Before I finished, there was a knock at the door.
“Wow, That was fast,” I told Tori when I opened the door.
“Yeah, we’re just down the hall.”
Tori gave me a hug while Dylan walked passed her and gave Miko a fist bump.
“Well, don’t you two look like the happy couple,” Dylan joked sarcastically.
I noticed that we do—Miko and I are both wearing matching bathrobes and having breakfast together. I smiled and rolled my eyes at Dylan; Miko told him to knock it off.
“And what is he doing here?” I asked Tori, referring to Dylan.
“Don’t worry, he won’t say anything until you’re ready,” she said as she took my arm and guided me to the bed. The suite’s an open floor plan, but we’re far enough away—and divided by a bookshelf—that we can talk with some privacy.
She immediately started pleading for me to call King. I put my hand in the air to stop her.
“There’s nothing for me to say to him, Tori. I heard everything I need to know from the horse’s mouth.”
“She lied.”
“The only one who’s lying is King, Tori. Through his fucking teeth. OK, she may have exaggerated, but there’s gotta be some truth there. She had pictures of them together—I’m sure you saw them, too, by now. And after everything she said… The damage is done. I just need to stay away from him for a while.”
“No, you don’t understand. He hasn’t done a single thing wrong. Those pictures were bogus...”
“I see he got to you.”
“No, wait. I believe him. The pictures she showed you were all photo-shopped...they were all made up. They had to be; he hasn’t even talked to her.”
“Oh that’s such bullshit; that’s what he keeps saying…”
She quickly raised her hand to stop me from saying anything further.
“Listen to me, Giorgio’s team has taken tons of pictures of King and they’re legally not allowed to post lies anymore—that’s why she only showed you pictures on her phone and nothing ended up on the Internet. I searched; there was only a pretty factual story about the fight, but no flat-out lies or fake pictures. But there’s nothing stopping her from photo-shopping pictures and having them on her phone. She’s a liar and she’s trying to gain some local fame, Ava…you have to see that,” she said, handing me her phone.
I couldn’t tell just by looking at them, but on Tori’s screen were pictures of King that looked very similar to the ones that were in the articles, which are now taken down. Layla’s not in any of them, just King. And one even looked similar to the kinds of pictures she showed me last night. But who can tell anymore? I’m done with the drama. I want out of this.
“Why are you acting like King’s advocate? I thought you were my best friend.”
“I am your best friend, which is why I’m doing what I think is best for you, girl.”
“So tell me honestly what you think is going on. Honestly, Tori.”
“This is all made up by Layla or Giorgio’s team. I don’t know why she’s stalking your boyfriend, but King didn’t do anything she claims he did. He didn’t cheat on you, he doesn’t want her, he hasn’t seen her at all, and those pictures aren’t real. And you know that everyone involved was given either a cease and desist order, or the threat of a slander lawsuit. They can’t photo-shop any more pictures or write any lies. Why else would she find you and confront you with pictures only on her phone?” she explained.
“I just don’t understand,” I admitted. “Why would she go through all of this? She told me they’ve been sleeping together; she had details, Tori. She knew he dumped me at the hotel before running to her, she knows that he’s bored playing reindeer-games with a teenager—which I’ve always waited to happen. She knows he’s done with me.”
“What? He’s not done with you, Ava. Not even close.”
“Do you know that for sure? And I mean, she sent me flowers—how did she know our room number? It doesn’t make sense that this is a game anymore.”
“Yes it does. Sex sells. And I’m sure she doesn’t know your room number; the hotel probably delivered the flowers, just like that note was delivered to you,” she said, pointing to King’s note on the bed next to me.
“Then why wouldn’t King have warned me? Why didn’t he protect me from all of this…from that bitch confronting me and embarrassing the hell out of me in public?” I said, starting to feel exasperated.
Confusion overwhelmed me. I think I’m emotionally tapped out from this week’s abuse. My emotions couldn’t make sense of the words Tori was saying to me versus the feelings I’ve been struggling with all night.
