Addicted (A Billionaire Romance Novel) (13 page)

“So you lied to weasel your way into our house? You’re such an asshole Chad. A grade-A asshole! Do you know that?”
 

“Please, Christina, I’m sorry. Will you still let me see Kayla?”
 

She could hear the sincerity in his voice, and for a moment, she felt sorry for him. “Yes, I’ll still let you see Kayla, but I’ll have to meet Audrey before you let her around my daughter. I want to make sure that she’s decent. I’m sure you can understand that, right?”
 

“Of course. And she doesn’t have to meet Kayla right away. I want to make sure that she and I are going to work out—long term—before I allow
Kayla to meet her. I thought that it would be best if I came over and explained all of this face-to-face.”
 

“I appreciate the gesture,” she said rolling her eyes.
 

“Is it okay if I see Kayla for a few minutes before I go?”
 

“You know where she is,” Christina nodded her head towards Kayla’s bedroom.
 

Chad walked down the hall to Kayla’s bedroom and knocked on the door before entering.
 

“What are you doing?” he asked as he flopped onto her bed.
 

“I was drawing you a picture! Here’s you, and Mommy, and me,” she announced proudly.
 

The man and woman were holding hands. Oh, no, she thinks her mom and I are going to get together. I need to set things straight with her too.
 

“Kayla, honey, I have something that I need to tell you,” he said, pulling the little girl onto his lap.
 

“What dad?”
 

“Sometimes grown-ups don’t always get along like you want them to. Right now, I have a girlfriend, and she’s very nice. When the time is right, I’ll let you meet her.”
 

Kayla’s grin disappeared from her face as disappointment set in. “You mean we won’t be a family?”
 

“Not right now, but no matter what, I’ll always be your dad.”
 

A few days later when Chad called to visit with Kayla, Christina said they were busy. When he tried to make plans for later that week, she made excuses as to why she wouldn’t be available. It was apparent that she was giving him the cold shoulder.
 

While Chad was busy trying to make plans to see his daughter, Audrey had her own agenda. Resigning to the fact that Chad had been ignoring her and, of course, hiding something from her, she took matters into her own hands. Confused and hurt by what was going on, she found it difficult to focus on their relationship as well as simple tasks. Her mind raced, thinking about the heroin that was still in her jewelry box. I’m wasting time, she
told herself. I know I want it, and I’m tired of waiting. Tired of waiting for Chad, a decent relationship, marriage, stability…and I’m sick of waiting for a fix. Forget it, I’m not waiting.
 

She stood in front of her jewelry box, mesmerized by it. Rocking back and forth, her fingers became twitchy as she thought about opening the box, and then the small foiled envelope. Trembling, she bit her lip as she lifted the lid of the jewelry chest and removed the ring box. Shaking her head, she opened the foiled packet and painfully stared at it with feverish eyes. With a racing heartbeat, she was sweating profusely as she reached for a lighter to smoke her dope. The tightness and pain in her chest would be relieved in a few short minutes. The bitter, chemical tasted filled her mouth as she inhaled her fist hit and began chasing the dragon. Her body relaxed as she finished off her first envelope.
Suddenly, all of her worries were gone; Chad was no longer a problem.
 

Four days had passed between Chad chasing down Christina in attempts to see his daughter; this is when he noticed that he hadn’t heard from Audrey in three days. It wasn’t like her to not send a text or call him. He felt horrible that he’d forgotten all about her. To make things right, he tried phoning her to see if she’d like to go to dinner. Initially, she didn’t answer. Assuming that she was at work, he stopped by Fast Fuel on his way home, where he learned that it was her day off. Concerned, he tried calling her again when he got back in his truck.
 

“Hello?” she answered.
 

“Audrey? Were you sleeping?”
 

She sounded hazy and groggy when she answered, he felt badly for waking her.
 

“No, I was just sitting here,” she said as she sat up on the couch.
 

“Oh. I was wondering if you’d like to go to dinner tonight. I have something that I have to do real fast, but I can pick you up in about an hour.”
 

“Eh, I don’t feel like eating,” she said, reaching for her aluminum foil to smoke some more dope.
 

“Did you already have dinner?” he asked, looking at his watch. It was only 5 PM.
 

“No, but I haven’t had much of an appetite,” she answered.
 

“Did you want to hang out later?” he offered.
 

“Whatever you want to do,” she said, lying her head on the arm of the couch.
 

“You don’t sound like you want company,” he said, hoping that she would ask him to come over.
 

“I’d rather be alone, actually.”
 

“All right. I guess I’ll go home then. If you change your mind and feel like having company, just let me know.”
 

“Bye,” she said, hanging up the phone.
 

That was different; it wasn’t like Audrey at all, he thought. She always wanted him around. He wondered what had changed. Maybe I’ve put up such a wall that she’s began building a wall of her
own to shut me out, to prevent herself from getting hurt. I’ll give her some space to see if that helps.
 

