Chapter 11 – Lexi
eleven
Lexi
“I’m so, so sorry,” Kirby says, his voice filled with regret. “You deserve better than him.”
“Like who?” Trent sneers at him as he smooths down his jacket that not two seconds ago Kirby fisted in his hands. “Like you?” He motions with his chin.
“Like anyone who will treat her with respect.” He looks at me, but I can’t turn and look into his eyes.
“Who will raise her up and not knock her down to make themselves feel better.” My eyes watch Trent’s face as he says the words.
Wondering if he’s going to say anything back to Kirby.
“Anyone but someone like you.” The tears were stinging at my eyes when I stepped outside of the door and heard Trent’s words about my father.
I wipe one away from my cheek, forcing the others back at bay.
I will not let him see that he’s hurt me.
“You deserve better, Lexi,” Kirby declares, and I wish I had the balls to look up at him but I don’t.
I don’t have the balls to do anything. Instead, I listen to him walk away.
“Excuse me,” he says and I look back and see this little altercation has drawn a crowd.
My eyes are on the security people turning and telling everyone there is nothing to see here. “Now look at what you have done.” I hear his voice and look back to see him standing closer to me. “Look at the fucking scene that you’ve caused.” He shakes his head.
“The scene I’ve caused?” I point to my chest and look down to see if I’m bleeding through my dress because that is the pain I’m feeling. Like someone has just taken a knife and stabbed me in the heart. “I wasn’t even out here.”
“You,” he growls between clenched teeth, “were the root of this scene. Did you fuck him?” I gasp and take a step back away from him. “You better tell me now before I find out.”
“How could you even ask that?” I hiss at him. “How could you think I would do that?”
“I don’t know anything anymore,” he grumbles. “All I know is you’ve made a laughingstock out of me tonight.”
“Me?” I point to myself. “I made a laughingstock out of you?” I can’t help but repeat his words because, surely, I’ve heard him wrong. Surely, my ears are playing tricks on me.
“We need to get back inside”—he puts his shoulders back—“and make sure no one is talking about this shit. Should have fucking laid his ass out,” he mumbles about Kirby and I want to laugh in his face.
There would only be one person laying the other one out, and it would not be him laying Kirby out.
He grabs my hand and pulls me with him back into the room.
People mingle everywhere and not one person looks over at us.
I walk back into the room with a smile on my face.
My eyes go to table two, hoping to see Kirby sitting there with his date.
But the two seats are empty. I let go of his hand as I make my way back to my own seat, sitting down and smiling at Cheryl, who is eating the second course.
“How is the food?” I ask her, putting the linen napkin back on my lap.
“Better than the taste testing.” She smiles. “Everyone is having such a good time.”
She doesn’t even mention the altercation that took place not ten minutes ago. “That is amazing.” I fake smile at her as Trent sits next to me, putting his glass of bourbon in front of his dish.
“Isn’t this amazing?” Cheryl asks Trent.
“Perfect,” he replies, leaning and kissing my cheek, “just like my wife.”
“Isn’t he sweet?” she says and all I can do is smile at her. The smile feels like it’s plastered on my face. The smile I have no choice but to give right now. The whole night all I do is put on this front when I am crying inside.
People come up to me all night long, telling me how incredible the night is. Even the silent auction blows up. People start trickling out, and when it’s just a handful of people left, Trent stands up. “We should get going,” he announces and I get up, grabbing my purse.
“Don’t forget your flowers,” Cheryl reminds me of the bouquet of white roses Kirby had given to both of us to thank us for tonight, something that made me stand there speechless.
“She doesn’t need more flowers at home,” Trent declares. “You should donate them to the hospital with all the other flowers.”
“Of course,” Cheryl says as she watches Trent walk over to Dr. Visabell to say goodbye. “You should at least get the card he wrote,” Cheryl urges, her voice low and I nod at her, not willing to make another scene.
“I’ll be right back,” I tell Trent, who in front of Dr. Visabell doesn’t say anything.
I walk over to the back of the room where the silent auction table is, seeing the two white bouquets of flowers on the table.
