“I wish,” she said aloud.
However, as she got a little closer, she recognized the man’s frame.
“Alex?” The bag dropped from her hand. Unable to move, she stopped in her tracks.
The woman pulled herself from his embrace after one more kiss and then walked away, leaving him on the side of the firehouse, where he pushed his head up against the cool bricks.
When he was alone, Charlie was certain that it was Alex. His frame. His head. His stance. He stood with his eyes closed and his hands buried down in the pockets of his blue cargo pants. One foot was propped up against the wall and the other held him up.
Even though she thought that she had said his name loud enough for him to hear it, he had not. Thank God.
Charlie felt sick to her stomach, like she would throw up on the pavement below.
Turning around, with her hands over her mouth, she willed herself to quietly walk back to her car. If she stayed, she would only make a scene, and normally it would be appropriate, but considering that she had just made love to Sully the night before, she hardly had room to talk.
Still, it stung down deep in her core. Seeing it hurt so badly inside until she could barely breathe. Feeling betrayed, no matter how hard she tried to reason with herself, she began to cry. How long had this been going on? How long had she played the fool?
***
As Alex opened his eyes, he saw a woman walking away from him under the nightlights headed away from the firehouse, but he had no idea who it was. Besides, everyone looked like Charlie lately.
Every time he saw a black woman, he swore that he was caught, swore that someone had recognized him. In a few short days, he had gone from just a regular married man able to live his life freely to Jason Bourne, running and hiding, ducking and dodging. Honestly, he was getting tired of it and the way that it made him feel. Guilt was eating him alive, and yet he could not stop being around Lola. She made him happy, made him feel alive again. She was like some illicit drug that he craved on a daily basis.
Tired of hearing himself think, he went inside of the firehouse and passed his friend Mason as he entered the kitchen.
“Outside seeing Lola again?” Mason probed. His furry brow knitted.
Alex huffed in sheer irritation. “Please don’t start with that shit again,” he said, grabbing a bowl out of the cupboard.
“At least tell me that you thought about what I said,” Mason said, opening the bottle of Dayquil and downing it. “This fucking cold is killing me.”
“Don’t give it to me. I’m off for four days starting tomorrow, and I don’t want to spend it in the bed.” He threw up a finger before he could get the words out. “Make a crack and I’ll kick your ass.”
Mason shook his head and grinned. “That’s just your conscience wearing your ass thin, dude.”
“Well, Charlie gets home sometime tonight and I get home tomorrow. So I plan on talking to her then, Mr. Doubtfire.”
“Good,” Mason said, shrugging his large shoulders. “Not really any of my business anyway.”
Alex huffed. “Yeah right.” He licked his lips and raised a brow. “I could have sworn that I saw her just a minute ago. There was this woman walking who looked just like her. I think I’m losing my mind.”
“Didn’t you say that she was home tonight? Maybe it was her,” Mason said, blowing his nose into a waded up ball of tissue.
Alex frowned. “Nah…” His mind turned over like a motor that wouldn’t start. Grabbing his cell phone, he dialed home.
His mother answered quickly. “Hello.”
“Hey, Ma. Is Charlie home yet? I was just checking to see if she had a good trip.”
“She headed to see you,” Maria answered. “Said that she needed to talk to you about something. Sounded important.”
Alex held his phone for a minute, unable to blink or breathe. Shit! Shit! Shit! He had fucked up bad. That was Charlie outside, and she had seen everything. He knew it without knowing it and the feeling that overcame him was immediate and sickening.
“Is everything alright?” Maria asked.
“Oh, yeah.” He blew out a hard breath as he lied and almost pooped his pants. “Everything is cool. I just…gotta call you back.” Hanging up before she could say another word, he looked over at Mason. “It was Charlie. Ma said that she came down here to see me.” Looking at his watch, he shook his head. “Shit. Man. I gotta go…”
Manson put up a hand to stop him. “You’re on duty. You can’t go anywhere. You’ll lose your fucking job.” He knew that his friend wanted to go, but there were rules that superseded his personal interests. Leaving during a call could cost lives, starting with fellow firemen.
