Monday, April 24, 2016.
Tech Genuises
10 weeks...
The first thing Trey did upon his return from the business conference—one he'd had no intention of attending before—was call his personal assistant and grill him on work... and on his soon-to-be ex-wife.
He had been surprised to hear that Alexandra still came to work despite everything. But that made everything easier. He didn't have to go and find her— he knew where she was staying—to give her the divorce papers.
He didn't understand the point of cheating when she could've just told him she didn't want him anymore. Given, he would've groveled, but if that was what she truly wanted, he would let her go. Was that not the point of love? Letting them go if that's what it took to make them happy?
And to know she came today was just what you needed. He told his assistant he was free to go and got lost in his thoughts. Should he beg her? Ask her why she'd cheated? He needed closure of some sort after all. He was still deep in thought when Melissa walked in, looking like she owned the place. She cleaned up nice though, he'd give her that. She was a designer after all.
“It's you,” he mumbled drily, praying she wasn't here to chew his ears off or speak for her best friend—if she had been told of what had transpired, that is.
“You don't sound very happy. Too bad though I'm not going anywhere, and that's no way to greet your sister,” she said sweetly, tossing an expensive-looking bag into the couch and coming to sit in front of him. She pulled her sunglasses off, raised her booted feet, and set them atop his desk.
“Step sister,” he corrected grimly, eyeing her feet on his desk.
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. Only you would treat me like this though you're the first I came to see upon returning from my trip,” she mumbled, scowling at him. A tiny smile found its way onto Trey's lips. “Something's different.”
“What is?” he asked, his smile falling off.
She shrugged lightly. “Well, usually, I meet your wife in here and I was hoping I'd see her in here,” she said. “It's been a few weeks since I left, and I've missed her. Where's she?”
“If you miss her, then go look for her. You know where to find her,” he said in a quiet voice. He clenched his jaw and wondered how Melissa hadn't heard of the scandal yet. Or was she playing him?
She frowned, then sat up, pulling her feet off the desk. “What's going on Trey? Is something wrong?”
“Ask her when you see her,” he said, lifting his head to glare daggers at her, telling her to stop. Melissa ignored him, of course, and called his assistant in. “Don't yell at him. He's my assistant, not yours,” he growled. “I don't even shout at him so don't either.” She merely stuck her tongue out at him.
Gale, his assistant, appeared a moment later. “Ms. Crawford? You called me.”
“Gale, please call in his wife for me,” she requested. Gale's eyes flew to Trey's, wondering if he was okay with this. He didn't want to lose his job over a misunderstanding. However, his boss was busy glaring at his sister. He found himself shifted from foot to foot anxiously as they continued arguing, wishing he could be anywhere but there.
“I don't want her here,” Trey hissed at Melissa.
“Well I do. I don't care what your problem is, I want to see my friend,” she shot back stubbornly and ordered Gale off—he was more than happy to leave. “What did you do?” Melissa asked him once Gale was out.
“Why is it me or what I did?” He sighed. “But, if you must know, I kicked her out,” he answered simply, returning to the stack of files on his desk.
“You did what?” she whispered disbelief. “You kicked the girl that was willing to put up with you out?”
“To be fair, she agreed to marry me because she got pregnant with my child. But maybe, she didn't really want to, and this love I thought I was getting from her was all in my head,” he muttered, rubbing his face tiredly. “I'm not going to think about it.”
“She slept with you in the first place because she loved you,” Melissa muttered, glaring at him.
Trey gave her a bland look. “You know, I'm quite surprised that you haven't heard of this, but your best friend cheated on me.” He took out his phone and scrolled through, pausing to show her the video. “See for yourself.”
A few seconds in, she scoffed, asking, “You believe this?”
He tilted his head. “I don't think that matters. It's solid proof. What else is there to say?” He returned to his documents.
“Who gave you this?” she asked. Trey remained silent, working on the contracts he'd left for the last few days to go clear his mind. “Trey, who gave this to you?” she asked again.
He slammed his pen on the desk and growled. Then he looked up at her, his eyes clouded with pain. “Donovan.” He could swear Melissa had muttered 'I knew I should've told you', but he shrugged it off. “That son-of-a-gun rubbed it in my face that the girl I thought was mine was still hung up on him.”
Melissa stood to pace. “There must be some kind of misunderstanding,” she said, desperately trying to convince Trey of her innocence without telling him Ethan had snuck into their house to warn Alexandra. It wasn't hers to tell. Or maybe she should? “Did you ask Lexi?”
She had denied it—everything, and damned if it hadn't hurt him. He was sure divorcing him before going to Ethan would've hurt him less, because then he'd know that she was no longer his to love.
He ran a hand over his face and swiveled around to gaze out of his glass window. Currently, the scandal made headlines. He had forgotten to tell that bastard to keep it under wraps until he confronted Alexandra—not that the maniac would have listened. He was glad he had gotten Alexandra back, that she had chosen him over Trey.
Trey's hands fisted as he tried to fight back the ache barreling down his chest.
'In the end, she chose me...'
