It's Sad to Belong

It's Sad to Belong || He did fall

Chapter Five

James slowly opens the front door. He slowly places his keys on the kitchen counter and makes his way upstairs without making any noise, or turning on a single light.

The house is dark but he somehow manages to find his way to the bedroom.

He slowly turns the knob and is surprised when the light suddenly turns on.

"I've been calling you all night. Where have you been?" Ericka asks, feeling both worried and confused.

"I, ah- I was out with my colleagues and I didn't hear my phone ring. We won the case, by the way. And that's why I was out so late, uhm, we wanted to celebrate." He says, avoiding her gaze.

"You won? Congrats, honey! I knew you would," she says. "

So who were you with?" she asks innocently.

"Oh, you know, just the guys."

"What about your partner? What was her name?"

"Oh, Ms. Lustre? Uhm, unfortunately she couldn't come. She had other things planned out so she wasn't able to celebrate with us."

"That's too bad. She worked just as hard as you did to win this case." She says, sitting up on the edge of the bed.

"Enough about me. How was your trip?" he asks, occupying the space next to her.

"Let's talk about that later. I've missed you so, so much" she says, kissing him on the lips.

He kisses her back but pulls away rather quickly. Ericka then places her hand on his hips and starts playing with his boxer shorts. James grabs her hand and stops her.

Ericka looks at James. "What's the matter? Don't you miss me?" she says, feeling hurt and rejected.

"Honey, of course I do. It's just that I'm tired and I had a little too much drink. My stomach is not feeling too good right now. I promise I'll make it up to you tomorrow," he says, kissing her on the forehead.

Ericka forces a fake smile, "Goodnight then." She crawls back to bed and turns her back on James, not wanting him to see her upset. She couldn't help but feel hurt by his reaction because for all the years they have been together, James has never rejected her in any way.

James feels guilty for rejecting and cheating on his wife, but at the same time, the only thing that is on his mind right now is Nadine.

***

Nadine meets up with Yassi at the same restaurant they always go to for breakfast.

She spots Yassi right away, sitting by the bar.

"Good morning, beautiful." She says, giving her cousin a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Someone is in a good mood, I wonder why." Yassi teases.

"So what if I am in a good mood? It's not like I'm always bitchy 24/7," she replies, grabbing a seat next to her.

"You are always bitchy 24/7!" she says, giving Nadine a dirty look.

"That's not true."

"Oh, yes, it is. You did something slutty, didn't you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, my God! You didn't! Please tell me you didn't!"

Nadine does not say anything. Instead, she stares at Yassi and gives her a mischievous grin.

"Oh, God! You slut! I knew it! I so knew it!"

"I told you I could, and I would. And guess what, I did," she says proudly.

Yassi laughs and slaps Nadine's leg.

"When? I mean, how did this happen?"

"Let's start with the when. Well, just last night. How? Uhm, I'd like to spare you with the information. I don't think you'd really want to know," she teases.

"But Nadine, he is married," she blurts out, with a hint of concern in her voice.

"Relax. I'm not going to steal him from his wife. I don't want a relationship, okay? We just slept together, that's all. And plus, she'll never find out. "

"Well, I hope you know what you're doing. I don't want to see you get burned."

"I appreciate your concern, dear. But have you not met me? I'm a big girl. I can handle myself."

"I hope so."

***

James gets off the elevator and walks quickly to the room. He is scanning the room for Nadine but he doesn't see her, so he stops by her office to check if she is there but she is not there, either.

Then just before he opens the door to his office, he hears her laughing and talking with Jude. James gets inside his office to lay his things on his desk then quickly steps outside to greet them both. He approaches the two and stands next to Jude.

"Good morning, guys. What are we talking about here?" he says, staring right at Nadine.

Nadine smiles at him but avoids his gaze. She is acting like as if nothing happened between them the previous night, and this confuses James more than he expected.

Just what exactly did he expect to happen? He keeps staring at her, then looks briefly at Jude to make it seem that he is listening and interested in what he is saying.

Then, a few minutes later, Nadine excuses herself and heads back to her office.

James feels hurt by Nadine's sudden coldness. He does not know why he is even upset and hurt about it because first of all, he is well aware that he and Nadine are not together.

He is well aware that what they had was nothing more than just a one-night stand.

Jude finally decides to end the conversation and heads back to his office to make phone calls.

James looks around and when he sees that no one is paying attention, he walks quickly to Nadine's office.

He knocks on the door..

"Come in" she says, not expecting it to be James.

"Hi, good morning," he says, closing the door behind him.

"Oh, hi, James. Good morning. What brings you here?"

"Uhm, I just –I just wanted to see how you were, that's all."

"Missing me already?" she teases, biting her lower lip.

James swallows hard, not expecting her to say that. But before he could even say a word, Nadine takes a few steps forward and catches his lips.

"I was just messing with you," she says, wiping his lower lip with her thumb.

Then she turns around to go back to her chair when all of a sudden James grabs her by the waist, and pushes her towards her desk.

This takes her by surprise because she wasn't even sure this morning whether or not James would still talk to her after what had happened last night.

"You smell so good," he says, hugging her tightly from behind.

Nadine laughs seductively and turns around to face him. "I'm glad you like it."

"Hey, listen. Would you like to grab lunch together today?" he asks.

"Oh, sorry, but I already said yes to Jude so.."

"Oh. Okay."

He doesn't show it but deep down he is bothered that she is having lunch with Jude.

He does not know why it even bothers him, or what it is he is really feeling. Could it be jealousy? No. It can't be.

He and Nadine are nothing more than just colleagues. They had a one-night stand, yes. But that is it. He has no reason to feel this way at all.

He releases Nadine and straightens his suit. "I better go. I'll see you around."

Nadine watches him walk away and smiles. She predicted this. She knew he would fall for her trap. She just never expected that he'd fall this soon.