Chapter Twenty-Three
Marcus
By the time I gave our last guest a discount on his room because the water was shut off for four hours, I was exhausted. I had no time to think about Eliana and her cheating ass or Zamora because my day had been so chaotic. All I wanted was to climb into my bed and get some good sleep. I went into the general manager’s office to gather myself and prepare to go home finally. When I picked up my cell phone from my desk, I noticed I had several voicemails and texts. I read a few texts from family and friends and came across the ones from Zamora.
Zee: Hey, I hope all is well with the pipe situation. I wish I could be there like ole times. Remember when the fire alarm went off because of that one kid who put a napkin in the toaster? Fun times. LOL!
Zee: Random thought –– the hotel business is kinda cool. We’d be perfect running our own. Goodnight.
I smiled brightly. She was right. I knew it would be a success if we owned a little bed and breakfast together. With the right staff, I could still tinker with my electronics, and she could continue running her catering business. The idea was something I would certainly revisit later.
Checking my voice messages, I reluctantly listened to one from Eliana apologizing for how she’d been acting and confessing her love to me. I deleted it because I knew that was a lie. I moved on to the next message, which was from my mother, saying we needed to talk. She sounded serious, and she was right. I had to tell her that I wanted to resign. The last one was from Olivia, Eliana’s mother:
Marcus, Eliana is at Provident Hospital . Come as soon as you can.
My first reaction was to rush out to my SUV and break every traffic law to get to the hospital, but then I paused, took a deep breath, and relaxed. Why should I rush to be by the side of the woman creeping on me with her sidepiece?
By the time I made it to Provident Hospital, her folks had already left, which led me to believe Eliana wasn’t in any serious condition. After telling the front desk staff that I was her fiancé, they provided me with her room number and pointed me in the right direction after checking my ID and giving me a green hospital bracelet that was to be worn by visitors. When I walked in, the nurse was standing at the foot of the bed, charting something on her clipboard while Eliana lay sleeping.
“Do I need to come back?” I asked.
“No, come on in. She has a few bumps from her fall, but mother and baby are okay. She will recover just fine,” the nurse replied.
“Excuse me? Mother and who?” I questioned.
The nurse placed a hand over her mouth. “I’m so sorry. I thought you knew about the baby. I could be fired for disclosing that type of information about the patient,” she said, sounding panicky.
“No worries. I won’t let anyone know you told me. I just wanted to make sure I heard you correctly. She’s pregnant?” I asked again in disbelief.
With a nervous expression, she nodded yes.
“Relax. It was an honest mistake.”
“Thank you, sir. I’ll leave you alone with her. If you need anything, just press this button. They gave her something to relax so she won’t be awake for a while. However, you can stay as long as you like.”
“Thank you,” I said, and she vacated the room, leaving me sitting there confused.
Up until the night of our engagement party, we faithfully used condoms, so I needed to know how far along she was with the pregnancy. I had many questions but couldn’t get them answered with Eliana sedated. So, I took a seat in the faux leather recliner and waited.
Once I got comfortable, I pulled out my phone to send Zamora a text.
Me: I know you’re probably sound asleep, beautiful, but I want to say if I ever needed you in my life, I need you now. I hope you can make time to see me tomorrow.
I needed someone to hold me this time and tell me that I didn’t deserve this bullshit with Eliana. What I deserved was to have a long happy and loving life with Zamora. I held on to the hope that we could start again.
I ran a hand over my face and wiped my eyes a few times to dry my tears. I need another chance with her, and I’d offer her a sincere apology the next time I saw her and ask for a clean slate between us. I wanted the chance to reintroduce myself to her and ask her out on a date like it was the first time we ever met. That was my plan, and I would follow through with it.
The next morning, the loud nurses pulled open the curtains and the bright lights woke me from my slumber in the chair. They were there to check on their patient, and honestly, their being in the room probably saved me from jumping up and choking the life out of Eliana.
After updating Eliana on her injuries and how the baby was doing, the nurses exited the room, leaving us alone. We looked at each other without words until I broke the silence.
“Nine weeks. So your baby is his?”
“His who? Baby, what are you talking about? This is our baby,” she said, looking at me like I had lost my mind and was the crazy one in the room.
“Enough, Eliana. Enough,” I said through gritted teeth, trying to keep my voice down.
The last thing I wanted was for security to drag my black ass out of there in handcuffs. I had too much to lose, and Eliana wasn’t worth the risk.
“Look, I’m not going to sit here and ask you a lot of questions I already know the answers to, okay? We are done. Whatever you left at my place, I’ll send to you by carrier, and whatever items of mine that are at your place, you can trash or burn. I don’t give a damn.”
“So you’re just going to take your mother’s side without even listening to mine? I knew she’d tear us apart. You’re a typical momma’s boy––a fucking puppet on a string when it comes to her,” she said through her tears.
“My mother? What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked, utterly confused. “This has nothing to do with my mother. Are you serious right now?”
This bitch is pregnant with another man’s child, and she’s talking about my mother. Unfuckin’believable!
“Marcus, please don’t play dumb with me. I know your mother told you some bullshit, but it’s all lies, baby. I love you, and I’d never do anything to hurt you. She is lying. Marcus, listen to me. We’re going to have a baby. Please don’t let her rip our family apart.”
Curious, I asked, “What is my mother lying about, Eli?”
I wanted to know everything that I didn’t already know.
“Everything. She came to my store yesterday saying someone told her that I was still with Rush, and she did some investigating and found out this and that. But none of it is true, I swear. This is your baby. I know you remember when the condom broke, right? That had to be when I got pregnant. I love you, Marcus. Don’t let your mother ruin this beautiful thing we have together,” she cried.
I slowly stood up. Now I have to gut punch dat ass .
“As I was saying before, we are done. Keep the ring, and good luck with your bundle. I know before the night of our engagement party, I had never been with you without the plastic. That I know without a doubt. I never want to see your lying ass again, Eliana,” I snarled, my facial expression resembling my tone. “Oh, and newsflash, I haven’t seen or talked to my mother.”
Her face froze, and her hands slowly covered her mouth.
“I saw it with my own eyes yesterday morning. When you ignored my calls, I headed to your place because I thought you were still upset about the meeting with Zamora, but no, you were busy entertaining your man Rush.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she opened her mouth to say something in her defense, but I didn’t give her the opportunity.
“No!” I barked, holding up a finger and aiming it at her tear-stained face. “You don’t get to say another damn word to me. I watched him pull out of your garage, get out of his vehicle, and kiss you goodbye. And that smile you gave him? It made me ill to my stomach. I’ve never seen you smile so brightly for me. There is nothing else you can say to me. Take care of yourself, Eli, and good luck with your situation,” I spat and left the room.
After leaving the hospital, my next stop would be my parents’ house. My mother had some explaining to do.