“He had no idea this was going to happen; he was just as surprised and horrified as you were. These people are fucked up; but that has nothing to do with King. And remember, we were dancing for a while—he tried to reach you, you didn’t respond. Oh, speaking of, here’s your purse,” she said, pulling my small bag out of her large Louis Vuitton shoulder bag. “That thing was shaking all night, until King figured out I had your phone with me.”
Dread filled me. Could it be that King’s on my side in all of this? Were the last twelve hours of devastation all for nothing? Did I spaz out like a teenaged drama queen?
Oh no; I may have kept King up the night before his fight…for nothing. We’ll, almost nothing. If nothing, except that King put me in this situation, is true… What I put everyone through...
“Look, this week’s been crazy. He completely understands what you’re going through, and why,” she looked at Miko, emphasizing her point. “He truly loves you and I believe everything he’s saying. He’s been frantic all night trying to reach you, Ava. Will you please just call him and put both of you out of your misery?”
“I can’t just flip my emotions back and forth like that. It’s more than Layla and the pictures, Tori. Even if he claims that’s all bullshit, I’m now starting to see that Layla might be right—I may be too young for him. This mess isn’t what my life was like six months ago…this drama is new to me. Maybe someone older, more experienced, can handle it but I don’t think I can,” I said, taking the final sip of the Bloody Mary and using the tissue Tori passed me to wipe my fresh tears. “And I still don’t know what to believe, Tori. All I know is I feel so incredibly stupid.”
“I know, hon. I know Layla sold you a good one, but remember, she’s the only one who, at the time she came to the club, didn’t have a ‘shut the fuck up’ letter. Giorgio, his manager, and that stupid MMA site were the only ones to get cease and desist orders. Well, I’m sure she has one now.”
I sniffed and took a deep breath. “I’m just not ready to talk to him yet,” I said.
“OK, but at least read his note. Maybe it’ll help,” Tori said before walking to the table of food and grabbing a muffin from the breadbasket and sitting on a chair with the guys.
I lifted the envelope up, hesitating briefly before opening it. My hands were shaking from nerves—even though Tori made her case, I had no idea what is inside this envelope or how it would make me feel. I don’t know who’s telling lies, and where they all start and end. All I know is that I’m so hypersensitive right now. The slightest trigger could make me laugh or cry at the drop of a dime.
And I had to deal with the feeling of hope that suspiciously started creeping into me—that pissed me off to no extent. I opened the envelope and was surprised to see he wrote the note by hand himself. I don’t know why that surprised me, but I’m pretty sure this is the first time I’ve seen his handwriting. I felt a knot in my throat develop.
Princess,
Please talk to me; I don’t know what she said to you, but I promise it’s a lie. I will explain everything, as much as I can. Just know that nothing is as it seems, I promise. I have never lied to you about anything, so please give me a chance to explain. Nothing has changed since before we came here—I am yours one hundred percent.
I love you more than life itself.
Knox
Seeing his
handwriting for the first time, and hoping that his words were honest made me break down, yet again. Tears were rolling down my cheeks and my sobs were uncontrollable. I was caught up in conflicting emotions that were a mixed bag of suspicion, hope, embarrassment and guilt.
Yes guilt. If this ends up being true, what he and Tori are saying, I’ll have put us through hours of pain and annoyance, unnecessarily. Sure I still reserve the right to be pissed about the overall situation, but that wouldn’t have stopped me from seeing him last night.
And all of this happened on a night when he needed calm…and sleep. I thought it was King crushing me, but maybe in reality I was crushing him.
I felt the guilt start to take over the anger and hurt. This is all too much, and I don’t know what to think or believe…or even feel. All I could detect was confusion…and I know I’m in a situation that’s way over my head.
But I do know one thing for sure: only seeing King can straighten this out. I pulled my phone from my purse and opened it to see a ton of alerts on my home page. A dozen calls, even more texts, and a handful of emails—the vast majority of which were surely from King—and the battery alert telling me the phone battery was about to go dead.
