The Exception(15)

As soon as she left, Drew looked at me and started shaking his head.

“I’m sorry about her asking you about your fiancé. Sometimes she has no filter or regard for other people’s feelings. Actually, make that all the time.” He smiled.

“No big deal.” I waved my hand in front of my face.

“Well, just so you know, it was a big deal to me.”

“So what did you two talk about when I was gone?” Jess asked as she sat down.

“I was just asking Jillian about the dolphins,” Drew replied.

“Are you still on that, baby? We aren’t going to swim with them.”

Drew sighed and picked up his drink. I could tell he was getting very angry by the way he clenched his jaw. After finishing our dinner and having a light conversation, it was getting late, so we headed back to the hotel.

“Thank you again for inviting me to dinner. I had a nice time.” I smiled at both of them.

“Thank you for joining us,” Drew spoke.

“Yes. We must do this again on our last night here,” Jess said.

“I’m looking forward to it. Have a nice night.” I smiled as I stepped off the elevator.

****

Drew

A few days had passed and Jess and I weren’t getting along at all. Everything that came out of her mouth annoyed me. All she did was whine and complain about everything. Mostly about me. After doing some shopping, she huffed and puffed all the way back to the hotel because I wouldn’t buy her a bracelet she wanted.

“You haven’t bought me one single thing since we got here,” she spoke in a harsh tone.

I could feel my blood boiling as I opened the door to the suite.

“What about all the meals I’ve bought you?” I yelled. “The plane tickets, this suite, the bottles of champagne you had to have every night, and the tickets for everything you wanted to do!”

“Don’t you dare take that tone with me, Drew. All I want is for you to buy me something nice. That’s what boyfriends are supposed to do. When you love someone, you buy them nice things. Is that so much to ask?”

The rage that had been contained inside me began to erupt and I couldn’t take it anymore. Just the mere sound of her voice sent me over the edge.

“I DON’T LOVE YOU!” I shouted. “I can’t do this anymore, Jess.”

“What?” Tears started to fill her eyes.

“I’m sorry, but it’s over between us,” I softly spoke.

“Don’t say that, baby. You don’t mean it,” she begged.

“Yes I do. It’s been over for a while now. We haven’t been getting along and everything’s always my fault. I’ve had enough.”

The tears began to stream down her face and, sadly, I didn’t give a damn. She had pushed me way too far.

“You heartless bastard. How could you do this to me? I love you, you son of a bitch.” She grabbed hold of my arm.

Jerking it away, I looked into her eyes. “Of course it’s my fault this happened. Well, let me give you a wake-up call, darling. You are a whiney, jealous, self-righteous, selfish, stuck-up bitch, and god help the next man that crosses your path.”

She raised her hand and slapped me across the face. “How dare you speak to me like that.”

I held my face to try and soothe the sting of the burn. “Pack your stuff and leave,” I shouted as I pulled out my phone. “There’s a four o’clock flight back to New York and you need to be on it.”

“I’m not going anywhere. You leave. You’re the one who broke up with me, you f*cking *,” she screamed.

I walked into the bedroom and threw her suitcase on the bed. As I was grabbing her clothes from the drawers, she grabbed my arm.

“Stop it!” she screamed.

Jerking away from her, I went into the bathroom, collected her things, and threw them into her bag.

“This is my room, that I paid for. I’m not going anywhere. Now get out before I call security and have you thrown out!” I yelled as I pointed to the door.

“You’ll regret this, Drew Westbrook!”

I grabbed her suitcase and carry-on bag, opened the door, and set them in the hallway.

“The only thing I regret is not doing this sooner.”

As soon as she stepped out of the suite, I slammed the door.

****

Jillian

I had a great time with Ano and Lonnie at the luau they invited me to, and by time I got back to the hotel, it was eleven o’clock. When I approached the elevators, there was a sign that they were out of order.

“I’m sorry, miss. You’ll have to use the elevators around the corner and across from the bar.

“Okay, thank you.”

As I walked around the corner, I pushed the button and waited for the elevator to come down. While I was waiting, I glanced across at the bar that was filled with people and noticed Drew sitting on one of the barstools. I hadn’t seen him or Jess the past couple of days, so I thought I’d stop over and say hi.

“Hey,” I spoke as I walked up to him.

“Jillian Bell. Can I buy you a drink?” he slurred.

“No thanks.” I narrowed my eye at him. “Where’s Jess?”

“I broke it off with her and sent her home.” He kicked back his drink, finishing it off.