Noah (12 page)

"Okay...Big Daddy. Are you close? Are you going to
come all over my tits?"

He groans into the receiver as I continue talking in
a low, husky voice. "You like that, Big Daddy? Give me your cum. I
want it now."

He cusses into the phone and it's followed by a long,
drawn
-
out groan.

Finally. I was beginning to think he was never going
to finish.

"Can I call you again?" he pants desperately.

"You can always call, Big Daddy. Forbidden Desires,
Inc. knows my schedule so they'll be able to fit you in." I hang
up, never saying goodbye. It's rule number one in this business.
You don't want the person on the other line to get attached and
start looking at these conversations as more than they are.

I send Kendall a text and let her know I
’m
finished with my last call and
then clean up the living room, putting the remote by the TV and
bringing my dish from dinner over to the kitchen sink. I'll wash it
tomorrow.

I begin to shut off the lights so I can join Caleb in
bed when I notice his suit jacket resting on the back of a chair
that goes with the kitchen table. I grab it and prepare to put it
with his other dirty suits that I plan on dropping off at the dry
cleaner. The jacket feels heavier and then a pocket begins to
buzz.

Poor guy. He always sleeps with his phone on the
nightstand next to our bed. He must have been so exhausted he
forgot about it. I feel a little guilty for being so hard on him
tonight. I grab the phone out of his pocket so I can put it on the
nightstand for him when the phone lights up with another text.

Paula: Miss you

Huh
…
Who's
Paula?

I can't recall any of his friends or family members
by that name. The text is innocent enough. There are a lot of
reasons to miss someone.

Curiosity gets
the best of me and I enter in his passcode to unlock his phone. I
look down the hallway to make sure Caleb's still in our room and
then I tap on the message app and hit Paula's name. My eyes are
immediately confronted with text after text between the two of
them. It's hard to decipher the texts when reading them
backwards
,
starting with the most recent, so I scroll up through hundreds of
texts so I can read some of these in order.

Paula: What time do you check
in?

Caleb: Flight lands at three. I should be at the
hotel by four.

Paula: I'll be waiting ;)

Okay, these aren't so bad. She could be a business
associate or another lawyer at the firm.

Caleb: I'm in my room.

Paula: I'll come over.

Caleb: You'll come...all over my face.

Caleb: Then I'll come all over yours.

Paula: Can't wait to taste you...

Okay...not so innocent anymore. I scroll down through
several texts and land on a different day. This was last Tuesday
when he told me he had to work all night at the office preparing
for a case that started the next morning. We got in a huge fight
that
night. I confronted
him about never being home anymore and leaving me in the apartment
by myself.

I was so angry with him that night, but when he left
after another one of our fights, I felt guilty about being so hard
on him. He expressed to me over and over again how he didn't want
to leave but he was the low man on the totem pole at work. If he
didn't go into work he'd get fired. He explained how eventually
he'll get the recognition he deserves and the new, younger
associates will have to work these hours instead.

He was right and a few minutes later I was calling
him and apologizing for blowing up at him...again. That night I
reasoned with myself that it wouldn't always be this way. To make
up with him after our fight, I woke up early the next morning and
waited for him by the front door. When he strolled in at five am I
got on my knees and sucked him off.

After reading these texts he didn't deserve my mouth,
or my sympathy.

Paula: Did you get away from her yet?

Caleb: Already on my way.

Paula: Was she mad?

Caleb: She's always mad when I tell her I'm working
late, but she'll get over it.

Caleb: She believes whatever I say.

Caleb: She's desperate for our relationship to
work

Paula: Good because I don't want to be the reason
you break up.

Paula: I'm interested in your cock and nothing
else.

Caleb: I guess that means my lips and tongue are
worthless?

Paula: Not when you're eating me out. You have a
talented tongue that better get here fast so it can lick my hungry
cunt.

Oh...I think I'm going to be sick. I run over to the
sink and pull my hair back, waiting for the contents of my stomach
to come out but nothing does. I just dry heave until I calm down
enough for my stomach to settle.

He's cheating on me. That fucking bastard's cheating
on me.

After everything we've been through together. I
believed everything he ever told me and defended him to Noah and
Kendall, but it was true. He was cheating and lying this whole
time.

I really am naive and stupid.

I want to run in
to
our bedroom in this apartment we made our home,
and wake his lying, cheating ass up. I want to see the shock in his
eyes when I tell him that I know everything and it's over. We're
through.

I can
’
t
believe I ate the bullshit he was feeding me every day. Was any of
it ever true? Was there even one day he was actually working late
and not fucking around on me?

I'm better than this. Yes, I gave up everything and
followed Caleb here but I thought it was the right decision and I
was right. New York was a good move for me because I needed to get
out of my small town and experience life a little more. I just wish
it wasn't all for a lie.

Each second that passes since I read those texts gets
me angrier and angrier. I'm afraid of what I'll do next. I
can
’
t wake Caleb up
right now. I
’
m feeling
out of control and at the same time incredibly weak. If he gives me
even one plausible excuse I might forgive him and forget all about
the texts I've just seen, and if he has no excuse I might hurt
him.

I need some space to process this and devise a
thorough plan of attack. I need to think this all through, but I
also don't want him to walk through the day tomorrow not knowing
that I know everything about him and Paula. He may have pulled one
over on me this whole time, but now my blinders are off.

This may be his apartment and I'll have nowhere to go
when we break up, but I'm not going to keep my knowledge of his
affair hidden because I'm afraid of the future. Kendall will let me
live with her, and if she can
’
t
,
there's always Noah. He's taken care of me in the past and I know
he'll do it now. Noah's apartment is right across the hall so
that's where I'll go tonight to clear my head. I don't want to be
here in the morning when Caleb wakes up.

