Best Night Ever...The Aftermath

Part 8 - Revelations

"You gonna stay up this time?" I hear as I blink the sleep out of my eyes. I looked around taking in my surroundings remembering that I was in Bruno's bed. I looked over to see him watching me. "Hey beautiful", he said as he softly caressed my face. "Hi. What time is it?" I asked as I sat up against the pillows. Handing me a bottle of water, he told me it was a little after 6pm, asking how I felt. "Embarrassed; I owe you a bottle of Jack", I told him thinking of my morning binge drinking. "Yeah, that's definitely what's on my mind right now. We don't have to talk right now if you don't want to Candy." "No, don't let me run from it, you deserve to know", I said, closing my eyes preparing to bare my soul. "Tiana told me about JJ", he said softly. "I figured she would", I said. "She also told me about the aftermath", he continued. "Again, I figured she would", I said with a small laugh. I took a long, deep breath. "Okay then, let me start by saying I'm sorry about this morning", I said sincerely. "Candice, don't", Bruno started. "No, Bruno, really; I should have explained about Wa-wa then. That's the bear, his name is Wa-wa", I said looking over at my baby's teddy bear lying next to me. "I know", Bruno said placing a comforting hand on my leg. "I should have told you about my son Bruno, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I yelled at you this morning instead of telling you what was going on with me. I'm sorry for pushing you away when all I wanted was to be with you." He sat quietly listening, allowing me to explain. "I didn't tell you about my drug use because it's not something I discuss. Truthfully, I'm still ashamed of going that route, I'm stronger than that. I'm ashamed of my actions and choice today", I said hanging my head, feeling the weight of all the emotions going through me. A few tears escaped my eyes even though I tried to hold them back.

Sensing my discourse, Bruno began rubbing my back and I welcomed his touch. "Babe, look at you, look how you picked yourself up from all of that. One day doesn't take that away. Yes, you'll have bad days but sweetheart, that doesn't take away from all the good ones. You're a fighter Candice; don't think you can stop fighting because you had one moment of weakness brought on from pain. You're right; you are so much stronger than that." It seemed I was determined to shed every tear in my body. His words meant more to me than I could ever tell him and the tears just continued to fall. "Babe don't cry", he said. "Are you mad I didn't tell you myself?" I asked, not able to contain the burning question. "About your using and rehab, no, not so much; that's a sensitive area so I get it. But I am upset that this is the first time I'm hearing about your son. I understand our relationship thus far has been tricky but still. There's not a picture of him in your place in Hartford, or in either of your offices. I can't begin to imagine going through that, but I don't want you to only focus on the pain of losing him Candy. Celebrate his life babe. I'm sure he wouldn't want his Mommy crying on his birthday." "You're right", I said, wiping tears from my face even though they continued to fall. I got out of the bed and dug through my purse on his dresser. I returned to my place in the bed handing Bruno the small stack of pictures I kept on me. "That's Joshua, that's my baby", I said proudly scooting closer to him so we could look together. "Oh my God, Candy he looks just like you", Bruno said with a smile. "Everybody says that but I don't see it", I said looking at the picture of me holding my baby boy in his pumpkin costume.

We sat in silence for a while as I replayed the day in my head. I knew Tiana scheduled her visit here to be with me today. If I knew her at all, I know she's beating herself up, especially after finding me in the condition I was in. I wanted her to spend time with her boyfriend, and truthfully I realize that I wanted to be with Bruno more than anything. I had been fighting whatever feelings I had for Bruno for a while, but the last 24 hours made me realize just how much I truly cared for him. "Bruno?" "Yeah, babe?" he answered. I sighed, "Look, when this thing started, it was just a fling. I mean you were a celebrity crush who made my day just by giving me a little bit of your time after a show. You didn't judge me after finding me in a compromising position, to put it lightly", I said with a laugh. "It's crazy because in my line of work I meet tons of celebrities, some I'm even a fan of! But it has always been different with you. Don't get me wrong, I definitely had a small obsession with you before. But, I mean, no one has ever had this affect on me before", I said being honest with him. "We had that weekend, and then the sound of your voice on the phone gave me chills. Then we started sneaking around; we knew it was wrong but damn it, I couldn't give you up!" Again, Bruno just sat and listened. "You had Jessica, I had Randy, you left her, he left me; but none of that even matters because throughout it all, no matter how pissed we were with each other, I had you." I paused for a minute, drinking from my water bottle. "Up until now Bruno I never even thought a relationship with you was even possible", I told him. "And now?" he prompted. "Now, I'm saying B, if you want me, I'm yours." "Come here", he said moving to the center of the bed, scooping me into his lap. I sat facing him as he positioned my legs behind his back. "You know I want you. Hell I'm to the point where I need you baby", he said before bringing his lips to mine. He kissed me with so much passion it took my breath away. He moved from my lips to my neck, running his hands through my hair. "You always in my hair", I laughed since he always told me the same thing.