Chapter 64 The Space Between Us
She didn’t answer me at first. She just looked at me with a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips
“What do you mean by that?” I asked again, my voice rising with my fist still clenched at my side.
“Well… I was just pulling your legs,” she shrugged playfully.
“You don’t have to be so worked up about it,” she scoffed softly, then winked seductively before turning and going back to the guestroom.
It didn’t seem like just pulling my legs to me.
That night, I couldn’t sleep because I kept replaying her words in my head over and over again.
I knew I didn’t hear her wrongly.
There was certainty in her voice.
I ran my hand down my face slowly and let out a deep breath.
“Should I go and ask her again?”
I didn’t want to push further or engage in lengthy conversations with her.
Also, I didn’t want anything to do with her beyond responsibility, financial support, and hospital support.
I just had to make sure to find a way for her to leave before my mother comes back from her volunteer project or whatever.
Because once she came back, I wouldn't be able to do anything.
I leaned back on my bed and convinced myself I would handle it cleanly.
But before doing anything, I had to seek Marcus’s opinion.
If there was one person who would tell me the truth without judgment, it was him.
I picked up my phone and dialed his number.
Then he picked at the second ring.
“Do you want to meet at the bar?” he asked almost immediately.
“No… I just want to be in bed tonight,” I replied, my voice low and tired.
“What’s wrong?”
“Cassandra has moved in,” I replied.
There was a pause on the other end.
“She did what?” he finally asked, his voice firm.
“My mother dropped her off with her luggage and all. I don’t know what to do,” I replied, running my fingers through my hair.
“Okay?”
“I don’t want her here, Marcus. I said I would take responsibility but not like this,” I muttered, my voice low.
Marcus went silent before speaking again.
“She’s carrying your child, Alex,” he said slowly.
“And with the kind of person you said she is and the kind of home you said she’s from, I think you should let her stay… you don’t want a situation whereby she would start telling people you are irresponsible,” he explained.
My chest tightened.
Because he was right.
Cassandra could do and undo.
Then I sighed.
“I really didn’t sign up for this,” I muttered.
“You don’t have to play house, Alex. You don’t have to love her either. You just have to endure seeing her in your house till she gives birth,” Marcus stated.
“Pushing her out right now won’t look good to anyone, and nobody would care about your own side of the story. This world isn’t really fair to men,” he added.
His words hit me harder than I expected.
“I wasn’t trying to be heartless,” I sighed.
“I know you are not,” he said calmly.
“But sometimes doing the right thing feels like losing,” he added.
I dragged my hand down my face and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while.
“But… What about Joan?” I asked, my voice breaking.
“Getting Joan back after all of these is a bit difficult and you know that. You have to face reality, man.”
After a few more words of encouragement, the line went dead.
I stared at my phone for a long time, Joan’s face flashing through my mind at intervals.
“I hope she forgives me,” I muttered under my breath.
JOAN COLE’S POV
I stood in front of my closet, staring at the hangers as if they had answers to the questions going on in my mind.
Having dinner with Dave wasn’t just a meal. It was my escape from the chaos I called my reality.
It was a moment where I wouldn’t have to think about Alex at all.
I pulled out a simple black dress and turned to Lena, who was sitting on my bed, as I placed it on my body.
“Nah! That’s too plain,” she said, shaking her head.
Then she stood up and walked over to my closet.
“This is much better,” she muttered, pulling out an elegant and soft pink gown.
I ran my fingers over the fabric and imagined how it would move when I walked in it.
That was the first time I would wear the dress.
I had bought it in case Alex asked me out to dinner.
Accessories came next.
Lena picked the most flashy of them all, but I didn’t want that.
I wanted to be confident, not desperate for attention.
“No, no. I don’t want anything that will scream ‘look at me’,” I gestured for her to return them.
“You are going out on a date for crying out loud,” she said, her brows furrowing.
“No, I’m going out to have dinner with him,” I countered.
“Fine, anything that would make you sleep at night,” she scoffed.
She took the ones that weren’t ‘flashy’. Then she did my makeup.
Finally, I looked at myself in the mirror, my hair falling softly over my shoulders. My makeup was soft, highlighting my eyes and letting them do the talking.
I took a deep breath and said to myself,
“This was just dinner. A brief connection with someone who had shown me kindness when I needed it the most.”
As I slipped into my heels, my mind wandered back to Alex.
To the look he had in his face earlier that day.
But I quickly dismissed it.
“Tonight, I will just be myself.”
“You are all set,” Lena blushed as if she were the one dressed up to go out.
“Right,” I smiled.
Then my phone beeped.
I checked and it was a text from Dave.
“I’m almost at your place.”
“He’s almost here,” I said, turning to face Lena.
“Oh, wow. Thank God you didn’t delay further.”
Instantly, my palm became sweaty.
“Why do I feel like this wouldn’t just be a simple dinner?” I thought to myself.
I grabbed my clutch, turned to face the mirror one last time, and whispered to myself:
“Let’s do this.”
After some minutes, we heard the sound of a car pulling over in front of our house.
Lena stood up and moved over to the window.
“Your date is here,” she teased.
“Will you stop that?” I replied, rolling my eyes playfully.
I stood up, took a deep breath, and walked towards the door.
“I will be back soon. Please call Theo and tell him to get back home on time,” I said and walked out the door.
Dave was standing beside his car when I walked out of the house.
As soon as he saw me, he straightened slightly as if he hadn’t expected me to look the way I did.
Then he walked towards me and extended his hand as if he wanted to guide me into the car.
But he didn’t walk me toward it, instead, he paused and his eyes locked with mine.
And for a brief second, everything around us went still, even my own breath.
All of it faded, leaving just us in the middle.