Placing Caleb's phone on the kitchen table I grab a
piece of notebook paper and a pen off the counter and jot down a
quick, seething note.

Caleb,

Next time you decide to cheat on me you should
keep your phone close by or at least change your password. I hope
you're happy fucking that whore
,
Paula
,
because you'll no longer be
fucking me.

Asshole!!!

–Skye

Those three lines feel satisfying and I slip the
piece of paper under his phone and storm out of the apartment,
leaving everything behind me.

Chapter Seven

Not caring if I wake up everyone in our apartment
building I pound hard on Noah's front door. There's a good chance
he's not here and at work in his office or his bar, but he's the
best option I have at this time of night because I'm in my flannel
pajamas and left my keys and purse inside my apartment.

I can't believe I wasted six years with Caleb. I
thought we were building a life together and that we both wanted
the same things, but apparently
,
while I was sacrificing some of my dreams and
dignity he was sowing his wild oats.

Well,
fuck
him.

He can have Paula and I hope they're happy together.
I'm done being the pushover girlfriend who puts up with his
bullshit. I'm done putting his needs before my own. I have needs,
too! Needs I've been denying myself for so long I almost forgot
they were there.

When did Caleb become my number one concern? Oh yeah,
right around the time Noah started boxing me out and hooking up
with women in front of me. Right around then is when I gave up on
Noah and started focusing on my old dreams of marrying a rich,
successful man who would get me out of my small town in
Michigan.

I never thought Noah would settle down in a town
outside Michigan, too. I thought he'd grow old in that small
town.

The deadbolt on the other side of the door makes a
loud noise as it unlocks and then Noah answers the door, looking
like I disturbed his sleep. He's in checkered boxers and nothing
else, and I'm focused on his perfect abs and the dark happy trail
that leads under his boxers, instead of why I came over here.

"What's wrong, shorty? I was sleeping."

I push past him and into his apartment, nudging his
bare chest with my shoulder. His place is clean except for the
wrinkled mess of sheets and covers on his bed.

"Can I stay here tonight?" I ask
,
not really worried about what his answer
will be as I sit down on the loveseat in the middle of the spacious
room.

Wiping the sleep out of his eyes he replies, "Why
aren't you staying at your place?"

"Because Caleb's a son of a bitch who's been cheating
on me for God knows how long and if I stay in my apartment I might
end up hurting him, and even you don't have enough money to post
bail for me as I await trial," I ramble seriously.

It takes a moment for what I say to register in
Noah's half-awake brain but when it finally clicks his expression
turns murderous. "I'll kill him."

Taking my apartment key off the key ring by the
door
,
he grabs the
handle of the front door and opens it, walking out into the
hallway. I jump off the loveseat and run to stop Noah, hopping on
his back as he inserts his key into the front door of my
apartment.

"Not tonight, please
,
Noah. I need time to process everything before I
confront him. You can't do this tonight."

With his key still in the door he takes deep, even
breaths, attempting to calm down. "Are you sure you don't want me
to go in there and beat the shit out of him? If I wait until
morning I'll have more time for this anger to fester and it will be
worse on Caleb."

With my arms around his neck I try to lean my head
over his shoulder so I can see his face. "Then I definitely want
you to wait until tomorrow because he deserves the worst you can
give him."

Sighing in defeat
,
Noah turns back around to his apartment and walks
inside with me still clinging on to his back. When he closes his
front door I hop off him and settle back down on the loveseat. Noah
grabs us both a beer, pops the tops, and sits down next to me.

"You mind telling me what happened?"

Where should I begin?

"Things have been off lately. I've noticed it but I
just thought it was because of the long hours at work. He's never
home, and the rare moments he is
,
he's usually catching up on the sleep he missed.
We've gotten into fights about it recently, but he's always so
convincing. He makes me feel bad for doubting him and it works. I
feel horrible about how badly they treat him at work and for how
I'm treating him at home."

I grab one of the beers out of Noah's hand and take a
sip, savoring the cool taste as it goes down my throat. "Tonight he
came home late and went straight to bed. I was angry at first
because I had a nice evening planned for him and he blew me off,
but I wasn't skeptical at all because this was typical lately. I
used the rest of the evening to work
…
I mean bills...yeah...working on bills. When I
finished I straighten
ed
up before joining him in bed and that's when I found his
phone."

"You were working on bills?" He raises his eyebrows,
making the skin on his forehead scrunch up and I know he doesn't
believe me. Why is he focusing on that and not the fact that I
found Caleb's phone.

"Yes," I lie, because right now is not the time to
tell Noah that I've been working for him.

He drags a hand through his hair
,
frustrated. "We're dealing with the Caleb
thing right now, but tomorrow, after you've confronted him and
moved your shit out of his apartment, we're going to talk about
what you were really doing tonight. I talked to Kendall today. I
know everything and there's no way you're continuing to do that
crap. Consider yourself fired."

"What!" I gasp. "You can't fire me."

"I can and I just did. Kendall will no longer be
getting two paychecks and if I find out you're on even one more
phone call with a client of mine, I'll fire Kendall, too."

Standing up from the loveseat I begin to pace back
and forth. This can't be happening. How is it I'm losing a
boyfriend, an apartment, and a job all in one night.

"You can't do that, Noah. I need this job."

"You'll find something else."

"No, I won't. It's expensive to live here and working
for you pays me three times as much than my other two jobs
combined."