The Hook-up

Chapter 169

"I don't think I want to be anywhere near the two of you right now..." Phil said shaking his head walking toward the other side of the parking lot. As Phil walked away he heard Bruno walk toward Damaris. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

"My legs hurt and I think that my face is really fucked up. But otherwise I'm fine." She said rubbing her cheek.

"I think you need to go back to the hotel..." Bruno said reaching for her hand to help her up. "And we need to really think about what we're doing." He said to her sitting her down on a bench next to him. "Because we've gone too far now."

"Bruno....I'm not going to give up this fight. I will win." She told him. "We belong together. You know it. And you keep fighting it."

"No, Damaris. You're fighting it and I'm done. It wasn't right. It never was." Bruno said with a serious tone.

"You do this every time she finds us together. You say that you're done with us and then when things get too comfortable with the two of you you come back to us. And you're going to go get her and you're going to say you're sorry and that everything is done between the two of us. And she is going to take you back because she can't be on her own and then you'll feel like everything is going well and then something else will happen that you can't talk to her about and then you'll come to me again and we'll be right here, back where we belong. Together." Damaris explained to him.

"That's not how it works, Damaris. You come around when you think that she's not doing the right things for me and you get in my head. Just like you did this morning. You telling me that she was foolish to go back to work when I'm almost done with the album and not wanting to be with me when she can. That's not true. She's trying to be a mother and a damn good mother at that. As much as you think you know about us you don't know half of the things that make me love her every single day. And you try to pretend that you know and comfort the issues that we have, which are so small that they don't even justify an argument. I am done with your games, Damaris. I am done with it all. I'm sorry. I am not the one for you. You will find someone for you." He said to her standing up to go back into the building. "You have all your stuff to get back?" he asked.

"Yeah. I have everything." She answered trying to hold in the tears of rejection as he started to walk away from her with his head down ashamed by the whole day. Walking down the entry he heard small familiar cries in the distance walking in the opposite direction. He held himself back from running after Lauren who held onto both her children tightly clutching them the same way she did earlier in the day. She walked with some other people in the office who he knew but was not close to. He saw a small bandage around her hand making him lean toward her direction to make sure she was okay. No. Let her go. You're just going to hurt each other. He thought to himself as he hit the elevator button to go back to the room he was supposed to be in.

**

Lauren followed Dani, slowly, to Aaron's office. "Woahhh..." he responded seeing the spots of blood on Lauren's hand. "What happened?" Lauren walked toward the babies picking Ezra up who was looking at the bright toys hanging from his car seat.

"I'm going to go." Lauren answered the question.

"You're not going to stay?" Aaron asked. "Have you heard the song?"

"Yeah. I heard it last night." She told them.

"What did you think?" Aaron asked unable to spot the drama that had happened.

"I don't know yet." Lauren told him looking up at Aaron trying not to start to cry. He doesn't need to know. He doesn't need to know. It will just make things worse. She told herself.

"Well, let me know when you figure that out." Aaron smiled handing Lauren Everlee's bag. Lauren took the bag reaching for it with the hand she hit both of them with.

"You're bleeding..." Aaron noticed. "You can't go out there like that." He said walking toward a small mini bar wetting a paper towel. "Go see Stephanie. She has band aides, Dani..." Aaron instructed his assistant. "I know he can be an asshole..." Aaron told her putting the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Do you know about her?" Lauren asked.

"I knew they were seeing each other recently. But I had no idea..." Aaron told her taking the band aides from Dani.

"Shit. I have to go do this thing...." Dani told them.

"Yeah. Go get it set up. I'll send Stephanie and Robyn down stairs with her." Aaron said pressing on Lauren's arm. "Did I tell you that I thought I was going to be a doctor when I was younger?" he joked.

"No." Lauren answered.

"Well, I didn't because I just remembered now." He laughed. "There. You're done." He told her handing her the babies' bags.

"Don't talk to him about this. I don't want him to get frustrated with your judgments." Lauren told him. "Please."

"I will do my best." Aaron said smiling at the babies as she walked out with Stephanie and another staff member.

"Are you going to make it to your sisters?" Stephanie asked.

"I'm going to make it." Lauren answered stepping off the elevator. "Is he on the other side of the room?" Lauren asked after seeing the girls she was walking with pause.

"Yeah..." Stephanie said.

"I don't even want to see him right now." She said lifting her wrapped hand to brush her hair out of her face.

"I wouldn't want to see him either." Robyn said turning to look him in the eyes giving him a dirty look.