Luca goes to gloat about the ruling to Lexi who is back in the hospital. He refuses to let her see the kids because she refuses to go to therapy. Now a free man, he celebrates with Sha'Kayla.
"Hey, hey, hey!" I passed drinks around to the guys at my table. "Toast to being on the market again! No woman can tie this man down!"
"Cheers!" We drank and slammed our empty glasses on the table.
"Luca, how does it feel? You've gotten all that you've wanted in a week and more. What are you going to do for the rest of your life?"
"...Things. You'll never know." I asked the waiter to refill our drinks. "Man, now I know how you guys feel. Free? Never being tied down."
"Best feeling in your life."
"To freedom!" I stood up in my chair and put one foot on the table. "I'm paying everyone!"
Cheers went up around the table again. Sha'Kayla glared at me from the other side of the table. What? I'm just being me. It's not like I'm saying I'll never speak to her again. It's been a good while since I was able to be out with my friends without Lexi wondering where I am and what I'm up to. Sha'Kayla shouldn't mind this at all. We both won't remember anything later.
We calmed down after the manager told us to shut up or get out. I guess he didn't care that I'd just won my divorce case. This shouldn't be something to brag about, but when you're attached to a woman like Lexi, it's like being alone in your own home. It doesn't feel like home. It doesn't feel like you're married. I'm just glad this is all over. I can be the guy my parents have always wanted me to be.
"So, Luca..." Cage gently rocked his glass back and forth. The liquid sloshed too close to the edge. "How'd Lexi really react to...everything? I know for a fact she didn't cry. At all."
I was tempted to say she was and stick to it, but Cage knew me. He knows I'll make any situation seem worse than it actually was. He's known Lexi and I for as long as I can remember. Before we even planned to get married. There were a lot of things he knew about Lexi and crying over something like a divorce wasn't one of them.
"...She was abnormally calm. Besides the outburst in court, she didn't seem to care about anything that was happening to her. It's disturbing." I sighed and leaned forward on my elbows. "Does it make me weak if I'm worried about her?"
"Of course not, Luca. No one is okay after a divorce. Worry and denial is only the beginning."
"I'm not in denial, Cage. I'm just worried she's being too...herself. She's being herself and it's scaring me."
"And bragging about winning the case is making it all better? Do you even know where she is right now?"
I shook my head and sighed once more. Of course I didn't know where she was. Why would I? Lexi made it clear to me before the reporters surrounded us that she wanted nothing to do with me anymore. If that meant I had to get my things later, then so be it. So what if I'm still worried about her. She'll never let me talk to her like a friend. If she refuses to talk to a therapist, what makes me think she's going to be willing to talk to me?
"I can't go talk to her about it. She doesn't want me near her," I argued.
"You took her kids away." Cage rolled his eyes and stopped rocking his cup. "...The kids she carried for nine months. Longer than you've spent with them alone."
"That's not true."
"Wanna bet it is?"
Cage was right. He always was. I couldn't make anything right this late in our relationship. Her kids were gone. I had already been gone. Lexi's definitely not here mentally. I can't do anything about it anyway. I have Sha'Kayla. Samantha. Any other woman who was willing to associate themselves with me. My family still supports me. Right?
"What are you going to do, Luca?"
⭕⭕⭕⭕⭕
"Fine. I'm sorry." I pulled Sha'Kayla close to me. "I intentionally made you angry and assumed you'd forget about it."
"Do you mean that?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
"Of course, baby girl. I would never lie to you. Plus...I have a surprise for you."
"...I don't trust that. Last time you made me close my eyes and ran off with Samantha."
"That was a longtime ago. Don't worry about that too much." I kissed her nose. "I promise you'll love it. It may not be much, but it's worth it."
"What is it? A necklace? Ring? You want to marry me?"
I snorted and let her go. Sha'Kayla pouted, but I could see a smile trying to break through. Marry her? I haven't even been divorced for more than twelve hours. I swear she's too desperate. Maybe I will make her close her eyes and run off with Samantha again. She proved to be better company anyway.
"Is that all you ever think about?" I asked.
"Not all the time." She looked out the window of her hotel room. "I leave in a couple of days, Luca."
"Why?"
"I have a job in Queens. And people who probably want nothing to do with me to see and beg forgiveness from."
"Why?"
"I'm here with you while your wife is crying about losing her kids. They'll think it's my fault all of this happened."
"Well that's their problem. You had nothing to do with the divorce. It had been planned for the longest. If Lexi could just decide on one thing, court wouldn't have had to happen."
Sha'Kayla looked at me like she knew I was lying. She didn't have anything to do with our divorce directly. It may have made it come faster, but it's not like she talked Lexi into having someone move the court date. Couldn't have anyway.
The guilt I felt earlier was creeping back into my system. I looked away to the window and sighed. Why was I feeling this way? I've never felt this guilty about something involving Lexi. I now had the kids to take care of. If not for Lexi's parents, I'd be with my parents taking care of their needs. Maybe I should have let Lexi keep her kids.
"Fine. Forget her. I'm sorry for bringing that up." She took my hand. "How about we just watch something? At least spend some time together before Lexi calls you to get your crap out of her house."
"Our house," I reminded her. "God, you're making it sound like I was living off her and not with her."
"Maybe you were."
"Shut up..."
"Hahaha. I'm kidding, babe. Come on. I heard a new show was on Netflix."