Miss Lola.

Chapter 32.

"Hey, you can always try counseling. I had to do the same thing after my divorce. And I still see a therapist from time to time. I can give you his card, he's very good."

Intrigued, and not thinking about Merlin S.r right now, I ask Hollis about his wife because the new woman is always curious about the ex.

His eyes narrowed as he carefully studied my expression and then he said, "Well, what would you like to know?"

"Why did you divorce? Who initiated it?"

Hollis leaned forward in his chair and propped his elbows on the table although he never let go of my hand.

He seemed uncomfortable with the subject and for the first time since I've known him his smile seemed a little forced.

"You go straight for the jugular don't you?" He observed, with a rueful shake of his head. "Well, she initiated it because I cheated."

"Really Hollis?" I tried to snatch my hand out of his grasp because I hadn't exactly expected this level of honesty but his fingers tightened around mine.

"Let me go." I said, yanking harder but Hollis never released my hand.

"Chill out, Lola." He commanded, smiling a little and gently caressing my fingers as if what he'd just said shouldn't have mattered.

That's the problem with most women, them fools be thinking their man ain't gonna cheat but I ain't that dumb and wet behind the ears.

Granted, love can blind you and I do love Hollis, but I hope to never be that blind.

"Well, you asked for the truth." Hollis said with a shrug. "And I wouldn't have been honest with you  if it hadn't been for my therapist."

"He's that good huh?" I asked and Hollis nodded. "So, you cheated? I'm not that surprised because all..."

"Men cheat." He finished my sentence with a disgusted eye roll and then said,  "But I wasn't a dog about it. I mean, it was not a good move, but it was just a short, unimportant fling."

"With whom?" I just had to ask.

"She was one of my female business partners which is why I no longer deal with female business partners." Hollis said.

"And your ex-wife divorced you for that one fling? Do you really expect me to believe that?" 

"No, I don't expect you to believe it but
Hell, I was young and full of sap and she kept throwing herself at me plus my ex wasn't giving me any attention in that area of our marriage."

I looked at him narrowly, "And that's your excuse? Your wife wasn't giving you enough sex?"

Hollis nodded, he seemed genuinely perplexed. "Yes. Why else would a man fool around on his wife?"

"Oh, I can think of several more reasons but please go on with what you were saying."

"Okay, you're right." He admitted. "It wasn't the only reason because we'd grown apart long before then and no longer had that certain spark or sexual connection."

His brows knotted as he searched for the right words to express himself.

"I was no longer... fulfilled and neither was my ex-wife and she'd been fooling around on me too and it all came out after the divorce."

"Oh, I see. Well, would you have divorced her if you'd known about her creeping around on you ?" I ask.

"Yes. Hell, yes." Hollis said it instantly and without an ounce of remorse.

"Hmm." I tilted my head, thinking about his response. "So you wouldn't have forgiven her or offered her a do over. You would have kicked her straight to the curb?"

"Yeah." Hollis said.

"But when you cheated you expected her to forgive and give you a second chance?"

He thought about it a moment and then said a confident, "Yeah."

I just had to laugh a little bit at how crazy that sounded. "You men are something else. Wow."

"Well, I'm keeping it real with you,Lola. Ain't no use lying about it."

"And I appreciate your honesty. So anyway, Merlin didn't get the chance to cheat because as soon as I got pregnant with the twins he ghosted." I paused and sipped from my glass of iced tea to wet my throat which had gone kinda dry like it always does when I talk about Merlin Sr.

It's like saying his very name and feeling the words sliding past my lips can suck the moisture almost completely from my mouth like a sponge.

"He ghosted, never to be seen or heard from again and that really devastated me because I needed his support.

Not so much financially, but emotionally because I was sixteen years old and totally clueless about how to take care of one kid, not to mention two."

"Didn't your family help you? And how old was Merlin?"

"They helped some but it was my responsibility and my parents made that plain right from the begining Merlin was seventeen."

Hollis looked thoughtful,

"So you both were very young. I can't even begin to tell you how many mistakes I made at seventeen."

"Yeah, but I bet you ain't knock nobody up. Or did you?" I asked, eyeing him down.

"Of course not." Hollis said then his expression softened as he gazed into my eyes. "A less determined girl would have given up but not my Lola. You made something of yourself."

He actually sounded proud of me which brightened my emotional outlook considerably.

"That's some of the reason why I haven't forgiven Merlin yet. It just seems like he got away while I was left carrying the burden."

"How do your kids feel about him?" Hollis asked.

I shrugged because I really didn't know and it wasn't my problem or my job to make them love their daddy.

Hollis slid a yellow card across the table. It was old and soft around the edges.

"That's my therapist's info. You should give him a call."

I squinted at the information on the card before slipping it inside of my purse.

"Hollis?" I asked and he met my eyes and smiled uncertainly.

"Yes, Lola."

"I've decided to gone 'head and give you a chance and marry you."

I'd just made the decision and it felt right. His eyes widened as a big, happy smile slowly spread across his face.

"Really?"

"Really, but I'm warning you. You cheat once and I'm gone."

Hollis didn't know whether to laugh or be annoyed but then his joy won out and the next thing I knew, he'd swept me off my feet and announced to the

entire restaurant that we were getting married while I blushed and hid my face against his shoulder and begged him to put me down.

11/5/21
Edited 2/20/22.
8/23/22.