Thursday, May 12, 2016
Trey's House
Still 12 weeks...
Upon reaching their room - well, previous bedroom - Trey got sweatpants and a hoodie from his closet for her to change into, dumping them on the bed. He went into the bathroom and Alexandra could hear him rummaging through cabinets while she stood awkwardly in the middle of the bedroom.
He returned with a big, and new fluffy towel which he added to the clothes. Folding his arms across his broad expanse of chest, he said, "Strip."
"What?" she sputtered, wondering if she'd heard right. And also how he could make her flush all over with the utterance of a single word. Clearing her throat, she looked up to see him smirking. She looked him square in the eye. "Why should I?"
His lips curled in bemusement, knowing full well what she was thinking. "Since you never care for your health, as usual, I'm doing it."
"Oh," she murmured, her face still burning from the wild assumption she'd made.
He cocked his head to the side, and eyebrow up as he regarded her with cold amusement. "Did you think I'd want to bed you?" His voice was borderline seductive, and she felt her cheeks grow hotter. His sardonic chuckle only intensified her mortification, and she wished the ground would swallow her up.
"Take the wet clothes off and put these on." He disappeared into his walk-in closet, where she took the liberty to dry off her hair with the towel. She lifted her head when he came back, jaw slacking when he lifted a scrap of lace - a freaking thong. "You left this."
'In your closet?' she thought with a scoff. 'Yeah, right.'
She looked at the thong, sure she had never set eyes on it ever. Had he... She shook her head. No more assumptions.
She noticed he was still standing in front of her, looking as imposing as ever. She looked from him to the clothes and back, asking, "You want me to change in front of you?"
Trey thought she looked so surprised. "Don't worry your pretty head. I've seen it all before, haven't I?" He asked, affecting the look of nonchalance when what he actually wanted to do was... He swallowed. "Hurry up. I'm not letting you out of my sight."
Bewildered, she asked, "And why is that?"
"For all I know, Ethan sent you here to take from me again, or worse, bug this place," he said with a shrug. He dropped his hands from his chest and walked over to the desk in the bedroom, leaving her fuming.
"Are you serious?" she questioned, surprised he thought she could do such a thing. When he looked over his shoulder at her and shrugged, something snapped inside her.
"You know what?" she murmured with a deathly calm, dropping the towel unto the bed. "You can keep your clothes. I don't want them."
"Don't be stupid Alexandra," he said emotionlessly. And when she ignored him, he turned to see her on her knees, pulling out two cuboid-shaped boxes from under the bed.
She straightened sharply - perhaps too fast, for the room spun and her vision blurred, making her lose her balance. She shook her head to clear the dizziness and realized Trey was holding her up; that she was leaning heavily on him.
"What is wrong with you? Are you alright?" Though the question made him sound like he cared, his facial expression and tone were void of any emotion.
She stepped away from him. "I'm fine. Please don't touch me." His touch made her yearn for him. But she was determined to stand her ground. To do that, she needed a clear head.
Trey mistook it for her finding his touch repulsive. His eyes flashed with pain, his chest hurting. How did they go from being in love to this? She pushed the boxes with her feet over to the door where he stood and straightened.
"Please get out of my way. I'm leaving."
A quick glance at the glass panes that acted as floor to ceiling windows told him the rain hadn't abated. "It's still raining. You can't be thinking of leaving yet."
She countered his statement, saying, "You don't trust me around the house anymore," then spread her hands, tears pricking her eyes, "What do expect?"
It's not that I don't trust you here, he thought. It was hard to put what he was feeling into words. How do you act when the woman you fell hard and fast for suddenly doesn't want you anymore? Beg? He was willing to, but he wanted something - a sign that would tell him she regretted it. He still loved her. If she wanted to go, he'd let her.
"You'll fall sick," he told her strongly like she didn't know that herself.
Irritated, she snapped. "I'm already sick! And it's going to last a couple of months so I think I can bear a little cold for a week or two." Eyes blazing with banked fury, she looked up at him. "Now please, excuse me."
Jaw clenched, he picked a folder off the desk. "There are some things we need to finalize for the divorce proceedings to go on." All the hope that had been blooming in her chest plummeted.
The divorce proceedings.
He waved the folder in front of her to get her attention, then handed them over to her. "I need your signature." Suddenly, he realized she looked sullen, looking at the folder in her hand with an emotion he couldn't decipher.
She sank unto the swivel chair, opened the folder, then looked back at him. "Why?" she asked in a small voice. He could have sworn her voice cracked a little.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and looked down at her, his hair falling over his eyes. "Look, I know you don't want me anymore... so I'm giving you a way out."
"But - " she started saying, only to cut herself off when he smiled with a head shake. He gestured towards the folder.
"Just sign it."
She cast him one last look that chaffed hard at him, so much that he turned away from her, rubbing the nape of his neck tiredly. That voice in the back of his mind that told him he was making a mistake returned, and as usual, he ignored it. Of what use was it when it couldn't tell him what mistake he was making?