I look in the first one and see Cheryl’s name on the card and then see the next one, my name written across the middle of the white card.
I open my purse, shoving it in before turning and walking back to Trent.
We wish everyone goodnight as we walk out of the room. “Thank fuck that is finally over,” he grouses, walking in front of me. We get to the bottom of the stairs as the doors open.
“I need the car for Dr. Yoder,” the valet guy says into the walkie-talkie. “We’ll be right out.”
“I need another car also,” Trent says to him and he nods his head and I look at him.
“What do you need another car for?” I ask him, holding my purse in my hands in front of me.
“I’m going to stay at the apartment near the hospital.” He looks around to make sure no one can hear him. “After the shitshow of tonight, I need to think.”
“You need to think,” I repeat, my voice not as low as his was.
“Lower your voice,” he warns. “It’ll also give you a chance to think about the scene you caused tonight,” he adds.
When our car gets there, he walks to the back door of the car and opens it for me.
“I’ll see you tomorrow and we can talk then.
” He leans down to kiss me, but instead of waiting for it, I duck my head and get into the car.
He sticks his head into the car. “I can see I made the right decision.” He doesn’t wait for me to say anything, instead shutting the door in my face.
I sit in the back of the car, looking out at him shaking the valet guy’s hand as he walks toward the car he got for him. The driver gets into the car. “Are we going straight home, Mrs. Yoder?” I look at him as he watches me in the rearview mirror.
“Yes,” I confirm with a smile, “take me home.” I swallow down the lump in my chest as I look out of the window. It was supposed to be my night. I worked my ass off to make tonight the most successful fundraiser the hospital ever had and, in the end, he ruined it for me.
My eyes go dry as the tip of my nose stings. I put my hand on my stomach as I watch the city fade away as he drives me closer to my house. The last thing I want tonight is to fall apart in the car in front of a stranger.
I close my eyes as I blink away the tears.
My head goes back to that moment outside with him and Kirby, I will never in my life forget.
A moment I will never in my life forgive him for.
The minute I got the flowers and I took a step back, I looked toward where Trent was supposed to be sitting but saw it was empty.
I smiled at everyone as I handed the flowers back to the waiter, and he told me where he would put them until I was ready to leave.
“He’s so thoughtful,” Cheryl praised Kirby, and all I could do was nod because it was more than that.
I looked over and saw his date was chatting head to head with Darryl, and instead of sitting down, I walked out of the ballroom, coming to a stop when I saw Tatum, one of the surgery coordinators, walking in from outside.
Her red dress hanging too low in the front, low enough that you could see her fake, round tits.
Her face was pale, as if she was caught doing something, as she hurried back into the ballroom.
She stopped when she saw me. “Is my husband out there?” I asked her and whatever color was in her face was totally gone.
She couldn’t even answer me, all she could do was nod her head and quickly run away.
I rolled my eyes and wondered if I should even go out there.
I knew I should have turned and walked back into the ballroom, but instead I was pulling the door open at the exact moment I heard the words that would change everything, “For fuck’s sake, her father is a fucking drug addict.
She should be thankful I took pity on her. ”
Everything happened so fast after that, I had to make sure Kirby didn’t do anything he would regret in the morning.
I open my eyes when I feel the car coming to a stop and the sound of the door being shut.
Looking out of my window, I see I’m in front of my house.
The door is pulled open as the driver holds out his hand.
“Thank you.” I nod at him once I’m out of the car, and he lets go of the door. “Have a nice evening.”
I walk into the house, not bothering to take off my shoes or even turn on the light as I make my way to my bedroom. The purse slips from my hand and smashes onto the floor, making it spring open, my lip gloss skidding across the floor and the white card falling out.
I squat down in front of the purse and take the envelope in my hand. My finger moves over my name before I turn it over and open it.
Pulling it open, I see Kirby must have written this.
Lexi,
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
That’s my favorite quote and thought I would share it with you.
I dare you not to let anyone darken your light.
K.
The minute I read the last sentence, I’m sobbing out loud. Bringing the card to my chest, I can’t help but cry. The pressure is so much that I’m knocked on my ass. My head feels like it’s a washing machine spinning around and around.