Alpha Billionaire Series

MADII

My head was pounding. The night of drinking and crying myself to sleep was catching up with me. Even almost 48- hours later I was still dehydrated, and my eyes were still sore from wiping them. I took the last few shots of the swee family from Alabama, here in New Orleans on holiday, and checked to make sure they were decent shots.

After saving everything on my SD card, I shook hands with the couple and said goodbye to the kids and headed to m car. Fall shots were always one of my favorites to take because the trees were always so colorful. This year, however, it appeared most of the trees wanted to switch from green, straight to brown and dead. It felt like my heart had died right along with them.

I hadn't gotten a gift from Gavin in the past two days, which was a disappointment. I blamed myself really. Lexi told me how I had drunk dialed him and what had happened. When I looked at my phone log, I saw that I had actually drunk dialed him several times. To my shame, he had not returned my calls. I was totally confused by that because o the gifts he had sent me. But maybe he was so turned off by my drunk desperation that he changed his mind entirely.

I wouldn't blame him if he did.

I waved goodbye to the family across the park one last time and climbed into my car, stowing my camera in the passenger seat. I had no plans the rest of the day, but I knew I couldn't hang out with Lexi every day just to cure my boredom. Violet had gone home for a few weeks, but with classes coming up quickly for fall quarter, she was planning to visit, so I decided to go home and clean up a bit.

I had been so out of it that I hadn't taken care of my house again. Laundry and dishes were piled up. The floor needed to be swept, the bed made. And just like my house in disarray, I felt like my heart was the same. I needed some time to put my pieces in the proper place and just move on.

As I shifted into reverse, my phone rang, so I put my car back in park and pulled it out of my jacket pocket. It was Drew. We also hadn't spoken in a few days, and the last time I'd seen him he was very angry with me, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but I answered the call.

“Hello?”

“Madii, do you have a second?” He didn’t sound angry, so that was a plus.

“Sure!” My eyes scanned the horizon, watching kids on the playground laugh and play. I didn’t know what else there was to be said between Drew and I, but if he felt it was important enough to have a conversation, I'd be patient enough to listen.

“I need you to come over. We need to talk about some things.”

My heart dropped. I didn’t want to go over to his parents’ house again. I couldnt go through that heartache again. And I knew nothing between Drew, and I would ever be the same again. What more could be said or done to fix what had happened? I wasn’t in love with him anymore. I didn't want him back. What I wanted would never happen. It was obvious I had destroyed both men I ever cared about.

“I don’t know...”

“Please, Madii,” he begged, “this is really important to me.”

I could never say no to him. It was one of my weaknesses. So, I relented, promising to come over straight away, and hung up. The drive to his parent's house was difficult. Not only was traffic horrible, but I was a ball of nerves. I had n clue if I was walking into a shark tank to be devoured, or if he was going to get down on one knee and propose again But I was tired, and I just wanted my emotions to be calm for a while.

When I pulled up in front of the house and saw Alice's SUV parked in the driveway, garage door open, revealing Henry's truck, I felt a lot better. If both of them were home, he would not pressure me into anything. Alice would hav my back and be there to smooth out any disagreements, and if I needed to leave, I knew I could just walk out the door.

On the outside, everything looked normal. No one would ever know by just driving past the house the amount of chaos that had ensued for years. The lawn was manicured, the bushes trimmed. Alice even had planters with colorfu flowers situated around the porch—more flowers like them growing in the flower beds.

I walked across the grass, dreading every step of the way of the conversation I had to have. My stomach felt like I'd swallowed rocks. When I pushed the doorbell, Alice appeared, smiling. She welcomed me in with a hug and an encouraging hand squeeze.

“He's here waiting for you in the living room.”

I followed her lead, turning the corner into the living room and seeing Drew seated on the couch with his feet propped up. He instantly straightened, dropping his feet to the carpet and gesturing for me to sit next to him.

“I'll leave you two alone.” Alice walked away, my only line of hope beneath this dark cloud, and felt my heart flip flop in my chest.

