The Layers of His Mask

20. You Wouldn't

"Let's go, before I end up saying something I'll regret," I irritatingly mutter to Tim and Vi. Even just seeing her now riles me up.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Laura asks, tucking her sunglasses down into her gold Chanel purse.

"Nothing," I say, swiftly making my way past Hannah's station.

"It's a shame you know, about what happened with you and Alex," she calls behind me. I pause, my hand on the door handle, pivoting back around to face her. She has an ignorant smirk plastered on her face while she examines her fingernails.

"Oh really? And how would you know what happened?"

"Why he told me of course." she tosses her hair over her shoulders. "I just need my ends clipped," she tells Hannah, looking back. Hannah nods and places a purple cutting cape around her neck.

Why would Alex tell this b***h anything?

"To answer your very rude question, he came to work yesterday and put in his two weeks notice. When I saw the cut on his lip I took him to a bar after work to get him to talk. But that video of you," she shakes her head. "That is so...sad." What the f**k is wrong with Alex? That was told in confidentiality.

"Do you know what's really sad and pathetic?" I ask, hiking a brow.

"Enlighten me." She crosses one leg over the other.

"The fact that you tried to seduce a fifteen year old at your own engagement party. Did you even plan on telling Alex? Did you even love him at all?"

"To tell you the truth, I did love him, to an extent...at one point. But I quickly became bored and I warned him of this several times. He kept insisting on us trying to "work things out". She rolls her eyes. "I figured the only way to have an out was to give him the illusion that I cheated. Alex was a very needy man back then. And now I want him back since it appears he has grown some balls."

"You are one f****d up individual."

"I'm f****d up? Says the little girl who waited three months to tell mommy and daddy about a video that had been filmed of her on homecoming night," she scoffs. "How long did that video sit in your f*******: inbox before it spread to the entire U.S?" Hannah tightens the grip of the cutting cape around her neck. "Hey! Watch it!" Laura shouts.

"Oops," Hannah says with a shrug. “Sorry.” she rolls her eyes.

"f**k you. I'm out of here." I start to walk away.

"Where are you going? Gonna go wander back to mommy and daddy so they can solve your problems for you?"Don't let her get to you Becca, this is what she wants. She's trying to get a rise out of you.

"I'm not going to wander back anywhere but to my boyfriends place. So shut the hell up."

"I'll shut the hell up when you tell me did your first time hurt and did you love putting on a show for the whole world to see?" She grins at me and I snap.

"I just told you I didn't know! I kept asking him what that was sitting in the corner of the room, but he would continually tell me it's nothing, and to just trust him!"

"I am so sorry." She places her hand over her black hole of a heart, sarcastically faking sincerity.

I start taking steps towards her. "You're not sorry. You are manipulative, conniving, and heartless. No wonder you have nothing else going for you but your looks."

"Thank you for the compliment, but if I had nothing else going for me, I wouldn't be one of the fastest-growing restaurants in the state - an up and coming five star with one the best chefs out here. You may want to get your facts checked before you come at me with that, little girl." she narrows her eyes at me.

"Let's see how fast growing you are once Alex leaves that place."

"Well with you out of the way I no longer have to worry about convincing him to stay, now do I? And where is he currently?" she laughs and tilts her head slightly.

I blackout and before I realize it Laura is holding her cheek that is now blotched red. My whole palm is stinging. She starts screaming something unintelligible at me while Vi and Tim drag me from the establishment. One thing I did understand is when she told me she would make sure that my life is a living hell.

I'm kicking my legs and thrashing my arms, begging Tim to let me go and to please just let me go back in there and hit her one more time. He doesn't listen, he just holds me while I weakly flail at his chest. I think I remember him telling me to calm down, that they have a plan. A plan for what I do not know.

I stop putting up a fight eventually, and once the angry tears have stopped I lean up to see blurs of color whizzing by us on the highway.

"Vi?" I croak.

"I'm taking you to my apartment, love. I don't think you need to see Alex today."

"Please Vi, can you please just take me by his apartment? I need to speak to him," I plead. Her face displays one of internal struggle and I try again. "Please, I need to find out if what Laura said was true."

She quickly looks at Tim through the rear view mirror of her car and nods. I tell her the address and she inputs it into her GPS.

We arrive to his apartment twenty minutes later and I hop out of the car, stalking up to the elevator with Vi and Tim hot on my heels.

My upset tears are gone, I am now filled with rage.

I press the number four, waiting impatiently for the elevator to rise. Any other time the damn thing would be up there by now.

Ding!

