Till the End of Time

Chapter Three: Psycho Territory

We sat on my parents sectional eating my dad's specialty —turkey pastrami sandwiches. Dad and Alex were engrossed in a conversation about the futbol match they were watching.

Yes, in the Angelos household soccer was futbol. According to my father, Leonidas, 'only dumb Americans call it soccer.' Alex, being my father's BFF for the last year, quickly got with the program and became an avid futbol fan.

Alex's phone kept buzzing all throughout lunch and, after responding a few times, he silenced it. That was odd. Was it work related? Alex worked in the legal department of Wright Enterprises. He usually had a hectic schedule since he was being trained to take over his dad's position as CEO, but Sunday was the day he completely disconnected from work.

I was distracted from my thoughts when the front door banged open and Nico walked in.

"Hey Pop! Hey Mom! Where is my sandwich?" he yelled.

"Nico, is that you?" Mom called out from the kitchen. "Have some manners will you?" She walked into the living room with a sandwich for Nico and placed it on the coffee table.

He grabbed it like it was his last meal and began devouring it.

"Where is my baby?" mom addressed Nico.

"Nina took him to visit her parents. I was on the new site and came over here when dad said he was making sandwiches."

"Why were you on site today Nic, it's Sunday?" dad questioned.

Dad was technically Nico's boss since Nico worked for his construction company. They were known for flipping houses and doing remodeling work in the Valley.

"Just needed to get some things done before we went in tomorrow. Plus, Nina's parents wanted to see Lil Leo today."

Lil Leo was what we called my adorable little, eighteen-month old nephew. Leo was a Covid baby and a complete surprise for Nico and Nina. They were newlyweds when they conceived him during the pandemic lockdown. And although he was named after my dad, he was a carbon copy of Nico.

"Well, then you can leave," I teased. "We only invited you cause we wanted to see Nina and Lil Leo."

"Ha ha," Nico grunted.

Then, as always, the boys immersed themselves into the futbol game.

Two hours later, we were in the car driving home from my parents house when Alex pulled over into a gas station to fill up his tank. He always walked in to pay by the attendant since someone had stolen his credit card information from a gas pump a few years back.

'Babe it's just not worth the headache; I'd rather pay inside,' he'd explained when I first questioned him about it.

I sat in the car while the A/C blasted in my face and I escaped the LA heat. Alex had left his phone in the cup holder and it kept vibrating with notifications. I wanted to ignore it, but something didn't feel right.

I'd known Alex's passcode since we first became a couple; but for the first time in over a year, I was tempted to use it when Alex wasn't around. I swallowed down the guilt, grabbed his phone, entered the passcode, and read the following texts:

Vivi: Hey Alex, I had a blast last night! 😊
Vivi: We always have so much fun together!!! 🤭🤭🤭
Alex: I'm glad you enjoyed yourself.
Vivi: OMG! Of course I did Alex. It's always so good to see you. I missed you so much when I was in NY.
Vivi: We should go see a movie tonight. I haven't been in forever.
Alex. Sorry, I can't. Busy!
Vivi: Oh, what are you up to? Are you with Athena?
Vivi: Does she have a problem with you hanging out with me?
Vivi: It's just a movie Alex. I don't see why she would have a problem with that.
Vivi: Ugh! Alex, I hate it when you ignore me. 😡

Oh my God! This bitch had some serious issues. She was crossing into psycho territory.

As Alex approached, I quickly replaced his phone and turned off the car so he can finish pumping the gas. He wrapped up and sat back down in the driver's seat. When we exited the gas station, I decided to confront him.

"So, Virginia was texting you again," I mumbled.

He cleared his throat. "That's alright baby, I'll deal with it later."

"Mhmm, she seems pretty adamant on hanging out tonight."

"It's not going to happen. Sundays are for my girl," he replied.

Well, I guess Virginia wasn't going to like that. I smirked and leaned back. That's right you psycho bitch, you'd better get used to being ignored by Alex.