But I ignored all of the alerts for now. I opened a text to him and hoped I wasn’t making a mistake.
I need to see you.
That was all I could send. It was a bit passive/aggressive, I know. I wasn’t able to ask to see him, or to tell him what to do. So I just put it out there. He responded immediately.
What room are you in?
Uh…I don’t really want to give him Miko’s room number, but fuck it. I need to see him. And if he comes here, I could stay in the comfy robe with tissues nearby. These tears won’t dry anytime soon.
6030. But King, for me, please promise that you won’t take this out on Miko.
I didn’t get a response, but was fairly confident that he would be more focused on me than Miko right now.
King knocked on the door a minute after I sent that text; Dylan, Miko, and Tori swung their heads in my direction. I was still crying, so I just waved my phone in the air and nodded.
“Oh, thank God,” Tori said while getting up to open the door.
I heard her say “hey”, then she opened the door wide enough for him to enter. He took a few steps in then paused. His eyes found me immediately and he stared at me for a beat, then looked at Miko. From all the way across the room I could see his jaw clench and his hands roll into fists. I guess he spotted the bathrobes.
“You fucking asshole,” King practically growled at Miko before taking a step toward him.
At the same time, I yelled King’s name and Dylan stood to stop him. One or the other, or maybe both, made King shrug Dylan’s hand off his arm and stop moving toward Miko.
“And you. How long have you known where she was?” King demanded of Dylan.
“Dude, I just got here. Ava sent Tori the room number like five minutes ago.”
“I’ll deal with you later. And you,” he said nodding at Miko. “I’m gonna fucking…” he started, but I was crying so hard that I nearly wailed. I was scared King was going to attack Miko, when what I needed right now was to talk to him. King just shook his head and took a deep breath.
He continued to walk towards me with determination. His eyes bore into mine with each step, making me absolutely motionless. Everything seemed to stop and I held my breath. I hated how easily I softened to him. It took one look, or one touch, to make me forget my heartbreak and accept whatever he was going to give me.
Even with no sleep last night, he looked amazing in a tight t-shirt and dark jeans. I soaked him in, as much as my tears would allow. Stupid me; watching him come toward me was another reminder of how naïve I am. Like this beautiful, hot man could stay true to one girl, especially me. I envisioned what our current scene looked like; his perfection walking toward my puffy-faced hung-over mess of a teenager. …and another round of tears started.
When he reached the bed, he paused then slowly sat on the side near me, but far enough that I didn’t feel crowded. He continued to stare into my eyes, then he slowly raised a hand to gently wipe the tears off my cheek. His hand was so warm and I craved his touch so much that I instinctually rested my face in his hand and felt his touch calm the angst in my body.
“Princess,” he whispered.
I didn’t have the strength to stay away from him any longer; I crawled to where he was and sat in his lap, cuddling in to his chest while I sobbed. I felt his arms lovingly wrap around me and hold me close to him, and heard him shushing me to try to calm me down.
“Please explain this to me,” I said through my tears. I wasn’t being incredibly articulate with the flurry of thoughts in my head, but he knew exactly what I was trying to ask. He knew I need immediate confirmation from him before we could talk any further; before I could feel like I still belong on his lap.
“Baby, she lied—about everything. Just like before, they mashed up pictures of me with ones of her. But they can’t post those anymore, so she tried to get a rise out of you instead; the fight they can post. I haven’t even been alone with her for a second since the one night I knew her two years ago, I promise.”
I was shocked by my physical reaction to what he said. I started to cry harder, partially from the pain I was still feeling but also because the enormous relief I was starting to feel. I will need time to fully believe him, but for now I have hope that we are still what I thought we were.
Our relationship, our love, just might still be intact. A bit tattered, at the moment, but intact nonetheless. Just having that hope scared another round of tears out of me.
