Chapter Twenty
1366 Words
Chapter Twenty
Adalia and Mike sat in his navy blue BMW 335i Coupe and stared at the hot dog mini-cart across the road. She’d already spilled ketchup on her blouse, but l*****g the napkin had only made the paper soggy and left little rolls of tissue all down her front.
“I’m glad we could have this chat,” Mike said, chomping down on the end of his dog. He didn’t spill a single drop of mustard, his leather seats were flawless, and he wasn’t jumpy about her messier eating habits.
“You spoke to Dad, didn’t you?” Adalia asked around a mouthful of meat and bun. She’d had two already and a third was perched precariously on his dash. A line trailed out from the mini-cart, mothers clutching their children, fathers yawing, businessmen compulsively checking their watches.
Mike didn’t have to answer the question. The lack of reply was answer enough.
“I had to get out of there before he consumed me.” Adalia placed her half-eaten hotdog beside the third one and sighed.
“Who? Trent Dawson or Dad?”
She’d asked that question herself. “Trent, of course,” she said to her brother.
“So what do you need me for, sis? If you’ve already extricated yourself, I won’t be of much service to you.”
“I need an ear, a rock, someone who gets it and can offer me proper advice.” Adalia drummed her heels. Her father was right; she was selfish. “But how are you, Mike? Are things going well at the firm?”
Mike squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. “I’m tired. I love what I do, but I’m tired of work. I need a vacation soon.”
After years of studying and pouring everything he had into his job, Adalia couldn’t think of anyone who deserved a break more than Mike Montclair.
“I see,” she replied, then shoved more of the hotdog into her mouth. It tasted like ash now that the subject of their dad came up.
“Do you need legal advice?” He turned, squeaking on the leather to face her. He was such an honest man and a good brother. He really wanted to help her for no personal gain. What did that say about her?
“Kind of. Trent and I broke up, and I moved out of the apartment he leased to me, but getting out of the bakery...” Adalia trailed off and crumpled up the wrapper, but didn’t have anywhere to toss it, so she put into her bag beside the first.
“Ah, you signed a contract. Well, if he allows you to leave, you can render that contract null and void.” Mike crumpled up his paper, buzzed down his window and tossed it into the nearby trash can.
“Yeah, except he won’t let me out of the damn contract. He wants me to work with him, regardless of everything that’s transpired.” Adalia grappled a bite of the third hot dog into her jaws and munched away.
Mike tapped his fingers on the steering wheel. “He won’t let you out. That’s weird.”
“Yeah, he’s a persistent man. He’s set on torturing me or something,” she said.
Mike fell silent for a while, watching the passerby on the street, smiling softly at a young mother pushing her baby in its pink-frilled stroller. He was gentle at the best of times, but he had a darker side, an anger that Adalia had seen once.
She’d been bullied a lot as a kid. Once they’d cornered her against the swings and the older girls had pulled her pigtails until some of her hair actually tore away from her scalp. They’d called her fat and made snorting noises.
That was when Mike had appeared. He’d swept them aside as if they were nothing more than dust. He hadn’t screamed but she’d never forget the expression he’d worn that day. Liquefied rage spilling from his muscles.
“Why did you break up? Who broke up with whom?” Mike finally spoke, turning analytical eyes on her.
“He cheated. I don’t want to talk about it.” Adalia slammed the hotdog down, crushing it on the dash, and Mike finally grimaced. He removed it and threw it into the trash can to join his empty wrapper.
“Tell me what happened,” he said, patiently.
“Hey, I was gonna eat that,” she replied, frowning at her brother. He always thought he knew better, but that was because he did.
“Cut the crap and start talking, Adalia.” Mike placed his hand on the back of her headrest.
“I told you I don’t want to talk about this, so why are you forcing the damn issue?”
“Because that’s my privilege as the older sibling,” he said, with a wry smile. “And because I genuinely care about you. I can’t assess this situation properly without full knowledge of what actually occurred.”
Adalia swept it around in her mind. Mike was a big help. What harm was there in discussing her issues with him when she couldn’t deal with them by herself?
“All right fine,” she said with an almighty sigh. “I fell for him even though I shouldn’t have. He seemed like a good guy, but he turned out to be a sleazebag like most men his age. Worse even because he made me believe he felt for me, too. He even proposed.”
“He what now?!” Mike never yelled except when he was genuinely surprised.
“Yeah, he got down on one knee with a ring and everything. Princess cut, goddamn it.” That ring was stunning. Her heart ached all over again.
“That doesn’t sound like the typical cheating spouse,” Mike observed. “Those kinds of guys, and trust me I’ve dealt with plenty of them in my profession, don’t usually fork out hard-earned cash to marry a woman. They’re more likely to take you on a vacation to the Bahamas or something.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t know... that’s just what they do,” Mike replied, shrugging off the facts.
“What has this got to do with anything?” Adalia glared at the trash can that had eaten her last hot dog. She had a serious case of the ‘comfort eats’ as her father had liked to call them.
“It’s just not typical cheating behavior. Anyway, how do you know he cheated on you?”
“I saw it for myself.”
Mike’s mouth curled downward in distaste. “You walked in on him with another woman?”
“No, no, the other woman turned up and showed me a pic she snapped on her phone. Her, n***d and on top of him. God it was awful,” Adalia whispered, clasping her cheeks with either hand.
“Wait a sec, she showed you a pic?” Mike shook his head. “Adalia, have you ever heard of Photoshop before?”
“How are you on his side right now?” Adalia growled at her brother and dropped her hands into her lap again. She whacked down the sun visor to block out the light.
“Because you’re being ridiculous. You have absolutely no proof that he did anything with that woman other than some picture that could’ve been a few years old. Tell me you checked the details on it,” he replied.
Adalia chewed the inside of her cheek. “I might not have.”
“Oh, Adalia,” he said in the way he did when she’d done something particularly dumb but didn’t want to say it out loud.
“There was still proof he’d been with her though.” Adalia tried to defend it, but he continued shaking his head.
“Seriously, that’s a rookie mistake. Why would you believe her word over his? She has more incentive to break you guys up than he does.” Mike clicked the button on his arm rest and his window slid closed. “I don’t think you should get out of the contract at the bakery.”
“Why not?” Adalia fastened her seatbelt. Mike started the car then drove down the road, ever so slowly.
“Because you owe him an apology.” Mike steered toward the bakery. Adalia’s heart leapt into her throat, beating at a furious pace.
“I loved him and he...” Had he truly betrayed her? She had to find out for sure, or maybe she didn’t. Things were so confused.
“Clear your mind, sister, because you’ve got a lot of explaining to do. God knows, if I was Trent, I’m not sure I’d allow you back into my life. But that’s just me.” Mike parked and left the car to idle.
“Wish me luck.” Adalia opened the car door and swung her feet out.
Mike gave her a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Sure. You’re going to need it.”
- Writer
