True

by Grace, Gwendolyn

  True

  Copyright © 2014 Gwendolyn Grace

  All rights reserved.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Cover Design by Fiction Genie © 2014

  Editing by R. Tidwell

  Photo Credit: Shutterstock

  This is for everyone who believed in me more than I believed in myself.

  I love you all.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  PART 1

  Chapter One

  Present.

  "Oh, my poor little bunny!" I study the thermometer that now reads 101, and rub my baby girl's back who is lying beside me feeling miserable with a fever.

  "Mommy will be right back with something cool for your forehead and a yummy drink, okay?" I say softly. Jordyn nods her head as her eyes drift closed. I gather everything I need from the medicine cabinet in the bathroom and head downstairs to pour a small glass of juice. As with most three-year-olds, she always needs to have juice immediately after taking liquid medicine. When I get back to her room, Alex is sitting on her bed, rubbing her head and talking softly to her.

  "How are you feeling, little bear?" Jordyn's golden brown eyes flash as she corrects her daddy.

  "Bunny, dada. I'm a bunny."

  "Oh, sorry, little bunny." Alex quickly recovers. "How are you feeling, little bunny?" He emphasizes. Jordyn is going through this strange phase where she wants to be referred to as little "something." So far she's been little bear, little grasshopper, even little football, which came about after she spent an evening with Alex watching the super bowl. We've obliged her. At first, because it was cute, but now because it's just easier to play along. We're hoping that she'll outgrow this.

  "My head hurts, dada." Jordyn whines as she snuggles closer to her daddy. I know that his heart is melting. Alex loves when the girls call him dada. He lovingly pushes her wild mass of dark curls from her face and lightly brushes his lips over her warm forehead. When his eyes meet mine, I can see just a hint of worry lingering there. I shake a small bottle of liquid ibuprofen as I step forward with a reassuring smile.

  "Here's mommy with something to make you feel better." He moves aside while I attempt to get as much of the recommended dosage into Jordyn's mouth. I wipe the orange dribble from her chin, satisfied that what she took in will suffice, then place a cool cloth onto her forehead while she sips her juice.

  "Lie down, little bunny, so you can start to feel better soon." My poor baby nods sweetly and drifts off to sleep.

  Alex and I return to our room just as both bedside alarms go off.

  Great! So much for going back to sleep.

  With a sigh, I go downstairs to start the coffee while Alex goes into the bathroom. Several minutes later, I run back upstairs to wake up Olivia. As usual my oldest is already sitting up stretching and yawning. She's a morning person, thankfully.

  "Morning, mommy." She says cheerfully.

  "Good morning, sweet girl. Hop up and get dressed. Don't forget to brush your teeth." I remind her. She nods while scooting out of bed. I don't even attempt to pick out Liv's clothes anymore. At seven, she's turned into quite the fashion diva and since she usually does such a good job I just go with what she chooses.

  Walking back into my bedroom I see that Alex is already dressed in his standard attire, pressed slacks and colored polo shirt. Today, it's dark blue. He's sitting on the bed tying his shoes.

  "Alex!" I cry in outrage.

  "What?" he shouts back obviously startled.

  "Jordyn is sick and needs to stay home. I can't send her to daycare with a fever."

  "Well, okay. Just keep her home." He answers as if he's stating the obvious.

  "Yes, that was the plan, but who’s staying home with her?"

  Alex stares at me blankly for a moment, and then his expression slowly turns to one of confusion followed by anger.

  "Don't pull this shit, Court. You know I have to go to the office."

  "Yes and so do I. Are you telling me that your job is more important than mine?" Granted, Alex is a regional manager at the water supply company. And yes, he makes a lot more money than me, and, as a result, he is pretty much supporting our entire household. But, I also have a job as an accountant with an architectural design firm, which is owned by my best friend's husband.

  "Look, I never said that." Alex growls impatiently. "I would stay home if I could. My team has a big proposal that needs to be presented this afternoon, and I need to be there to work out a few more details. Please. Can you give me a break for once?" He pushes up from the bed and walks past me to go downstairs. He taps on Olivia's door and sticks his head in to tell her good morning. He then stops at Jordyn's room but closes the door again almost immediately, probably because she's still sleeping. I silently follow him downstairs until he reaches the kitchen.

  "Why do you always assume that I'll be the one to stay home any time the girls are sick? I have a job too. People depend on me also. I have a boss that gets angry when I miss days of work!"

  "Please," he scoffs. "You work for our best friends. We have too much dirt on them for you to ever worry about being fired." His attempt to make light of things angers me even more. I can feel my cheeks begin to heat up.

  "You're missing the point, Alex! I have important things to do today just like you. It would be nice to discuss this like responsible parents instead of you assuming that I will handle it all! Why do I have to be the one to take care of everything? Do you think all you have to do is go to work and receive a paycheck?" At this point, I know that I'm crossing into the land of irrational hysterics, but I can't stop myself. Perhaps it is the lack of sleep or maybe the issue is something much deeper than this discussion.