“Can I take you to our room? I think we could use some privacy,” he said, looking over his shoulder; our friends were pretending to not pay attention to us, but we both knew they were listening to every word.
I nodded. At that moment, I didn’t give a shit that I was in a bathrobe and my eyes were swollen and red. I wanted to be alone with him, but wasn’t in the mood to put on clothes and four-inch heels or clean up. I guess he figured as much.
I was already in his lap with my legs draped over the side of him, so he just moved his arms underneath me and stood.
I put my arms around his neck and rested my head against his chest as he carried me to the door; our friends didn’t say a thing. Tori jumped up to open the door for us, and he carried me down the hall and into the elevator, pressing the card to the reader for our room.
The elevator took us straight into our suite. Once inside, he carried me to the living room and set me down. I sat down on the sofa and tucked my feet underneath me, tightening the bathrobe belt.
The room was filled with light—the drapes were pulled back so the sun could pour into the room, making it a lot brighter than I felt. He handed me a bottle of water before picking up the phone.
“I’m ordering room service. More Bloody Marys?” he asked.
I nodded yes.
“Anything else?”
I shook my head no. I couldn’t talk; it’s like I was in shock. I just sat on the sofa pathetically while he ordered room service, with tears still slowly rolling down my face. A dark patch on the wall caught my attention and my eyes dropped to the smashed vase underneath the spot, and the black roses spread mixed in with the broken glass. I see that King took his anger out on my roses.
He hung up the phone when our order was placed, but he continued to stand for a while putting his thoughts together. I kept my eyes on him waiting for him to speak.
He wasn’t looking at me, but his eyes were darting around the room as if he was conflicted. Something was on his mind; I could tell that something very serious was eating away at him.
“I see my flowers didn’t survive the night,” I said, tipping my head toward the spot.
“Yeah,” he looked at the mess on the floor and chuckled. “I got a little angry when I heard you were at Miko’s.”
He slowly walked to the chair that was next to me and sat
, resting his elbows on his thighs and dropping his head into his hands. I grabbed a tissue and dabbed my face, preparing myself for a discussion. He sat still for a minute; then he lifted his gaze and sighed. He was finally looking at me, seemingly waiting for a good time to start.
“I know we’re not done talking about the run in with Layla and the lies and all that, but I have to know something. What happened between you and Miko last night?”
I unintentionally let out a small laugh due to the irony. He was actually worried about me cheating while I was sure he had cheated on me all week. He must have misinterpreted my reaction; his look of worry turned into fury. And like he always does when he tries to hide that he’s super pissed off, he clenched his jaw. Then he dropped his head back in his hands.
“King…” I started, but my tears overrode my voice and I couldn’t speak. His hands gripped his hair and I could feel his anger build. For some strange reason, his response made me laugh and lightened the tension I was feeling.
“King…”I giggled through my tears. It wasn’t an appropriate reaction, of course, but the sense of relief I was feeling made me elated—even with the tears still wet on my eyelashes. I wasn’t quite right in the emotional department just then.
“Nothing, my jealous boyfriend,” I teased. “Absolutely nothing happened; Miko was the perfect gentleman.”
His relief was palpable; he lifted his head with his jaw unclenched, the scowl left his face, and even his body seemed to relax. I smiled at him as I watched his range of emotions play out in front of me. He even smiled a little.
“I’m sorry, it’s just...you were both in bathrobes. I guess I jumped to the obvious conclusion.”
“He just got out of the shower when room service arrived. I’d just gotten out of bed and put a robe on. Miko slept on the sofa. Even if I wanted to get back at you for what I thought you did to me, I couldn’t do much more than cry and complain last night. It wasn’t a pretty scene.”
“I’m one hundred percent positive it was. I’ve seen you cry—too many times now—and you still look beautiful. Look, I know this week has been so fucked up and I know it’s my fault. I never should have signed us up for this. I’m sorry for how this has played out,” he said. “So, he didn’t try anything?”
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