Lovely Distraction

by J. J. Dorn

  “So tell me, how was Vegas?” he asked, grabbing us each a can of soda from the fridge.

  “Umm…well…we need to talk.” I watched his face turn from happy to concerned instantly.

  “Alright.” Shit, okay just calm down and do this.

  “I slept with someone.” Or just blurt it the fuck out!

  Cain didn't say anything, he just looked dazed.

  “I got drunk and don’t remember any of it. It was stupid and I feel so horrible. I’m so sorry, Cain.”

  He set his soda on the coffee table and scrubbed his hands over his face. “Did you use protection?” Wait what? Not exactly the question I was expecting.

  “I….I don’t know. I don’t remember and I didn’t ask him.” I told him shamefully looking at the ground.

  “I assume it was just a one night stand, am I wrong in that assumption?” Oh crap. I knew this question was coming but I still hadn’t decided how to answer it.

  “Yes, it was just one night,” I told him dully, leaving out the fact that it was with my ex. Cain knew about Jamieson but I don’t think he really understood how much had happened between us.

  Cain didn't respond. We instead sat in silence for a long time as I watched him contemplate what I had told him. It is incredibly painful watching someone you love digest the fact you have betrayed them.

  “I’m so sorry, Cain. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” I felt a lone tear slip down my cheek. I knew I had no right to be upset or cry. I was not the innocent party here, he was.

  “It’s alright.” He reassured me.

  My head snapped up and I searched his face to make sure I wasn’t just hearing things.

  “I understand. Things happen. You were drunk and you didn’t mean to do it. I’m not happy about it but I can’t say it changes the way I feel about you.”

  My mind raced to catch up to the situation. I couldn't believe this man was willing to forgive me so easily. He was truly amazing, which made the next part of this so much worse. I was full on sobbing now.

  “Cain I don’t deserve your forgiveness—”

  “I know that but I also understand it. You were distracted, you lost your way but now you’re home and you can refocus,” he told me. I didn’t know if he was trying to convenience me or just him.

  “No Cain you don’t understand I did something horrible, unforgiveable—”

  “I don’t care. I said I forgive you.” he told me again. Shit, now what do I do? I have to tell him that I’m married. He deserves the whole truth.

  “I’m married.” I shout out and the silence that consumed the room was deafening.

  “What are you talking about?” He looked more confused now than when I first admitted I cheated on him.

  “I also married him.” I choked out.

  “No…you can’t be. The wedding.” He was trying to soak in this latest dagger to the heart.

  “I know. I’m so sorry, Cain. It was the biggest mistake of my life and unfortunately I will be paying for it dearly.”

  “Jesus…I just can’t believe you would do this, Jenna. You have always been such a smart girl. I never thought you would do something this stupid.” I deserved that, and so much more.

  He stood up abruptly and started pacing the floor in front of the couch. I stood up as well as an attempt to distract him.

  “I know.” I whispered through my sobs.

  “The cheating I could handle. I mean who hasn’t right? But the fact you married this asshole, well that is a level of stupidity that is unforgivable.” There was anger in his voice. I had expected that.

  “I’m sorry.” I told him again.

  “Who do you think you are, fucking Britney Spears?” he was getting increasingly angry now. I didn’t move just stood like a statute in front of him. I deserved all of his hurtful words and more.

  “I made a horrible mistake.” I pleaded.

  “Horrible mistake doesn’t begin to cover it. Well I’m glad I found out now what kind of woman you really are. Do you even realize what you lost here today Jenna?”

  “Yes,” I squeaked out from underneath my tears.

  “I could give a shit less about you screwing some prick in Vegas. You are allowed your freedoms before we are married. Lord knows I have been using mine. But a drunken wedding in Vegas…that is beneath you, and me for that matter. I am being groomed to be the next Governor of this state and I will be damned if I have a slut for a wife by my side.”

  I was stunned but it only took a few seconds for his words to totally sink in.

