Chapter Twenty-Eight
Oh my God!
What the fuck?
Am I seeing what I think I’m seeing?
This is worse than I even imagined.
Meredith’s hand is on my boyfriend’s face, placed in a loving manner. And, even more upsetting, his hand is covering hers.
It’s like they’re having a moment, and next up is an embrace.
Standing frozen in shock in the doorway, I finally come to my senses and yell, “What in the hell is going on in here?”
Lennox is facing my way and looks beyond stunned to see me. Quickly and abruptly, he pushes Meredith’s hand away from his face.
Still, it’s too late.
I saw what I saw, damn it.
Meredith turns around, smirking.
That smug bitch.
I’d like to walk over and smack her, but that’s not my style.
Instead, I ignore her and, pointing at Lennox, say simply, “We are done.”
Spinning on my sneakered feet, I take off down the hallway. There’s a lump in my throat and I feel like I’m going to cry, but I’m so angry right now, the tears won’t fall.
What I’d like to do is scream.
When Lennox catches up to me—of course, I knew he’d follow—and stops me by grabbing my arm, I spin around and I do get to scream, right in his traitorous face. “Get the fuck away from me!”
Sucking in a surprised breath, he drops his hand from my arm.
Then the begging begins. “Madison, please, listen to me. It’s not what it looked like in there. She put her hand on my face and surprised the shit out of me. My hand was over hers so I could get her the fuck off of me.”
My ire spikes even more as I shout, “Don’t give me that shit!
You kept this interview a secret for a reason.
Telling me at the last minute?” I snort.
“Oh, and conveniently leaving out who it was to be with. Please. If you had no bad intentions with that bitch, you would’ve said something about it a long time ago, like when the interview was first scheduled. ”
“I wanted to, babe,” he says, sounding exasperated. “And you’re right—I should’ve told you every detail from the minute the interview was scheduled. I was just afraid of your reaction. And also a part of me didn’t want you to worry.”
“Worry?” I scoff. “Yeah, I wonder why I’d worry. Let’s just admit your past track record isn’t good, Lennox. Claire told me you were a player. She didn’t want to see you hurt me. Yet here we are. Obviously—” I choke back a sob. “—she was right.”
His expression softens, and he says quietly, “She’s not right, Madison. I never intended to hurt you. In fact, that’s the last thing I’d ever want to do.”
“But you did hurt me, Lennox. Seeing you with Meredith, of all people, in a position like that.” I shake my head. “Oh, and that outfit she’s wearing! Clearly, she wore it for you. Secrets and lies.” I shrug. “What am I supposed to think?”
“I didn’t lie about anything,” he says.
I chortle at that. “Yeah, you kind of did. An omission is a lie, too, buddy.”
He holds up his hands. “Okay, okay, I see your point. But, again, this is all just one big misunderstanding. We can get past this, right?”
I think about it, and I realize I can’t.
Not this fast.
I’d feel like a pushover or something.
So I tell him, “No, I don’t think I can get past this, Lennox. Not at this point.”
His voice cracks as he asks, “What are you saying, Madison?”
I blow out a breath. “I’m saying I need time. I don’t know how much, but I want to be left alone. I don’t want you texting and calling or, God forbid, stopping by my house. Truthfully, with the way I’m feeling right now, I don’t know if I even want this relationship to continue.”
He looks aghast. “You can’t be serious,” he says, his voice shaky.
I stay resolute, though, telling him, “I am serious.”
He tries to reach for my arm but then thinks better of it.
Softly, he says, “But I love you, Madison. You can’t give up on us this easily.”
A spike of anger igniting, I point at him and grind out, “Hey, don’t put this on me, buddy. I’m not the one who gave up on us. You did by not trusting our love enough to be truthful with me in the first place.”
“Fair enough,” he says quietly, sounding defeated. “Take however much time you need. I’ll leave you be. But know that I’ll be here. In fact, I’ll wait for you forever, babe.”
I can’t say anything back.
I have no more words.
My heart is crushed.
I turn and walk away quickly—from my love and the life I thought I had.