"Nicole. What the hell are you talking about?"
I sighed as tears of anger sprang to my eyes, but I furiously swiped them away. "Alec, I called last night." The statement spoke for itself.
"Okay.
And?"
Oh my god. He was seriously kidding me. Did I have to say it? Was that part of his torturous game? "Lily told me you were in the shower with Candace!" My voice shook with barely suppressed rage. "I can't believe you thought so little of Lily that you told her to watch a movie while the two of you were in the next room fucking your brains out. You couldn't at least wait until your daughter went to bed first?" I was so angry my entire body seemed to be humming.
"Nicole, you don't understand."
"I don't understand? Well, you are right about that. I don't understand how I could have fallen for your bullshit and let you string me along." I debated ending the call, thus putting an end to this diabolical relationship. My finger hovered over the end call button on the screen. It would be so easy. One push and this torment would be over.
"Nicole, please. Just give me a chance to explain," he pleaded.
I expected some lame, meaningless apology or even a little groveling, but when he laughed I had reached my breaking point. Talk about the ultimate slap in the face.
"Oh, now it's funny? Goodbye, Alec." I pulled the phone away from my ear, ready to end him for good.
"Nicole, wait. I was fixing her shower."
At first I wasn't sure I heard him correctly. I held the phone in my hand, staring at the screen.
"Nicole, honey? Are you still there?"
"Don't call me honey," I said through gritted teeth.
"Did you hear what I said? I was fixing her shower."
"How convenient. Snaked her plumbing is more like it," I said, rolling my eyes so dramatically I was surprised they didn't get stuck.
He sighed heavily into the phone. "Hold on a sec." He called out for Lily who I could hear running into the room. "Lily, tell Nicole what I was doing in Mommy's shower."
Seriously? His proof was the same child who had already given away his secret? I wasn't even sure why I continued to play along, but if he wanted to bury himself deeper, so be it.
"You were hammering it," Lily said.
"Talk right here, so Nicole can hear you," he said, coaxing her along.
"But I was playing with my doll."
"I know, honey. It'll just take a second."
For a six-year-old, Lily already had dramatic sighs down pat. "Daddy was hammering the water thingy while Mommy held the bucket," Lily said into the receiver.
My heart fluttered like a hummingbird's wings as I digested her words. Lily must have dropped the phone by the sound of it hitting the ground. "Lily, didn't I tell you to be more careful?" Alec chastised her. "Are you still there?" he asked.
"Yeah," I answered as a new cold reality hit me. I had assumed the worst and basically hung Alec without giving him the benefit of the doubt. The only cheater in our relationship was me. I was the biggest hypocrite on the planet. Check that. I was the human equivalent of a fecal treatment plant.
"Good. I thought you hung up. Anyway, the pipe burst in Candace's bathroom last night. Her parents are away on vacation, so she called me. I can't say I was much help. As a matter of fact, I most likely caused more damage. We told Lily to watch her movie because she was in the bathroom splashing around like we were at a water park. I'm so sorry, babe. I know how it must have sounded, but you gotta believe me. I'm not a cheater. Never have been. Never will be. It's just not in my DNA."
The more he talked, the more it felt like a jagged knife was being stabbed in my chest. I was the asshole who jumped into the arms of another guy at the first sign of trouble. My breaths came out in gasps as I struggled over whether to tell Alec the truth.
"Sweetie, don't cry. I only wish you would have called me back. It would have saved you from tearing yourself up."
His words only made me cry harder. He was going to hate me when I told him. I was singlehandedly responsible of the destruction of our relationship. I deserved to have the shattered heart.
He continued on, trying his best to make me feel better, not even realizing I was the one who had betrayed him. He deserved to know. It wouldn't be right any other way. "I kissed Greg," I blurted out.