  “What do you mean you have been using your freedom?” I asked pointedly.

  “Exactly what you fucking think it means! I have cheated on you more times than I can count. That’s what guys do; we aren’t made to just have sex with one woman. It goes against nature.”

  “You’re just saying that because you are hurt. I don’t believe you.”

  I watched as darkness washed over Cain’s face. “Do you remember Staci from study group?”

  I had hated Staci Crane, she was a huge slut. She wasn’t very smart but got by into law school by flirting and sleeping with guys to help her with her classes. She had claimed to have slept with Cain a few months after we started dating. I had confronted Cain but he assured me she was just trying to get under my skin and that he would never be interested in a girl like her. Clearly he lied.

  “I banged the shit out of her. And it wasn’t just once; it was all of law school.” His voice is so cold it sent a shiver down my spine. Mother-fucker!

  “You are a cold calculating piece of shit, Cain Stratford. You’re a sick bastard—”

  “I may be a bastard, but at least I won’t be marrying a cheap slut like you,” Cain said stalking forward into my space.

  His words stung me back to life. I ripped at the ring on my finger and tossed it at him before I ran out the door and slammed it behind me.

  I drove the short distance to my apartment. When I put the car in park, I finally let myself feel the full weight of the twisted scene settle in. I slammed my head down on the steering wheel and tried to grasp how I could have been so wrong about Cain Stratford.

  I sat like that a long time, crying and punching the steering wheel. When I finally took a deep breath and looked up at the porch light outside my apartment I saw him. He was standing there leaning against the wall fiddling with his expensive Rolex. Jamieson Wellington, my husband, had decided to pay me a visit. Fuck my life.

  CHAPTER SIX

  November 26, 2009…

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” I asked Jamieson one last time before we got in his large pearly white Ford F250 King Ranch Edition. It still struck me as odd that even though Jamieson was extremely wealthy he drove a pickup truck. Granted, his truck was completely customized right down to the tan leather stitched seats. He also has other vehicles which included a black Aston Martin Vanquish and a 1956 Jaguar XK-140 Roadster. I personally enjoy the truck the most though; it suited him in some weird way.

  “Jenna I have already told you, I can’t wait to meet your family,” he said threading his fingers through mine and placing them on the center console between us.

  “I’m just warning you, my family is bat-shit crazy and holidays are notoriously insane at my house.”

  “Can’t wait, baby.” He flashed me a sexy grin as he steered the truck onto the main highway.

  In only took us about thirty minutes to get across town to my parents’ home in Clifts Cove. Their house was a large, classically beautiful southern home. They both earned a good living. My father was a respected doctor and my mother helped run his office. They had met when they were in college and had been together ever since. They were more than a couple, they made an incredible team. I envied them.

  I could tell by the shiny tan Lexus sitting outside my parents’ house that my sister and brother-in-law were also here. My sister is three years older than me and looks like a human Barbie doll. Jacqueline had always been beautiful from the day she was born.
She was tall, thin, and blonde with huge boobs. She was every guys “type.” As you can imagine having an older sister who was a total bombshell made you very susceptible to having lots of guy friends who constantly wanted to be invited over to catch a glimpse of the beauty you lived with. My sister however, could hardly notice guys drooling over her. She had always been less than impressed with most of the would-be suitors. I was shocked when several years ago she fell for a confident German man who took European suaveness to a whole new level. Don’t get me wrong, I love Lukas now, but he did take some getting used to. Bluntness is the norm with Lukas but you just have to remember he doesn’t mean to be rude he just speaks the truth of the situation as he sees it. English is his second language so sometimes things do get lost in translation, which provides us all with a good laugh. I was excited to introduce them to Jamieson but I was also scared because I had no idea what they would do or say. That was the beauty of my family, anything was possible.

  When we reached the front door I opened it walking hand-in-hand with Jamieson. He followed me down the hall toward the laughter coming from the living rom. They were in hysterics and I could only imagine what was happening.