“Maybe I can reach her and get back here without any calls. Hell, we haven’t had one since this morning,” Alex said, knowing that it wasn’t a good idea.
“This is New York, man. The calls don’t start to nightfall. You know that.”
Alex debated. “I’m going to try it.”
Just then, the alarm sounded for the men to dress quickly and head out to a call.
Alex heart dropped again. The night just kept getting longer. Why couldn’t he catch a break? All he needed was for one thing to happen right, one opportunity not to mess things up any more than he already had.
Putting his over-the-counter medicine on the table, Mason raised his palms. “What did I tell ya?”
***
The night was dragging on for Charlie and she had to go to bed. Tomorrow would be here before she knew it with many obligations, starting with the requirement of being punctual to all of her meeting which would start early. Crawling into the comfort of her Egyptian cotton sheets, she turned off the lamp and closed her eyes. As she inhaled a deep breath, all that she could smell was Alex’s cologne. The fact made her cry again. Letting out a moan, she rolled over on her side and let the tears flow.
“Do I deserve this?” she asked aloud.
The room was silent.
Shaking her head, she pushed the pillow under head. “Like I actually expected an answer,” she said, scratching her scalp in between her rollers.
She stared blankly at the green glow of the numbers on her alarm clock. 1:00 a.m. It was another day. A new freaking day. And yet, she didn’t feel revived. She felt confused. She felt alone and abandoned by the man whom she had thought was a pillar of support.
Now, all she wanted was to hear a warm voice, someone who wanted only her.
The thought of Sully inched into the back of her head again for the millionth time.
Would he be awake at this hour?
Sitting up in bed, she grabbed her cell of the dock and called. This time, she wasn’t the least bit worried if he was awake or not. That was the funny thing about having sex with a person. It knocked down the barriers of civility and convenience and made that person a target to unleash all of your raw, open emotions on.
“Hello,” Sully answered quickly when he saw her number on his cell phone.
“It’s me,” Charlie said, wiping her face. She sniffled.
“What’s wrong?” Sully sat up in bed. Was she coming back?
“He’s cheating on me,” Charlie said in a matter-of-fact tone. Saying them aloud was a bizarre experience for her. Alex had never…
“You cheated on him,” Sully said in an equally matter-of-fact tone. He didn’t say it just to remind her, but to keep her from doing anything stupid.
“I know, but I just started.” She sniffed. “For all I know, I could have wasted a decade on him.”
“You didn’t waste anything on him. You’re both just…” Sully tried to find words. Wiping his face again, he smacked his lips. “You’re in different places right now. You said so yourself. He’s a good guy; he’s just confused, just like you are.”
“Are you taking his side?” Charlie asked with a frown.
Sully smirked. “No. Hell no.” He yawned. “Have you thought about what we talked about? Have you talked to him about it?” That was more impo
rtant to him at the moment then Alex’s affair. The man deserved to know the truth about the children.
“I went to talk to him tonight. That’s how I found out that he was cheating on me, but this changes everything.”
“How does it change everything?” he asked intrigued.
“It makes me feel less sympathetic for him.”
Sully wiped his tired eyes. “Good…well good for me. Not good for him.”
“I expected you to be different,” Charlie said, rolling her head around to get out the kink.
“How so?” he asked.
“I don’t know, more sympathetic.”
“Charlie, I want you. I’m the other man. The fact that you found out that your husband is cheating on you only makes my case more valid; my point more concrete.” He moved the covers from his legs and sat on the end of the bed. “This must be hard on you, every bit of it. But I assure you once you tell him, you’ll feel so much better.”
“I know that I will, but it still hurts.” She wiped her eyes.
“Well, it’s going to hurt. You loved him. You may still love him, but you all have moved to different places in your life and I can’t believe that I’m giving you marriage advice right now.” He checked himself quickly.
