“I’m not sabotaging anything—I would never...It’s just...I can’t explain it right now, but as far as Ryan goes, you can’t possibly think that I—”
“The moment he sat down at your table at Starbucks, or the moment you decided to have a chat with him—however it happened, you should’ve called me immediately. Period. You don’t belong to him anymore. You have no obligation to him and you don’t owe him a fucking thing. You are mine and this is the last time that I’m going to re-iterate that fact to you, Claire. Mine. Not his. Not anyone else’s.” I clenched my jaw. “Do you still not understand what that means?”
“Yes...” she murmured.
I rolled my eyes and got out of the bed. “I have some work to do. Do you need Greg to take you home when he gets back?”
“No...I want to stay here with you...”
“Fine.” I pulled a blanket over her and tucked her in. Then I handed her the remote. “Good night.”
I walked into my office and took out a bottle of scotch. I poured myself a glass, downed it, and then quickly poured another.
Why is she so fucking infuriating? Why does she still have the power to get to me like this?
I sat down at my desk and started going over my latest product’s numbers. I turned on my laptop and spotted the video that the security team had made for me from Starbucks, the video I still couldn’t bring myself to watch.
“Jonathan...” Claire’s soft voice made me look up.
“Yes, Claire?”
“Are you going to sit out here and stay mad at me all night?” Her voice cracked. “Or are we going to talk about everything so we can fix this?”
I didn’t answer. I just stared at her.
“Fine.” She shrugged as tears fell down her face. “I’m going to check into the Fairmont hotel for the rest of the week because I can’t take living in our house alone anymore. If you want to talk to me, that’s exactly where I’ll be...And if you want to cancel the wedding because you honestly think I would choose my piece of shit ex-husband over you or that I would purposely try to ruin our special day, then—” She couldn’t even finish her sentence.
She looked at me in utter pain and it took a lot for me not to stand up and comfort her, for me not to wrap her in my arms and tell her to stay the night with me. Yet, my heart was a mess and she hadn’t answered any of my questions about the invitation and cake issues.
Nodding her head slowly, she said, “I hope I’ll see you in my room soon” before walking out of my office in tears.
Chapter 15
Claire
I woke up in the middle of the night and reached for Jonathan—turning over to see if he’d finally come to the hotel, but he wasn’t there.
I dragged myself out of bed and into the living room, hoping to see him waiting in the living room, but the only thing new was a note from the front desk: “Thank you for allowing us to be your temporary home, Mrs. Statham. We hope that you keep us in mind for future stays.”
I sighed. I’d been too miserable to realize that I’d never formally “checked in.” As soon as I’d arrived, valet helped me out of the car and the manager had personally walked me up to my room. No questions asked.
He can call the hotel but he can’t call me?
I looked into the small foyer and saw that he’d sent another bouquet of flowers for me today—like he’d been doing all week, but there was no note. Nothing.
I headed for the bathroom and immediately turned on the hot water. I was going to need one hell of a bubble bath to get back to sleep.
Tossing my robe off, I stepped into the tub and let the water rise over me as I sat there. Stunned.
While he had every reason to think that the wedding arrangements were odd, he had to know that I would never give Ryan the time of day again, that I would never allow him to walk back into my life for any reason whatsoever. Then again, every time I thought about how the two of us must have looked in that parking lot, my heart sank a little.
Son of a bitch...
A part of me wanted to find out what room Amanda was staying in so I could finish off her life for her and give Ryan something else to focus on, but I didn’t want to face any part of my past again; Ryan had already done enough.
As the hot water rose up to my chest and grazed the necklace he’d given me, I stretched my foot out to switch off the lever. And before I knew it, I was crying. Hard.
The entire week that he hadn’t been at home had been the worst week I’d had in years. I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, and each time he hit ignore on my phone calls, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.
He was my everything and the very thought of him not trusting me –him not talking to me, was too painful to think about.
It hurt even more when Ashley and Caroline called me to tell me about the latest care packages he’d sent, how they’d spoken to him every day last week.
“He told us your first date was on the Golden Gate Bridge! Why didn’t you tell us that back then?” “We reminisced for hours, you should’ve heard us!” “He’s being pretty tight lipped about the wedding lately...He probably has a surprise for you...” “Could you tell him to call us via video chat tomorrow night? And tell him we said we love him since we’re going to be out of range for the rest of the day?”
I scrubbed a loofah all over my body and decided to cut my bubble bath short. I needed to go for a run. Now.
I slipped back into my robe and picked up the room phone.
“Fairmont Front Desk,” a woman answered. “How may I help you Mrs. Statham?”
“It’s Miss Gracen.”
“I’m sorry, Miss Gracen. How may I help you today?”
“Do you all have a gift or a clothing shop downstairs?”
“We do ma’am. Our gift shop features city collectibles and snacks, and our clothing shop is a mix of swimwear and light season gear at the moment. Would you like us to shut the shop down so you can shop privately?”
“Oh...No, that’s okay. I was just wondering if someone could bring me a tracksuit in a medium size. Just place it on my room tab.”
“Right away, Miss Gracen.” She waited for me to hang up first.