  “I told you this was the greatest show ever!” Lukas exclaimed as we entered the outer edges of the room.

  “I don’t get it. They just take a bunch of B-level celebrities and lock them in a house for a couple of weeks?” my Mom asked, confused.

  “Yes it is brilliant,” Lukas argued.

  “More like ridiculous.” My Dad offered.

  I could now see what they were watching and I wish I could say I was shocked, but like I said earlier, anything could happen at my house.

  On the large mounted flat screen my entire family was watching an episode of the Surreal Life; trash T.V. at its finest. And it was of course that epic episode when a drunken Vern Troyer is so wasted he is peeing of the side of his motorized wheel chair. Yup, this was exactly what I feared.

  “Hey guys.” I piped up, attempting to distract them from their reality T.V. watching.

  “Oh honey, we didn’t hear you come in!” My mother jumped up from the large leather recliner she was sitting in.

  “Mom, this is Jamieson Wellington. This is my mother, Georgiana.” I said as Jamieson reached out to take my mother’s hand to greet her.

  My father also rose to greet us. “Hello Jamieson,” he said extending his hand.

  “This is my Dad, Dr. Harrison Middleton.”

  “Nice to meet you, sir,” Jamieson said in return shaking his hand as well.

  “That insane German man over there enthralled with crap T.V. is my brother-in-law, Lukas.” I pointed toward the crazy German.

  “Nice to meet you, bro.” Lukas nodded his head in our direction.

  My very pregnant sister slowly lifted herself from the couch to greet us.

  “Hello Jamieson.” She smiled warmly at him.

  “Hello Jacqueline,” he replied returning her warm smile.

  I instantly went still; I could tell they knew each other. There was something that passed between them, I saw it. I watched as my sister locked eyes with me trying to communicate something. I however, wasn’t getting whatever it was she was trying to tell me. My mind began to race with questions and it finally settled on one in particular, had my sister and Jamieson dated? They were closer in age and Jacks had always lived in Huntsville—she never left like I did, their paths could have easily crossed. Surely I would have known about it though, right? Jamieson would have said something, wouldn’t he?

  “Honey let me take your coats,” my mother interrupted my mini melt-down and took my jacket along with Jamieson’s.

  “I need to finish my cheesecake.” Jacqueline announced as she strolled into the kitchen with my mother hot on her heals; clearly she noticed something was off too and was determined to find out what the cause of it was.

  “I’m going to go help her. Are you okay in here with the guys?” I turned to ask Jamieson.

  “Of course, go help your sister and mother,” he kissed me on the cheek.

  “Jamieson can I get you a drink?” I heard my father ask as I left the room in search of my sister.

  In the kitchen, my mom and sister were working away and talking in a hushed tone. I didn’t waste any time, I needed to know how my sister knew Jamieson and now.

  “What is going on Jacks?” I asked leaning against the granite countertop with my arms folded across my chest.

  “What are you talking about, Jens?” She always called me Jens. My father had nicked named me Jens and my sister Jacks and the duo of Jacks and Jens had kind of just stuck all these years.

  “How do you know Jamieson?” I cut to the chase.

  “I don’t…well not really.” she responded quietly still stirring the mixture in the bowl in front of her.

  “What does that mean? Did you guys date or something?” Please Lord don’t let it be true.

  “No, we didn’t date,” she reassured me. “I dated his older brother, Ethan.” What?

  “You did?” I was in complete shock.

  “Yes. It was only for a few months, but I thought I was in love with him.” Jacqueline sighed and stopped working on her cheesecake to turn to face me. She placed her hands over her growing belly and I could see she was struggling with whatever she needed to say.

  “What happened? Tell me everything,” I pleaded with her.

