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He pauses. “Call me when you’re on your way.”
The phone clicks before I can say another word and we’re disconnected, as disconnected as our relationship is right now. It makes my head pound harder. I need something hot to help the stuffiness in my head and I ask Nikki to order some soup for me. It’s not helping, and I feel quite warm. An hour later, the chills start.
I can’t deal with this with all I have to do, but I press on and by the time 4:30 rolls around, I’m miserable. JC comes in to see how I’m doing and immediately knows something is wrong. He touches his hand to my cheek.
“Geez, you’re burning up. Why didn’t you go home?”
“I have so much to do, and you said that the Camilla campaign needs a rewrite.”
“Lexi, you’re sick. Go home. We can reschedule.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I’ll explain to Vincent and Marco.”
“Thank you so much.”
I grab my purse and pack up my briefcase. I’m definitely not taking the subway the way I feel. I’m not sure I can handle the rush hour and standing on the train. I hailed a cab and lay my head back as it moves through the city. I’m glad to see my building because the more the minutes tick by, the worse I feel.
The apartment is quiet when I get upstairs, and then I hear it, soft moaning. I slip off my shoes and quietly walk toward where the sound is coming from, Noah’s office. Then I see it and I want to scream. Vivian is naked, bent over the couch arm and Noah is fucking her from behind.
My head feels like it’s going to blow. JC cheated on me, but I always found out after the fact. I never walked in on him fucking someone else. I can feel the soup I ingested hours before working its way up my throat, and I force it down. Silent tears are rolling down my cheeks. What do I do? Do I burst in the door and tell him what a bastard he is and what a whore she is?
I can’t deal with this right now, but I do have to deal with it. Where do I go? Megan doesn’t have her apartment yet, and Olivia hasn’t returned from California. Those options are out. I could stay at a hotel or go to my parent’s house in New Jersey. That’s out because they’ll ask why I’m there and not with Noah. The only other option is JC. He’s close and he’ll understand. I need his comfort.
I grab my shoes and silently slip out the apartment door, out of the life that I thought was going to be mine. My whole life will change; it’s over with Noah. I can’t go back to him. My intuition told me something was wrong, and I thought I was being paranoid.
I can barely see the buttons in the elevator because my eyes are filled with tears. I jam on the one marked M and rush out of the car when the doors open. On the street I lean against the wall of the building and call JC.
“Lexi? Are you home yet?”
“JC,” I blurt out.
His voice is full of concern. “What’s wrong? Where are you?”
I’m sobbing so hard I can barely get words out of my mouth. Passersby are looking at me.
“Calm down. Is it Noah?”
That makes me cry harder, and I start to cough.
“He cheated,” are the only words I can get out of my mouth before a new fit of sobs take hold.
“Are you home?”
“In front of my building,” I choke out.
“I’m in a cab. I’m coming to get you. Calm down.”
Twelve long minutes I lean against the building, wiping my nose and eyes with a crumpled-up tissue I found in my purse before JC reaches me. He jumps out of the cab and puts his arm around me while he escorts me to the waiting car.
“Do you want to tell me what happened?”
I shake my head, and he pulls me against him. I try to back away, not because I don’t want his comfort but because my mascara is going to stain his crisp white shirt. He holds me to him, and I stop struggling. A few blocks later, JC is helping me out of the cab and into his building.
My crying has subsided, but I’m hiccupping now, and he rubs my back. I feel horrible and my head is killing me. I don’t know what hurts worse, the betrayal or the pain. JC takes me by the hand and leads me to his apartment. The décor is masculine, lots of blues, beiges and grays. He sits me on an overstuffed leather couch in his living room and gets me a glass of water.
“Lexi, what the fuck happened?” he says as he sits next to me.
