Moonstruck at Midnight

Chapter 38 - Birthday Wish

WAKING UP THE NEXT DAY was a sad confirmation that it hadn't all been a dream. The first thing that came to my mind as I opened my eyes was William. He had to give me a chance and listen to what I had to say. Or read my texts, at least. Perhaps he'd slept it off. His thoughts and feelings from last night had to be mitigated. How had everything gone to shit so fast? I refused to believe that all was lost.

My headache was gone, but my hand was still throbbing with pain. I grabbed my phone and texted William, hoping he would answer.

Me: Can we talk? Please, just hear me out.

W.S.: Working. Can't talk or text.

Well, that was a quick reply for someone flooded with work. I was a second away from peeling the skin off my face. I never knew frustration of this magnitude.

A knock on my door reminded me to breathe. It was Mimi.

"Halò," she said, coming in. Looking at her made me miss my mother. And I swore to myself I wouldn't cry again, but I couldn't keep the tears in any longer. Not without creating irreparable damage to my soul.

"There, there. It's awright." She embraced me, and since the medication's effect was long gone, my emotions came crashing down on me all at once. She held me tight in her arms, and then my father walked in.

"Hey, kiddo."

That's all I needed to hear. Mimi stood up and excused herself to take care of breakfast. My father took Mimi's place on the bed and held me in his arms.

"I'm sorry," I managed to say in between sobs. "I'm so sorry." Not only was my life a mess, but I was sure the kitchen was too.

"There's nothing to be sorry about, darling," he said in the warmest voice. "I'm just glad you're okay."

"Oh my God!" I hugged him even tighter. "Happy birthday, Dad!"

"Thanks, kiddo. I heard you were baking a cake for me," he said, brushing off the tears that kept streaming out involuntarily.

"I was. I'm so embarrassed about it. I really don't belong anywwhere near the kitchen. I'll ask the guys to buy a cake for you."

"No need to be embarrassed either. And that sounds great. I've cleared my schedule for the whole day. There's nothing more I want but to spend my birthday with you," he said. "When I arrived yesterday, you were sleeping, but I did get to talk to the guys." He brushed his forehead with a slight frown. He was worried, but knowing him, he didn't want me to notice. "I actually spent the night here."

"Oh." That was all I could say. He'd surely been informed of what had gone down the day before.

"Caleb looked agitated. He refused to leave last night. He wanted to station himself outside the apartment. I told him it wasn't necessary, and I finally dismissed him," he said, taking a seat on the sofa across from my bed. "So, things got a little out of hand last night with Thomas?"

I explained how we had broken up the previous Saturday when I stayed at the Hamptons and apologized for having dismissed Aaron, Caleb, and David to spend the night there.

Taking a deep breath, I told him how Thomas flew in to talk to me since he was having a hard time accepting we were done. "He refused to leave after I told him to, so ... well, you know how Aaron and Caleb get all protective," I said, looking away. "I'm not happy about how they took him away, but he was acting like a jerk. He was disrespecting us, and I wasn't going to allow that."

"Us?" His brows bunched up. "Who else was here with you?"

Oh, great! Now they leave things out of the report?