A Summer to Remember(52)
I slid the key inside the lock and turned it before I opened the door and closed it behind me only after I removed the key.
“Babe, is that you?” Paul called out in an excited voice.
“Yeah,” I responded and tried to conjure up more warmth that was firmly lacking from my voice.
Paul strolled into the hallway holding a bottle of Pinot Grigio before he embraced me. My arms slid around his neck and I held on tightly before I remembered a bottle separated part of our bodies from each other.
“I was just about to open this when I called your place and Talia told me you left and decided to come here tonight.”
“Then why don’t you do that and I’ll meet you in the sitting room.” I watched him walk back into the kitchen while I strolled into the sitting room and set my Birkin down on the floor.
Inside was a pack of Camel Lights yet I hadn’t had a cigarette since my university days. I was determined not to smoke but just the thought of Ashley’s words forced me to hunt down the unopened pack, tore off the filmy wrapper and grabbed a ciggie from the pack. I had a silver lighter from Tiffany & Co. and I quickly grabbed it before I stepped out onto the balcony.
The sun was setting and the mélange of golden hues was a beauty to behold. Central Park was no where from here and the view was unbelievable. There was an ashtray because Paul’s father smoked expensive Cuban cigars and I immediately lit up as I watched the traffic.
The smoke rushed into my lungs as I inhaled deeply and as I exhaled, it was like I’d never quit except for the major nicotine hit that went directly to my head. I felt light headed yet in control of the situation despite a heart that raced so fast I feared it might beat itself right out of my chest.
“What are you doing out here and I thought you quit?”
I turned toward Paul and smiled lopsided at him. “I did but after the day I’ve had…please forgive me if I am not the perfect girlfriend right now.”
He walked over and handed me a glass of white wine which I immediately sipped from before I dragged off my cigarette again.
“What happened?”
“Ashley happened…and yet again in a restaurant so I don’t know if we are mind readers for one another or what. She claimed something shady went down between you two at the retreat and you know I don’t believe her but I also hate cheating, Paul. Kevin did it to me too many times and I turned a blind eye because I didn’t want to fight with him but I’m not twenty-two anymore.”
My body faced his though I held my wine glass in my left hand while I clutched my cigarette in my right. “So tell me, did anything happen or was she just trying to wind me up? If all she wanted to do was piss me off then she did a damn good job at it because I fell for it hook, line and sinker. I hate I think anything she would say could possibly be the truth. I seriously need you to talk me down the ledge here.”
The look on his face said it all but somehow I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. All I wanted was for the earth to open up and swallow me whole. I didn’t want to hear the truth from those beautiful pink lips or those crystal blue eyes that begged for understanding and reason.
I couldn’t be reasonable, not with a situation like this.
“Paul, say something. You’re scaring me,” I whispered.
He sipped from his wine and balanced the glass on the ledge. “It’s not what you think, Jerrica. I didn’t sleep with her if that is what she told you. We were together last night and we talked and had a decent conversation. I told her about how she made me feel because she treated you so awful and she cried and begged for me to come back to her.
“I told her I couldn’t because my life was here with you and that wasn’t going to change. I explained how we were in love and then I excused myself and went to the restroom. I came back and finished my drink. This morning…I woke up in my bed naked and there was note on the bed thanking me for a great time from her. I honestly don’t remember what happened after I returned from the restroom though…I swear to God.”
It would have been comical if I couldn’t help but believe him. His brow beaded with sweat and he honestly look like he was frightened of my reaction. If the situation had been reversed and he was a woman, rape charges could be filed but what could he do? No one would believe him and I honestly didn’t want anyone to find out about this.
I was more embarrassed for him than I think he was because was it really cheating if Ashley slipped Rohypnol in his drink and he awoke the next morning with signs of sexual activity although he had no knowledge of them happening?