Now everyone—on TV, radio, newspapers, tabloids—spoke of it. He recalled one reporter mentioning how everyone had thought nothing could separate them, that they were the perfect couple. His mouth curled snidely.
'Didn't we all,' he thought bitterly.
He turned when the door opened—much against his will. However, he wasn't going to let her see how much she'd hurt him. Her gaze met his and he saw a faint flicker of something in her eyes before she looked away, focusing on Melissa.
“Hey Mel.” Lexi gave her friend a strained hug, as if she knew Melissa could be aware of what had happened. She looked apprehensive when she moved away as Melissa had barely hugged her back.
“Hey,” Melissa managed absently. She knew what she'd been shown was not true. There were a lot of facts to prove that. For instance, that had been a pale imitation of the room her brother and his wife shared— well, in addition to Ethan's 'claim'.
If her brother and best friend split, her loyalties would be tested. Alexandra was completely innocent, but what would it take to prove her right? It would ruin their friendship forever if she left Lexi to suffer the insults and accusations all alone. And she could lose the father figure Trey was to her if she took Alexandra's side—he was the main person she considered family.
Determined to get to the bottom of the whole thing, Melissa frowned down at Lexi. It was time to show Trey she truly had nothing to do with all this.
“What's going on?” she asked Alexandra, who kept her eyes trained to the floor.
Alexandra looked up from beneath her lashes, trying to gauge her best friend's mood. If Melissa hadn't been told yet—for whatever reason—she wanted her to hear it from her own brother. So instead of saying it all, she replied, “I'm not sure I know what you're talking about,” then winced when Melissa's frowned morphed into glare.
“You know damn well what I'm talking about.” Then she sighed. “I know you love my brother.” Alexandra flinched when Trey stood out of his seat and let out a string of obscenities about her supposed love. He asked no one in particular if love involved cheating, and if it made you look like a fool. Ignoring her brother, Melissa went on.
“I used to come here to find you huddled together—either having breakfast or just talking. Spending time together. What changed? What happened?”
Alexandra gulped, twisting and untwisting her fingers. “Ask your brother. I don't know what the problem is—not completely,” she finally said.
Trey swore harshly. “You can't even admit a simple truth. You didn't deny it when I said you slept with Ethan behind my back. But now here you are, acting innocent for Melissa to take your side!” he thundered furiously.
Alexandra looked down, not knowing what to say. She hadn't done anything, and he could say whatever he wanted to her. She took up the blame for not telling him about Ethan's visit and being focused on remembering what project he'd be referring to such that she'd ignored the part about her sleeping with Ethan.
She should have waited for the right time to talk, and though she was hurt, she didn't mind that he'd kicked her out, because they both needed space from each other to think things through. There was no way either of them was going to make good decisions in their state of heightened emotions.
Love was a painful thing sometimes.
The only downfall to leaving the house was that all the maternity clothes she had ever owned were there—at their main house. Picking them up right away, in addition to baby clothes, could make him suspicious.
“Trey let her tell me her side,” Melissa warned. He snorted, but turned away, raising his hands in surrender at his sister's glare. To Alexandra, she said, “If you keep quiet and say nothing, I'll have to take his words for it.”
Show him you're innocent already!
Alexandra shook her head. “You know I will never do such a thing.”
“So, tell me what happened.” When she saw Lexi glance nervously at Trey—who was pacing like a caged animal—she sighed. “Ignore him. Talk to me.”
Alexandra swallowed and wiped her clammy hands on her trousers, then began fiddling with her necklace—a his and hers necklace Melissa had gotten for both of them. “I was waiting for him to come home—” her throat clogged with emotion when he snorted in disbelief, kicking the bin out of the way. She looked up at Melissa with tears in her eyes. “You know why; you helped with an idea.” At that, Melissa nodded.
Of course, Alexandra had told her best friend, but he was curious. Waiting for him? Did she really have something to tell or ask him? Or had she only realized her lifestyle had caught up with her and had wanted to get him to promise something again?
His blood run cold. She had asked once if he'd continue loving her no matter what. And his answer—his answer had been a yes. A resounding one at that. He'd told her he loved her, and nothing was going to change that. Granted, he was human, and he might get hurt and hurt her in return, but he had promised to make sure they worked it out.
Had she been going behind his back all the while?
He walked towards them and yanked her out of Melissa's hold, a gasp falling out of her lips at the sheer amount of force he used on her. He loosened his grip on her but still held her firmly, looking into her eyes. “When you told me to promise I'd love you no matter what happened, were you—had you been sleeping with Ethan then?”
Alexandra blinked and a lone tear fell down her pale cheek—she looked almost green, and he got worried. But she wasn't giving him an answer. Frankly, he didn't think he wanted to hear it. Regardless, he wanted to know. Scratch that, he needed to—
He swallowed harshly and let out a pained sigh. “Answer me, please.”
Her body shook as sobs racked her small form, but she managed an answer. “No,” she whispered. He looked at her, capturing two main emotions in her expressive eyes.
Pain.
