The Redemption(43)

I run outside to my car. I’m five minutes down the road before I realize I didn’t finish putting on my makeup, but I know he won’t care. I see the way he looks at me. He more than likes me. He practically it said yesterday. I’m not sure I would call my feelings full blown star-crossed lovers love yet, but it sure feels like the beginning of something ‘spectacular.’ I need to talk to him, to talk this through with him, to apologize for everything I said. His plane for the last leg of the tour leaves in an hour, so I know he’ll be up, but I’ve got to hurry.

After tapping in the code to his gate, I park next to a white convertible BMW. Makes me wonder if he got a new car though I’ve never thought of him as a BMW kind of guy. That will throw the paps off his trail for sure. I knock twice before finding the door unlocked. When no one answers, I walk in. I see a martini glass with a few shot glasses on the coffee table and get a sick feeling in my stomach, making me pause at the bottom of the stairs. I ascend them slowly, my gut telling me to go back to my car and call first. I go, my curiosity winning out. When I reach the second level, I walk to his room, finding the door cracked open. I push it the rest of the way open with one finger and my jaw drops along with my heart.

Platinum blonde hair, long, tan legs stretch across his bed, her breast exposed though the sheet does me the favor of keeping the rest of her body covered. Firenza.

Her blue eyes look up from the phone she’s been reading, and she smiles. Elbowing Dex’s back, she says, “We have company, Tiger.”

“Rochelle?” His voice follows me as I turn and run down the stairs, but Dex catches me before I reach the front door. Looking down, I make sure he’s not naked, not needing the gross reminder of what he was doing, which was very clear as he likes to say. “Let go of me, you bastard.”

He has the nerve to be angry with me when he asks, “What are you doing here? You wanted nothing to do with me, so why are you here?”

Like a sucker punch, his words hit me in the gut, making me nauseous. Stepping back, he releases me. When I look up at him, his eyes are glazed and bloodshot.

“I came over here to tell you I was wrong. That I thought that maybe we were meant to be like you led me to believe.”

A different emotion takes over his expression completely, and he says, “Rochelle… please.” He gulps while reaching for me again. “I didn—”

“You didn’t what, Dex?” All the adrenaline, the anger I had a minute before has left, leaving me defeated and deflated. “I thought you were right, but Janice was. Guess a ‘tiger’ can’t change his stripes after all.”

“Don’t do this. You told me you didn’t want to be with me. You said I was bad when all I’ve done is bend over backwards to prove to you that I’m good. You pushed me away.”

I’m tired of crying, but they come anyway. “Not judgment, disbelief that one argument led to this. I stayed home and cried, hurt, confused, but alone. You call a f*ck buddy over after telling me ‘We matter.’ We obviously don’t or you wouldn’t have had sex with her, and her of all people.”

“It’s just push and f*cking pull with you. I get you’ve been hurt, but you chose to live with the pain than to move past it with me. I’m only doing what you and Cory’s mother say I do. It’s like manifest motherf*cking destiny or some shit. So f*ck this. I’m done.”

We stare into each other’s eyes, neither of us relenting until a cleared throat grabs our attention and we look up. Firenza stands on the top of the staircase in a tank that looks a lot like one of Dex’s. “Come back to bed, Antonio.”

When I look back to him, the disgust I feel far outweighs my weak emotions that I once felt for him. “And here I thought you were the good guy…”

There’s a shift in his demeanor. I may be physically right here, but he knows my heart is already gone. Reaching for me, his voice wavers when he says, “Rochelle?” Regret colors him. “I didn’t mean…”

Fear takes over in his eyes as I back away. The pain in my chest makes me want to run, but I won’t let them win, refusing to let either of them see me breakdown. I open the door and start to leave, making it halfway to my car before I stop, and say, “As your business manager, I should remind you that your flight leaves in thirty minutes.”

“Fuck!” I hear him yell before the door slams closed.

I get in my car and yell the same thing but for entirely different reasons.





When I open the door to my house, Janice is there and stands from the couch. I thought she’d be gone, wishing she had. I swipe at my eyes, hoping she doesn’t see my tears. “Rochelle? Are you okay?”

“No,” I reply, walking past her and going to my room. I slam the door closed and lay down on the bed, wishing for this day to go away, wishing I could go away for a few hours from myself.

I’m tired of being strong. Curling into a ball on my side, I finally drop the act I’ve put on for everyone else and cry. I give myself an hour to recover, but my heart is refusing the deadline. No matter how much I remind myself that I have to get ready for the meetings, I still struggle to pull myself together. This ache in my chest makes me think I’m mourning more than just the loss of Dex. Cory is always on my mind. I used to be happy. I used to carefree. I used to have a heart full of love. Now… I miss him. I miss the ease of our life together.