She gave a sad smile. “I know. But if you wanted to maybe get even…I only live a few blocks from here.”
I shook my head. “I can’t.”
“You sure? No strings attached. It might be good to let out all of our anger.” She leaned in and whispered, “I like it a little rough.” Then she stood. “Think about it. I’m going to go to the ladies’
room.”
I like it a little rough.
Fuck.
I finished my drink and told the bartender to put both our tabs on my card, instead of Amanda’s.
While I was digging my wallet from my pocket, my phone started to buzz on the bar. Gia’s name flashed, and my heart started to race. Finally. I abruptly felt sober. I swiped to answer.
“Where the fuck have you been all day? I’ve been trying to call you for hours,” I barked into the phone.
“I’m sorry. I fell asleep because I was up sick last night.”
I pushed aside the ache in my chest from hearing she wasn’t feeling good. “Who’s the damn father of your baby, Gia?”
“What?” It only took her saying one word to hear the nerves fray in her voice.
I yelled louder, “Who the fuck is the father, Gia?”
Silence.
“Answer me, goddamn it!”
Her voice shook. “Rush. Let’s talk about this when you get home. Remember, we are supposed to talk tonight?”
“Who. The. Fuck. Is. The. Father. Gia?
She started to cry. But I couldn’t feel bad. I needed to hear her say it.
“Answer me.”
“I can’t!”
“Did you fuck my brother?”
Sobbing.
“Goddamn it, Gia. Answer me. Are you pregnant with that piece of shit’s spawn?”
“I’m so sorry,” she cried. “I didn’t know until the birthday party. I was planning on telling you tonight. I’m so, so sorry.”
“Say it. Say the words, Gia. I need to fucking hear them.”
“Please, Rush. Where are you? We need to talk about this in person. I’ll come to you. Are you home?”
“Say it!” The sadistic bastard in me needed to hear it.
“I can’t.”
“I need to fucking hear it, Gia. I’m not fucking around. Say it.”
She sniffled, and the words were barely a whisper. But she said it. The words that shattered my fucking heart into a million pieces.
“Elliott is the father of my baby.”
So began what was very likely the worst night of my entire life.
5
Rush had hung up distraught after my revelation. I couldn’t say I blamed him. It was exactly the reaction I’d expected.
The hours that followed were pure torture. I was worried. Really worried about him. And the fact that I couldn’t reach him to confirm that he was okay wasn’t helping.
Finding out through Elliott was the worst possible scenario. His brother had no idea what news he was really giving Rush. I assumed he had no clue I was carrying his baby. Finding out I had slept with Elliott would have been terrible news in and of itself. But for Rush to have received the news in such a cold way, knowing what it really meant, was simply cruel.
I was up most of the night dialing him, to no avail. He just wouldn’t answer. When I finally accepted the fact that maybe he needed some time apart from me to process everything, I tried to force myself to sleep for a bit, even though it was extremely difficult to relax. My tired body eventually succumbed to slumber, and I ended up getting a couple of hours of sleep.
When I woke up, the birds were chirping, and the sun was starting to rise. It couldn’t have been more than 6AM. Someone was downstairs brewing coffee, and the smell was making me nauseous.
My heart was palpitating as I urgently reached for my phone to call him again. Still no answer. I tried again.
Come on, Rush. Answer.
It just went to voicemail again. Starting to panic, I decided to throw some clothes on and drive to his house.
When I arrived, the ocean was choppy and the wind was fierce. It was fitting for the tumultuous mood of this morning. The wind chimes that were hanging near his front door were working overtime to keep up.
Rush usually parked in the driveway, but it was empty. I peeked inside the small windows at the top of the garage door. His car wasn’t there, either.
Where is he?
I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to know, although a part of me needed to know the answer.
Had he never come home last night?
Maybe he’d gotten drunk and left his car somewhere? Maybe someone else drove him home? I knocked repeatedly on the front door.
Nothing.
He definitely wasn’t home.
Returning to my car parked outside, I picked up my phone and dialed him once again.
To my shock, this time someone answered. But it wasn’t Rush.
“Hello?”
It was a woman with a groggy voice. My heart started to beat faster.
“Who is this?” I said.
She repeated my question. “Who is this?”
“It’s Gia. Where’s Rush?”
“Gia? Gia! The woman who fucked Rush’s brother? Wow. Why are you even calling him? You’ve got some nerve.”
My heart sank. I tasted the bile rising from my stomach, feeling a bit betrayed that he would spill our business to some slut he just met.
“Who is this? Where is Rush?”
“You’re a real piece of work. You lost a good one, bitch.”
“Excuse me?”
There was no response. Then the phone went dead in my ear. She’d hung up on me.
My car shook from the wind. Resting my head against the steering wheel, I wanted to cry, but the shock from what just happened must have dried my tears.
He was with a woman.
The realization of that felt like a death had occurred. As hard as it was to accept, I couldn’t even be mad at him. I was sad, but I didn’t have the right to be mad. After the horrifying news I’d given him, how could I expect that he’d be able to handle things alone? Yes, I was jealous and sick to my stomach, but a part of me understood.
Shutting my eyes tightly, I tried to shun thoughts of Rush screwing another woman.
I clutched my stomach, looking out toward the house that was once going to be my home. Now it was very likely that my baby would never see the nursery that Rush built. It was just one of the many dreams that had been shattered over one really bad decision.
That night, right before I was scheduled to work, I stood outside The Heights, hesitant to go in. He might have been in there. Would he face me or continue to ignore me? How would I feel looking at him after knowing he’d been with another woman? So many questions flew in and out of my brain.
My heart was pummeling against my chest. God, this level of stress could not have been good for my baby.
I didn’t feel prepared to handle any of this. But honestly, I had no choice but to work tonight. The fact of the matter was, at the moment, I had no other job, no money, and a baby on the way. That reminded me that I really needed to make finding another job a priority before I moved back to the City.
Taking a deep breath in, I made my way toward the door and entered.
Oak was standing near the hostess station, looking like he might have been waiting for me.
“Hi,” I said.
He seemed anxious. “Hey, Gia.”
I swallowed. “Is Rush here?”
“Boss is in his office. I don’t know what’s going on. He wouldn’t talk to me, but he doesn’t look good. In fact, I’ve never seen him like this. Looks like he got run over by a truck and smells like he got thrown in a bar dumpster. You may want to go in and check on him.”
My heart sank. “How long has he been here?”
“Hours. He hasn’t come out and he yelled at me a few times to leave him alone.”
I expelled a long breath. “I’m pretty sure that I’m the last person he wants to see right now, Oak.”
Oak nodded in understanding. “Oh…okay, so this has something to do with you guys. That’s what I was afraid of.” He frowned. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Yeah. I think it might be best if I let him come out on his own. He knows I’m working. I think he’ll seek me out when he’s ready. I’m afraid to make him more upset.”