CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

AXEL:

Present day…

For the tenth time that day, my finger hovered over Shondra's number. It was the same one. I had called and hung up more than a few times when I first moved to Chicago, blocking my number so she wouldn't know it was me.

That all stopped after I saw her at a party with Duke. At the time, I thought she had moved on, and it took me until that night to do so as well.

It had been a month since she told me I was her one and only. A month since I lost that title for good. She was dating Tony, and I had it on good authority (from Adam and Josh) he was taking her to Paris.

I threw my phone on the bed and let my body follow. Gazing up at the ceiling. I revisited the thousands of recriminations I'd been telling myself since the Baker's party.

You should have told her about Tabitha, my mind admonishes me. You shouldn't have let her go that time in D.C. She gave you the chance you had been waiting for in December, and what did you do? You got angry...

On and on the thoughts turned and twisted and scurried around in my mind like rats in a maze.

Back in D.C. during those long talks in bed, Shondra and I had discussed going to Europe after I graduated from law school. She wanted to walk over the bridges that spanned the Seine. I said we should visit a terraced cafe and drink coffee while we watch life unfold on the cobble stoned streets. We both agreed to search for Jim Garrison's grave...

Funny how life bit me in the ass.

I'd talked to Tabitha (another woman I'd treated poorly) about Paris too. To please her parents, she was going for a degree in business, but art was her passion. What better place to explore artistic shit than in Paris?

She wanted me to take her there. I didn't say yay or nay. I never did with randoms...until I finished with them. Then it was nay all the way.

However, Tabitha hadn't taken no for an answer.

***

AXEL:

Revisiting the past…

Tabitha's small hand was fingernail deep into my Harvard sweater. We stood in the hallway that led to the common room. Students milled around us, their voices almost drowning out my former Andorra's low whine of a whisper.

"Axel, are you listening? I said I was pregnant. What are we going to do?"

I planned to meet up with Jameson and the other guys for lunch, and I was already late. My course had run past the house because of a heated discussion between a couple of students. I only stayed because the girl I had been eyeing had been involved, otherwise, I would have sneaked out.

Trying to catch my breath from running full tilt, I didn't answer Tabitha right away. When I did, my voice was harsh, and a lot louder than it needed to be. "Tabitha, you're lying. And if you aren't, you need to go on Marry, because I am not the father."

Yeah, I was flippant as hell, especially with such a subject, but if she thought to trap me, she had the wrong prick on the right day. There was only one woman I had entertained thoughts of as the mother of my children and Tabitha Moore wasn't the one.

I shook loose of her grip and continued down the hall. Tabitha followed, close on my heels. "Axel...please."

I whirled on her. "What, Tabitha. What do you want from me?" I shouldn't have shouted at her, but fuck was I pissed. I slept with her for a week and used condoms I knew hadn't broken. How could she accuse me?

Jameson came around the corner. His tall, ganglion stature, somehow calming me down. "What's going on, Axel?" He flicked his eyes between a blushing Tabitha and a scowling me.

I waited for her to spout her lies, and when she didn't, I took over. "She says, she's pregnant. She says," I pointed a finger in her direction, "that I'm the baby daddy. I'm not."

Several students had stopped to listen, and the titters started behind raised hands covering gossiping mouths.

"Let's take this outside, to get some privacy, shall we?" Jameson held out a long arm, pointing the way towards the outside doors.

The guys joined us out on the grounds: Tony, Mason, Adam, and his friend, Josh. Only later would we find out that they were more than friends at this point.

My glares kept other students from getting to close as I relayed to the rest what Tabitha had accused me of. Tony lowered his head, but the rest looked on in disbelief. Adam was the first to speak up. "Axel...uh, you are always so careful, how could you slip up?"

In the past, I'd bragged about my conquests, going into as much detail as the others would allow, which in truth, wasn't very much, but the one thing I would always specify was that I'd gloved up before I plunged in.

"Yeah, I know...she's got me mixed up with someone else."

Tabitha had been silently weeping at that point. At my words, she broke out into sobs. Jameson held her, promising her it would be okay. I didn't feel one way or another about it. I just felt disgusted (in myself) and numb (about the situation) and I felt that way for a while... until I finally learned the truth.