I pulled my hair into a messy knot and splashed my face with cold water to get some of the redness out of my eyes. If it wasn’t for the way they looked, I could’ve passed as perfectly happy right now.
Before I could begin my next series of cold-water face shots, there was a knock at my door.
I made sure my robe was secured and rushed over to open it.
“Good evening, Miss Gracen.” The bellman handed me five black wardrobe bags. “We weren’t sure what color you would like so we brought each one.”
“Thank you very much.” I handed him a tip.
“There’s an indoor runners’ park two miles down. Would you like one of our drivers to escort you there since it’s raining?”
“No, that’s okay...I’m just going to go for a short walk...I have an umbrella. Thank you very much though.” I smiled as I shut the door.
I didn’t care that it was raining. I needed to be outside with fresh air. Besides, I didn’t feel like being around other people. I wanted to be alone.
I slipped into the tracksuit and put on the tennis shoes Greg had brought me earlier in the week. I grabbed my favorite umbrella and my music and looked around for my room key.
Suddenly there was another knock at my door.
Deep down I wished it was Jonathan, but I knew the front desk was probably delivering another set of flowers late, so I dragged myself to the door and opened it.
Ryan?!
“Claire, can we please talk?”
I slammed the door in his face and turned away.
I realized the door must have bounced back because I suddenly felt him walking behind me.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I snapped.
“Please listen to me...” There were tears in his voice. “Claire, can we...Can we please be civil for five minutes?”
�
��We’ve gone from five seconds to five minutes? Please.” I tried to walk past him, but he put his hands on my shoulders.
“She doesn’t want to die knowing that you still hate her...” He narrowed his eyes at me. “You don’t have to mean it...You could just say you forgive her.”
“All bullshit aside, Ryan.” I gave him the meanest look I could manage. “Five years ago, I would’ve wanted to die happily married to you. But we don’t always get what we want, do we? Tell her to suck that shit up, or better yet, why don’t you have one of her friends suck you off and then she can feel exactly how I feel.” I left him seething in the living room and rushed into the adjoining room—where another door to the hallway was.
I unlocked the chain at the top of the door and pulled it open. I ran towards the elevators and texted Greg the number “9”—code for emergency. I pressed the down button frantically, hoping a car would come before Ryan found me.
“You were never this mean, Claire.” He rounded the corner. “What happened to you?”
“I guess some people bring out the worst in you. Is it really surprising that a low-life cheating fuck would make me behave like a bitch?”
He narrowed his eyes at me and strolled over, pushing me against the wall by my shoulders. “If you want to be a cold-hearted bitch for the rest of your life, and if you want to marry that asshole of a man you call your fiancé—that’s fine. But what you’re not going to do is disrespect me. I’ve had you—before him, and I know who the fuck you are. You’re coming with me to see Amanda whether you like it or not. Now.”
I tried to fight him off of me—beating my fists against his chest and trying to knee him, but he held me still and changed the tone of his voice.
“Claire...Please just—”
“Stop fucking talking to me, Ryan!” I was crying angrily. “You’ve done enough!”
“Five minutes...You can’t give her that?”
“NO!” I took a few deep breaths and tried not to scream. “I have a brand new life now and I don’t need you or Amanda in it for any longer than you’ve already been. You are both fucking scum and her being in surgery doesn’t change shit about what you two did to me. Just lie to her and say I forgave her, just like you lied to me. It shouldn’t be that hard for you.”
“Listen...” He suddenly released his grip. “I know you don’t honestly feel like that.”
I slid past him and ran towards the emergency stairwell, hoping that he would just give up and leave me alone.
I made it through the door and was halfway down a flight of stairs when I felt him grabbing my arm—twisting it harshly.
“Help! Helpppp!” I screamed as loud as I could, but he didn’t seem fazed at all.
Instead he squeezed my arm even harder and pulled me close to him. “I’ve changed a lot in the past few years...” He looked possessed, and he was really hurting me. “In ways you can’t even begin to imagine, Claire. We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but—”
I brought my other arm up and slapped the shit out of him.
His eyes darkened and he hissed. Shocked, he let me go and pushed me away from him—hard.
I tried to brace myself against the wall, but I couldn’t. I lost my footing and felt myself quickly tumbling, tumbling, tumbling—until I felt sharp pains all over, until everything went black.
Chapter 16
Claire
“Miss Gracen?” A soft voice said. “Miss Gracen? Can you hear me?”
I groaned and slightly opened my eyes, shutting them once a bright light seeped in.
“Do you know where you are?”
I kept my eyes shut. I couldn’t speak.
“Could someone get me a fresh IV?” “Leave the monitor alone please.” “Did she have a cell phone when she was brought in? Anything else besides her ID?”
There were clicking sounds and annoying beeping noises that seemed to get louder and louder with each second.
I felt a sharp piercing pain in my right arm and forced my eyes open to see a nurse pushing a needle into my skin.
The soft voice that had spoken before, spoke again. “You’re at St. Francis, in an intensive care unit. Okay honey?”
