“What would you like me to say, Alex?” she huffed in return, folding her arms staring me down till I felt nothing but intimated even though I towered over her small frame.
“I don’t know, Adriana, that you understand.” I hesitated, knowing I was pushing my luck with her.
“Understand?” she shrieked and let out a ‘you’re fucking joking’ laugh.
“Okay, sorry, whatever.”
It was at this moment I realized how alone I was in this, how there was no one I could confide in who could remotely understand what we had. I stood up off the lounge to make my way to the kitchen, abandoning this conversation.
“She left,” Adriana mumbled.
“What?” I couldn’t have turned around fast enough.
“About a week ago. I don’t know where to.”
“What do you mean she left?”
“She left town. To go god-knows-where but I’m not surprised after the humiliation she must have felt.”
“How could you not know where?”
“Because, Alex, she and I no longer talk.”
“So you’ve spoken to her since I left?”
“Yes and no,” she said. “I ran into her the morning all hell broke loose in town. She confronted me and well, Alex, I was hurt. I said things I shouldn’t have. I had no idea this was going on and now I look back and it was so obvious, it was there right in front of my face and the only reason I didn’t notice was because I was too absorbed in my own love life.”
“What did you say to her?” I gritted.
“It doesn’t matter. She’s gone now.”
“Tell me what you said to her!”
“I just told her to stay away…and that…” Her hesitation made me anxious. I knew she said something that would have pushed Charlotte to the point of no return.
“You mustn’t have really loved her if you got Samantha pregnant,” she whispered.
“FUCKING HELL, ADRIANA!”
Placing my head in my hands I tried to ignore the pain that was spreading throughout me again. My poor Charlotte. How could I have been so fucking stupid?!
“Alex, I’m sorry. I was so upset.”
“No, I understand. It was never our intention to hurt you. She worried about you all the time, but we were so deep in this. I loved her. More than you can ever imagine.”
“And now, Alex?”
“Love like that doesn’t just disappear…” My voice faded.
Samantha walked into the room, interrupting our conversation. She must have known we were having a moment and she looked annoyed that Adriana wasn’t screaming at me. As I made my way onto the balcony, Adriana walked beside me, holding onto me. Before we stepped outside she hugged me tight, much to the bemusement of my father.
“Have faith, big brother. The right place and the right time, she will be yours again,” she whispered.
Chapter 5
Charlie
July 2005