before he cheats | a.cole

twenty nine

I wake up the next morning and no one is in the room. I check my phone. It's almost noon. They let me sleep in.

I yawn as I sit up in bed. I rub my eyes and stretch before I get up. I look through the notifications on my phone. I have a missed call from Alexa and two missed calls from Regal. All three are between nine and eleven in the morning. I call Regal back.

I have to pretend to be sick. I just woke up so I'll probably sound exhausted.

Regal answers, "Good afternoon, Angelina. How are you feeling?"

I sniff and say, "Just wonderful." My voice comes out as groggy and tired. "What did you need earlier?"

"Just wanted to check in," he says. "Rumor has it that you're sick. I also wanted to call and make sure that Adam puts out some kind of statement about his breakup."

I cover a yawn and say, "I just woke up from a nap so I'll have to call him and make sure he puts something out." Good lie. "Did you need anything else, Mr. Regal?"

He says, "Yes. I want to know if there's even a small chance that you could have been the cause of this breakup."

I sigh and say, "I don't know. Maybe, only because of the fact that she didn't like me from the beginning because of the contract."

"Ah," Regal says. "Well I'll let you go and get rested up. Hope you feel better."

I cough and say, "Thank you, Mr. Regal." We say our goodbyes before we each hang up.

I sigh softly and put the phone down. Someone walks into the room and I see that it's Adam. He's wearing a shirt now. I'm kind of disappointed by that.

Adam says, "Good morning, sleeping beauty. Sleep well?" He walks over and kisses my forehead.

I nod and say, "Yeah. Regal called and wants me to make sure you put out a statement thing about your breakup."

He sits on the bed next to me and he says, "I'm working on it. I'm trying to write a statement that doesn't mention your name."

"Let me help," I say.

Adam hands me his phone and the notes app is open. I read what he has written out loud. "Last night, an article came out that said I broke up with my long term girlfriend, Britt Baker. That's true." That's all he has written.

I look up at him and say, "Okay. This isn't much. She didn't go into detail about the breakup because she wants you to be the bad guy. You should."

I type something out for him on his phone and Adam says, "Thank you. For helping me with this."

I smile and say, "It's fine. I'm happy to help." I finish typing. I read aloud what I wrote. "The reason we broke up is because she is a very jealous and possessive person. I'm on vacation and she's calling me because she's worried that my co-worker is here with me while she's sick at home. I could not stand this behavior anymore after dealing with it for not only weeks but months, which is why I ended the relationship over the phone." I look up at Adam.

He nods and says, "That sounds good."

I say, "Here's something that I've learned to put after putting out a statement about a breakup. Hold on." I type quickly then read aloud. "Britt and I were together for several years. If she needs someone there for her then I will continue to be that person. We did not work together as partners but maybe things could be different as friends." I type something else then read. "As for the rumor that Angelina is the cause of this breakup, that is false. She is a very good friend of mine and a co-worker. That is everything she is and has been."