  I watch Alex pour himself a cup of coffee and sip it calmly as if I haven't said a word to him. He knows it enrages me when he does this, yet I play into his behavior every time.

  "Did you hear me, Alex? Do you have a response for anything I've said?" Alex studies the countertop for several moments. His jaw begins ticking rapidly before he responds in a low voice.

  "Fine, Court. You win. I'll call the office and tell them I'm not coming in today." He pushes away from the counter and walks to stand in front of me. "While I'm home, I'll spend the afternoon searching for another job. I mean, if we fuck up this proposal, we'll all be looking for new jobs anyway. Whatever will make YOU happy, Queen Courtney. All you ever care about is getting your way, fuck what anyone else wants!" He spits out his words through clenched teeth.

  Why do I suddenly feel like shit?

  Probably because it is not imperative that I go to work today. I know the office isn't going to crumble after one day without me. More than anything I just wanted him to understand my point. Apparently, he does not.

  I let ou
t a long sigh, and Alex pulls out his phone and scrolls through his contacts until he finds the number he needs.

  "Wait. Alex, don't worry about it. I'll stay home with Jordyn, and you go into the office."

  "No, no. That's it. I'm staying here." He shakes his head at me, his eyes never leaving his phone.

  "No, it's fine. I want to stay with Jordyn. If I don't I'll end up being worried about her all day and end up coming home early."

  I watch Alex's nostrils flare and color darken his cheeks.

  "Then what the fuck did we just spend fifteen minutes arguing about? Jesus Christ, woman!" He bellows while simultaneously slamming his cup onto the counter. He then grabs his keys and laptop bag from the table.

  "I'm going to work. I'll check on Jordyn later." He grumbles over his shoulder before exiting out of the side door that leads to the garage.

  I stand there listening to the garage door open and close followed by his car engine fading away. So many emotions flow through me. Anger that he didn't get my point. Frustration, because I am unable to figure out how to properly communicate it to him. Foolishness, because he was right about the time wasting argument. But most of all, I just feel cold indifference towards my husband, the man I've loved for ten years. This emotion is the most dangerous feeling of all and I can't stop it from growing stronger every day.

  Chapter Two

  Past- 10 years ago.

  "Yes, Mrs. King. I have you scheduled for 10am on Thursday. Nico will be your stylist..." As soon as I finished confirming the appointment, I immediately replaced the receiver and turned back to my best friend, DeeDee. "Ok, finish the story. Joey locked you out…" I anxiously waved my hand at to her to pick up where she left off.

  "So after I find out that he has chain locked the front door," DeeDee continued. "I decide to go around back and climb the fire escape to get to the back door. But that's locked too. I am so pissed by this point that I slam my fist against the window, and the fucking thing actually shatters!"

  "Shut up, DeeDee. You did not punch your fist through the window!" I gasped unable to hide my shock.

  "I know!" She squeaked. "It surprised the shit out of me too. Since I'd already punched a hole in the window, I reached my hand inside to unlock the door. As I'm fumbling for the deadbolt, I look down and notice for the first time that the rug on the floor isn't familiar. That's when I realize that this is not my apartment. This is the second floor, and we live on the third floor.

  "Oh my god!" I cried out loud enough to draw the attention of everyone in the salon. Embarrassed, I put my hand to my mouth and fall into hysterical laughter.

  "Court, I could have died of mortification right there on the spot." She slapped my arm. "Stop laughing, bitch. It was a nightmare!"

  "I'm sorry, Dee." I quickly calmed my belly laughing to sporadic giggles. Customers around the salon were starting to throw curious glances our way. Nico especially, the look on his face said he was dying to come over here, but he was in the middle of what looked like a complicated haircut.

  "It's just so out of character for you. I'm in shock." DeeDee is a petite girl, standing no more than 5 feet tall with small hands so that means she has tiny fists. Nowhere near large enough to break through glass. "I can't believe you punched the window!" I stared at her in disbelief.

  "So what'd you do after that?" I asked. She looked up from the hair dye concoction she'd been pouring and mixing the whole time.

  "What do you think? I hurried my ass back down the stairs and ran to my car. Behind me, I hear Joey calling out, "Dee, what did you do?" but I kept running. Then he yelled from the fire escape, "You better not have done anything to the windows on my car. I will call the cops! You hear me!" I couldn't say anything back because I was so embarrassed, and the last thing I wanted him to know is that I punched out our neighbor's kitchen window."

  "What a dick! I can't believe him." I say, still trying to picture the whole scene in my head.

  DeeDee and Joey have been together since high school. He is your typical star quarterback turned drunken, frat boy-whore. Dee recently found out he'd been cheating on her for a while with different girls all over campus. It had become so obvious in the last few months that it was almost as if he wanted to get caught.

  "What about the neighbor and the window?"

  "Well, this morning, I knocked on his door and explained to him what happened. He was very cool with everything and told me don't worry about the damage but I put a check in his mailbox anyway.

  "What about Joey?"

  "I'm so done with him and I told him I'd be there to get my stuff this evening after work." She leaned forward with a pout and puppy dog eyes. "Will you come with me? Please?" She knew how much I detested Joey. I have always avoided being in the same room with him as much as I could help it, but she was my best friend so of course I eventually caved.