“Now, before you say anything, I need you to know I spoke to Mom. She explained everything.” Drew still looked sad, but the anger in his eyes that was there the last time I saw him was no longer there. It had been replaced by deeper sadness and what looked like compassion.

“She did?” I swallowed hard, knotting my fingers together.

“She did.” Drew held my hand, but respectfully kept his distance. “She told me what you did for me, how you waited. She told me about the doctor and how she told you to move on. She told me how your wedding day, you canceled everything to come be by my side.”

“I was never trying to hurt you, you know? In fact, the opposite is true. I loved you so much, Drew. All I ever wanted t do was love you and take care of you. I wanted to make you the happiest man alive. And I'm really sorry that I failed; I tried so hard, but no matter what I did, no matter what I tried, my heart was torn. I could never be what you wantec me to be, not after falling in love with Gavin."

I sobbed. I didn’t expect him to understand or to care, so I was surprised when he pulled me into his arms. He smoothed my hair down the back of my head and across my shoulders. The embrace he held me in was different than I'd ever felt from him. It was like he understood I wasn't his anymore, that he had to touch me differently, comfort me differently.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“I know, Madii. I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. Mom was I00% right. I would never have wanted you to suffer the way you did. You did exactly what I would have wanted. I just didn’t realize that when I woke up.”

“l wasn't trying to lead you on, ever.” I cried into his chest, soaking his shirt. He held me tighter. I heard Alice walk in; knew it was her because I could see her shoes. When I looked up there was a box of tissues situated on the coffee table where one had not been before. Drew reached for one and handed it to me, so I dried my tender eyes and wiped my nose clean.

“I know you didn’t. I know you just wanted me to be okay. You have no idea how much that means to me. Really.” Drew used his thumb to brush away a stray tear on my cheek and I sat up to face him again. “You thought I was gone I was, for all intents and purposes, dead. You had every right to move on, Madii. I'm sorry I reacted the way I did. You can imagine how hurt I was—am.”

It only made the tears worse to hear that, but I had to let them out. I had carried this weight for so long now. And hearing Drew say it was okay was like medicine to my soul. I didn’t want a nasty breakup with arguing and disputing over who got what items from the house. I just wanted to talk like rational adults and settle it, so I could move on. It wasn't pleasant for anyone.

“So what do we do now?” I sniffled and wiped my face again. We had so much history together, it would feel too traumatic to just cut and run. But I wasn't sure if he wanted to stay friends.

“Well for starters, you don’t have to cry anymore. I'm going to be okay. I have my life back, Madii. You're the only one who never gave up hope of that. That alone shows me how loved I've been. And second, you are going to have to introduce me to this doctor. If I don’t approve of him, there is going to be a war for your heart, because you are the most amazing and wonderful woman I've ever known. And even if I had to jump out of a plane to prove it, I need you to know how much I love you.”

I shifted uncomfortably. I knew Drew loved me. I had known that for a long time. He had nothing to prove to me. “You already know him. It's Dr. Gavin Carpenter. He was the neurosurgeon who was on your case. You met him when you first woke up.”

Slowly, realization dawned across Drew's face. He took a deep breath and looked down, pursed his lips then brought his gaze back up to meet mine. I could see how the trace of hope that had been in his eyes had disappeared and the sadness returned.

“I see” He waited a second and then, like his mother always did, he patted my hand. “Well, I wish you all the happiness in the world”

“I don't really know what to say.” I shrugged and clenched a tissue in my hands.

“Just say we will still be friends, no matter what. That's all I could hope for at this point.”

I wasn't sure I could handle that, but I nodded. I also wasn’t sure if Gavin would even have me anymore. Things had been so strained, or nonexistent, for so long now, that all I could do was just go to him and try to make things right. I had a slice of apple pie and chatted with Alice a bit before leaving, but the moment I left, I made a beeline for the hospital. I didn’t care if Gavin wanted to hear from me or not. If I didn’t face the situation head on, I was going to go crazy. Drew had been forthright enough to invite me in and give me closure. The least I could do was be straight with Gavin. No more of this playing around shit.