"Finally... s**t," I mutter to myself. I walk down the pristine white painted halls, now staring at the numbers 4.1.0 at the top of his door.

I knock and the door creaks open. "Uhhhhhh...does he usually leave his door open and unlocked?" Vi inquires as we creep our way through his apartment.

"No, Alex can be paranoid at times," I mention to her, inching around the corner to his bedroom.

"I wonder who he developed that trait from," Tim adds, chuckling to himself.

"Hush." I push open the door to his bedroom and I'm overwhelmed by the smell and feel of him everywhere. I even pick up a hint of me.

His sheets are rustled, not their usual neat state. Clothes are thrown about the room, covering almost every inch of the place. This isn't like Alex at all.

I search his entire room and apartment, he's not here. I search the one place I hadn't looked out fear - his bathroom - and he isn't there either. I take a quick glance in the mirror. I look a hot ass mess.

I'm sort of relieved he isn't here at all versus finding him in God knows what position with the door unlocked.

I walk back into his room and my eyes land on his end table. There's a picture frame there that has been turned upside down. I pick it up to see it's a picture of me from our first date when he took a picture of me drinking from my straw. He told me he was going to frame it because I looked hilarious and I thought he had been joking. He wasn't. I don't remember this picture being here last visit.

"What is that?" Tim asks as he comes and stands next to me.

I cuddle the frame close to my chest and say, "me..."

"Can I see it?"

"Yeah." My voice cracks and I hand it to him, he smiles at it.

His smile disintigrates. He squints his eyes, closely examining the bottom of the frame. "Did you read what's embossed on the bottom of this?"

"No," I say desperately, reaching for the frame, tears already developing. "What is it?" He hands me back the frame and etched into it in small cursive lettering are the lyrics 'you hit me like a tidal wave.' I plop down onto his bed and cradle the frame next to my heart.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. It's a text from Hannah saying, she doesn't know that you are my best friend. She's still over here plotting some major s**t.

Still? What does she mean still?

"Where is that sound coming from?" Tim inquires, searching different corners of the room.

"It might be Alex's Xbox," I tell him.

I get up to turn off Alex's Xbox that has been left running. I hear the beeping noise coming from the same spot, yet I don't see anything upon first glance. I reach my hand to the back of the nook under his Xbox and pull out a small, black, Kodak camera. The battery is almost dead, that explains the beeping. The gallery comes up with only one video on it: me and Alex. I click on it and there I am, on top of him, fully unclothed and intimate. It's only about fifteen seconds long and there is no sound so it shuts off fairly quickly. At the end of the video the screen fades to black. The camera dies. It slips from my hands, clattering to the wooden floor.

"Are you okay? What was on the camera?" Tim says, picking it up from the ground.

"A video of Alex and I having sex..." I drone. "Dad was right," I say, "Alex lied to me."

"Hold up a minute, how do you know it was him? And did you forget what I do for a living, Becca?" he asks, pointing to the screen of the camera.

"Oh my God, Becca..." Vi comes over to hug me.

"He's going to be the one who is sorry -"

"How the hell did you all get into my apartment?" Alex asks. He's paused in the doorway with a suitcase handle in his hand. Does he not notice the mess? Alex is dressed in dark grey dress slacks, and a white dress shirt - his black tie is undone around his neck - the top four buttons are loose with his sleeves rolled up. "Hello?"

"Becca?" Vi encourages, her hand on my back.

Tim steps forward as my brain shuts down. "I'm sorry man. We originally brought Becca here to see you, but we knocked on the door and it was unlocked and cracked open so Becca decided to go all inspector gadget on us. And...we also found this." Alex smirks and takes the camera from Tim.

"What is this is and how did you find it? This isn't mine." So he didn't film us?

"Becca found it underneath your TV stand, tucked in the back of one of your shelves. There's a video on it of you two... you know." Alex nods. "Do you have any idea who it belongs to?"

"I think I have an idea..." He steps from the room and returns a few minutes later. "Can I speak to Becca alone, please?"

Tim and Vi both nod and exit the room. Alex moves his suitcase out of the path to his bed and takes my hand, bringing me with him to take a seat on it.

My eyes are trained on his wooden floor. He tucks a hand under my chin, turning my head to face him.

"Talk to me," he says in a voice barely above a whisper. I don't know what to talk about first: him not calling, or how Laura played him like an Nintendo. I'll go with light conversation first.

"Why didn't you call? I know my dad told you not to... but you told me that no matter what you still would," tears prick my eyes, my throat closes up, making my voice hoarse.

