flow from Mina who buried her head into Veronica’s side, wrapping her hands around her tightly. "Please, Roni…please."
My tears couldn’t be stopped, they flowed freely. I threw myself over Roni’s listless body. Max arrived to the house that night and stayed with Roni, while Mina and I slept in my bed.
It was two days later, I was brushing Roni’s hair when she grabbed my hand and rolled over, a pained look on her face.
"It’s my fault." She whispered.
I shook my head. Before I could speak, she continued. "I wished I wasn’t pregnant when I found out. I got what I wished for." Sobs ripped loudly from her. Pulling her to my chest, we rocked and cried together. Max appeared, having heard her sobs, Mina right behind him.
"Move!" Mina shouted and pushed Max out of her way. She ran, wrapping us up in her arms, rocking with us.
"Can I get…or do anything?" Max spoke softly, anguish on his face.
"Forgive me." Roni mumbled against my chest.
"Oh, baby." Max rushed the bed, pulling her away from us and into his lap. "Don’t even ask that…there is nothing to forgive." He started crying. "Forgive me, Roni, please?"
"You? For what?" She whispered.
"For not being there when….when this all—"
Roni's new sobs cut him off. He hugged her tighter, his mouth pressed to the top of her head. They stayed that way for hours.
Mina and I quietly left the room, to let them grieve together. She went back to her house while I grabbed a bottle of Jack out from the liquor cabinet and a glass. I walked outside. Upon seeing the tree house, I climbed the ladder, deciding it was the perfect place to hide away.
I was sitting against old musty cushions thinking about the past, the present, and my future. Trying to reconcile what I wanted to do about my future, specifically my marriage. I sighed deeply and finished off my glass of liquid pain relief. Pouring my second glass, loud footsteps scared me as they ascended the ladder.
"Jesus, Mina, could you stomp any louder up the ladder? You’re going to fucking break it!" I laughed.
"Mina's in the house."
I practically broke my neck with the speed I turned it to look at the doorway.
Leo
I saw her climb the ladder and fought the urge to go after her for forty-five minutes. I learned from Mina that Roni had lost the baby, so I knew why Chloe was home. The pain I'd seen on her face when she climbed up the tree house ladder tore at me.
I resisted, though, instead I sat thinking about everything, memories from my past igniting and traveling through to the present. It had been almost a month since Glenda had filed for divorce, leaving my future to the unknown.
Getting home late one night, I walked in to find her things gone and a large envelope on the kitchen counter. A note sat on top of it.
Leo,
I will always care for and love you, but our lives just no longer work, not together. We want different things and our schedules prevent us from being truly happy. I want to be able to find happiness and for you to do the same as well.
Please forgive me for the way this is happening, but I know that if I see you, I won’t move forward the way I need. The way we both need.
Be happy.
Love always, Glenda
I couldn’t say I'd been shocked. Not after all of the arguments in the small amount of time we were together, the time I spent working with Scarlett, and the difference in desires we both have. Caring and loving each other was never a problem. Making it work or wanting to make it work seemed to be our largest fault.
So, I came home to my parents, having been here licking my wounds for the past two weeks. Trying to sort out my life when I learned Chloe arrived. I had no intention to go over there or even let her know I was in town. However, once I saw her go up to the tree house I could only hold out for so long. I almost wished she would come down and go back in the house before I reached the ladder, but she never did.
She thought I was Mina, shock filling her face.
"L-Leo?" She breathed out.
"In the flesh." I joked. "What are you doing?" I motioned to the bottle and glass at her side.
"Oh, just trying to decompress from life." She smiled weakly.
"Well then, do you have another glass?" I laughed, sitting down across from her.
She shook her head. "Sorry, but here." She poured a full glass and handed it to me.
"What about you?" I smiled.
She winked, pulling the bottle to her lips, drinking straight from the source. I laughed and took a large swig from the glass.
The full bottle of Jack went rather quickly and soon we were laughing about the past, teasing each other about things from our childhood. I talked more freely about Glenda divorcing me, and the more we talked the more slurred our words became. I also noticed the distance between us shorten more and more. We practically gravitated towards each other.
At some point I remember being able to smell a mixture of the Jack and of her perfume. That’s about the last thing I remembered when I first woke in the pitch black darkness of the tree house.
"Chloe?" I whispered, but she was nowhere. The bottle and a glass still next
to me, I sat up, feeling dizzy and nauseous. After getting back into my parent's house, I went straight to bed.
Waking up to bright light was highly unpleasant. Realizing that I didn’t have my shirt or pants on was a little unsettling. I didn’t remember taking them off. Slowly standing from the bed I scanned my old bedroom for my clothes, but didn’t find them. I dragged my ass into the shower and hoped the hot water would bring back last night, it did. I gasped out loud in the shower as the memories of last night resurfaced in my hung over mind.
After drying off quickly and putting on fresh clean clothing, I headed to Mina’s room. She wasn’t there. So, I started to cross the childhood tree house crossing, when I heard a car door shut. Looking down, I saw Chloe sitting in a dark car, then I saw Domenico walk around the car and pull away with her.
"What the hell!" I barked and sat down with my feet hanging over the side. Leaning my head against the railing, I replayed last night over and over in my mind.
Chloe
I woke in the dead of night, to pitch black. Groaning, I sat up. My head was spinning and my mouth felt like I chewed on Q-tips for a couple of hours. Stretching, I realized that my shirt was the only thing I had on. A movement drew my attention to the practically naked body next to me. Leo lay there in only boxers.
Fuck! Clearly, I had done enough of that! Shit! I'm a fucking hypocrite!
I quickly slid my underwear and jeans on, stuffing my bra into my pocket. I hurried to my room and into the shower. Once finished, I climbed into my bed and forced myself not to think about what happened or how much of a whore I was.
Mina woke me in a hushed voice.
"Hmm?"
"Chloe, Dom's here."
I sat up quickly, too quickly.
"He’s what?"
She nodded with wide eyes. While I'd been here I shared everything about Italy with Mina. We had shared our life in general.
"That’s right tall, dark, rich, and fucking asshole is here! Now get up before I go down there and kill him!"
I grabbed her arm.
"Mina, don’t say anything to him please. Trust me when I say he is not the only one who is guilty." I put my head in my hands.
All Grown Up Page 21