Chapter 64: Chapter 29: No Control

Jamie

“She’s not even here. I knew you were lying. Did you even tell her at all?” I turned my head and asked him.

Brent walked toward me in a way that made me feel intimidated, so I took a couple of steps back. He boxed me against the wall.

“Did you really think I was going to tell her? I’m not going to lose everything because of one mistake.”

“It’s not one mistake. You’ve cheated on her more than once.”

He smirked. “Oh really? And what makes you think that?” He waited for my reply, but I didn’t give him one. “I’m guessing Mason had something to do with it.”

“I wish there were nothing to tell. You can’t blame me because you cheated on her. She deserves to know the truth, Brent.”

“What makes you think she’s going to believe anything you say, huh? I didn’t want to do this because you’re her friend, but you’ve given me no choice, Jamie.”

I gulped in fear. “Do what?”

He moved closer to me and slipped the strap of my top off my shoulder. He continued by moving his fingers along my skin.

“Yes, I get distracted by other women from time to time, but you’re the biggest distraction of them all.”

~What the fuck?~

~What’s his plan here? Why is he saying all this?~

“Stop! What the hell are you doing?” I moved my strap back onto my shoulder. “I should go. Mason will be wondering where I am.” I tried to move past him, but he wouldn’t let me.

“You’re in safe hands, Jamie. I’m not going to hurt you.”

He moved my hair back behind my shoulder. “I know how to make a woman feel good. I’ll pleasure you in ways you’ve never been pleasured before.”

He pressed his mouth to my neck, kissing my skin while holding my hands against the wall so I couldn’t move. “You taste so good. Now, how about those lips I’ve been tempted by for so long.”

“No, don’t!” I struggled against him, but he was stronger. My heart was pounding in my chest at the thought of what he was capable of, and my wrists were sore and red.

He’d hit on me years ago when I was working for Mason, but it had never gone further than that. I never thought that he was tempted by me.

It had always seemed like he had it in for me, actually. Now here we were.

“Don’t touch me!”

“Come on, Jamie. You don’t need to be shy.” His hands wandered my body, pulling at my clothes while he was kissing my neck.

I wanted to get away from him, as far away as I possibly could. I was struggling against him, but it wasn’t enough.

I always thought that if a situation like this presented itself, I would find a way to get away. I wouldn’t allow a man to have power over me like that.

But at that moment, I felt powerless to stop him. What was happening wasn’t under my control. It was under his.

I heard Carmen’s voice. “What the fuck is this?”

Brent stopped what he was doing.

I didn’t know how long she’d been standing there or how the situation looked to her, but I guessed by the look on her face it wasn’t good.

“Babe, we can explain,” Brent said as he walked toward her. “This was a mistake. I’ve had a lot to drink today. I don’t even know what the fuck I’m doing.”

I was straightening my clothes, feeling embarrassed and ashamed. I couldn’t help the shame, even though what he had been doing wasn’t actually consensual. Brent knew I didn’t want him near me.

“I can’t believe this!” Carmen shouted. “We’re supposed to be getting married tomorrow, and I find you two doing this.”

“She came on to me, babe. I swear to you, I don’t want to hurt you.” Brent lied again.

“I didn’t come on to you. You forced yourself on me. You’re lying!” I shouted.

I needed to stick up for myself. I couldn’t risk losing her because of him. “Carmen, he’s been cheating since the day you met him.”

“Please, Jamie.” She sighed. “I need you to leave. Brent and I should discuss this in private.”

She wouldn’t even look at me as she said this. She couldn’t bring herself to look at the woman she’d just caught with her groom.

He looked smug as I walked past him toward the door. I wanted to stay and say my piece, but she was having none of it.

I wondered what would’ve happened if Carmen hadn’t walked in when she did.

I was crying by the time I unlocked the door to the hotel suite. Mason walked out of the bedroom, took one look at me, and knew that something was up. I didn’t want him to see me like this.

“Jamie.” He walked toward me. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I’m just tired. I think I’m going to go to bed.” I walked past him toward the bedroom.

“You’re not fine.” He followed behind me. “Look, I’m sorry about our fight. I should’ve told you that Brent was cheating on her. I just didn’t want to interfere in their business.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” I walked past him again, toward the bathroom, but this time he stopped me.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” he asked, but I didn’t even know where to start.

Would he believe me? Because it didn’t seem like Carmen did. He looked down at my arm and saw the red marks.

“What happened to you? Who did this?”

“I um…” I wiped the tears from my face. “Brent. I went to tell Carmen that he was cheating, but she wasn’t there. He came on to me. I told him no, but he wouldn’t listen. He was touching me…”

He looked distraught, like he couldn’t handle my words. Mason rubbed the stubble on his face, something I’d noticed he did when he was angry.

“Did he…did he rape—”

“No! He didn’t get that far. Carmen came back. He told her that I came on to him, but I don’t know if she believes me.”

I sniffled back tears. “He was trying to touch me, Mason. I don’t know what he would’ve done if Carmen hadn’t come back when she did.”

“I’m going to fucking kill him!” he said aggressively and walked toward the door of our room. The distraught look had now turned to rage.

“No, don’t!” I chased after him, placing myself in front of the door to stop him from leaving.

As much as Brent deserved this beating, I couldn’t let him do it. I couldn’t have him beat up another man because of me. “Please.”