"The second day after we hung up I lost my phone at work. I was so distracted by thoughts of you and not being near you that I think I misplaced it." He pulls from his pocket a new Samsung Galaxy Note 4, displaying it to me. There's a manufactured screen protector still on it. He didn't lie about that. "See, just got it from the store not too long ago."

"I see. Why are you so dressed up?"

"I flew down to Fort Lauderdale for a last minute interview," he smiles at me. "I got a new job as head chef at Aqualina Resort and Spa, it's right on the beach. They pretty much hired me on the spot." A new job? In Florida? His lips twist into a smile again and he takes my hand. "I'll be getting paid double my salary and they are paying for my place of residence."

"So you're leaving...in two weeks?" his grip on my hand tightens.

"A month," he answers. "This is why I'm telling you Becca...I want you to come with me, we can both start over somewhere different. I know how much you love it in Florida."

"I-I...what?" I stutter, shaking my head, searching my brain for the right set of words." But what about your dad, your family, my family, my internship?"

"I explained to them that my father was sick, they are going to allow me to fly down every weekend. They also have an Art Institute not far from the place I picked out. But you'll have to talk to your family about all of this of course."

I don't say anything.

"Becca, it would be crazy for me to pass this up. The benefits are out of this world and they are the best out there."

"I've heard of them," I nod, voice emotionless. "Seen and been to them actually, but I can't go. I still have issues that need to be worked out here."

His head falls and he nods. "I understand."

"I want you to go, and do this for you... but I also I want you to stay. I feel like such an asshole for being mad at you over nothing." I wipe away the tear that has swept down my cheek - sniffling.

He looks at me, drawing his eyes closed slightly. "Babe, I'm the asshole for not trying to call you. Please stop crying, I can't stand seeing you cry." He touches my cheek, using his thumb to wipe away the second tear that's falling. "Can you just smile for me, once?"

I muster up the biggest smile I can manage. It's not a very big one - not quite reaching my eyes and barely my lips. He leans over and kisses my lips gently. "Alex, I...nevermind." I shake the thought from my mind, willing for it to disappear. It's too soon, it's way too soon.

"What is it?"

"Nothing." I turn away from him.

"Becca...if you were going to say I love you, I love you too. I've been falling for you everyday since the day we met." I whip my head back around so fast I almost end up giving myself whiplash. I hold the aching spot on my neck.

"You-you love me?" my voice trails off. I'm now grinning so widely that my jaw is hurting.

"Yes," Alex chuckles lightly. "I love you, Rebecca Anne Daniels. This whole week away from you has showed me how much I miss you, need you, love you. It also gave me enough time to apologize to all the people I've hurt, mainly Chase. I have forgiven him." I search his eyes for the truth and I find it. He loves me, this man loves me and I have no idea what I did to deserve him.

I also didn't know he felt this way. Yet in a way, I sort of did, by his actions. You can show someone how much you love them better than you can tell them. However, hearing those three words out loud made my heart leap.

I have been falling for him too, secretly. I've just been too afraid to admit it to myself. All that time spent butting heads and bickering could have been spent with each other, falling more in love than we are now.

I climb into his lap, wrapping myself around him. "I love you too." I sit up, taking his face in my hands. "And I'm glad you apologized to Chase, but I also need to tell you something."

"If it's about him not being the cause, I know."

"Not exactly." I shake my head. "I was at Hannah's job earlier and Laura showed up. You know what," I raise my index finger, "hold on."

****

Alex's POV

Becca climbs from my lap and leaves the room. Her auburn hair is an unruly mess of soft curls tucked into a bun. The grey sweatpants and powder blue hoodie she showed up in made her look adorable. But underneath that adorable exterior was a woman who was hurt...by me.

There are dark circles under her eyes, clues that she has barely slept a wink in I'd say days. She has a hint of alcohol floating off of her clothing.

Who the hell let her leave the house in this condition?

I've missed her so much - her signature scent of honey and lavender. I never want to be away from her for that long. Though sadly I will be soon. I want her to come with me to Fort Lauderdale in a month. I don't want to leave here without her by my side. It'll be too hard for both of us. I'll leave her for f*****g weeks on end and then end up with not even a day to split between her and my father on the weekends. It just won't be possible.

Becca comes back in with Tim and Vi. He hands her his phone and she hands that phone to me. "What am I doing with this?" I question, letting the phone rest in my palm.

"Press the play button on the voice recording," she responds, padding over to sit next to me.

I do as she says and press the black play button. I pick up chatter and then Becca's angered voice. I hate what I'm hearing - bits and pieces of her and Laura's heated argument. One part specifically stands out the most.

