Chapter 28 - Lisa
I heard the door open, and I could only assume that it was his mom. It was when I woke up, that I took in my surroundings, something that I hadn’t done the night before. His room had two beds in it. One in the corner and this one; the one that we were sleeping on. There were pictures on the wall too. My side had every jazz musician on it, from Billy Holiday to Miles Davies. I recognized them straight away because my dad is a big jazz fan. Memories of him flooded through my mind. Since he’d been in jail, he’d refused to see any of us. Including Mom, which hurt her like crazy. I was relieved when he said that he didn’t want to see us, because part of me doubted if I wanted to see him. He’d lied to everyone and anyone near him and stolen from others.
The other side of the room, had posters of chemical elements and mathematical equations. Some that I recognized and others were a complete mystery to me. There were photos of Dane, or who I assumed was Dane when he was younger. He looked cute. He wore glasses with a couple of other guys who all had the same piercing blue eyes.
I quickly shifted in the room, trying to find my underwear and make myself dignified. I was tired. Real tired and probably slightly hungover still from drinking a little too much wine. I stood up, with my dress around my body, that was when I realized that it was back to front. I didn’t care. I had a denim jacket somewhere, and I would use it to hide my embarrassment.
The door opened, and my heart skipped a beat, wishing that I had time to turn my dress around or at least find my jacket.
No, this couldn’t be happening, I started to panic worrying about who was on the other side of the door, the first time I would meet them, I would be a mess.
“Shit!” I heard as the light switched on, and I froze, unable to move. I felt as if my eyes were deceiving me, as they nearly popped out of my head. I saw not only one Dane, but two in front of me.
My eyes shifted to the bed, thinking maybe I hadn’t just left him in the bed, and he’d gone to the bathroom. I quickly lifted the sheets and no, he was still underneath them. He turned around sluggish and then yawned as he looked back at me, and then to the door.
“Fuck!” he blurted out.
I tried to focus, because I felt as if I was going mad. Then I started to count, “One, two… three!”
“Daxon, what the fuck?” one of them said, and then it hit me, so damn hard.
Brothers!
Of course, at the club they said brothers. My eyes traced to the walls, the side tables, photos of them, this was why they looked so different, they were triplets. They were never the same person.
I whispered, “Daxon?”
It was as if a ton of bricks had been put over my head, as it felt bruised and I held on to it. He told me he liked being called that name, and I’d been a fool to fall for it.
There was more than one Dane and I’d slept with another one, which meant that I’d lost my virginity and been sleeping with not only one guy but three.
“Are any of you called Dane?”
The one that put the light on put his hand up, and said, “Guilty.”
“Guilty of what? Fooling me? Fucking me?”
No one answered, they didn’t have the time to, because I felt sick, not like I’d done last night. Not the type of sick that came from drinking too much wine, but the type of sick that made me feel stupid and dirty all rolled into one. I should have known that I was kissing, three guys when they were all completely different. How had I been so stupid?
I opened my mouth to speak again, but the only thing that came out onto the floor was the contents of the sandwich that I’d eaten the early hours of this morning. I felt a hand on my back, rubbing it telling me that I’d be okay. I didn’t know whose hand it was on my back, but when I’d stopped vomiting, I rubbed my mouth and backed away. I didn’t even apologize for the mess on the floor.
“Stay away from me!” I shouted, and then I grabbed a towel that I spotted on the corner of the room on a chair, whipped my mouth, and with it, I headed towards the door. I needed to breathe. I had to get as far away from them as possible.
No one protested or told me to stay.
How the fuck could they do that?
When they all made me feel so fucking sick.
* * *
Once I stopped shaking and I was outside the building, no more did I care if my dress was the wrong way round or inside out. I felt so dirty, and a complete fool. How could I have not seen this happening or at least suspected that something was wrong with the way that he treated me like a princess? And I'd fallen for it. The reality was that they'd used me. I thought that I was sleeping with one guy, and ended up with three. It was wrong in so many ways. I hated the idea of going to my dorm room. Once again, I’d been humiliated not because they knew my true identity and decided to bully me as a result of it, but simply because they’d used me. I thought Dane was my hero, but he was far from that. He was the devil in disguise.
I took my phone out of my purse and my hands were shaking like a leaf.
“Mom!” I blurted out.
“What’s wrong, Lisa? Are you okay? You never call especially at this time in the morning. Usually, you just text even then not much…"
She was rambling and I could tell that the phone call had made her nervous, I didn't blame her. She was right, I never called, and then to call so early, she probably imagined that people found out the truth about who I was.
"I need to come home. Can I come home?"
I didn't have time to explain it all, especially on the phone. I felt so ashamed and I didn't know if I was going to explain it to her neither. Then again, what would I say to her? I would figure it all out, once I was as far away from there as possible. There was a pause as if she was thinking about it or wanted to ask more questions.
"I can get a bus. I have money, I sold a purse."
"Of course you can come home."
Then, I hung up. Realistically, I didn't need her permission to go back home, but I wanted it. I sent a quick message to Tanya, telling her that I had to go home. Family emergency. Another lie. Maybe this was the reason that Dane and Daxon, and whatever the other one’s name was, had done it. They knew the truth about me and had found out my secret. So, they did it to humiliate me. There were so many thoughts running through my head. If that was the case, then why hadn't they blackmailed me into sleeping with them? Why had they pretended to be the same guy, Dane?
It was as if a bolt of lightning had hit me as I started to walk to the bus station. I needed an Uber and with the rest of the bag money in my account, I could afford one. I stopped walking when I was a few blocks away from their building, far enough away that I wouldn't bump into any of them by accident, let alone on purpose.
"Great!" I smiled, seeing that the Uber would pick me up in five minutes. It would cost nearly twenty to get to the bus station and six hours to get back home. I could figure out what I would say to Mom and Nana on the way. For now, I just wish that five minutes would fly by because I was in such dire need of a bath and a place to cry.
* * *
I spent the whole of the journey thinking about what happened in the jazz club to this morning. The lie. The big, fat fucking lie. The one that he'd been keeping from me. It didn't stop him sending me texts over and over again.
-Lisa, please let's talk. D
-I wanted to tell you. We need to talk. D
-Let me know if you're okay? D
That was the last one I received before turning my phone off. I'd been with all three brothers without my consent, it just made my skin crawl. I could imagine if someone like Fiona found out about it. I could hear it now.
Not only is she fat, but a whore too.
She'd slept with one of them, or so I'd heard, but just one. Definitely not all three. Then again, I didn’t know that for a fact. I didn’t know anything anymore. They lied to me, I didn't care what they had to say in their defense. Everything about this situation was wrong, I knew that I would have to face them again one day. I would do it when I was ready, and that wasn’t now.