Chapter Eleven
Gigi
M arcus drove me home after we left dinner with the crew, watching me walk into my building before driving away. We didn’t stay too late; the babies were both ready for bedtime not long after we were done eating. He was pretty quiet the whole evening, more quiet than usual. And he wouldn’t put Millie down until she eventually fell asleep on his chest. Easy to understand that he’s quiet or looking for comfort, with the pressure his dad is putting on him, but it just felt like there was something else bothering him.
I make a mental note to take him some sage and a couple pieces of black tourmaline to clear out all the negativity that’s been surrounding him the past couple weeks.
I get to my floor and dig through my bag for my keys. I unlock the door and walk in, slinging my purse on my hook by the door. I kick off my boots and glance around the empty space. My cat, Ethel, slinks in from the living room to greet me. I dump some food in her dish and glance at the kitchen clock. It’s only 8:30. Lewis can’t be in bed already, and he didn’t say anything about going out.
My eyes scan the room, looking down the hall, and that’s when I hear a voice. Then I hear it again. This time, I swear that it’s a woman’s voice.
Oh, hell no.
I tiptoe down the hall and listen. I feel my stomach want to up-heave my dinner when I realize what I’m hearing.
He’s fucking someone in our bed.
I say a silent prayer for forgiveness because I might hurt someone.
Just go ahead and put my face on a Most Wanted poster right now.
Anger rages through me as I open the door and flip on the light.
Then disbelief washes through my body as I freeze in place.
Sabrina.
Sabrina in reverse cowgirl.
Why the fuck do I care what position they are in right now?
No, she wouldn’t betray me like this.
He wouldn’t betray me like this.
“Oh my God! Gigi.” Sabrina scrambles to dismount Lewis and grabs the sheets—my fucking sheets—to cover herself.
“What the absolute fuck is going on here?” I yell.
“Gigi, I’m so sorry. It’s just—”
“Shut the fuck up, Sabrina.” I turn to Lewis, who is getting dressed. Face with no expression, no remorse. “Lewis, what the hell?”
“Sorry, Gigi.”
“Sorry? That’s it? You’re fucking my employee in our bed and you say ‘Sorry’?”
“What else am I supposed to say?”
“Fuck if I know, but you should probably start talking.”
He looks at me. “We never should have moved in together.”
“What does that mean?”
“We’re different people, Gigi. This was a mistake.”
“You’re kidding me. You’re an absolute asshole.”
“Call me whatever you want. At least I have the balls to say this has been over longer than you care to admit.”
“Why did you have me move in here, then? If this was all ‘over’, why did you say yes?”
“To shut you up.” He shakes his head. “My family told me this was a bad idea, that you weren’t marriage material, but I didn’t listen.”
“Your family?”
“I should have listened to them. You have to admit, you don’t really fit in with them.”
“I might not fit into their pompous world, but it’s good to finally know what they really think about me. I thought we were progressing. I thought you wanted this.”
“I just wanted you to back off.”
Sabrina, now fully dressed, starts walking to the door of the bedroom. “I should go.”
“Damn right you should go. You can pick up your shit from work tomorrow at two.”
Her eyes filled with tears. Good, I hope she feels like a piece of shit right now. “Okay.”
She walks out of the room, and I wait to hear the front door close.
“Lewis, how could you do this to me?”
“I didn’t know you would be home so early. When you hang out with your friends, you usually stay out later.”
“This isn’t a matter of my timing. This is about what you just did in our bed.”
“Wasn’t the first time.”
I step back, feeling like I was just hit in the chest. I feel tears gathering in my eyes. I will them back; I’m not going to let him see me cry over this. I’m angry, so damn angry. “Not the first time?”
“Just leave it, Gigi, we’re done. I’ll find somewhere to sleep tonight. You can move your stuff out tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I agree we’re done. How many times, Lewis? How long have you been cheating on me?”
He grabs a backpack from the closet, tossing some clothes in, walking across the room to our—no, his—bathroom to grab toiletries.
“Don’t make this worse than it has to be.”
“Tell me.”
“First time was a year ago.”
“You slept with Sabrina a year ago!?”
“No, that was the first time I slept with another woman.”
“You fucking ass!”
“You wanted to know.”
“Oh my god.”
He slings the backpack onto his shoulder. “I’m leaving. I’ll be back tomorrow night. You can be gone by then, right?”
“Why are you being so fucking cold?”
“This was the cut I needed, I guess. I’m ready for both of us to move on.”
“I’ll be gone. If this is your reaction to ending two years of a relationship, then I can’t wait to get out of here.”
“Good.”
He walks out of the room, and I jump at the sound of the front door slamming. I sink down to the floor, and now that I’m alone, the tears start falling. I am frustrated, hurt, and scared. I don’t have a home. I need an STI test. I need to move out in the next twelve hours.
Ethel timidly walks into the room, approaching me and boop-ing her nose against my knee. I pick her up and go to the kitchen for my phone. There’s only one person I want to rely on right now.