Two Wrongs

I Hate You

Glimpsing down at my Cartier, I noted the time was now 11:47 p.m. It had been a week since all the drama had unfolded in my life, and as difficult as it was, I had been avoiding Andre like the plague. My missed calls from him had hit the low sixties before I eventually decided to put him on my block list. 

Most people would probably consider me a coward for my constant evasion of him, and honestly, they would be right. I feared that his truth would hurt me more than I already was. As least in my ignorance, I could still take comfort in the "what-ifs." What if it wasn't what it seemed? What if he wasn't in love with her and those weren't really his children?

Wearily, I ran my hands down my face and tried to rid myself of thoughts of Andre. I had returned to work four days ago, and so far the daily fourteen hour shifts had aided in keeping my mind completely occupied. I found that the easiest way not think about him was to stay busy every second of everyday, but unfortunately, that was damn near impossible. So I put on a front of being nonchalant until I laid down at night, where I normally broke down.

"It's past time for you to get out of here, isn't it?"

I looked up to find my assistant head chef, Ryan, staring at me. "Umm...yea, I just have to finish this order for next week's delivery."

"Girl, I will finish the order. You've been here since nine o' clock, this morning," She reminded me, shaking her head. "Go home."

I chuckled, lightly nodding in agreement. "Okay, okay, I'm leaving."

Standing, I removed my chef's jacket and chunked it into the laundry before saying my goodbyes. I gathered my purse and headed out the back entrance to the garage across the street where my new baby was parked. The matte black Audi a3 convertible had set me back a pretty penny, but it made me feel better after the whole situation with Andre, so I had no regrets about the pricey purchase.

"Goodnight, Ms. Woods," the parking garage attendant called out from his booth.

"Have a good night, Mark." I told him, throwing up my hand in adieu.

Hitting the locks, I deactivated the alarm before opening the door and sliding inside.

"Nice car," Andre's deep New York accent filled the small car, damn near giving me a heart attack.

"What the fuck, Dre?" I breathed, trying to calm my rattled nerves. "Are you serious? What are you doing in my car?"

"Seems like this was the only way I could get your attention." He spoke, calmly from the passenger seat. "I've been trying to reach you for the past week but you wouldn't take my calls. Your girls wouldn't tell me anything. Adam's lying ass said he hadn't seen you and I didn't want to involve your parents, so I took matters into my own hands. You buying this car led me right to you."

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. The unexpectedness of his presence had me on the verge of tears and the last thing I wanted was to cry in front of him.

"We need to talk." He turned to face me, bracing himself against the door.

"Talk about what? What could possibly have to say, that I don't already know?"

"Baby, it's complicated, but it's not what you think. Can we just go somewhere to sit down and talk?"

"Are they your kids?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Harper, please just---"

"Are they your kids?" I cut him off, looking him in the eyes.

"Harper, it's not that simple...you have to let me---"

"ARE THEY YOUR KIDS?" I shouted, with tears in my eyes.

He looked at me with a frown covering his handsome face, before shaking his head and chuckling humorlessly. "Yea, they're mine."

With his words, the tears streamed effortlessly down my face. "So is that why you didn't think it was such a good idea for me to get pregnant again? 'Cuz you just had a baby with her?"

"No Harper...I---"

"I hate you," I said the words with such venom, one would almost believe that I meant them.

"Harper, all I'm asking is for you to give me a moment to let me explain, and you can't give me that?"

"You're not even worth the time...get out of my car!"

I could see the muscle pulsing in his jaw as he looked me through squinted eyes. Without another word, he opened the passenger door, stepped out, and walked over to his Jaguar. Seconds later, without even a glance in my direction, he was speeding past me and out of the garage.

Tears clouded my vision, causing me to sit in place for a few minutes before I calmed down enough to make the short drive to Adam's.

"What happened to you?" Adam asked, as soon as I entered the house, and my tearful face came into view.

I shook my head, not wanting to discuss my issues. "I'm going to bed."

His sympathy-filled eyes followed me down the hallway until I entered the bedroom. Shutting the door, I slid down against it and buried my face into my hands as heart-wrenching sobs tore through me.