They both laughed.
“Oh Sully, it’s only been a few hours and I already miss you,” Charlie said sincerely. And she did miss him. She wished that she was in his loving embrace right then. All of this would not even be an issue.
“I miss you, too,” he said, standing up to stretch. “The kids and I have an interview with CBC tomorrow on the morning show. It’s in Manhattan. I could come by after to see you.”
“I’d love that,” Charlie said with a smile. “Stop by the office. We can take the kids to brunch after.”
“They’d love that,” he said, holding the phone tighter. “You need to lie down and get some rest. I’ll see you tomorrow after we land.”
“I love you,” she said, sitting straight up in the bed. She knew it was inappropriate to say but she did anyway. It made her feel better, made her feel wanted.
“I love you, too. Always. Now, goodnight sleepyhead.”
Charlie laughed. “Goodnight.”
205
The Contingency Plan
Chapter 13
Alex had called Charlie fourteen times between the time that he arrived back from the false alarm fire call until that morning. Not one call had yielded an answer.
He knew then that she was the one he had seen the night before walking away from the firehouse. What he didn’t understand was why she didn’t say anything. In truth, if he had seen another man kissing her, he would have beaten the man’s head in, but Charlie was just like that. She never fought for him. Still, he felt guilty and sick at the stomach. What would he even say to her once she did answer the phone, once he did see her?
Packing up his bag to head home, he went into the bathroom to get his razor. Mason was sitting on one of the toilets telling a horrible joke to their friend and fellow firefighter, Paul.
“So, she looks up and says to the guy, ‘why didn’t you smell it?’. You get it?” Mason laughed at his own joke and shook his head. “Ah, forget about it. You’re too thick to know a good one when you hear it.”
“I guess we’re all too thick,” Alex said, closing the medicine cabinet above the sink.
“Hey, I was meaning to talk to you before you left,” Mason said, getting off the top of toilet with his newspaper folded under his arm.
“About what?” Alex asked, turning around. He leaned on the sink and folded his arms across his chest.
Mason walked over and lowered his voice. “Look, I know that you’re headed into a bit of a storm tonight; so if you need a place to crash afterwards, you can stay at my place. This isn’t my weekend with the kids.”
“Thanks, man. I may need to take you up on that,” Alex said with a huff. “She won’t even answer my calls. I was thinking about going up to her job to see her.”
“Do what you gotta do,” Manny said, hitting him on the shoulder. Just then, his newspaper fell from under his arm and onto the white ceramic tile floor.
“I got it,” Alex said, bending over. As he picked it up, he saw the story. Proud father of IVF twins to speak at Sophie’s Choice. “What’s this?” he asked, instantly recognizing Sullivan Orrin’s face.
“Oh, this guy…check this out. It’s crazy. This guy gets a woman to donate her eggs so that he can put them in another woman with his sperm and have children. He’s some used-to-be big shot out of D.C. And the kids are mixed.”
Alex looked at the photos. The girl had Charlie’s eyes and the boy looked just like Sully. He read on to find that Sully currently lived in Norfolk where he moved after giving up his job with the DLC.
“Son of a bitch!” Alex said, hitting the paper. “That’s where she was this weekend.”
“Wait. Hold up. You lost me. Where who was?” Mason asked confused.
“Charlie. She was in Norfolk with this fucker all weekend. He’s her old boyfriend. And I’m willing to bet double to nothing that she’s the donor.” Alex was fuming now as he put together the pieces.
“Wow,” Mason said, bucking his eyes. “That’s deep.”
“That’s more than deep,” Alex said, realizing that he had an audience. The men in the bathroom had stopped talking and started to listen to him. His private life got more and more interesting to them by the minute. Earlier that weekend he was cheating; now his wife had another set of kids with a politician.
“What are you guys staring at? Like your wife has never sired an extra family on the side,” Mason joked.
