Chapter 54: Chapter 19: Liar Liar

Jamie

I was standing in my living room, watching out my front window for his car. It was a quarter past three, and Jack was supposed to be here any minute.

I needed to have this conversation with him, not in public but alone.

It was hard for me to believe that I’d made this mistake with a man once again. I’d put too much trust in him too quickly. I’d let him into my life, into my daughter’s life! How could I be so stupid?

I regretted that now. I regretted a lot of things.

Perhaps I should’ve remained single. Maybe I’m supposed to be alone. Maybe I’m supposed to end up being that old lady with fifty cats and no husband.

I thought Jack was a good guy, but in the end, he was the worst of the worst. I’d found it hard to trust before, and he fooled me. I couldn’t do that again.

I needed to fix this.

Jack’s car pulled up outside my house. I released a sigh at the thought of what was to come.

This was the moment of truth. I hoped the truth was what I would get from him. That and the video of me naked!

I left the living room and walked toward my front door. My heart was beating insanely fast. I was so nervous.

I’m not scared of Jack. I’ve no reason to be scared of him. I’m just nervous about how intense this conversation might get. How will he react when he finds out that I know everything?

He knocked on my front door, and I answered it. Jack was standing on the other side, but he didn’t look like the sweet guy I thought I knew.

I didn’t feel the same when I looked at him. He was a fraud!

“Hi.”

“Hi, babe. Can I come in?” he asked, and I opened the door wider.

I was reluctant to let him into my home once again, but this needed to be done.

I was thankful that I was home alone. Penelope was with my mom since I was supposed to be at work until later.

“Have you come from work?” I asked, trying to make small talk out of nervousness.

“No, it’s my day off.” He looked around my place, seeing that nobody was home. “Where is Penelope today?”

“Well, it’s a workday for me, so Penelope is at my mom’s.” Jack and I were standing across from each other, neither of us willing to take a seat.

I’m pretty sure I was making him feel awkward. “So, we should probably talk.”

“What’s going on, Jamie?” he asked.

I folded my arms across my chest. “So, I know about you getting arrested a couple of times for driving while drunk. My father told me.”

He sighed. “I had a feeling he didn’t like me.”

“Well, he has a reason, Jack. He’s just trying to protect me. He thought you looked familiar at the party, and he looked into it. You hired him a couple of months back.”

“I remember. I’ve made mistakes in the past, Jamie. I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to change your opinion of me over a stupid mistake.”

“Many stupid mistakes,” I replied. “This is a big deal, Jack. I need to think about Penelope and the people I’m subjecting her to. Do you have a problem with alcohol?

“No, of course I don’t. I like to have a drink now and then. It’s no big deal!”

~No big deal! Maybe that could fly with only one DUI on his record, but not with the amount that he has. Of course, he’s never going to admit to me that he has a problem.~

I’d seen the signs that night when we were out at the club, and I’d ignored them. It was a mistake to get involved with another man. I think a part of me did it to prove I’ve moved on from my past.

~Which I haven’t!~

I walked toward the window and looked at my backyard. “This was a mistake…us. Honestly, I don’t think I’m ready to date. Penelope is too young!”

“Wait. Is this about my drinking, or is it about him? I knew he was going to get in our way. You’ve been pulling away from me since the party.”

“It has nothing to do with him.” I turned my head and looked at him. “I can’t do this. I have to think about my daughter.”

He released a sigh of exasperation. “So that’s it then?” Jack asked, and I remained silent.

He walked toward the window and looked at me. “We can work on this. I want to be with you and Penelope. I don’t want to lose you, Jamie.”

I looked away, unable to keep eye contact with him. It was awkward now. “I’m sorry. I think you should go now.”

I wanted so badly to tell him everything I knew about him and to tell him how much of a prick I think he is. But I couldn’t. Not right now anyway.

“Fine! But know that you’ll be the one that’ll be sorry when he breaks your heart. He left you once. He’ll leave you again. I don’t want you to get your heart broken.”

Jack lingered a couple of seconds before he left my house. He was reluctant to go, or maybe he was hoping I would change my mind about us because of what he said about Mason.

Right after he pulled out of my driveway, I picked up my phone and called Sara.

“Hello!”

“Hi, Jamie. I’m leaving now.”

“Okay, good! He just left my house. Did you get it?” I asked.

I prayed for a yes. ~Make this my lucky day.~ I just needed this to be over.

“I found them and wiped his computer. There’s nothing left on it. But Jamie…” She paused a couple of seconds, and that alone had my heart rate picking up. “Yours wasn’t on it.”

“It wasn’t? Are you sure?”

“I’m pretty sure. I had to go through every one of them. This man gets around. As you said, you never slept with Jack. Maybe he didn’t record you after all.”

“Maybe. I guess I should be happy then.” I didn’t feel the relief I should. I felt a humongous knot in my stomach. I’d expected there to be a video of me too.

Later that evening, Carmen came by to visit. We were both down on the living room floor playing with Penelope.

“I can’t believe this. So there was no video of you and him together?” she asked.

