He went to grab the drugs and alcohol, but she held it out of his reach. “Give me my f**king stuff,” he said, his anger coming through. She’d seen this side of him before. Grabbing the bottle of alcohol, she smashed it on the tiles in the corner. The dark liquid soaked down and into the wood.
“If you want that, lick it up like a dog, Brad,” she said. Her heart pounded as she spoke the words. Taking a deep breath, she captured his face in her hands forcing him to look at her. “You don’t think you know what you can do to make it right? Well, for once I’d say you f**king pull your shit together and be the Brad he’s come to know. Ben deserves the man you are right now. A strong man, not a man who’s more interested in his own problems than that of the man he claims to love.”
The words were harsh, but being the best of friends she knew she had the right to say them.
“Ben was alone while you dealt with your problems. Don’t leave him alone now. He needs you more now than ever before. Be strong, Brad. Be the man I know you can be.”
He stared at her for several minutes. Neither spoke, and she waited for him to process everything.
Eventually, the tears fell once again, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“I love you, Noelle,” he said.
“I love you, too.”
“Come home.”
She didn’t think she would want to live with him again, but seeing him so lost had changed her mind. “We’ll go home. Come on. I want you to meet my family.”
Taking him by the hand, she took him to meet her family. The people helped with his situation, and he spent the night on her floor before they left in the morning. She disposed of the drugs the moment he was occupied.
When they got home, Noelle was too preoccupied by the upcoming auction to give Isaac a call. She saw several newspapers and magazines with pictures of him with flawless actresses and models. Knowing she couldn’t compete with such beauty, she threw herself into her work.
Brad spent a great deal of time at the apartment. The youth centre had called and offered him a job. She asked for them to keep it on hold as he was dealing with his own problems at the moment.
Spending time with him was essential. She’d gone to the club and told Ben about his episode. The other man looked so unhappy. Noelle convinced Ben to give him time. Brad would get stronger, and then Ben wouldn’t know what to do with his time.
Most of her nights were spent thinking about Isaac. She would wake up flustered as her dreams were filled with erotic images. The love within them was so apparent. She missed him and didn’t know if she could handle a lifetime without his touch.
On the day of the auction, she left Brad at home and travelled to the art gallery where it was being held. On the way there she stopped off at a pharmaceutical shop and picked up a pregnancy test.
For several mornings she’d been waking up with sickness. Part of her didn’t want to be pregnant because of the conflict between her and Isaac. Another part of her was so happy at the thought of carrying his child. Either way, she would have to deal with that hurdle when it came.
There were many people inside the gallery, looking at her paintings among other items. She left to go to the bathroom. Several women were giggling and putting on make-up. Noelle ignored their presence. She pulled out the pregnancy test from her bag.
She read through the instructions and then followed the directions. Peeing on the stick was the strangest feeling in the world. Her hands shook with terror at what the little white science stick would say.
Women walked in and out, distracting her from what she was doing. Noelle watched the clock for the three minutes the stick required. With every passing second her hand shook. She kept looking at the stick and then at her watch. Keeping her eyes on her watch she waited for the three minutes to finish before turning back to the stick.
She glanced at the stick.
Oh f**k.
Chapter Twenty-Five
“What the f**k are you doing here? If I wanted to talk to you I would have made an appointment to see you.” Isaac cursed.
His dad stood less than two feet away. In his presence Isaac didn’t feel like the forty year old business man that he was. He felt like a young boy craving his dad’s attention – only to be pushed aside for another woman, a young, gold-digging slut of a woman.
“I know you don’t want to see me, son. I needed to see you.”
“You’re years too late,” Isaac said. The damage from the man before him had already been done.
“When you were younger and had no idea what life had to offer I accepted our relationship. I won’t accept this anymore,” his dad said.
Isaac got up from behind his desk. He stood in front of his father and felt nothing. For many years he’d wanted to hurt the man before him. Looking at him now, he saw the uselessness of such actions.
“I’ve got nothing to say. You left mum for a gold-digging slut because she opened her legs for you.” The words were harsh.
“Don’t say another word against her. You have no idea what is going on.”
“I know you wanted this woman more than you wanted Mum. I had to listen to her crying over you.”
“She was crying because of the f**king scandal, son. I married your mother because I had no choice. Our families had arranged it, and back then, we did what we had to do. She knew I was never in love with her.”
Isaac listened to what his father had to say, and the words spoken did make sense. When he looked back to his parents’ marriage there had never been any love between them. They didn’t kiss or hug like other parents. In fact there weren’t even the long stares as they gazed at each other. He knew about love. He’d felt it with Elle. The woman he had had and lost due to his own f**ked-up reasoning. His mother liked the free life she had. He’d seen it recently as she talked about the women at her village. Closing his eyes, he rubbed his temple.
“Why have you come here?” he asked.
“Because I don’t want you to make the same mistake that I did.” His dad pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to him. “Your scarred beauty is holding an auction for her art work at the gallery just a few blocks from here.”
The paper was the one of them at the French restaurant. Folding the paper in two he handed it back.
“So? There is nothing going on between us.”
“No? Then tell me why you’re looking at her as if she’s the best thing in the world, and you want a piece of it?”
“It is amazing what they can do with air brushing these days.”