She picked up a pen off the desk upon realizing his mind was made up and began putting her signatures wherever necessary.
"Is it a terminal illness?" he asked out of the blue.
'What are you talking about?" she asked back, dropping the pen. She rose out of the chair without sparing him a look.
"You mentioned being ill," he prompted. She cursed herself for letting her anger make her run her mouth like a senseless fool. Trey narrowed his eyes at her, then said, "Unless you were lying."
She took great offense in that. "No, I was not."
"I could give you money to treat - "
"No, thank you," she said, cutting him off. "I don't need or want your money," she spat, walking away from him and into her former closet.
"You're going to get half of what I own transferred to you anyway," he reminded in a grim voice, following her into the closet, where he found her pulling out a suitcase. "Had that been the plan all along? Have me divorce you so you could give your portion to Ethan to grow his business interests?"
She got busy opening the suitcase. "I'll just pretend I didn't hear that," she murmured, propping herself on the clothe island in the middle of the closet as she felt nausea hit. 'Deep breaths,' she told herself. It didn't work though.
She ended up rushing out of the closet and into the bathroom to spew her guts. She flushed when she finished and washed her mouth, returning to her closet.
Trey watched as she entered the closet, looking pale as a ghost; like she was going to crumple to the ground anytime soon without support.
Alarmed, he asked, "Are you sure you're okay?" When she waved off his concerns, he stood transfixed, watching as she opened a drawer and collected a handful of baby clothing, dumping them into the suitcase. "What are you doing?"
She paused and looked from the bag to him. "What does it look like I'm doing?" Getting no immediate response from him, she resumed packing other baby essentials into the suitcase.
"Stop that," he bit out in a tight voice.
"Stop what?" she asked without pausing. She filled it and zipped it shut, pulling out another suitcase for her maternity clothes.
"Why do you need those?" he asked, suspicion lurking in those green eyes she had come to love. Alexandra sighed, hoping he didn't conclude rightly. She wasn't ready to tell him about the babies yet.
"How is it your business, seeing as we," she jerked her head in the direction of the bedroom where the folder lay, "are getting divorced?"
"How is it my business?" He repeated, pushing himself off the doorframe, this time showing her how angry and hurt he really was. "I bought these with my money - "
"You forget I bought some too," she countered, sparing him a brief glance before going back to packing up.
"Why are you taking the baby clothes? Are you pregnant for Ethan?" He snarled, coming to stand in front of her. "Did you really take those pills so you wouldn't have to carry any of mine?"
It's yours, idiot.
She stepped forward, angry too. "I am not -"
He stepped closer, his proximity cutting off her train of thoughts, and tipped her chin up with a finger so she was looking at him. She saw the anger swirling in eyes that had gone a darker shade.
"If you think I'm going to let you take my stuff to clothe his baby," he came closer till his face was directly in hers, then he lowered his voice a notch, "you're deeply mistaken."
"Who said I'm pregnant for him?" She hated that her voice had come out breathless and husky; almost seductive even. His own gravelly voice and the heat present in his gaze had done that to her.
Trey stepped back and away from her, shrugging. "If you're not now, you might be... soon - if I'm not wrong - considering what you both did behind my back. So maybe this is you stocking up for the future. Who really knows?"
His head whipped to the side, the sting of her slap registering across his cheek. His jaw ticked, his fists clenching at the effort it took to control himself. "How dare you?! You're sick," she spat, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill and turned back to the second suitcase, zipping it up.
How didn't it cross his mind that she could've been pregnant with his baby since they split not long ago?
"Tell me something I don't already know," he muttered looking anywhere but at her, his face hard. Lexi had never slapped him before. Had she really fallen out of love with him?
"You're admitting it?" she questioned, wiping the stray tear that had escaped her eye furiously.
He swallowed, turning to look at her. He gave a brief, pained smile. "You said it yourself." He glanced at his watch, then raised his head to address her. "I have guests coming over, including a certain lady. I don't want her to come and meet the soon-to-be ex. I'm sure you understand."
He lifted the suitcases and went out, no doubt taking them downstairs. She felt her heart break into even tinier pieces and struggled to keep her tears at bay.
Trey was moving on. Already?
She wasn't surprised, but it didn't make it hurt any less. Pursing her lips, she took the phone out of the plastic bag she'd put it in when it had started raining, and called Melissa.
Putting the phone between her ear and shoulder, she put the boxes containing her pregnancy books and used tests - as well as her journal she used to document her pregnancies and the subsequent emptiness she felt after losing each baby - on top of each other, and exited the room.
"Hey, how did it go?" Melissa asked hopefully as she answered the call. Beneath the hope was a hint of nervousness, and she had every right to be.
Lexi closed her eyes briefly with a sigh. "I was wondering if you could come pick me up?" she asked instead of answering the question.
Trey returned from sending the suitcases out unto the veranda to see her descending the stairs, boxes in hand. He also noticed she was on the phone with someone, and the probability of it being Ethan pricked at his heart.
