Page 4 of It Was Always You

"You saw me?" he asked, rather surprised. "What is that supposed to mean?" hequestioned.

"I saw you in the lobby a half hour ago." Turning around, I looked at him. "With her! You never came back here last night. You spent the night with her on our anniversary," I choked out. I marched into the bathroom to grab mytoiletries.

"Honey, I don't know what you are talking about. I went downstairs last night to meet with a colleague to sign paperwork. We got to discussing business. It was almost two when I returned. I didn't want to wake you. I mean, I wanted to, but I thought you needed yoursleep."

"Why are you lying? I saw you with a woman in your lap this morning dressed in a dark suit. She had blonde hair, and you were kissing her. You looked at her the way you used to look at me. I watched you kiss her good-bye, and then you grabbed the paper and headed toward the elevators. I saw it all, Dean. It definitely wasn't business. The bed hasn't even been slept in. I slept on thecouch."

The tears gathered in the corners of my eyes. I didn't want to cry in front of him, but it was inevitable. "You must have pretty big balls, you know that? You bring me here on our anniversary, and while I sit here waiting like a fool, you go off and fuck another woman in the same hotel. You could have left me at home or broken up with me. How long has this been goingon?"

His jaw clenched, and his hands balled into fists. "A while now, but I didn't expect..." He stopped mid-sentence to look at my face; it was streaked withtears.

“You didn't expect what? To be caught? I didn't expect that I would spend the night alone with a bottle of wine. But I certainly didn't expect to find you with that whore on yourlap!"

Dean towered over me and delivered a sharp slap across my face that took my breath away. "I've had enough of your fucking mouth," hesnarled.

I stood there for a few moments, afraid at first to move. Once the shock wore off, I grabbed my purse and bag off the bed and ran over to thedoor.

He came at me, grabbing my shoulder. "Tatum, please. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. Please don't end things like this. You’re my girl. It was a mistake. I'll end it withher."

I pulled my shoulder away and opened the door. I turned to face him and tried to hide the pain he had inflicted on me. "You have ended it, and as for me being your girl, it is too late for that now," I whispered and shut the door behindme.

It was almost one o'clockin the afternoon on Sunday, and the blinds were still drawn. I didn't want to have to face the cheeriness of the sunlight. I had spent the rest of the weekend in bed, resting my aching body against a pile of pillows. It hurt to breathe, and my eyes were dry and irritated from crying. I was sure the ache in my chest wasn't going to go away. My stomach gave the occasional rumble, crying out for food. Lying there, I realized I hadn't eaten since dinner on Friday night. After my stomach screamed out another round of hunger pains, I decided to get up and go see what I could shove in myface.

I headed to the kitchen to see what I could find. There wasn’t much, considering I hadn't been shopping for a week, and the cupboards and fridge reflected that. I grabbed the phone and ordered in a large pizza. I put the phone down on the counter and caught a glimpse of myself in the hallway mirror. My eyes were dark and puffy, my hair was a tangled mess, and I looked like shit. Flopping down on the couch, I let out a deep sigh, grabbed the remote, and turned the TV on to the Food Network while I waited for mypizza.

An hour later, I lay on the couch, three-quarters of the pizza devoured, while watching some Italian broad cook pasta. My cell phone started vibrating, so I grabbed it off the table. There were three missed texts and two phone messages, all from Elliott. I listened to his messages first and could hear the concern in his voice. He always called when I didn't respond to his texts. I flipped through his texts. The last one threatened that if I didn't respond in the next twelve hours, he would be on the next plane. I shook my head. That was Elliott, always concerned aboutme.

I dialed his number, curled back up on the couch under a blanket, and waited for him to answer. "It's about fucking time, Tatum. You okay?” Hearing the panic in his voice made me realize how much hecared.

"Hey." I sniffled. "I'mokay."

"What is wrong? You don't sound okay." The line went silent. "What has that bastarddone?"

I started to cry. "I caught him with anotherwoman"

"When?"

"Friday night. All through dinner his phone kept going off with messages. I was upset and voiced my concern over it. He got his back up. He told me it was none of my business, but he had some work that needed to be taken care of. A while later, he said he was going to meet someone in the lobby to sign some paperwork. He left and I fell asleep. I woke to an empty room, and figuring he went for breakfast, I headed to the hotel restaurant. When I stepped out of the elevator, that is where I saw them, together, kissing in thelobby.”

"Are you fuckingserious?"

"Yes, I am. He spent the night in her hotelroom."

"I knew there was something about that guy I didn't like. Do you need me to come upthere?"

I could tell by his voice that Elliott was pissed, and I decided at that moment maybe Elliott didn't need to know about Dean slapping me. I didn't need to add any more fuel to thefire.

"No, Elliott, it’s fine. I confronted him about it; he didn't deny it. I left him in the hotel yesterday morning, and I haven't heard anything from him." I grabbed some tissues to wipe the tearsaway.

"I can take some time off, Tatum. I'll tell work that there was an emergency with you, and I'll come home. I don't like the thought of you being alone rightnow."

"It's okay, Elliott. I go back to work tomorrow anyway, and Dean is out of town. Jen is here, too, so you don't need toworry."

"I need to do something, Tatum. Listen, if you won't let me come home, then you best promise me that you will come down here for a week or two. I can show you around, take you to the beach, hang out and watch movies like we used to or whatever else you want todo."

"I'm keeping my plans set for the end of the month. I can't take time off before then; we are prettybusy."

Elliott and I stayed on the phone for a few more hours. He told me all about his training and kept trying to cheer me up. I was so grateful to have a brother like him. When we finally hung up, I went to jump in the shower before bed. It was one in the morning before I crawled into bed, and I was exhausted. Monday morning would comeearly.

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