Sincerity.
And the relief that coursed through him was great. It had been before she'd cheated so it wouldn't be on his conscience. Who was he kidding? He'd promised her that no matter what he was going to be there. So, it would be on his conscience. But he wanted her to be happy, so why not free her?
He dropped his hold on her quickly, like he'd been burned, and resumed his pacing while Alexandra crumpled to the ground, crying. He looked as broken as she was, and she still didn't understand what was going on—not completely.
Melissa lifted her into the couch behind her and sat next to her, engulfing her lush—yet lithe—body in a hug, and allowed her to bawl.
It pricked at him the way she was crying, the way more tears came the more she wiped them. It was heartbreaking to watch, so he turned away, clenching his fists to hold on to his resolve.
He'd never seen her cry like this, never seen her break down—not even with the loss of two babies. She had never even cried, only sulked, and sank into mild depression. He nearly covered his ears, because the sound of her crying threatened to sway him from doing the right thing. Why was she even crying?
When she finally got a hold of herself, he was sure it had been—at least—ten whole minutes she had spent crying. He'd heard her mutter things to Melissa and was sure he'd heard her say 'it's not even my fault'— those exact words.
She blew her nose with tissues Melissa had whipped out of nowhere and looked down at the floor, trying to get herself together and to cease sniffling. She didn't want to see his face and risk falling apart again.
“Do you still want to talk?” Melissa asked Lexi in a soft voice. Her bestfriend was innocent, and if Trey didn't think same, she couldn't care less. “If not, I would understand and just take you home.”
She hesitated, then nodded, murmuring, “Please.” She sniffled right after.
“Alright.” Melissa stood, pulling Lexi with her. “Come on.”
“I'm not done,” Trey butted in, looking at his watch. His attorney was running late in appearing with the papers. He had to stall for time.
“That's enough for one day,” Melissa said in a pleading but firm voice, wanting Trey to understand without telling him she was pregnant and that the stress was bad for her. Why did Lexi have to impose all these 'I'll tell him myself' rules on her?
Trey hesitated, then turned to his wife. “I know you've been living at the apartment Alexandra. But I need it back.” That was the only thing that had come to mind.
Alexandra froze momentarily, then turned to face him. “Your apartment?”
“That's what I said,” he confirmed in a dry tone. 'Keep at it and her face will haunt you for the rest of your life'. “The apartment I gave you when we were seeing each other... I want it back,” he stated. 'Why don't you add more?' “Thought you could live off me, didn't you?”
'That had been sarcasm!' His subconscious chided. 'Why are you doing this?! You love her!'
Melissa was angry, but before she could say anything, Lexi stopped her. She wanted to speak for herself and not be that person that hid behind her friend.
“I just have one question. Where do you expect me to stay now?” she asked quietly. 'Oh shoot! Think think', he told himself, internally panicking. Meanwhile, Alexandra was also reminding herself that it was for the baby. If she wasn't pregnant, she wouldn't ask anything of him. She would just leave till they were both calm and more levelheaded.
“I don't know,” he answered, trying to think fast. “But I'm sure Ethan would be more than glad to house you.” 'Stop pushing her even farther away!' Melissa gasped in shock. Her brother was digging himself a grave, one that could be hard to get out of when he found out about the pregnancy.
She tried signaling him to stop, but he went on. “You were neck deep in debt when I met you Marie—you could barely hold a job as everything you made had to go into paying off what you owed. I did everything I could for you and this is how you repay me. That's fine.”
Strong headed as she was, she was determined not to beg him. After all, she had done nothing wrong. None of them had. She shook her head, a dry chuckle escaping her lips. “When do you want me to leave?” She asked in detached tone, her face blank. What Trey would do to get her to open up so he could see what she was thinking. Her face was stoic, giving nothing away.
'I'm sorry. It's for the best.'
“Today. And come get your stuff too.” She nodded and turned around to leave. “Oh, and Alexandra? You're fired.” 'It'll be hard watching you move on. Seeing you every day but unable to have you,' he'd wanted to add, but stopped himself.
She turned sharply, fuming. “You can't do that! You can't let personal issues affect our work relationship.” She needed the income to boost her during her pregnancy leave when she was heavy and not working.
His mouth curved in a slow, devastatingly painful smile. “Can't I?”
“You know what? You truly are a horrible person. I thought you changed,” she stated in a quiet tone. He swallowed the emotion lodged in his throat and looked away.
“So I've been told—many times actually,“ he remarked, brushing imaginary dirt off his tailored pants. Then he leaned on his desk, crossing those muscly arms over his broad expanse of chest and looked anywhere but at her.
Hating that she was also hurting now—for whatever reason.
Hating the fact that he had got her to admit something she had said was a wrong impression of him.
She walked out of the office, wiping at her eyes, and Melissa grabbed her bag to go after her —not before shooting him a disappointed look, and saying, “You have no idea what you have just done.”
He ignored her, thinking he knew perfectly what he had done, and was going to do. He was setting her free. That way, she could be with who she wanted without being called a cheat.