(no subject)
Broken Promises and Restored Hopes
mcaddex_fan
Thanks to Suz for beta reading and the idea for the title<3_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Their families had gone out to brunch so they could leave Kate and Alex to sort out their issues.
Kate made her trek up the seemingly endless staircase and into their bedroom. She saw Alex holding a towel to his nose and a black eye already forming on his skin.
“How many times did I ask you if anything was going on between you and him? Hmm? And your answer everytime was ‘nothing, we’re just friends. ‘Just friends’ doesn’t cut it anymore Kate. The way he was holding you this morning made me livid. The sight of you right now makes me physically ill. I don’t ever want to see you again. I just want to know two things. Did you ever love me?”
She was sobbing now and the look of hurt in his eyes pained her heart. Choking through the sobs, she replied, “Of course I loved you and I still care about you. Somewhere along the line though, I fell out of love with you. You will always be one of the best things that has ever happened to me. You deserve someone so much better than me. I’m not good enough for you. You are one of the smartest, most compassionate people I’ve ever met. That is what attracted me to you. It’s what made me fall in love with you in the first place.”
“I’m still the same person Kate. I haven’t changed.”
“I know you haven’t. I have. I changed when you started staying at work more than you were at home. I missed you and I felt lonely. At the beginning of our relationship, you were always here and it made me feel safe and whole. Then work became your top priority and I fell second. It made me so upset, so I reached out to someone else. Keisha was never home either and Justin understood what I was going through because he was dealing with the same thing. There was a certain level of comfort that I needed to feel and he gave that to me when you wouldn’t. I’m so sorry. I never meant to hurt you. You have to believe me.”
“I want you to be completely honest with me when I ask you these questions. Can you at least give me that?”
She nodded her head in response.
“How long have you been having an affair?”
She didn’t answer him right away. Instead, she looked down at her hands which were shaking, and just stared at them.
“Kate ”
The sound of his raised voice made her jump back in fear.
“How long has this been going on? ”
“Since my birthday.”
“Has he stayed overnight here before?”
She didn’t say anything but rather cried harder and nodded her head.
“Damn it, Kate.”
“I know. I’m so sorry. I never wanted this to happen. I would have never married you if there was even the slightest possibility that I might have feelings for another man. I would have never wanted to put you through that much pain. You’re amazing. You have been nothing but nice to me and I never should have lied to you when you asked me if anything was going on between me and Justin.”
Alex had a look of pure rage in his eyes and Kate thought for a minute the he might get violent. She took a few steps backwards, away from the bed, just to be safe.
“You can have the house.” Kate suddenly blurted out.
“You think I want to stay here knowing that my wife has had another man sleep with her in my bed?”
“For what it’s worth, we never slept in our bed.”
“Oh great. There are other surfaces of our house that have been contaminated. That’s just perfect. Maybe he took you on the couch, or the living room floor, or god forbid the dining room table where we ate dinner last night.”
She didn’t know what to say except that she was sorry. Kate knew those words weren’t going to make it any easier for either one of them.
“No Kate. You keep the house. I don’t want anything that reminds me of you. The pure sight of you makes me sick. I hate you. You have hurt me beyond belief and I will never forgive you. No, the only thing I want from you right now is a divorce. Until then, I’m leaving town. If you need to reach me, leave a message with the office.”
She was reduced to choking sobs by now. Alex got off the bed to leave but before he made it out the door of their bedroom he looked directly into her bloodshot, tear-stained eyes and told her he never wanted to see her again. Kate reached out to touch his shoulder, but he just shoved her hand away and walked out the door.
She heard the front door slam shut and crawled into the bed wondering if she had done the right thing and how the talk with Keisha and Justin was going. Picking up her cell, Kate texted Erin and told her to keep the family out as long as possible because she just needed some alone time. Then she set her phone on vibrate and fell asleep.
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Justin walked in through the back door because Keisha had barricaded the front door with a table. He sighed out his frustration and slid open the glass door. Keisha had sent the kids to her their neighbor’s house and then retreated to her living room. He found her clinging to a bottle of vodka, their wedding picture and a picture of the girls from Kate’s bachelorette party in Vegas.
