Invisible Man (Completed ) ✅

♥ Sixteen ♥

"NO, J!"  She huffed , slapping the countertop.  "That's not true!"

"Oriana , calm down," Donnie began.

"I will NOT calm down!  She is not fucking Joe!  I know her!  She sat across from me at lunch today, telling me how much she loves  Jordan and wondering why he  didn't love her enough to marry her."  She turned to Jordan .  "She loves you, J.  She wouldn't play around on you.  Something else is up."

"So, you think there was foul play?"  Donnie asked carefully, his mind returning to his earlier conversation with Lacey.

"There was broken glass, someone hit Joe with a soot shovel, and his money was gone.  But so were Lacey's clothes," he told them.  Jordan  turned his red-rimmed eyes to Oriana .  "I think it's true, Ori.  I don't think I was enough for her."  He began to cry again.  Donnie stood.

"Come on, J.  Let's get you to bed."  He led Jordan to the guestroom.

Early in the morning, a plane landed on a private airstrip on Galveston Island, off the coast.  A woman exited, her head covered with a scarf.  She wore thick sunglasses, to cover swollen, cut eyes.  She was having problems seeing, and she knew there must be shards of glass in her eyes.  She instructed a driver to take her to the closet hotel, regardless of price.

As she checked in, she asked if the hotel had a doctor on call.

"Yes, Madame.  Is there a problem?"  The desk clerk asked.  She removed her glasses slowly, and looked at him sorrowfully.  It hurt too much to even cry.  "Yes, Madame.  I will send him up immediately."

"I need the utmost discretion in this," she told him, slipping him a 50 dollar bill.  "No one knows I am here, correct?"

"Yes, Madame, of course."

The doctor arrived a few minutes later, a young handsome man who had been informed of the need for secrecy.  He examined her eyes carefully, wondering if she was some kind of movie star or famous person.

"I believe you are safe.  There has been trauma to the eyes, but I don't believe there is any permanent damage."  He gave her drops and an eye rinse.  He looked at her.

"Miss O'Hara, I am in no place to ask you this, but I hope you reported the man who did this to you."

She smiled up at him, and his heart melted with pity.  "Don't worry, Doctor.  He won't be looking for me any time soon."

After the doctor left, she called Donnie.  She had inquired about banks and transfers, and gave orders for him to wire money to her care of the hotel.  She changed clothes and fell into bed, exhausted.

Weeks went by with no sign of Lacey.  Jordan grew more and more depressed, drinking heavily every night, and sometimes daily .  Nothing could shake him out of this behavior.  Joe did the right thing, for once, and stayed out of Boston .  No one could reach him.  Oriana  began to show, but she could not really enjoy her pregnancy, as she was worried about her friend.

She was also worried about Donnie.  He would get strange phone calls the same time every week, and he hemmed and hawed about who was on the other end.  She was beginning to fear that he was having an affair.

When she was in the sixth month of her pregnancy, she could take it no longer.  She'd been on their computer that day, managing their home accounts, when she accidentally wandered into his private funds.  She gasped as she saw the amounts of money that were being transferred the same time each month...the same time as those calls.  She printed that page off.

She waddled down to the living room, where he was on his cellphone, talking to his agent.  She ripped the phone out of his hands and hung up.

"Oriana !  What the hell?  That was important!"

"So's our marriage, or so I thought!"  She retorted, thrusting the paper in his face.  "What the fuck is this, Donnie?  Who's on the coast?"  She began to cry.  "I know I'm fat and ugly, but I never thought you'd go behind my back!"  She sobbed.  "I thought we had something special..."

He jumped to his feet.  "No, baby, wait.  It's not what you think."

"Don't touch me!"  She screamed, moving away.

"Oriana , it's Lacey!"

"You're screwing Lacey?"  She sniffed miserably.

"No.  I'm not screwing anyone.  Except you, when I'm lucky," he said, trying to make her smile.  It didn't work.  He continued.  "It's Lacey.  Lacey's down on the coat.  I've been sending her money."

Oriana  slowly sat on the sofa.  "Why?  Why didn't she tell me?"

"She didn't want to worry you.  I swear to you, I don't know what happened.  She called the night Jordan was robbed, telling me she needed me to have Johnny  fly her wherever she wanted to go, no questions, and asked if I could send her some money because she couldn't touch her own.  Now I see why.  She didn't want to be traced."  He swallowed deeply.  "I promise you, Oriana , this is the only lie I've ever told you.  I've felt horrible the whole time."  A hurt look crossed his face.  "Do you really think I would cheat on you?  I love you, even more than when we got married, and I didn't cheat on you then.  I don't care if you weigh two thousand pounds.  I'll always love you."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, holding out her arms.  He hugged her.  She pulled back.  "We need to tell Jordan, Donnie.  It's the only way to save him."

They pulled up in front of Jordan's house soon after.  As they walked up the steps, a black Porsche screeched into the driveway.  Joe hopped out.

"What are you doing here, prick?"  Oriana  snarled.  Donnie stared at her.

"I have to tell Jordan the truth," Joe said.  "He's  always been there for me.  I can't let him destroy himself like this."  The couple looked at him, and saw only honesty in his blue eyes.

Donnie knocked on the door.  "Don't bother," Joe said.  "He won't answer."  He pulled out a key and unlocked the door.  The usually spotless house was a nightmare.  Bottles and trash littered every flat space, and covered the floor.  They heard the TV, and followed the sounds to Jordan's bedroom.