Broken Inside

71 - The Untold Truth

Alex didn't leave her room at all for 3 days. She lay in the dark, drinking and crying her eyes out. She had her iPhone off and took the hotel phone off its hook. She wanted to be shut off from the world as she wallowed in self pity. 

There was a knock at her door. She had turned the Do Not Disturb sign on so she decided to ignore whoever it was. After a minute, the person knocked again.

"Ms Smith? This is Alice Monroe. I'm the hotel's General Manager. Could you open the door please?" a female voice came through the door.

Alex sighed deeply. What does the General Manager want with her? She forced herself off the bed, feeling her head spin slightly. She mustered all her energy and went to answer the door. 

Alice was a black woman, tall and svelte. She was dressed in a sharp navy skirt suit. She eyed Alex from head to toe. Alex knew she must looked like crap, standing there in a bathrobe, her eyes swollen and her hair unkempt, but she didn't care. "Yes?" she asked.

Alice smiled professionally and handed her a mobile phone. "There's a Lord Paul Baker on the line for you. He has been ringing non-stop for hours. I think your room phone might be faulty. Would you like me to send someone to look at it?"

Alex looked at the phone in her hand and her heart started to race. How did he find me? She looked at Alice and said, "I'll be right back." She closed the door and slid down to the floor. Slowly, she lifted the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Thank God you're okay," Paul's voice sounded relieved. Alex couldn't control her emotion and she started crying. Upon hearing her sobbing, Paul said, "You're not okay."

Alex sniffed hard and asked, "How did you find me?"

"It doesn't matter," Paul said. "I'm coming to get you."

"No! Don't," Alex said quickly, sniffling, "I don't want to see you. Please."

Paul was quiet for a while. Then he asked, "What did Dr Grant tell you?"

Alex started crying hard again, feeling fresh hot tears pouring down her face. It was too much pain to handle. 

"Alex, please," Paul begged her. 

She could sense that he was desperate. She tried to compose herself, taking a few deep breaths. When she trusted herself to speak again, she quickly spit everything out. "I can't have children. I know you went through the same thing with Sophie so I won't let you go through this again. Please stop calling."

Then she hung up the phone. She took a few deep breaths before getting up and opening the door again. Alice was still waiting patiently. She handed the phone back and said, "Thank you. If he calls again, tell him I don't want to talk to him."

Then she shut the door and went back to bed.

*****

Alex was sleeping when she was rudely awakened by a loud knocking on the door. She ignored it but the person was persistent. Groaning loudly, she forced herself out of bed and swung open the door angrily. She gasped and her eyes widened when she saw who it was.

"Wanda?"

Wanda scrutinised her from head to toe and then shook her head while she tsk-tsked. "Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?" she asked pointedly.

Alex ran her fingers through her hair to tame it and straightened her robe. She doubted it helped her appearance. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

Wanda sighed and said, "Paul called me."

Alex felt a sob surfacing and she quickly covered her mouth. But her eyes started to brim with tears.