Torn (8 page)

 

OMG! :-)

 

My entire body was flushed. I felt like an idiot, all I could respond to all that was an “OMG”.

 

Now I’m really thinking about you.

 

He really was making my heart rate go up.

 

Okay, before I get into trouble I need to go… I will talk to you later! ;)

 

Did I just send a wink?

 

So you owe me two beers AND some food? SOLD!

Oh God. Was I flirting? I didn’t respond, I just set my phone down on the night stand and put Horrible
Bosses on. I was zoned in on watching the movie when the house phone rang. I glanced over at the
caller ID, it was Liam!

“Hey I was just thinking about you!” I said happily.

“Hey. Sorry, things have been crazy here. The guys that are here from New York love the ideas that we
have, but their team back in New York is finding ways to try and change it up. Just means we have to
find some sort of compromise. It is getting to the point where everyone was just pissed off and we took
a dinner break and talked things over. That is why my phone was off.” He sounded annoyed.

“I’m sorry honey. Are they still going to have you go out to New York then?” I asked softly.

 

“YES!” He snapped at me.

 

“Geez, I am sorry, it was just a question. I thought with the dinner conversation, things may have been
cleared up then. You don’t have to snap at me.” I snapped back.

“Well, Ryleigh, they were sending me out there before all of this, so why would this change anything?
Look, I just wanted to call you back. I need to head down and get some more coffee; I will just see you in
the morning.” He said coldly.

“Umm. Okay. Hey I love you.” I said hurt.
“Yeah, love you. Bye.” He was very short as he hung up.

In my years married to Liam, we have had some fights. Most of them consisted of ‘that guy was in this
movie’ but one of us would disagree. The biggest fight we had ever really had was where to have our
honeymoon. The tone of his voice, the way he snapped at me; this was something completely foreign to
me. He was just so cold. Maybe my mom was right, again, that things will start to slow down and things
would get back to normal and we could take a nice vacation together.

After that call, I turned off the TV and laid in the dark. I knew it was only 9:30, but I was just done with
the day. I curled up in my bed and quickly fell asleep.
Chapter Eight
My phone startled me from deep sleep. I looked at the clock it was 1:45 in the morning. Who the HELL
was calling me at this time? I was going to have to kick some ass for waking me up.

 

“Hello?” I answered irritated.

“Hey baby. I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you.” It was Liam. He was obviously drunk.
Why the hell was he out drinking at this time of night, granted he probably finished early and they
wanted him to go out for drinks.

“Liam? What are you doing? Where are you?” I asked concerned.

 

“The project finally got fixed and now we are out celebrating! What is my beautiful wife doing?” His
voice was slurred. I don’t know if I was more worried about him or utterly pissed off.

“Well, your WIFE is asleep at HOME, apparently someplace that you should be as well! Liam, you
obviously have been out drinking for a while… why didn’t you want to come home early and spend that
time with me?”

“Ugh! Nag, nag, nag.” He raised his pitch to obviously mock me. “Is that all you do? You work all the
time, you never come home and you have to go to New York so I can live comfortably.” I could hear him
start to talk to the guys in the background. “Hey guys I will do another shot with you in just a second, the
ole ball and chain is on the phone now.” He then brought the phone back to his mouth to talk to me.
“Well, I gotta go work more. I love you baby.” He hung up on me.

In college, he drank. We all did. He had gone overboard a few times. He regretted it all in the morning
but a month or two later he would do it again, it wasn’t until he said some pretty hurtful things to me
during a party that he realized that he was a horrible drunk.

I know that I shouldn’t take anything he had said personally, but this time he really got to me. I helped
with a lot of the living comfortable and I didn’t think I really ever nagged him. I was hurt and angry.
What was going on with him lately?

I laid back down trying to fall back asleep, but my anger level on a scale of 1-10 was at a 20. If I had any
nerve in my entire body, I would get up and go drive downtown to a few of the bars that I knew he liked
to go have an ‘after work beer’ with the guys. Last calls should have been taking place soon. Where
would they be going after? My first thought, back to one of the other guy’s hotel room to drink more.

