A week had passed since Ellise visited Jade. She dreaded confronting her husband and discovering that what Jade had said was true. But at the moment, Ellise couldn't bear the tension. She decided to talk to him.
Ellise hesitated at the front of the door to her husband's office. She took a deep breath and slowly opened the door to his study.
"Dre-"
She sighed when she saw that he was resting his head on his desk and was clearly asleep.
"Oh, I guess I'll just have to come back" she muttered. She turned away to leave but halted in her steps just as she heard him call her name. She slowly turned to face him. He sat up slowly, letting out a long sigh.
"Sorry I woke you up" she said, feeling bad that she'd interrupted his sleep because it was clear that he hasn't been getting any sleep.
"It's okay, I was just starting to fall asleep" he sighed.
"I wanted to talk to you" she said and he nodded, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk.
"Sit down" he said.
Ellise sat down on the chair, nervously fiddling with her fingers. "What's going on between you and Nadine?" She asked. He stared at her, expressionless.
"What are you talking about?" He asked, his brows creased. "Don't give me that clueless expression. You're hiding something from me because you think you can protect me. I don't know why you think that you can protect me from everything including that woman. For goodness sake, Nadine is nowhere as dangerous as Lacey and Baron. We survived it. Why won't you let me help?" She asked.
He stared at her, his face mirroring a blank expression.
"You're not going to tell me, are you?" She said. She was growing upset and frustrated.
"Ellise, I love you so much, but I don't want to see you get hurt. Nadine might seem like someone who's less dangerous, compared to Baron and Lacey. I can't risk it. This isn't just about you...."
"Oh? Tell me then. Is Nadine really carrying your child?"
"What? Ellise, why would you say that?" He said, rising to his feet. "Because, you are starting to feel nothing towards me. You say you love me but why are you hurting me?" She said, tears filling her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry for hurting you. We can fix this-"
"Did she blackmail you?" Ellise demanded. "She isn't just dangerous. She's obsessed with something. She's mentally unstable. She has this uncontrollable urge to ruin and destroy things"
"How do you know that?"
"Well-"
The door creaked open and Nadine walked in, rubbing her stomach. "Alex..... I need to go shopping. I'm ready, let's go" she said. Ellise clenched my jaw furiously. "Nadine, can't you see we're having a conversation?!" she demanded.
"Do I look like I care? Alex, come on"
"I'm sorry, Ellise"
With that, he left the study with Nadine hot on his heels.
Taking a deep breath, Ellise stormed out of the study. "Where do you think you're going with my husband?! She hissed. Nadine paused, turning to look at her.
"I'm sorry, sweetie. You don't get to tell me what to do"
"You're living in my house, you follow my rules!" Ellise snapped.
She chuckled.
"Poor thing. Not today, hon. Not today. Alex, let's go"
"Dre- are you actually listening to her?!" Ellise yelled.
"Ellise" he said in a warning tone.
Blinded by rage, Ellise raised a hand to slap her. "Ellise! Stop it!" Dre yelled. She stared at him, shocked.
He had never yelled at her like that before. "Where is my Alexandre? What have you done to him?" She said, tears filling her eyes. Dre's gaze softened and he finally realized what he'd done.
Heartbroken, Ellise stormed out of the house and drove off. She parked her car and sat down on a bench in the park. She closed her eyes as tears began to flow down her cheeks. Soon, it was drizzling. Ellise felt horrible as several emotions ran through her.
"A beautiful woman like you shouldn't be sitting all alone in the rain crying" a deep voice from beside her, caught her attention. She quickly wiped away her tears and turned to see who it was. He didn't look any older than Alexandre. His brown hair was gelled backwards, white T-shirt hugging his very muscular body. His blue eyes sparkled brilliantly as his gaze found hers. He looked very familiar, even though she couldn't place where she'd seen him before.
"I'm Elvis. Elvis Reis. You are?"
"Ellise Montero" she replied.
"You're married, aren't you?But it's okay. I'm married too. My wife upset me and I came to the park to sulk just like you" he said and she chuckled.
"Really? That's really unusual for a married man" she said.
"Mmm- you're right. Married men go to bars to sulk, I suppose. But, I don't"
"You're one unique married man, aren't you?" She said and he laughed. "Yeah, I guess"
They remained silent for a few minutes, the light drizzle making contact with their hair, faces and clothes. "So, tell me. What did your darling husband do this time?" He asked.
Ellise frowned.
He was just a stranger, could she really tell him what the problem was?
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" he shrugged.
"But, I'll tell you what my wife did" He added.
Ellise lowered her gaze.
"She can be such a pain in the ass but I do love her. Last night and the night before, I came home from the office late. We had a project to undertake. I was exhausted when I returned home last night. So, I slept off without having a conversation with her as usual. This morning, I woke up to see breakfast waiting for me on the bed side table.
After I'd gone through my normal routine and had breakfast, she came to my study looking like she was going to murder me. She started accusing me of being unfaithful. I mean, I love her so much but she was pissing me off. I tried to explain to her why I'd come home late. Besides, it's not like I've been coming late before. She started ranting about how much she thinks that the rumors of my escapades with my secretary and female co-workers were true. She started yelling at me. One thing led to another, then she was slapping me" he said. Ellise turned to look at him.
He was handsome... really handsome.
"Did you yell back at her or hit her?"
"No, I would never. I love her to death"
Ellise smiled to herself.
He seemed to be a nice guy.
"My husband yelled at me today. He's never done it before. Do you think he hates me?" She asked.
Elvis smiled.
"I don't think so, El. He's never hit or yelled at you before, isn't it?"
She nodded.
"Maybe he's just stressed up or really going through something difficult. Perhaps he needs your help but doesn't want to admit it" he said.
Ellise believed he was right. She believed that Dre had been stressed out about something.
"He'll apologize to you and try to make up for it" Elvis said and she beamed.
"Thank you. Your wife..... she loves you too, right?"
"Yes, she does. She sacrificed a lot just to make me happy"
"Then, she'll always come back to you" Ellise said.
He smiled and squeezed her hand gently. His phone rang out and he picked the call, a smile on his lips. Ellise didn't want to eavesdrop on his conversation with whosoever had called him. But, she couldn't help it.
"....I'm so sorry too. I love you so much...." he said and finally ended the call. Judging from how elated he looked, Ellise knew he'd reconciled with his partner.
"Looks like it's time for me to head home. You should go home too" he said with a smile on his face.
.....