“He can’t get away with this, Jamie.”

“Please, just stay here with me. I don’t want to be alone.” I wrapped my arms around his body and placed my head on his chest. Mason’s heart was beating insanely fast, but for a good reason.

“Okay,” Mason replied and kissed my head. “I’ll stay with you.” He hugged me tightly, and it stayed like that until we woke the following morning.

“What’s going on, sweetheart?” my mother asked.

“Nothing is going on.” I took Penelope from her arms and hung her overnight bag on my other shoulder.

I knew there would be questions. I expected there to be questions. I just didn’t want to answer them right now. It’s too fresh still.

“Your best friend is getting married in a couple of hours, and you’re leaving. Something is going on. Did you have a fight? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s not worth missing out on her big day.”

“I can’t talk about it, Mom. Not right now. Please understand.” I hugged her goodbye, hoping that it would be enough to stop the questions. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

She didn’t look pleased when I left. She looked worried as could be.

Penelope and I took the elevator downstairs and walked quickly through the lobby. Mason was loading our luggage into his car.

Mason placed the last suitcase into the trunk and closed it. “Did everything go okay?”

“My mother questioned me just like I knew she would. I didn’t tell her. I couldn’t.”

I buckled Penelope into her car seat and turned the screen on to keep her entertained. I closed the car door and turned to look at Mason.

“Do you think they’ll judge me for this?”

“It’s him they should judge, not you. You’re doing nothing wrong.” Mason was trying to reassure me, but I knew I was the only one who could do that.

I’d been beating myself up over this all morning. But my reasons for not attending my best friend’s wedding were the right ones.

“Let’s just go home.” I opened the passenger side door and slipped into the car. Mason pulled out of the parking space but didn’t drive any further once he saw Brent standing outside the hotel.

Brent was having a smoke and looking in our direction. “Look at him!” Mason’s grip tightened around the steering wheel, and it caused my breath to hitch in my throat.

~Please don’t!~

Before I knew it, he was out of the car and making his way toward the front of the hotel. His intentions weren’t good ones. I knew what Mason was going to do.

He held back last night because I asked him to, but seeing Brent today drove him over the edge.

I stepped out of the car after the first fist was thrown. I couldn’t run over there and leave Penelope alone in the car, so I watched apprehensively from a distance.

Mason had Brent on the ground, hitting him for the second and third time. Brent didn’t get a chance to do the same, not with an out-of-control man on top of him.

The cars behind us were beeping their horns since our car was blocking their way out.

“Fuck!” I whispered in case Penelope overheard me.

I watched as security pulled Mason off Brent. I wondered how far he would’ve gone if they hadn’t. Would he have continued to beat him?

I saw them exchange a few words, and then Mason walked back to me.

I noticed the blood on his white shirt when he got closer. We both slipped into the car without a word being said. As we were driving away from the hotel, I saw Carmen’s face in my rearview mirror.

That image alone kept me inside my house for the next ten days. I couldn’t face seeing anyone after what happened. I was trying to avoid the questions for as long as I could.

“Thank you for letting me stay a while, Jamie. As much as I hate Steph, I couldn’t be the one to kick her out of the apartment.”

Ethan took some folded clothes out of his suitcase and placed them on the bed. “My mother raised me to be a better man than that.”

“Of course.” I mustered a smile. “You can stay as long as you like. I’ll make us some dinner after this.”

“Nice. I took all the alcohol before I left. I figured it was the least I deserved. We can drink while we eat.”

He looked at me a little too long, and I knew that was the beginning of the questions. “You look like you need a drink.”

“I’m just tired. I haven’t really been sleeping great lately.”

Like not at all. My life is weird without Carmen in it. It’s like a part of me is missing. I’m also angry about the way everything went down.

I have a lot of questions, but I’m afraid of the answers I will get. Until now, I haven’t seen anyone I know to get those answers.

Of course, there’s always social media, but I couldn’t bring myself to look.

I’m willing to hear it from someone else’s mouth, but I’m not strong enough to witness it with my own eyes.

“Because of Carmen?” he asked but didn’t get an answer.

“Come on, Jamie. It’s obvious that something went down between you two. We’re best friends, the three of us. I thought we told each other everything.”

I pursed my lips together, thinking out my reply. How do I tell him? What do I tell him?

“What did Carmen tell you?”

“A whole lot of nothing. She told me that you left and that was it. I tried to call you, but you didn’t pick up.”

He placed his pile of folded clothes neatly into his dresser. “I saw Brent’s face, so I’m guessing this has something to do with him.”

“It’s all to do with him, actually.” I sat on the bed. If I’m going to tell him everything, I’d rather do it comfortably. “Before I tell you, I just have one question to ask first.”

Ethan shrugged a shoulder. “Okay. What is it?”

“Did she…” I paused, unable to bring myself to say the words. I was afraid to ask because I dreaded the answer. I dreaded that yes!

I took a deep breath. As much as it pained me, I needed to know. “Did she marry him?”

“Yes, they got married.”

~I guess that’s it then. She married him, even after everything. I told her that he came on to me, but she chose to make this commitment to him anyway.~

What did it mean for our friendship?

The fact that I hadn’t attended her wedding summed it up. Was there a way for me to be in her life if he was too?