She asked me more questions—something about how I was feeling and if I was seeing in color, but all I could do was wonder about what the fuck had happened.
The last thing I heard her ask was “Can you feel this?” before everything around me went black.
“Miss Gracen?” That familiar soft voice woke me up.
I nodded and opened my eyes. This time I was able to keep them open and actually see the woman I was speaking to: A petite brunette with a bright red headband and a matching nametag with hearts around it—Doctor Phillips.
“Can you feel anything right now?” She touched my forehead.
I tried to shake my head, but there was something holding my neck in place. “No...” I murmured.
“Well, good. I’m going to keep you on the morphine drip for a day or two, and then I’ll have to prescribe some pain medication for you to take home. You’re very lucky that you only have a concussion and a few severe sprains.”
“What?” I croaked.
She raised her eyebrow and removed a clipboard from underneath her arms. “You’ve sprained both your ankles, you have a dislocated shoulder—your left one, interior bruising on your back, a severe neck sprain, and a concussion. Not bad for falling down ten flights of steps. Like I said, very lucky.”
I blinked. I was too numb to say something smart to her right now.
She walked around the bedside—where I couldn’t turn my neck to see her, and then she stepped back into my sight and handed me my cell phone. “I had to put it on silent because it kept ringing. Is there any one you would like me to call for you and let them know you’re here? Your fiancée maybe?” She looked at my engagement ring.
I took my time tapping my screen, typing the words “My daughters...Ashley and Caroline” before holding out the phone to her.
“Okay. I’ll do that right now...” She smiled and scrolled through my contacts. “Hello may I speak to Ashley please? No, this is...No, I...Your mom is in the hospital, hun. She can’t speak right now but she wants you to know she’s okay...Calm down, calm down...Well, yes... She wanted me to call you and your sister to let you know...St Francis Hospital, room fifty thirty, east wing. Okay sweetheart. Goodbye.”
She adjusted my pillow and handed the phone back to me. “Anyone else?”
I typed my mother and she called and left a voicemail. After that, I asked her to call Rita—typing “take over for me this week” as the message I wanted to give. And after I had her call Greg—who apparently had been in the waiting room since I arrived last night, I managed a smile to let her know that was it.
“You don’t want me to call your fiancée?” She cleared her throat.
I looked down at my phone and scrolled through my missed calls: Greg, Greg, Greg, Ryan, Greg, Greg, Greg, Ryan. There were a few calls from my business, but not a single call from Jonathan.
I typed “NO” onto my screen and held it up to her.
“Okay then...Well, I’ll be back to check on you shortly, Miss Gracen. If you can think of anything else you may want, just hit the blue call button on the remote and one of the nurses will see that you get it.”
I smiled again and she left the room.
I’d heard her list all my injuries, but it seemed so surreal, especially since I couldn’t “feel” anything. My body was so numb I could barely feel my tongue licking my lips.
Confused, I slowly lifted my right hand in front of my face and stared at the mini gray remote they’d secured in the middle of my palm. There were four buttons: “Call Nurse” “Television” “Volume” “Lights”
I hit the television button and held the lights button until the room went completely dark. As luck would have it, the TV was already set on HGTV and a marathon of one of my favorite shows—Yard Crashers was on.
I lay there in bed for hours, wa
tching them remodel yard after yard, until I couldn’t hold my eyes open anymore.
“Do you think she wants that Jell-O?” “Probably not...She’s never really liked Jell-O.” “Do you think she wants that chicken?” “We could just ask the nurse to bring her some more...”
I opened my eyes and saw Ashley and Caroline taking spoonfuls of my green Jell-O. I tried to sit up, but Caroline shook her head and gasped. “Stop. You’re only going to hurt yourself. They told us you’re not supposed to move.”
Sighing, I nodded and cleared my throat. “When did you get here?”
“Last night. Jonathan flew us in right after we talked to the nurse.” “He got us a room at the Marriott across the street.”
So he knows I’m here and he’s not by my side?
“Oh...” My throat hurt. “Well, that’s great.”
They exchanged glances, and as if they could read my mind, Ashley poured me a glass of water and Caroline adjusted my pillow so I could sit up and drink.
“Grandma’s on her way over too.” Ashley said. “We all came by earlier today but you wouldn’t wake up...Are you in pain?”
“No...”
“They told us you’re going to have to stay here for a few more days and that you’ll have to wear a sling for a couple weeks.” “They say you’ll be healed in time to walk down the aisle...”
I’m not walking down the aisle... “They told me that too...”
“They did?” Caroline smiled. “Well, when you get a chance maybe you can explain that to Jonathan. He seems to think they’re lying. He wants them to run every test they have.”
I wanted to laugh, but even that was too hard. And there was nothing funny about Jonathan Statham right now.
“We’re going to run down to the cafeteria.” Ashley looked into my eyes. “Can we get you anything? Soup maybe?”
“No thank you.”
“I think we should get her some anyway.” “Me too, she’s probably too tired to realize that’s what she wants.”
I rolled my eyes as they walked out of the room, and before I could turn the lights off, I saw Jonathan standing in the doorway.
Mid Life Love: At Last Page 18