Chapter 15

Fifteen

Haden

Charlie and Lex walk around the house, admiring the place before we sit in the kitchen with a congratulatory bottle of wine.

After spending last night out with Noah at some bar near Malibu, wine is the last thing on my mind, but I don’t want to appear disrespectful. I wasn’t completely sober from the shots Noah made me take last night. The guy is fucking relentless when we’re out drinking and Kate was the one pushing him to go out since she was out of town anyway.

“The house is beautiful, Haden.” Charlie smiles, pouring the wine into Lex’s and my glass, and some juice for herself. “I wish Presley were here to celebrate with us.”

I told Presley I would pick up the keys, and she simply replied okay. When I mentioned Lex and Charlie visiting, she told me she needed to stay home and pack the house. It isn’t worth the argument. I am tired of trying to make her do anything anymore.

Lex told me that Presley has been ignoring Charlie’s calls, and Charlie knows exactly why. She just feels helpless when it comes to her best friend hurting. The girls have always had a tight bond, and despite my loyalty to my wife, she has no excuse for treating her best friend like this. I tried to bring it up last week, only to get shut down.

“Oh, well, it is what it is,” I mutter.

She reaches out her hand, placing it on mine. “It’ll get better. I promise. She just needs to grieve. It’s part of the process to moving on.”

“How long did it take you to get over it?”

“Let’s see… what’s today’s date?”

“Oh… I didn’t realize.”

“It gets easier with time, but if I’m being honest, it never leaves me. It took me a long time to learn not to blame myself and realize it was out of my control. God needed an angel, and that’s what he got.”

Lex places his arms around Charlie as she speaks, kissing the top of her head. The guy is a ruthless in the business world, but when it comes to his family, he is a straight-up pussy. Those girls have him wrapped around his finger. I respect the guy. It’s why we get along well.

I know this happened to Charlie and Lex a long time ago, and judging by her pained expression, it is still a difficult thing to speak about. The subject makes me uncomfortable.

“As for Presley, she needs time to get through this, with you, of course.”

My lips part slightly, letting out a huff. “Presley is more interested in spending time with Sandy.”

This has been the first time I have openly admitted it to anyone. But Charlie and Lex are close friends who I trust, and I know will support me without judgment. While I’ve said a few things to Noah, his answer was always to give Presley time.

“I noticed,” Charlie admits, with a saddened face. “You’re not the only one who feels like they’ve lost someone.”

“I’m sorry… I don’t know what to do.”

“She’s your wife. She’ll come around,” Lex explains, parting his wisdom. “If you push her, she will run toward someone who doesn’t have her best interest at heart. This is life. We make mistakes, we grieve, it makes us stronger. Now, let’s celebrate this. To a life of memories and good business.”

Charlie pinches her lips while shaking her head. “Of course, you had to throw business in there.”

The three of us raise our glasses and cheers to that.

* * *

I toss and turn, pulling the sheets off, then back on, unable to fucking sleep.

Ever since our fight after the meeting two days ago, we barely communicate with each other unless it involves Masen.

This loneliness has become a vice on my heart, squeezing with just enough pressure to be a constant pain. It kills me every day just a little bit more, knowing we are moving past a point of being fixable. It fuels my nightmares, kills my concentration and desperation to hold onto what we have, driving her away. I can’t say, nor do, anything to please her. What should have been a time for us to grow together has torn us apart.

With barely any sleep, I make my way into the office early after hitting the gym. I push myself beyond my normal means, but it becomes the only thing I can control in my life.

There are a few staff here this early, but I don’t say hello, retreating to the solitude of my office with a coffee, my only diet of late. They know better than to bother me, especially when I am in this mood.

With my door shut, I spend most of the morning staring out the window in the company of my grief and sorrow.

I’m broken.

And I don’t know how to begin to repair the pieces of me which belong to her.

We have been through things, many things, but nothing to this extent. Never to the point where our marriage is actually on the line.

The pain consumes me in ways I never imagined possible. It drives my erratic behavior and my mind. It plays dirty tricks. I have become my own worst enemy. Little things spark my jealousy, such as when Presley affectionately lays her hand on Cassandra’s in the middle of our meeting. A gesture, while simple to many, is the beginning to the madness playing in my head. She is my fucking wife. Those hands should have been comforting me, not some old friend who happens to show up at the right time.

She fights hard for Cassandra, arguing until she is blue in the face. It’s me against her, and in Presley’s eyes, it’s no longer me she sides with. I can’t say or do a goddamn thing right.

It’s almost as if she has been poisoned against me.

I shake my head, trying to erase the vile thoughts from my overactive mind. It becomes hopeless, and all I can do is throw myself into work to feed the distraction. My fucking saving grace.

For the rest of the day, I don’t hear from Presley. According to Maria, she’s in her office and asked not to be interrupted. In a way, I don’t want to face her.

There’s a knock on my door, and Clint is standing beside it waiting to enter.

“Can I speak to you for a minute?”

“If this is about my dick being pierced, for the hundredth time, yes, it fucking hurt like hell, but it’s worth the pain.”

Clint chuckles, closing the door behind him. “Actually, no, but thanks for the visual. It’s about Presley.”

I gesture for him to take a seat, leaning back in my chair as I cross my arms beneath my chest. Clint and Presley have been friends since back in our Manhattan office. I’ve known him for years, long before I stepped into this role.

“I thought I should warn you. I know this is none of my business, but if I’m being honest, Presley has been a rotten boss of late, and I think I know why.”

“Clint,” I warn him. “It is none of your business.”

“Just hear me out, please?”

I let out a frustrated sigh, nodding for him to go ahead.

“I was talking to Cassandra, and I know you will think this is beyond far-fetched, but I think she has a thing for Presley.”

His words catch my attention like a gun pointing straight into my temple.

“You know, I kind of pried, asked Cassandra why they had a fall-out since she always skated over the topic, and Presley never really understood why either…” he pauses, watching me until my eyes widen prompting him to continue, “Cassandra kinda had a thing for Presley in college, though Presley never knew that. She was dating some guy, Ken or Kyle… whatever. And Cassandra admitted to me that she was jealous but laughed it off.”

“So, she had a crush on her. I don’t blame her,” I retort, showing no emotion yet the voices in my head are clawing their way to front row and center, demanding I fucking listen because my instinct has been right all along

“Yeah, but Presley has changed. When I’m with them, Cassandra is pushing Presley to make decisions which go against you. She’s a narcissist, almost trying to push you out of the picture…”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I’m warning you. When it comes to matters of the heart, for some reason, Presley is only listening to her.”

I hear every word he says, tapping my fingers against the table with an idea to end this madness. If for one second someone thinks they can get between us, they are very fucking wrong. The more his words resonate, the more my anger swells like a tide.

“So, what you’re saying is we need to eliminate the instigator immediately, so to speak?”

Clint nods. “You eliminate the instigator, problem solved. Your wife will come running back to you, back to all her friends. It’ll be as if this never happened.”

I grab my phone and dial Charlie’s number.

“Hello, Haden,” she answers.

“I need you in the office. Are you free now?”

“Sure, I can be there in say twenty minutes. Is everything okay?”

“It will be.”

All I need is Charlie to go through the legalities of the dismissal and John to clear the financials.

And soon, the instigator will be out of my life, and my wife will be back in my arms.

For good.