Action (DNF)

Chapter 72: Bathtub

Monica POV.

The movie finished playing around 3am and I let out a yawn, thankful that it was over as credits rolled across the screen, crediting the actors and directors and such. A catchy song played as all this happened, and I decided not to turn the film off for a moment while I got ready for bed, humming along with the movie as I did.

With quiet steps I moved over to the table and put the now empty wine glass I had been drinking out of, and the bag of chips I had finished on there, making sure to keep it out of reach of a sometimes grabby five year old. When that was done I brushed a strand of my long dark hair behind my ear so that it wasn’t in front of my face before moving again.

I walked over to the bedroom where my son was sleeping, wanting to check on him and make sure he was asleep. The door was slightly ajar and light cut through the dark bedroom, hitting the end of the bed where he was sleeping and my gaze softened to a smile as I admired him.

He looked so much like his father. The blond hair and the adorable freckles that I had fallen in love with since the moment I first held him in my arms at the hospital. Much to my surprise a pair of blue eyes were peering back at me through the darkness.

“Noah, sweetie, what are you doing up?” I asked, walking through the dark bedroom to sit on the edge of his bed. “It’s so early.”
“I couldn’t sleep.” He muttered, kicking his feet back and forth under the covers of the bed. “I was thinking about Dad.”

I’d always raised him knowing that Clay had been the father. On the off chance of me cheating it was never with another blond. I had always thought cheating with another blond man would only remind me of what I was doing. My hand moved to run through his soft hair and I asked the question of. “What were you thinking about?”

“Well I was just thinking that maybe we should just go back home. He doesn’t seem to like me.” His words were spoken with a downcast expression and I pulled the small boy into a hug.
“That’s not the case sweetie.” I reassured him. “Your father’s just confused. When he realises that he will come back and he will love you.”

“But every time that we try to see him he leaves or he’s busy.” Noah huffed. “Why doesn’t he love me? Have I been bad?” Tears began to prick at his eyes and I wiped them away caringly.
“No, you haven’t been bad Noah. You are perfect. Clay’s just confused. And he’s always busy with his boyfriend.”

“He has a boyfriend?” The small boy asked, the discovery seeming to make him even more sad as he curled up under the blankets. “But aren’t you two married?”
“I wish we were.” I sighed, my right hand moving to brush over my left where our engagement ring still sat.

Even after the blond had left years ago, I had hoped that he would come back. After all, I knew how much being a father meant to him, and I was confident that after spending a night or two with Sapnap he’d realise that and come home, but he never did. I never threw out the ring though, always hoping that one day I would be able to rebuild our family for our son’s sake.

“Now,” I began after a minute of silence. “You need to get back to sleep or you’ll be tired tomorrow. So have sweet dreams Noah.” As I spoke I kissed him on the forehead before tucking him back in under the covers. When I reached the doorway I took a moment to glance back over at him, feeling my heart melt at the sight of the five year old in the double bed.

“Night mom.” He muttered before closing his eyes and he was out like a light after that. I shut the bedroom door after that and went back to getting ready for bed. I turned off the lights in the living room of our hotel and turned off the TV before heading to the larger bedroom of the motel room.

Despite how late it was, or I guess early since it was 3am, I decided to have a bath first, filling up the tub with warm water and lighting a scented candle to make an even nicer atmosphere before stripping down and climbing into the tub. A relaxed sigh fell from my lips as I settled into the warm water and felt my tensions melt away.

I hadn’t treated myself to one of these in ages, at least not since Clay had left over five years ago. Back then if and when I was stressed he would fill up a nice bath; warm water, bubbles, scented candles, rose petals, and the like. He’d shower me with kisses when he showed what he’d done and then say I could be in here as long as possible (usually until the water got cold).

After making myself comfortable I grabbed my phone, deciding that I could watch some videos on TikTok while I soaked in the warm water.  Only a few minutes passed before something appeared on my screen, it was a call from… Clay.

It honestly didn’t seem real. I mean, Clay had not called me, or interacted with me in any way other than yelling for the past five years. In an instant I answered it, relaxing back into the bath as I pulled my phone to my ear. “Clay?” I asked as I answered. “I’m surprised that you called me, after all this time.”

“Hello Monica.” He responded in a surprisingly civil voice. I cocked an eyebrow at that, the arm that wasn’t holding the phone bracing against the side of the tub. “I was wanting to talk to you.”
“And I have been wanting to hear your amazing voice again for a while.” I responded with a coy smirk, an attempt of flirting with minimal effort actually put into it. “What can I do for you?”

“Actually, it wasn’t something I wanted you to do for me.” He admitted, speaking slowly. “It was something I was wanting you to do for George.”
“Oh George.” My eyes practically lit up. “He seems so sweet. It was quite shocking what he said to me on our phone call earlier today… or yesterday.”

“That was what I was calling about,” Clay continued. “I was wanting you to go on your Twitter, or Instagram, or whatever, and tell your fans to lay off George. It’s only been a couple of hours but what they’ve been saying to him online is disgusting. I’ve had to calm him down from crying several times already.”

“He does understand that this is what the internet is like… right?” I asked, a slight distaste in my voice. “I mean everyone hates everyone. All celebrities know this and know not to cry about it.”
“Well George isn’t a celebrity… at least not like the two of us.” The blond said slowly. “He isn’t an actor, or a model, or a singer, or anything like that. He’s just… George.”

“And what would you like me to do?” I asked, since I was getting over it now and the water was beginning to get cold.
“Please can you tell some of your fans to stop harassing him. Say you posted it irrationally or you were mad at him, or just talk them down.” Clay paused a moment before adding a ‘please’.

For a moment I considered it, before quickly deciding what my answer would be. “Sure.” I said, smiling into the phone. “But I would like something out of it.”
“Anything.” Clay breathily replied, causing my grin to only widen as the ways I could use this opportunity filled my mind, but quickly it filled with thoughts of my son.

“I want you to spend the day with me and our son, Noah.” I informed him.
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136 words

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