"...did you even plan on telling Alex? Did you even love him at all?" Becca asked.

"To tell you the truth, I did love him, to an extent...at one point. But I quickly became bored and I warned him of this several times. He kept insisting on us trying to "work things out." Laura paused. "I figured the only way to have an out was to give him the illusion that I cheated. Alex was a very needy man back then. And now I want him back since it appears he has grown some balls."

I remember Laura telling me that she didn't want to be in the relationship anymore and to stop trying to make something that won't happen, happen.

She frankly is the definition of a true b***h. I'm not usually one to derogatively call a women out of her name...right now, I could care less. She is nothing to me anymore, she is the scum of the f*****g earth as far as I'm concerned.

I don't even know why I felt like I owed her anything when her grandfather died. I worked there to help her out when she was down. We built that business from the ground up: business plans, menu selections, everything. She was just using me obviously. Does she truly believe she can manipulate and control me? She needs to f*****g guess again.

"Can you call Hannah and ask if she's still there." I request of Becca, walking to my walk-in closet, closing the door and changing into some jeans and a black hoodie.

"She's still there," Becca informs me when exit the closet. Her cellphone is still at her ear and she's frantic now, eyes wide and showcasing worry. I grab my keys and wallet, heading for the front door.

"Good. Have her stall Laura until I get there."

"Where are you going?!" Her voice calls to my turned back. I still my fast paced walking, causing her to bump into my back.

"I'm going to that salon. I suggest you not ride with me, I'll be driving very illegally and I know you hate when I speed."

"I'll close my eyes."

"Alright."

****

"Alex, Becca, family. What are you all doing here again?" she rolls her eyes and hands Hannah a fifty dollar bill. Hannah snatches the money from her.

"Can you come outside, please? I'd rather not make a scene in Hannah's place of work." she turns to Hannah, mouth falling open.

"At least your hair will look great at your funeral," Hannah says, face serious as she deposits the cash into the register. She flips her off before walking out ahead of me.

Laura is standing on the sidewalk now, arms folded over her chest, tapping her heel impatiently on the ground. "What do you want, Alex? I have some place to be."

"What I want is for you to leave Becca out of your twisted, mind games. You know just as well as I do that I didn't tell you s**t about what happened to her." she takes a few slow steps in my direction. "We know that, but she doesn't."

"Who the f**k told you?"

"Her father. He came by one day while you were off and told me everything. Told me she wouldn't be returning because of it. I acted like I cared, he caved, simple."

I shake my head. "I'm guessing you're the one who recorded the video inside my apartment too?"

"I did. You never took back the spare key."

"That's because I didn't think you would turn around and pull some s**t like this."

"Relax Alex." She runs her plum colored fingernails down my chest, trailing them back up again.

I blink down to her hand. "Get your f*****g hands off me, and delete the video. If you don't I'll make sure to shut down that business, leaving you with not a penny to your name after we sue you for everything you're worth." Not really, I don't want her money, she can keep the s**t.

"You wouldn't." She shakes her head, backing away slowly. Her expression turns to one of horror. "That's the only part of my grandfather I have left!"

"What would your grandfather think?" I know it's wrong to use her deceased grandparent against her, but she's given me no choice in the matter.

“I’ll delete the f*****g video okay! Just please don’t do this.” begging does not look good on her, I must say. It seems only fair she get a taste of her own damn medicine.

I stare at her sideways, I feel not an ounce of remorse for her. “Have a nice life, Laura. And screw the two weeks notice, I quit.”

****

I went back inside after that, informing Becca, her two best friends, and her brother Tim all of what Laura told me. Tim was relieved he wouldn’t have to represent her in court. Hannah and Violet high-fived and then tackle-hugged Becca while she cried. I really do wish she wouldn’t do so much of that, my soul breaks every time she sheds a tear.

I don’t know what the high-fives were for, but I’ll be sure to ask that of her later.

I also left out the part of her father having any involvement, I don’t think she would be able to forgive him if she heard that part of the truth.

Tim and Violet left together, Becca chose to come back to my apartment with me. We took a shower, fixed something small for dinner - cleaned up the kitchen and the mess I made of my room. Shortly after that we laid in bed and watched this week’s Grey’s Anatomy, my guilty pleasure. She fell asleep on my chest halfway through, I stayed awake to watch the ending...and to watch her fall asleep. I only have 30 more days of this, I want to make sure I don't miss another day of her. "I love you," I whisper, closing my eyes and drifting off.