“That’s not funny,” Alex said, shaking his head. Taking the newspaper with him, he headed out of the restroom, but Mason quickly followed.
“Dude, you don’t know if this has anything to do with Charlie or not. It could all be a coincidence,” Mason called out after his friend.
“Yeah, if you believe that, then I’ve got some swamp land to sell you,” Alex said, determined to confront his wife.
“Just don’t use this as a reason for why you….” Mason threw his hand up. “Fuck it. You won’t listen anyway. Just don’t get arrested.”
***
Sully sat on the set with his children getting miked up for their appearance on the nationally syndicated morning show and wondering if this was all just too much for Charlize. She sat beside him with her head planted in her newest Harry Potter book, trying to drown out all of the noise around her. Benny on the other hand was very much into character.
“Get my good side,” Benny said to the tech guy as he straightened the boy’s collar.
The crew laughed and Sully shook his head. “You were made for the camera,” he said to his son.
“I know,” Benny replied.
“What about you? You okay?” Sully asked, raising his daughter’s chin.
She looked up from her book and smiled. “Yeah, I guess so. I’m just ready for this press junket to end so that I can get back to my paintings.”
Sully suddenly felt guilty. He should have controlled the tour dates more, given some consideration to what impact it would have on her. “I’m sorry,” he said frowning. “I’ll call the White House Communication’s Office and let them know that this is getting to be too much.”
“It’s not too much, Daddy. Stop worrying,” Charlize said, putting her head back into the book.
“Okay, we’re live in five, four, three, two…” he pointed at the host and stepped back.
“Welcome to the American Breakfast Show. I’m your host, Lillian Dawson. I’m here with the winner of President Winbach’s Campaign logo winner, Charlize Sullivan and her lovely family. Charlize is the second of twins born to award-winning campaign strategist, former Blue Dog and former DLC president, Sullivan Orrin. So nice to have you all here.”
“Thank you,” Charlize said in unison with her family. She fidgeted in the seat and kept her eyes on Lillian.
“Than
k you for coming,” Lillian said with a bright smile. “Now, you were picked out of over 100,000 students to represent President Winbach in his upcoming election campaign. How does that feel?”
“It’s amazing,” Charlize said, remembering her learned talking points. “My father and I were the first to find out. And it was an amazing feeling. I’m a big supporter of President Winbach and I like to think a future democrat.”
There was a brief shot of her painting posted up on the monitor, then a photo of the family at the White House being greeted by the President, following a live wide shot of them on the sofa.
Lillian laughed. “Wonderful. Well, you are an amazing and brilliant young girl. How old are you?”
“Ten,” Charlize said looking over at her brother. “Well, we both are.”
“And your brother, Benjamin, I am told is an excellent football player. Is that right, Benjamin?”
“The best quarterback Hamilton Preparatory Academy has ever seen,” Benny touted. “And please call me Benny.”
“All right, Benny,” Lillian said. “You’re quite a little charmer.” She turned her attention to Sully. “Now, you all have an amazing story, Mr. Orrin? The children are both a result of an IVF process that has taken the country by storm. Everyone is talking about it, and a story was just released today by the Norfolk Daily Press’s Robert Guffery posting that the president of Sophie’s Choice, Charlize Mendoza, is the donor. Now, that is an amazing story, especially considering that she has advocated for InVitro Fertilization as well as other alternative on many occasions.”
Charlize frowned. “What? Charlie is our mom?” She looked over at her dad for an answer.
Sully put his hand around his daughter. Frowning he turned to Lillian, “This interview is over.” Snatching off his mic, he stood up and took the microphones off his kids.”
“But Mr. Sullivan,” Lillian said, trying to get him to sit down.
“Don’t you dare try to raise your ratings by attacking my poor children and invading our privacy. This conversation is over, and you can guarantee that I won’t be giving your producer a do-over,” Sully said, picking up his daughter in his arms. “Benny, let’s go.”
The Contingency Plan (The Lonely Heart Series) Page 17