Chapter 15
1153 Words
The following morning, I grabbed the Cheesecakes and headed toward Alberto’s. It was an hour's drive and I was beyond excited.
Once I arrived, I was taken back to Alberto’s office. He was a short, stocky man with hazel eyes and salt and pepper hair.
I gave my speech and then followed him to the kitchen so he could sample my cheesecake.
“Young lady, this has to be the best cheesecake I have ever tasted in my life. But as you can see, I am a man that loves food.” He said, rubbing his belly.
He looked from me to the cheese cake and back at me.
“Tell ya what…..my daughter is here having lunch. I will send her a piece of the cake. If she loves it as much as I do, you have a deal.”
I smiled, confident in my cake. “Deal!”
It felt like forever for the waitress to return. “Sophia is asking for you sir.” The waitress said.
“Come on Marie, let’s see if you just made your bakery a lot of money.”
We made our way though the busy restaurant and to a small table in the back. A pretty woman with olive-tone skin, big brown eyes and long black hair stood up. Had she not been so tiny, I would have sworn she was a model.
“Dad, you know if you keep giving me the most amazing cheese cake I won’t be able to fit into my wedding dress.”
He chuckled. “I take it you like it.”
“I loved it and so did Jackson.”
My heart was in my throat. I hadn't noticed the man sitting with her till Alberto moved to the side. Please don't be my Jackson. Please don't be my Jackson.
My eyes fell on my Jackson sitting with Sophia. It didn't hurt as badly as it did with Luca, but pain and disgust.
“Sophia, I would like you to meet Marie. She is the baker who created this deliciousness.”
She quickly shook my hand. “Nice to meet you. And this is my fiancé, Jackson.”
I felt like throwing up on my own shoes. Why is that happening to me again? Did I have such bad taste in men?
There had to be something wrong with me.
“Hi.” He said, giving me a small smile.
I nodded at him and attempted to give a smile back, but it was more of a smirk.
“Congratulation. When are you getting married?” I asked without looking at Jackson. I felt like I was on the verge of crying.
“Three months!” She exclaimed.
“Our bakery makes amazing wedding cakes too.”
“I might cancel my current cake because this cheesecake is amazing.”
“Thank you.”
I turned to Alberto. “Do we have a deal?”
“We do, young lady. I will call Monday with my order, since you are closed on Sunday.”
“Great, I will be waiting to hear from you.”
“Let me show you out.” Alberto said.
“No…Please enjoy your time with your daughter and your soon-to-be son-in-law.”
I turned and made my way to my car. It was almost hard to breathe. The feeling in my stomach made me want to get sick.
I sat in my jeep for at least 20 minutes waiting for the tears to spill but they didn’t come. Once on the express route, I called Susan.
“Marie?”
“Hi Susan.”
“How did it go?”
“He will be calling on Monday for his order. He has 4 restaurants and wants the cheesecake for all of them.”
“That is amazing news! I can’t believe you did it. This is the best day. First Colton tells me he is getting married and now you tell me you got the deal with a restaurant.”
“Great. I am driving so I will let you go. See you on Monday.”
“Bye honey.”
“Bye Susan.”
As soon as I ended the call, I could feel the tears falling from my face. Why does hearing about Colton getting married bring tears and not Jackson cheating?
Wiping the tears away, I realized at that moment I was the other woman. I wanted to cry but I was angry not at Jackson but at myself.
At that moment, I decided I was done dating. There was something wrong with me and I was sick of being treated like trash.
I wanted to call Saralynn but I didn’t want to ruin her weekend, so I drove home.
Once I was back home, I went straight to my freezer only to find I didn’t have any ice cream.
“COULD ANYTHING ELSE GO WRONG TODAY?”
I picked up my phone and for some reason dialed a number I hadn’t dialed in almost 8 months.
“Hello?”
Hearing Luca’s voice still made my stomach get butterflies.
“Hello?” He asked again.
“I need to know why?”
“Marie!”
“I need to know why, Luca.”
“Baby, where are you? It’s been 8 months.”
“Please tell me why I wasn’t good enough for you?”
“Baby, it was me, not you. I was doing a lot of drugs and drinking. It’s not an excuse but, all I could think about was my next fix.”
“Three months, Luca. You slept with her for three months.”
“It wasn’t three months, but that doesn’t matter. Where are you? You sound really upset.”
“It doesn’t matter where I am…I just need to know why it keeps happening.”
“What keeps happening?”
“I keep finding men that choose other women over me.”
“You have been dating other men?”
“Really that is what you picked up on?”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, I am sorry Luca, I shouldn’t have called.”
“I miss you so much! I need you.”
“No Luca, you don’t you think you need me, it’s only because you can’t have me.”
“No, Marie, I love you. I got sober after losing you.”
“I’m glad to hear you are sober, Luca, but I can’t go back.”
“Please…I just need to see you. To hold you and you will see I have changed.”
“I’m sorry I can’t. Goodbye Luca.”
“Wait! Don’t you miss me at all?”
“Luca, I still love you but I can never come back to you. Goodbye.”
I hung up the phone, mad at myself. Why did I call him? All it did was open the wound in my heart.
- Writer
