Chapter 11 #2
Rounding the hood, he jumped in and shoved the vehicle into gear.
"How did you find me?" She asked tonelessly.
"We'll get to that." He stopped at the light, his hands white knuckling the wheel as he stared straight ahead. He had hoped it was all a lie, that she wasn't a woman who had pretended to be who she wasn't.
But his hopes had been dashed. Once again, he had been fooled and taken in by a heartless, greedy bitch. It hurt like living hell.
He drove until he came to a narrow dirt road. Turning off the engine, he opened the door and came around to yank at the passenger side. It was icy cold, but he didn't feel any of it.
The anger churning inside him was making him hot as if someone had lit a fuse inside and was stoking the flame.
"Get out." For a minute, she entertained the idea of just staying where she was. A frightened gasp escaped her lips when he reached in and unhooked her belt and pulled her out. Slamming the door shut, he turned to her with blazing eyes.
"Who the hell are you?"
She melted back against the vehicle as if she could avoid the fury pouring from his body. No longer was he the gentle and considerate lover, the man who had teased and caressed her until she was putty in his hands. This was someone different and she had never been so scared in her life.
She had played with fire and was feeling the brunt of it.
"I--I--" She swallowed the lump that refused to move and tried to get the words out. "I am Melanie Foster like I said and a single mother of an eight year old son."
Rodney had thought he could not be more staggered or shocked, but he was dead wrong.
"You have a son." His eyes swept over her face. "Are you married?"
"No! No." She gripped her hands together and took a deep breath. "He, the father left when I told him I was pregnant."
She started to lift her hands to touch him, dropping them when he reared back.
"I never meant for any of this to happen. It was something I, we thought of doing. A way to meet rich men. Just to experience what it's like to live like that for, for a while. And to get some of the benefits--"
She stuttered to a stop as the pain flashed across his face.
"You did all of that, pretended to be someone you're not--" Suddenly something she had told him came back. "Your parents, are they--"
"They're dead."
His eyes darkened. He could not bear to look at her anymore. His whole world was crashing down around him and he could not breathe. Turning, he paced away and then back, the wind whipping through his hair and fluttering his long black cashmere jacket.
She stood where she was, watching as he struggled for control.
"Everything was a lie. All of it."
"No." She shook her head. "I fell in love--"
She shrank back as he rounded on her, his expression murderous.
Her heart became strangled in her throat as he loomed in front of her. He had to clench his fists to stop from wrapping them around her neck.
"You've got some nerve lady." His voice came out cold and hard as ice and just as sharp. "You played me, pretended to be someone else, all because you wanted what? Money, things?"
Molten eyes slashed over her face in utter contempt.
"And you're a mother. You prostituted yourself so that you could reap whatever benefits you could get. And for frigging what? How many times have you done this sort of thing?"
His words cut into her and left her bleeding, but she could not blame him.
"Just this once." She felt sick to her stomach and was praying she didn't disgrace herself in front of him. Any thought of telling him about the pregnancy vanished. He would believe she had set out to trap him.
"I've never done this before. Please--" She lifted a hand to rub her temple. "I'm freezing."
He noticed for the first time that she was shivering, her teeth chattering.
Swearing under his breath, he opened the door for her to get in.
As soon as the warmth enveloped her, she wrapped her hands around her arms and closed her eyes. Keeping them closed, she heard when he entered and sat there for a minute.
"You're despicable." He said coldly. "You're the worst kind of monster and if it takes me the rest of my life, I'm going to erase you from it. You're a greedy, grasping bitch who deserves to be locked up. I pity your poor son. He deserves a better mother."
Turning her head away, she allowed the tears to trickle down her cheeks, his words drawing blood.
He took her back to the parking lot and had barely stopped the vehicle, before shoving open the door.
"Get the hell out and if I ever come across you again, you're going to regret it."
She stumbled out and managed to get to her vehicle. The parking lot was almost empty and for that she was grateful. Unlocking her vehicle, she got in and tried starting the engine, but it wouldn't budge.
"Oh please." She whispered, turning the key again. "Please don't do this to me."
She made several tries, but the engine wouldn't turn over. Slamming her hands on the wheel, she just sat there and started laughing, until tears were running down her cheeks. Leaning her head back, she swiped at the tears and felt her chest heaving.
Taking a deep breath, she dug out her phone and called Carrie.
*****
"Here." Carrie shoved the glass in her hands.
"I can't--"
"It's just a finger. Sip a little bit. You are shivering." She marched over to turn up the heat, her steps militant.
"You should have called me when he showed up."
She took a tentative sip and felt the fire coursing through her veins. Putting the glass down, she wrapped the blanket around her.
"And say what?" She had chosen to come here instead of going straight home and had told the school to take David to her grandmother. She couldn't face either of them right now. She was going to have to tell Grams what was going on, but not now. Carrie was the only one she had confided in.
"You should have seen the look on his face." Even the memory of it caused her to tremble. "He looked like he wanted to commit murder. I hurt him Car."
She continued bleakly.
"When I told him that I was originally into it for gain, the pain on his face broke my heart." She rubbed her chest as if to ease the ache. "Then I told him I had a son."
She laughed hoarsely.
"You could have knocked him down with a feather." She turned to stare at her friend. "He called me a lousy mother, said I was a monster."
Her friend hurried over. Pulling up a chair, Carrie took her hands.
"And we both know you're not. Like you said, he's angry and hurt and lashing out."
"He said some things that are true. I did it to get ahead."
Carrie shook her head. "It was more than that for you. From the very first time you saw him, you felt something."
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter."
Carrie squeezed her hands to get her attention. "You're going to have to tell him about the baby."
Despair covered her like a smothering coat.
"How?" She whispered. "He said he never wants to see me again. He threatened me--"
She gulped back a sob.
"He was so angry, I was literally afraid he was going to hurt me."
"But he didn't." Her friend reminded her gently, rubbing her hands. "And that speaks a lot about who he really is. Some men caught up in that situation would have struck out. You haven't told Grams."
"No." She swallowed the tears. "And I'm afraid I might be out of a job. I saw the way Jessica was looking at me when I left."
"I hate to say this honey, but that might be a blessing in disguise."
"How?" She cried. "I have a mouth to feed. David eats like a horse and now I have another on the way."
Tugging her hands free, she pushed to her feet and went to the window to look out. It was the beginning of November, and the bleakness of the evening gave testimony to what the weather was like. And the fact that it mirrored her mood.
Her life was falling apart again, and she was helpless to stop it from happening.
"I ended things with the idiot I was seeing."
Melanie turned to look at her.
Meeting her friend's eyes, she shrugged.
"You were right. No amount of expensive things and money could make me stomach his ways.
He's a bigot, kept calling me his dark chocolate and hinting at how people like us have come up in the world.
I took his things, clothes, shoes, jewelries and money and told him to get lost."
She had a defiant look on her face.
"I figured it was worth me putting up with his shit. I'm not like you honey. You've always been noble and besides, your guy is way different than that asshole."
"He is." A sad smile played around her lips as she came and sat back down. "No wonder I fell in love with him."