I laid there for a few minutes contemplating the situation. Every second that ticked by only made me
more furious.
That was it! I threw the covers off of me and sat up. I was going to go down there and get him, call me
and wake me up! I was pissed!

I slipped on my yoga pants and my hoodie. Grabbed my flip flops from the closet and stomped down the
stairs. I got to the bottom of the stairs and remembered that I forgot my phone on the nightstand. I ran
upstairs and found that I had a missed text message from Liam. Was he apologizing?

I wanna do some naughty things to you. She would never know.

Oh my fucking god! What the hell was this! I don’t think I had ever been this mad in my entire life. I ran
out to my car and backed out. I didn’t remember locking the door on my way out, but right now I hoped
someone would break in and take all of his shit.

Okay, maybe it was a joke. I had to give him the benefit of the doubt, he was drunk and he definitely
was trying to get a rise out of me on the call. I needed to calm down and think rationally about all of this.
What if it was a joke? What if it was someone messing with his phone? They were joking around with
him about Amber the infamous waitress. I began to find myself taking deep breaths in and out, calming
down.

I think I had made record time in driving to get to downtown, if I ever woke up late I would just have to
remember this moment and I would be at work in no time. I could believe, I was actually laughing a
little.

I parked in the lot that I knew was in the middle of three of the local bars, he was bound to be in one of
them. Granted if he weren’t, I drove all the way down here for nothing, but it was worth a try to look.
Thank god it didn’t sound like that they were at a night club; my yoga pants attire was not really
‘clubbing’ apparel. I don’t think even batting my eyelashes or even flashing some boob would get me
past any bouncers.

I peered in the door of the first bar; only 3 people remained in there. An older couple at the bar, and the
bartender. I found myself pick up my pace walking to the next bar just caddy corner from this one. Caleb
was right earlier; this really wasn’t an area I should just be walking around in.

I pulled open the big wooden door of the second bar and heard a lot of laughter coming from one
corner. There were 7 maybe 8 men all in suits and loosened ties laughing and talking above a normal
range. I stood there just looking at each face to see if Liam was amongst them. I didn’t see him among
the crowd… until I turned my head just a little more to the left.

I thought that I was going to vomit right there in the middle of the bar. My hands began to shake; tears
began to sting at my lids.

Liam was making conversation with a leggy brunette at one of the bar top tables. She was obviously
flirting and lightly tapping him on his arm. He was putting that sexy smile out there for her, right before
he grabbed her by her arms and pulled her in for a deep kiss! They practically were sucking each other’s
lips off. My heart broke right there in the middle of that shit bar.
“Hey we already did last calls, but I am sure that if you sweet talk Brett, he is that hunky bartender, he
would be happy to get you one last round in.” A rounder blonde lady, who obviously was hitting midlife
crisis in her super tight leopard leggings with a longer black shirt, with the bar’s logo on the left breast.

“Oh, thanks. I was actually looking for a friend of mine, but she must have caught that cab she was
threatening to grab.” I lied wiping the tears from my cheeks.

“There was girl that left not too long ago, she was with this group of guys over there. She seemed a bit
upset, hunky over there,” she pointed over to Liam, “didn’t seem to be interested in her but rather her
friend, could that be her? Blonde, god, what is her name? Amber?” She asked as she tapped her temple.

“Yeah, that was her.” I said quietly, shaking my head in disbelief. “I will go back to her place and wait for
her there. Thanks.” I turned and ran for the door. I don’t think that I could get out of there any faster!
That fucking scumbag!

I got back to my car, locked my doors, gripped the steering wheel and broke down. How could he? He all
but begged for a kid this morning and now he is doing this? Was this why he was doing this? All these
questions were running through my mind. I needed toget out of there.

Unfortunately, home was the last place I really wanted to go. I wanted to go anywhere but there. Shit, I
wanted nothing more than to run to Caleb right now. I started my car and began to drive towards him.

 

I pulled up to the Four Seasons. The valet was closed? How? I decided to take Caleb’s offer and I went
into the parking lot and entered his room number as the code. Thankfully it let me in.

