06

Oh my God. I just let Henry eat me out in the confines of a coat room in his parent's house.

Holy shit.

Hours after the incident, and I am still reeling in shock at what I did.

What the fuck were you thinking, Sandy?

But that's the problem. At that point in time, I wasn't thinking. And now, I honestly can't say that I regret what happened because that would be a straight up lie. But what I can say is that I regret the way I abruptly ran out of the closet after he was done. I was disoriented and I had to get out of that closet before I did something really stupid like have sex with him.

Oral sex is still sex, you idiot.

I feel so overwhelmed right now. For the rest of the party, I had avoided Henry and this time I actually succeeded.

I'm sure people had noticed the change in me when I returned to the party but I couldn't stand myself at that moment.

Exactly 3 hours after I arrived, I left. Once home, I left the boys to their video games to wear them out while I just sat in the kitchen staring into fucking space, mentally berating myself for my moment of weakness.

How can I face him again now? That is the question that keeps plaguing me.

I decide to do something to get my mind of the whole thing. Suddenly, I remember Ryan from the grocery store and I dial him up.

"Ryan Rodriguez here." He says as he picks up on the third ring.

"Hey, Ryan. It's Sandy from the supermarket."

"Oh, hey!" He says ethusiastically. "I didn't look at the caller ID. I'm so sorry I haven't been able to call, settling in has been a bitch."

"It's no problem. I was wondering if you wanted to go out for coffee this evening."

"Hell yeah. I'm just sitting here in my apartment bored out of my mind, tired from unpacking." He says.

"Great. I'll text you the details."

We soon hang up and I call Rose to come babysit. I quickly go and change into a green chiffon top and a black pair of jeans and by the time I'm ready, Rose has arrived.

"I'll be back soon, okay?" I tell the boys, laying a kiss on their foreheads before turning to Rose. "Thank you so much for coming on such short notice. If they get hungry you can just order pizza."

"Pizza!" They both cheer because that is something I don't let them eat often.

I just shake my head at them with a smile as I take my leave.

I drive to Cafe De Royale the place where I arranged to meet Ryan. I find him sitted at the window side of the resturant as soon as I walk in.

Getting into the chair opposite him I say, "Hello."

"Sandy, how are you?" He asks with a preppy smile.

"I'm fine, thank you. Sorry I took a minute, I had to make sure that my kids were set with their babysitter."

He looks shocked. "You have kids?"

I nod my head with a smile.

"Damn, mami. With that hot body, no one can tell." He says with a small whistle.

I just shake my head at him as I pick up the menu.

"So you're married?" Ryan asks.

"No. Divorced actually."

Ryan nods in understanding. "He's blind?"

At that I laugh. "No. Just not appreciative."

"Ah. I know those kind." He muses.

We order our food and get talking. He's just the distraction that I needed. Although we don't have a lot in common in terms of background, we share a common ground in terms of our likes, beliefs and such. Ryan has such a cheerful vibe that I love.

He says he just moved here from Texas after getting out of a 3 years long relationship and he's looking for a fresh start. I tell him a bit of my story as well and he swears that Henry is truly blind for letting me go. This is a boost to my self esteem.

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My artworks from Washington are finally delivered today being Monday, so I am busy setting them up in the gallery. I'm in the middle of that when I get a text from Lorraine about the details of our lunch which I had totally forgotten about.

Lorraine Samuels:

Basil Palace by 1 pm. Looking foward to seeing you!

Me:

Looking foward to seeing you too.

I don't have it in me to put an exclamation mark after that lie because the truth of the matter is I'm not excited to see her. I get it, she's changed, good for her. But I can't easily forget all the shit she put me through. And, I have a shit ton of things to do in a limited period of time and sitting around, eating with a previous arch enemy doesn't make the list.

After calling an event planner and beginning plans for the opening of the gallery, I check the time to see that it's 12: 47 so I begin the drive to Basil Palace to meet up with Lorraine. Upon getting there, I sit in the car for a minute and practice my polite smile in the mirror. I do not want to come across as rude or anything.

I get out of the car and walk into Basil Palace. The aroma of food wafts through the air and it is slightly comforting. I have been here a couple of times with my mother so I already know what I am going to order.

As soon as Lorraine spots me, she stands up and pulls me into a slightly awkward hug because of her big stomach.

"How many months along are you?" I ask her as I place my birkin bag on the table before taking a sit.

"6 months. Micheal and I can't wait for this baby to arrive." She says excitedly.

"Micheal?" I ask with an arched eyebrow.

"My husband." She explains.

"Oh. I didn't know that you got married."

She laughs at that. "If I had gotten pregnant out of wedlock I wouldn't even be here. My parents would have killed me by now."

I chuckle a bit at that.

The waitress comes over and we order our food before handing her back the menu.

"So how has life been treating you?" Lorraine asks, linking her fingers together under her chin.

"Well, it's been good. After the divorce, I moved to Washington where I was for the past four years before I decided to move back here just a few weeks ago." I say with a shrug.

At the mention of my divorce she looks so uncomfortable and suddenly unable to sit still. "I'm really sorry for the part that I played in that, Sandy. Truly. I just hope that you guys have been able to talk it out."

My brows furrow in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Haven't you and Henry spoken about it?"

"Spoken about what?" I ask but the waitress arrives with our food, interrupting us. "Spoken about what?" I repeat as soon as she is out of ear shot.

"I sent Henry a letter earlier this year explaining everything. The part I played, everything." She says, her eyes glossing over. "I couldn't speak to him because everytime that I tried to meet him in his office he would refuse to see me and he would never agree to talk to me at social events either. When I got married, Micheal and I moved out of the state for 2 years because of his work before we returned and even then Henry wouldn't hear me out so I sent him a letter." By the time she is done she is in tears so I hand her some tissue not at all sympathetic towards her.

What the fuck is she even going on about?

"Lorraine, I need you to calm down and tell me what the fuck you're talking about right now." I tell her firmly.

"I was the one who sent him the pictures. I'm so sorry. It wasn't until after the deed was done that Nate told me what was really going on between the both of you but by then the damage was already done. And then Nate got blacklisted and I felt so horrible because there was nothing that I could do about it and he had to leave town." She says breaking out into sobs once again.

"You knew Nate?" I ask her.

"He's my cousin." She says after blowing her nose into the tissue.

I'm confused to say the least. Lorraine never acted even the least bit familiar towards Nate during high school so this news is shocking.

"What?" I ask.

"I know. I didn't even know that we were related until a Christmas event that our grandma had 5 years ago. Looking back, I feel so horrible about how I treated him. I feel so horrible about how I treated everyone." She says with so much sadness in her eyes that I can tell that this has really tormented her.

"I just wish I could go back and do it all again." She says solemnly.

Reaching for her hand across the table, I tell her, "You can't change the past, but you can make your present. The fact that you were a horrible person before doesn't mean that you can't do better."

She chuckles at that, wiping her eyes. "I was a bitch, wasn't I?"

"Yes." I reply honestly with a laugh.

We just talk about light topics for the rest of our lunch but what she said earlier doesn't leave my mind. I want to ask her to explain but she seems extremely emotionally unstable probably due to her pregnancy, so I decide that I will confront Henry about it instead.

Only problem, now, is how I am going to face him.

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A/n:

New chapter alert. How did you enjoy this chapter?

What do you think that Lorraine is talking about or she crazy? And also, what do you guys think of Ryan?

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P.s- Please check out my fantasy romance book The Covenant: Raven which is up on my profile.