PULSE (Part Four)(2)

"You made the bet that night?" I need him to clarify that.
"No wonder they only let you peel carrots at the restaurant. You're too stupid to do anything else." He pivots on his heel and turns to the side. "I'm going back to my table." He motions towards a group of three men staring at us.
"Drew." I tap him on his back. "Hey, Drew."
He turns sharply. "What now, Jess?"
"This." I swing my right hand back, pull it into a tight fist, take a heavy breath and almost fall forward as I punch him square in the jaw.




Chapter 2

"Someone call the police." Drew stumbles back to his feet by grabbing hold of the edge of the table. "That bitch broke my jaw."
"It's not broken," I whisper under my breath. I can't say the same for my hand. I'm thankful for the throbbing pain in it. It's chasing away the ache I feel inside. The ache that came when I realized Nathan was nothing but a disgusting bastard.
"You're not calling anyone." Nathan's voice barrels through the loud hum of the room. I feel his hands encircle my waist and pull me to my feet.
"I'm pressing charges." Blood is dripping slowly from the corner of Drew's mouth onto his white t-shirt. "She's going to jail tonight."
"Listen to me, you dumb f*ck." Nathan pulls me closer to him with one hand as his other darts out to push on Drew's chest. "You drop this now or you're going to regret it."
"Fuck you," Drew mumbles through a wad of paper napkins that are covering his mouth. There's so much blood. "She needs to be charged with assault."
"You push this and…" Nathan's hand drops from me as he takes a heavy step. "I'm going to have Cassie drag your ass into court for all that past child support you owe."
I reach back to grab hold of a chair. Cassie? Did he just say Cassie's name to Drew?
"Cassie?" Drew's voice cracks as the name leaves his lips. "My Cassie?"
"You're a pathetic piece of shit." Nathan fists his hands in the front of Drew's shirt. "What kind of man doesn't provide for his own children?"
I stare at Drew's face as the color leaves it. He's ashen. His expression stoic as he lowers the napkins from his mouth.
"He's their dad?" I hear the words leave my lips before I register them within my brain. He's the twins' father? He was married to Cassandra?
"You know her too?" Drew's eyes dart to my face. "What kind of f*cked up game are you two playing?"
"You're her ex-husband?" My hand glides across my forehead. How can that be? Why didn't Nathan tell me that Drew was Cassandra's ex?
Drew lunges past Nathan towards me. "You set me up, you bitch."
Nathan steps to the side to intercept him, his hands jumping to Drew's shoulders. "I set you up."
I feel my knees buckle. I can't process all of this. I don't understand why I'm in the middle of this. I twist my neck sharply and search through the crowd for Rebecca. I need her to help me. I want her to help me understand what's going on.
"Give me back my money." Drew pushes against Nathan to no avail. "You set me up."
"That money was for Cassie." Nathan pushes him back. "It was for your kids."
The mention of Allie and Aaron stops Drew in his tracks. "You don't know anything about my kids."
"I know you're a sad excuse for a father," Nathan scowls. "You gambled away everything."
I feel so lost. It's almost as though I've stepped into another universe. I need to leave. I push myself back up from the chair and my eyes settle on the green-eyed stranger who brought Nathan a beer.
"I have to go," I whisper as much to him as to the heavy, emotionally filled air that is suffocating me.
"I'll take you." He stands and reaches out his hand.
"My friend is here." I motion towards the table I shared with Rebecca. A group of older men are sitting there now. I scan the people gathered near us and her face doesn't appear.
"Cassie put you up to this, didn't she?" The distant sound of Drew's raised voice arguing with Nathan rings through me as I step out into the darkness and the heavy night air.



Chapter 3

"Where did you go?" I place the mug of hot coffee I've been nursing for the past ten minutes down on the table. "You bailed on me."
"I saw you with Fingers." Rebecca pours herself some before she turns to me. "You never mentioned that he knew Drew."
She's diverting the conversation. "You just got up and left. You didn't think to come tell me?" I'm pissed and I have every right to be. It was her idea to go get a beer in the first place and because of that my entire life fell apart in the space of five minutes.
"Jess, you were sitting with Nathan." She spits out his name as if it's vile. "You were busy so I called it a night."
"You knew, didn't you?" I ask even though I'm sure of the answer. "You knew Drew was married to Cassandra."
"What?" The coffee that was just in her mouth is now spread out unceremoniously all over the table and the front of my robe.
I cock a brow at the reaction. She may be good at manipulating people and getting her way but I doubt that even she could mock surprise so convincingly. "You didn't know?"
"You're wrong." She reaches for a paper towel to soak up the mess. "There's no way he was married to her."