 

I walked through the parking lot and rushed into the lobby. I looked like hell; I could feel the odd looks
aiming my way as I made my way to the banks of elevators.

When I arrived on Caleb’s floor, the elevator door didn’t even have a chance to open all the way, when I
pushed my way out and made a mad dash to his door. I couldn’t believe I was even here. He was going
to hate me for waking him up. And after the night that I had, I really hoped that he was alone. I know
that was really selfish to think at a time like this, but I don’t think that I could take another shocking
moment tonight.

I gently knocked on the door. I waited for a minute before I put my ear to the door to hear some sort of
stumbling; I knocked once again, but a little louder.

“Caleb, it’s me. I know it’s an ungodly hour, but can you open up?” I tried to say quietly into the door. I
could feel the tears arriving again. I didn’t know if it was from the thought of my husband making out
with another woman or that the one person I needed right now was not answering the door.

As I was getting ready to walk back to the elevators when I heard the door unlock.

“Ryleigh, is everything okay?” He was rubbing his eyes, standing there with his amazing body in just his
boxers. They hung right on his hips, in all that the right places. I just stood there staring. “Ryleigh?” He
asked again.
“Huh?” I asked snapping my mind back to reality. “Sorry, I have just had the shittiest night and I can’t go
back home. I just…I don’t know… I am so sorry to have woken you up. I was just down the road and I…”
He interrupted me.

“What happened? Are you hurt?” He seemed to hit some sort of panic mode.

 

“Oh, I am fine physically. It’s Liam. God, I’m so mad right now!” I started to bite my nails, somehow
thinking that it was going to suppress the tears from coming on again.

“Come in so we don’t wake anyone else up and you can have a drink and tell me everything.” He pulled
me in and locked the door behind us. We walked into the room and I took a seat in the lounge chair by
the terrace.

“So start from the beginning. I will make us a drink, Jack and Coke?” He said as he started to get glasses
off the counter and headed over to the mini bar and began mixing the drink.

 

“Sure, anything will be fine.” I took a deep breath. “So the beginning…” I took the drink from his hands
wiping my makeup from my eyes. I took a big chug. Half of it was already gone.

 

I told him everything. How Liam has been working a lot, to his trip, the waitress. Then I went into the
drunken call and text. I began to cry when I retold the sighting of him kissing the brunette with the legs.

“Wow. I am so sorry Ryleigh; I don’t know what to say!” He just sat there looking intensely at me. He
barely had touched his drink the entire time I spoke; I think that it was definitely watered down now. My
drink on the other hand was gone. I was really feeling the buzz.

“I feel like I have been slapped in the face. When I was with my friend at lunch today, she asked me if I
truly believed if he was working all the time. You know what? I had the fucking nerve to defend him!”

“Ry, you didn’t know. He probably has been working a lot and this was just a drunken mistake.” Caleb
stood up and began to take my glass from me. At first, I refused him the glass; I wasn’t ready to quit
drinking yet, but knew that if I were to continue drinking I would pay for it in the morning.

“Either way, what can I do now? I should’ve said something there and I just ran out!”

 

“Seriously? Ryleigh, you still can do something about it. Your husband is fucking around on you; you
don’t have to take it.” He demanded.

I could finally feel the alcohol begin to settle in; Courtney was going to hate seeing me like this, all puffy
faced and red eyed. I wasn’t sure that she needed to know what all had happened while she was
pregnant; she was already emotional as it was and this would just add to it.

“Well, Ry, I don’t know what to tell you then. He’sa douchebag and I would like to go kick his ass from
here to fucking China, but what do YOU want?” Calebwas genuinely concerned, that was what I loved
about him. Even back in high school, he was alwaysmade sure that I was okay.
“As much fun as it would be to see you kick his ass…I don’t know how that would really help. Right now,
I need to lie down because that Jack is kicking my ass. I want to wait until he gets back from New York to
even say anything.” I stumbled towards the bed and plopped down.

“You said that you guys were supposed to go to dinner? Are you going to cancel that? You can stay here
as long as you want, you know that right?” He came and sat down next to me on the bed. He began to
play with my hair.