“How could my husband and one of my best friends betray me like this and I didn’t even see it? You were right under my nose the whole time and I never noticed. How blind and stupid could I have been? It all makes sense now though. The late nights and you always running to her if she called. Always meeting for lunch and dinner. Going out partying with each other. It was so obvious. All the signs were there and I just didn’t see them. Maybe I didn’t want to see them. Maybe I didn’t want to believe that my husband would ever do something so terrible.”
Keisha broke down while voicing that last line. Justin walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. She immediately turned to face him and began to hit him as hard as she could in his chest. He knew it would bruise but he deserved it. If a few bruises was all it took for her to let out her anger, he would have to deal with that.
“I wish I could tell you how it happened but I can’t. It’s just that you were gone and I was going through a rough time and I needed someone, so I reached out to Kate. She’s been one of my closest friends for so long and Alex wasn’t there for her either. We turned to each other and found ourselves getting lost in something we could no longer control. I never wanted to hurt you. I love you. I always have and I always will, but somewhere along the line, I fell in love with her. It had nothing to do with my feelings for you. I’m so sorry for what I’ve, what we’ve put you and Alex through. Neither of you deserve this. You’re amazing and I ruined what we had together. I will never forget what I’ve felt for you all these years. And our children are my world. I will never stop caring about them or loving them. They need their father. Please don’t take them away from me forever. I can’t survive without them.”
“But you can survive without me now? How dare you think that I will let you see our children when you’re cheating ass will be with her. I’m taking the kids and we’re going away for a while. If I do allow you to see your kids ever again, she better not be anywhere near them.”
“The children adore Kate. You can’t just take them away from her.”
“I don’t want them anywhere near the cheating bitch. And if you don’t cooperate with me then you won’t ever see them again either. What you have done is unforgivable. I never thought I could hate anyone as much as I hate you right now. I don’t want to know when it began or how many times it has happened. You’re disgusting and I never want to see you again. My lawyer will be in contact with you about the divorce.”
Justin just nodded his head and walked away from the couch.
“You can have the house Keisha. I’ll find someplace else to stay.”
“I don’t want the house. I don’t want to be reminded everyday of how much you’ve hurt me.”
Keisha got up off of the couch and said, “I’m going to get the children. We are leaving tonight. I’m not telling you where we’re going but if it is an absolute emergency then my mother will be in contact with us. Don’t try to call my cell. I’m having the number changed.”
And with those parting words, she did as she had said and left the house. Justin just broke down and cried on the couch. He took the untouched bottle of vodka and downed some of it in a few gulps. He picked up his cell and called Kate like he had promised.
He could tell she had been crying by the sniffling of her nose on the other end of the line.
“Hey.”
“Hey. Are you okay. Did he hurt you?”
“No, no I’m fine. I need you. Can you come over?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“Okay. Drive safely.”
“Always. Bye.”
“Bye.”
After they hung up, it took Justin less than ten minutes to get to her house and he took the stairs two at a time to get to her. He found her on the bed, curled into a ball and sobbing. Walking over to the side of the bed, Justin knelt down beside her and stroked a piece of hair behind ear and off of her flushed, tear-stained cheeks.
“Hey sweetheart. I’m here now. It’s going to be okay. We did the right thing.”
“Are you going to leave me?”
“What? No I’d never leave you. You’re the love of my life. I’m here forever now so like it or not, you’re stuck with me.”
She gave him a weak smile and asked, “Promise?”
“I promise. I won’t ever leave you”
Justin kicked off his shoes and crawled into bed behind her, wrapping his arms across her stomach and pulled her against his body. Kate wrapped her arms around his and asked, “You really don’t think we made a mistake?”
He considered his answer carefully and replied, “I think that if we are together, nothing can stop us. You’re my soulmate. I’ve always known it deep down, but I was married and had children. It took these past few months for me to realize that you and I were meant to be together. We should have listened to our hearts in Japan. We can’t turn back time no matter how much we wish we could. So from now on we are going to focus on our future together rather than our past apart. Okay?”
She pulled his arms closer to her and whispered, “Okay.”
Justin kissed the back of his lover’s head and said, “I love you Katie.”
“I love you too, Justin.”
Kate knew her family would be back soon but for now, she and Justin drifted off into a light sleep in the comfort of each other’s arms.