“Not that Sara could find. She totally wiped his laptop, so there’s nothing left. I hope this is the end of it.”

Carmen moved Penelope’s toy train around the floor.

“You probably don’t want to hear this after giving Jack the sack, but do you think the reason why he doesn’t have a video of you is that you meant more to him than anyone else?”

“No, I don’t think so. I mean, he said he really cared about Penelope and me. But I can’t keep going with this relationship after finding out everything he did.”

“Totally not! Underneath that good-looking face is a train wreck of a man. I’m glad you found out now before you ended up marrying him or something. That would be a disaster in itself.”

Penelope started to cuddle into me, and I took that as a sign that it was time for bed. “I think she’s tired. I’ll bring her up to bed. Do you want to grab some wine from the rack?”

“Sure. Have you eaten? I could order pizza.”

I chuckled. “Just make sure it’s extra large.” I stood from the floor and carried Penelope upstairs. It was only fifteen minutes later she was changed and fast asleep.

When I walked downstairs, Carmen was sitting on the couch, holding a glass of red wine. “You cleared up. Thank you!”

“Of course. You know a husband would come in handy. At least you wouldn’t have to do it alone,” she joked.

“No thanks.” I sat on the couch beside her and picked up my glass of wine. “I’ll let you get married first so you can try it out. Then maybe I’ll get married someday if the right man comes along.”

“Well, he has. You just have to make your move. Speaking of Mason Knight, did you tell him about Jack?”

“No, and I’m not going to. Nothing good will come of Mason knowing that information. He doesn’t need to know. I’m pretty sure he would go crazy!”

“That’s true. He’s a jealous man when it comes to you. I wish Brent was more like that sometimes.”

“Why would you want that?” I asked. “When I was spending time with Mason, he was jealous all the time, and it drove me crazy.

“He didn’t even consider us in a relationship at the time. I didn’t like it.”

“I like a man who can be a little jealous. A jealous man makes me kinda horny, I must admit.” She giggled, and I did too. Carmen released a sigh. “Oh my God! I can’t believe I’m getting married.”

“I know. I can’t believe it either.”

I couldn’t believe that she was marrying him. In my opinion, he’s not the one for her. Brent doesn’t deserve her. But I’m trying to be a good friend and not get in the way.

“Are you sure you’re ready to take that step?”

I sensed the hesitation in answering my question. “Sure, I’m ready. I love him.”

“Okay, I just wanted to be sure. I know it’s a big step to make. I think I would have cold feet if I were getting married.”

It’s obvious to me that she’s been kind of off lately. Carmen has stayed over a couple of times, and she seems a little tense.

I think his behavior is causing her to question their relationship, but the wedding is planned. Maybe Carmen feels like she has to go through with it. I don’t know. It’s just my opinion.

My doorbell rang, and I stood up from the couch. “That’ll be the pizza. I’ll be right back!”

“If it’s that cute delivery guy, you should ask him for his number. I dare you!” she shouted.

I chuckled and opened the door, expecting to see a man holding a pizza on the other side. But it wasn’t the pizza. It was him! I felt butterflies in my stomach all of a sudden.

“Hi!”

“We need to talk.”

***

Mason

I was sitting in my office, buried deep in work. Mr. Mercer wanted the papers drawn up now that I’ve settled things over our weekend in Seattle. I haven’t left my chair since early this morning.

There was a knock on the door to my office, and the doors opened. I didn’t look up, not even when my assistant placed some mail down on my desk.

“Your mail, Mr. Knight.”

“Thank you.”

She left my office, and I continued working for a further hour before starting on my mail. I came to the last one in the pile and furrowed my brows when I looked at the front.

It had my name on it in black ink, but it didn’t have the building address. It was hand-delivered. I opened it up, expecting there to be papers inside, but there was only a memory stick.

~A memory stick! Why would someone send me a memory stick?~

I placed all the mail aside and inserted the memory stick into my laptop. I opened the file up, curious to see what was on it.

~What the fuck!~

On my screen, I saw Jamie and that doctor she was involved with. They were standing in his living room, undressing each other slowly.

His hands were on her body, her bra was undone, and his hands were on her breasts too.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I felt an immediate rush of anger just seeing both of them. The thought of him touching her before drove me crazy, but now I was seeing it in front of me.

As they took things further, I couldn’t look at it anymore, so I slammed my laptop closed in anger. I stood from my office chair and opened up my liquor cabinet.

I downed my first glass of rum and poured another. I sat in my chair with a glass in my hand, mulling my thoughts.

All I could picture in my mind was him fucking her on his couch, his hands all over her skin and her liking it!

I wondered if she sent this to me, if this was Jamie’s way of getting me to give up on us once and for all. Would she do that?

I was too enraged to go over there right now and find out. If I did, it would only cause more trouble between us.

This could be him—the doctor. This could be his way of showing me he had her for himself.

~Fuck!~

I drank from my glass and slammed it down on my desk in front of me. I grabbed my jacket from my chair and left my office.

I’m going over there. Right now, I couldn’t care less what the consequences are.