  I watched her examine my face. She was contemplating how much she should tell me. I could see that clearly. She glanced toward the door for a quick second before she began. “There isn’t much to tell. We met through mutual friends and we had this amazing chemistry. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. It took me by complete surprise. I quickly fell for him, but it didn’t last. He cheated on me. It gutted me. I was a wreck for a long time. Then I met Lukas and my life finally began again.”

  I didn’t respond to her, I didn’t really know what to say. If Jacks and Ethan ever experienced anything remotely close to what Jamieson and I had, I could only imagine how much that must have hurt my sister.

  “Did you know about this?” I asked my mother who was quietly listening while continuing to work.

  “Yes, I did,” she said simply.

  “Mom helped me pull myself together.” Jacks shot an appreciative smile towards our mother. “To this day I don’t really know if it was just one-sided with Ethan, like a figment of my imagination or if it was real. It felt real to me at least,” she explained, giving me a sideways somewhat defeated smile.

  “I’m so sorry, Jacks. Why didn’t you ever tell me?” My sister and I had always been close but she had never mentioned Ethan Wellington or her epic heartbreak.

  “You were in school and you didn’t need to hear about my broken heart. I knew you would worry about me and I didn’t want that. It was bad enough I was going through it, I didn’t need you to go through it with me.”

  “You should have told me,” I scolded her.

  “Maybe so, but it’s in the past now. Life is funny that way, just when you think things couldn’t get worse something amazing can happen to turn it completely around.” She said rubbing her growing belly again. I knew she was talking about Lukas and it made me happy to know my sister had found her happiness.

  “So you met Jamieson during that time?” Even though Jacks had explained her relationship with Ethan, I still wanted to know how she had come to know Jamieson.

  “I only met him once; it was at some birthday party for one of their childhood friends. I only briefly talked to him.”

  “Hmm…” I said still contemplating how Jamieson clearly knew my sister and didn’t seem surprised to see her.

  “What?” she asked catching my suspicion.

  “It’s just that he acted as if he knew you more than that.”

  “Well maybe Ethan has told him about us and he put it together that we were sisters.” she offered.

  “Maybe.” I knew Jacks could tell that I wouldn’t just let this go.
>
  “If you’re that curious Jens, just ask him.”

  “I think I will.” I replied and began to turn to leave the kitchen in search of Jamieson.

  “Jens…” Jacks’ voice stopped me.

  “Yeah?”

  My mother had stopped cooking and was now looking at me along with Jacks. “Just be careful, okay? The Wellingtons are a strange and complicated family. You would be smart to keep your guard up.”

  I didn’t know exactly how to respond to everything she was saying so I just nodded and left the kitchen.

  Part of me wanted to drag Jamieson aside as soon as I could and demand to know what he knew of my sister and his brother, but another part of me said to be smart and ask when the time was right. I choose to go with the calm rational choice and bide my time until the right moment presented itself to ask him. If there is more to the relationship with him and Jacks it will come out. Secrets always have a nasty way of coming to the surface, eventually.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Middleton, I must thank you for inviting me today. I have had a wonderful time.” Jamieson spoke from beside me. We had stuffed ourselves to the brim and were now relaxing in the living room.

  “It was our pleasure Jamieson,” my mother said warmly.

  “The food was amazing,” he complimented her.

  “Dude, just wait until Christmas. Mom goes all out.” Lukas exclaimed from the corner with Jacks sitting perched on his lap.

  “Well I’m afraid I will have to miss out on Christmas.”

  My heart fell to my ankles. We hadn’t really discussed our Christmas plans yet, but maybe Jamieson wasn’t planning on being around for much longer.

  Jamieson must have noticed my anxiety because he grasped my hand. “Actually I was going to ask you all if it would be alright if Jenna accompanied me to my family’s home in Aspen to celebrate Christmas.” He what?

  I looked up at Jamieson totally stunned. I hadn’t seen that one coming.

  “Of course! I’m sure Jenna would love to go with you,” my mother quickly answered.

  “What do you say Jenna?” Jamieson flashed me his sexy grin.