"That bad huh?" Melissa muttered. A few seconds later, Alexandra could hear shuffling then the jiggle of keys which told her Melissa was coming to get her. "What happened baby?"
"I'll tell you when we get home okay? It's raining and I'm soaked. I really, really need your help." She went down the last but two stairs and jumped in surprise at the sight of Trey... so much that she dropped the phone down the remaining steps, ruining it.
She glared at him, went down the remaining steps, and pushed past him as she made her way towards the door. After dropping the boxes outside, she came back to find Trey holding her ruined phone, and snatched it from him.
"I could get you a new one, since it was my fault," he offered.
She let out an unattractive snort, not bothering spare him another glance. "Keep it. I don't want it." She went back outside, muttering under her breath.
Once out, she glanced back to make sure Trey hadn't followed her, then sank unto one of the suitcases, letting the tears she'd been holding in flow freely. Trey was different now, and it pained her that she didn't know him anymore.
Melissa's car came up the driveway a bit later as she sat shivering on the veranda. She came up and helped Lexi to her feet, hugging her.
"It's okay. I'm here for you," Melissa whispered, holding tightly unto her friend. There were times when she hated herself for introducing her bestfriend to her stepbrother, because then maybe, Alexandra wouldn't suffer and cry this much.
She decided that even though they clearly still loved each other, Trey didn't deserve Lexi. She would take her back home and convince her to forget about him.
That was before she remembered Alexandra was pregnant with Trey's children - a situation which, in itself, complicated matters.
She guided Alexandra to the car and opened the passenger door for her, signaling her to get in and off the rain. Alexandra looked up and asked, "What about the stuff? They're still on the veranda."
"I'll take care of them," Melissa assured, shooing her into the car. "You're drenched enough as it is." It took her three trips to get the bags and boxes to the trunk of her car.
Trey appeared on the porch, somewhat surprised to find Melissa out here. He had expected Ethan, to assure him his suspicions had been right. But now, he didn't know what to think anymore.
"Melissa," he called out loudly over the rain. She gave him the stink eye, but he wasn't surprised. The girl had an attitude so bad that sometimes he had to resort to intimidation.
"What?" she asked sharply over the rain that was still pouring; the rain that she was also getting drenched in.
"Can I speak to you for a moment?" he requested, hiding his surprise at the tone she'd used on him.
"I can't imagine what about," she shot back, yelling loud enough for him to hear her and slammed the door to the trunk shut.
He kept his face grim, hating that she was complicating things. "Come here."
"Or what?" she cut in, going back up the stairs. She crossed her arms defiantly over her chest. "All you're going to do is threaten me, when what you should be doing is giving your wife a chance to explain herself."
"I'd prefer you don't refer to her as my wife anymore. We're getting a divorce," he told her. "And surely if there was anything to say, she would have."
Melissa was caught up on the word divorce. "I still don't understand why you want to divorce her after everything she's been through for and with you. Trey, please don't do something you'll regret."
He shoved his hands into his pockets. "That isn't why I called you, or what I wanted to talk to you about. Leave our problems for us to fix."
Reluctantly, she dropped that topic. "What about then?"
"Is she well? Alexandra, I mean," he clarified rather lamely, turning the conversation awkward.
"Why do you ask?" she queried, eyes narrowed in suspicion. Trey directed blazing eyes at her and she found herself getting defensive. "I just want to know if you really do care or if there's any - "
"She said - accidentally during one of her rambles - something along the lines of being already sick," he explained impatiently.
"Oh," was all Melissa could say.
"Is it terminal?" he asked, and despite all he'd said, Melissa could hear the concern in his voice. However, she knew it wasn't her place to tell him about the pregnancy... even though the bump had been pretty clear when her clothes stuck to her.
Biting her lips nervously, she said, "Why don't you ask her personally?"
"You think I hadn't tried that approach?" he asked, an eyebrow quirked questioningly. "This is what I had to resort to."
"Well, she's the only one who can give you the answers you want," she supplied simply. She gave him a brief smile, albeit fake, and turned to leave.
"Why do I have this feeling there's something important you're not telling me?" He sounded worried; a bit scared even. But knowing her brother, he would never admit it. He always thought he had to stay strong and protect others.
She sighed, turning back to him. "She had wanted to tell you because she trusted you. But you broke that trust; broke her. She wakes up miserable almost every day... and it's hard watching her go on like that.
"I have no one to blame but myself for introducing her to you in the first place. If you want answers, go and ask her for them. I have none of the answers you seek. Even if I did, I wouldn't tell you because it's not my place to say anything. Sorry."
She turned away, jogging down the stairs and running off into her car, driving off a moment later.
Trey stood for a little after they had gone, gazing at nothing in particular. Melissa was right, and he decided it was time to look into the matter - something he should've done a long time ago.
He pulled his phone out his pocket and dialed an old friend. "Mitch, I want you to look into something for me."