  "Fine, but promise me no drama. Keep your mouth shut and just get your stuff. Deal?"

  “Deal.”

  We were shaking hands as the front doorbell chimed, and we watched as our walking dream, Alex, enter with his weekly delivery of water bottles.

  "Hi, Alex." DeeDee and I called out in unison like a bunch of lovesick fan-girls. We only knew his name because that's what the tag on his shirt said, not because he'd ever spent any time talking to us.

  "Hi." He grinned sheepishly back at us, while effortlessly flashing a kissable dimple. We watched as he rolled his cart to the water cooler and replaced all the empty bottles with new ones. We drooled as his biceps flexed and released every time he lifted one of the heavy five-gallon containers. When he was done, he pulled a pencil from behind his ear, scribbled something on the invoice and handed the paper to me.

  "Sign this for me, please?" He asked politely with another dead sexy smile. I couldn't stop admiring the way his thick dark lashes fanned over his gorgeous golden brown eyes. At that moment, I would do anything he asked.

  "Sure." I answered breathlessly and shot a quick glance to DeeDee, who was absently twirling her long blond ponytail with a finger, the bowl of hair dye forgotten. I scratched out my name, and he handed me a copy of the receipt.

  "Thanks. Take it easy." He said with a head nod. The bells chimed once again as he rolled his cart out of the door. When he was out of sight, DeeDee and I both collapsed against the pastel pink reception desk, feeling boneless.

  "Yoo-Hoo, DeeDee? Are you ready for me yet?" A voice behind us called from the lounge area.

  "Yes, Mrs Wheeler. I've got the color all mixed up for you. Follow me." DeeDee reminded me of my promise to help her get her stuff tonight then led Mrs. Wheeler away.

  *****

  "Get out of my way, Joey! This is my coffee pot! I bought this with my money." DeeDee shouted and held tight to the glass coffee pot.

  "No, my mom bought that coffee maker for me when I moved in here. Give it back!" Joey shouted, blocking DeeDee from leaving through the front door. From outside the apartment, I rolled my eyes to the sky. We'd almost made it out, with no drama. Joey had stayed out of our way for the most part until DeeDee grabbed that damn thing.

  "Right," DeeDee continued. "But you cracked the first glass pot, so I went and bought this one. See!" She shoved it in his face before quickly pulling it back under her protective hold. "Mine."

  "What the hell are you going to do with a coffee pot and no coffee maker!" Joey yelled loud enough for the whole complex to hear.

  "Doesn't matter. It’s mine so don't worry about --”

  "Oh. My. God! Are you kidding me?" I screeched from outside the doorway. "Both of y'all are being ridiculous! If that coffee pot doesn't leave or stay in the next two seconds, I swear to you both that I'm going to grab it and throw it over this railing!" I pointed down the three stories that lead to the concrete sidewalk below. "Grow the fuck up!" I threw up my hands incredulously. Finally, Joey stepped back into the apartment and quickly returned with the rest of the coffeemaker, shoving it at DeeDee.

  "Fine, take that too. Satisfied? Now can you
please get the fuck out of my apartment?"

  "With pleasure, asshole." DeeDee replied, barely managing to clear the entryway before Joey slammed the door, hard. DeeDee hopped forward with a squeak as the door tapped her behind before it banged shut. We heard Joey clicking the locks closed like a douche as we walked away.

  I glanced over at my friend for any indication of her reaction to what just happened. I knew that underneath all the bravado DeeDee loved Joey, and was probably taking this much harder than she was letting on.

  As we settled into her car, I turned to her as she started the ignition.

  "You okay, Dee? I know that was tough, but you did the right thing. You deserve better than Joey. Someone who only wants you. Your guy does exist." I squeezed her hand to emphasize my belief in what I'd just said. DeeDee's eyes turned misty, and I could tell she was about to break.

  "Thanks. Love you, girl." She croaked before she pulled me into a hug and balled her eyes out for several minutes. Between sobs, she talked about how much she hated Joey and how stupid she'd been for wasting five years of her life with him. Next, she was saying that she loved him and couldn't believe it was over. When the sobbing and hiccups slowed, I handed DeeDee one of her t-shirts from her bag of clothes in the back seat to wipe her face.

  After she'd calmed down, and the tears subsided, she blew her nose on the shirt and tossed it on the floor in the back seat.

  "Ew. That is really gross, Dee."

  She shrugged at me and giggled as she touched up her make up in the mirror.

  "So guess what?" She asked and from her tone I can tell the answer was something devious.

  "What?" I gave the standard reply while eying her suspiciously. She was grinning like a Cheshire cat, and I knew whatever she said next was going to be good.

  "You know how we wanted to go to Dreamfest tonight but the tickets were sold out?"

  "Yeah." I answered cautiously. Dreamfest was an all night concert featuring some of the hottest Indie music in a variety of genres from all over the world. It was the first time the concert had come to our area and we were bummed to discover that the tickets had sold out in four hours.