Chapter Thirty-Two
Alessandra
“Hello, honey, I’m home!” Joel’s voice echoed through the house to the kitchen table where I was having coffee, and Joel was eating some yogurt he found in the fridge.
I wasn’t sure if he had even come to bed last night; he wasn’t there when I woke up in the middle of the night to pee, and he wasn’t there when I woke up this morning. I was used to not waking up with him, but he was usually making breakfast or working out.
“I got bananas for pancakes.” He set them down on the counter and leaned down to kiss me, earning a snicker from Jenson at Joel’s display.
“Awesome!” I exclaimed once he pulled back.
He got to work on them, and I enjoyed my coffee while watching him cook. It was the little things.
Yesterday was not a good day for my sanity. Everything was getting to me, and I needed to drink it out. Which I did. Not that I was wasted, but I was buzzed enough not to care for a few hours.
This morning I was a little better.
We ate our breakfast and then Joel had to disappear into his office to make some phone calls. I went upstairs to get dressed for the day. Maybe we could go for a drive or something fun.
I got dressed and then decided to check and see what else was being spread about us on the internet. I wanted to be prepared if anyone said anything to Jenson. Hopefully I could diffuse the situation before it started.
Then I saw all these pictures of Joel hugging a blonde, by a car that wasn’t his. It was from this morning. Early this morning.
I tried to remain calm, there had to be more to this story, but I could feel a little red haze start to cloud my thoughts.
“Give him a chance to explain.” I told myself, really trying not to lose my shit right now. I marched into his office just as he was hanging up the phone.
“Lips.” He held out his hands for me to come sit in his lap. I did and waited for him to tell me about the blonde.
“I wanted to talk to you about something.” His face looked stressed. My stomach started twisting in knots. I stayed quiet and waited for him to explain.
“I’m worried about you and Jenson, with all this shit going on. I know it’ll all blow away soon, but I wanted to see if you needed anything from me. Maybe we need to lay low for a little while, until things calm down.”
Are you fucking kidding me? I jumped up from his lap and my head popped.
A small part of me knew I was about to overreact, but I was past the point of no return. My blood was on fire, and with all the stress, and Alex’s words still ringing in my head, I felt nothing but rage.
“You’re breaking up with me?” The look on his face was one of surprise.
“No, I was thinking maybe we should just lay low, and everyone would leave us alone.” He stood up and tried to approach me.
“No, I get it. Loud and clear. When were you going to tell me about your little tromp this morning, huh?” His head tilted to the side at my question.
“I’ve been beating myself up over how shitty things have been for you and Jenson, so I took a walk and went to the store. Jesus, Alessandra, put the loco back in the box.”
And I lost it, grabbing the closest thing to me and throwing it at him. He wanted loco? He was going to get it. Full Brazilian bitch, coming his way.
“What about the fucking blonde that is all over the internet with you? When you should have been in bed with me, you were out with someone else!” I screamed and threw something else. God, Alex was right, how fucking blind was I? I thought we could do it, could handle the madness because we loved each other. But it was all just an act.
“Fuck me.” He ran his fingers down his face, and I took that as an admission. Turning around as quickly as I could, I yelled for Jenson to get his shit and meet me at the car. He knew my tone and did as asked, quickly.
“Seriously, Alessandra, whatever you saw is not what you think.” He chased me and then grabbed my arm.
“Don’t fucking touch me. God, I knew it. I should have never trusted an actor again.” I grabbed anything of mine that wasn’t in my bag and shoved it in, heading down the stairs with Joel on my heels. He didn’t let me get close to the door before gripping me and pushing my body back against the wall.
“You think I’ve been acting with you this whole time? I could have had your mouth on my dick back in the trailer when you threw yourself at me a while ago. We are real, and that shit you think you know is not what it is. Just calm your tits, and let me explain.
“‘Better Together,’ Jack Johnson,” he growled and kissed me hard. I pushed him back, not willing to let him seduce me out of this. I was done.
“You want a theme song for how I feel this moment? ‘Take a Bow,’ Rihanna. Now let me leave. I don’t wanna be here right now.” The look on his face was like I smacked him. What a fine actor he was.
I opened the door, and Jenson was there waiting for me with the keys in the ignition. He asked if I needed anything, and I told him loud music. So together we listened to loud music, and he would put his hand over mine on the gear shift to comfort me. He didn’t ask a single question.
The curtain had fallen over the Alessandra and Joel show, just like Alex said it would. Actors can’t be trusted. Joel wanted space apart from me and now he had it. He could be with whoever he wanted, and I had a date with Jack tonight after Jenson went to sleep.