Chapter Nine
 

After giving Audrey a few days alone and sending her a couple of text messages, nothing had changed. She was still distancing herself away from him and giving him the cold shoulder. Grasping at straws, he decided that it was time to tell her what was going on in his life with Kayla and Christina. Figuring if he let her in on what was going on, she’d be accepting and understanding as to why he’d been putting her off lately. It was his last chance to make things right between them; he didn’t want her to get away again.
 

Since she’d been so evasive, Chad decided to catch her as she was getting off of work. Knowing that she worked the evening shift on Wednesday’s, he headed to Fast Fuel as she was getting off of work. The sight of Audrey shocked him. He’d only
seen her a week ago, but she looked drab. Her eyes were sunken in, her skin looked horrible and her clothes were dirty. Surprised by her appearance, Chad sat in the truck until she exited the front door.
 

“Hey, Audrey!” he shouted, trying to sound cheerful. “I thought I’d come see you.”
 

“Hi,” she weakly replied, tossing a load of dirty rags that were contained in a large, black trash bag into her backseat.
 

“What was that?” Chad asked.
 

“Oh, I need some extra money so Caroline told me that I could do the laundry this week for a few bucks. Haley generally takes them home and washes them, but I’m doing it instead.”
 

“Audrey, if you need money, all you have to do is say something. How much do you need?” he began taking out his wallet.
 

“I don’t want your money, Chad,” she said, shaking her head as she pushed his wallet away.
 

“Listen, I know I’ve been kind of shitty towards you lately, but I’d like to talk,” he looked around. “In private. Can we go back to your place? I’ll keep you company while you do the laundry.”
 

She sighed, “I guess. Follow me to my house,” she said, getting into her car.
 

When they reached Audrey’s house, Chad became nervous as he thought about how she’d react to the news about Kayla. He was scared, his hands were shaky and his throat kept catching. Wiping his sweaty palms on his pant legs, he
carried the large trash bag of dirty rags inside for her.
 

“Just sit them over there,” Audrey said, pointing into the kitchen where her utility closet was.
 

“Can we talk?” Chad asked. It was driving him insane for them to act like total strangers.
 

“About what?” Audrey casually asked as she measured out a cup of soap powder.
 

“There’s some things that I’d like to talk to you about. I’m not sure how you’re going to take them, but hear me out, please.”
 

“I’m listening,” she said, dumping the rags into the washing machine.
 

She’s not going to make this easy, he thought.
 

“Okay. A couple of weeks ago, I was served some court papers at work,” he paused.
 

Audrey shot a wicked glance at him, wondering where this was going.
 

“They were for child support,” he continued.
 

Audrey held her hand in the air as to shut him up as she shook her head. “It was for what?” she demanded.
 

“Child support. Apparently, I have a daughter, and her name is Kayla. I never knew about her until I was served those papers. Believe me, Audrey, I wanted to tell you; I just didn’t know how. I’ve been hiding her from you.”
 

“You’ve been hiding a child from me?” she was shocked, hurt, and angry and confused. “How could you do such a thing?”
 

“Audrey, I know. I wanted to tell you sooner; I really did. I had no idea how you’d react or what you’d think of me,” he said, hanging his head in shame.
 

“You know Chad, you’ve done some pretty fucked up things, but this has to be the lowest. You’re such an asshole! Do you think I’m some kind of monster or something? Jesus! What is wrong with you?” she screamed, stomping her foot on the floor.
 

“Here’s the thing, Audrey, I’m filing for joint custody. I’d like you to be a part of her life….if you want to be,” he carefully added.
 

“Get out! Get out of my house right now! Chad Wetzel, I’ve had enough of you!”
 

“Audrey, please, baby. I’m begging you,” he pleaded with her.
 

“Don’t let the door hit you in the ass!” she yelled at him as she walked down the hall to her bedroom.
 

Not knowing what else to do, Chad stood there for a moment, hoping she’d calm down and come back. After two or three minutes, he felt foolish standing in her living room, so he left. Once he was out in his truck, he sent her a text message begging for forgiveness. She didn’t respond. He sent one final text before driving off.
 

Audrey, I know that I messed up. Please, talk to me. I don’t want this to come between us. I’m sorry.
 

When Audrey received the text, her eyes filled with tears. She was so conflicted. One minute he was ignoring her, and the next he was asking her to help him raise a child. A child that he hid from her. She smirked. He’s sure got some balls, doesn’t he? Why would he spring this on me now? Can’t he tell that I’m a total wreck? Alex’s death anniversary is next week; of course, he probably doesn’t even remember it. I can’t deal with this anymore.
 

Sitting on her bed, she balled herself into a fetal position and began rocking and forth. Seeking another rush, she grabbed her aluminum foil and smack; I just have to get high, she told herself. Reaching for her lighter, she began
lighting up the foil. Inhaling the chemical taste, she could feel herself relaxing again. She continued chasing the dragon until she was too high to smoke any more heroin and drifted off to sleep.
 

The next morning, she awoke to several pleading text messages from Chad and one voicemail. Curious as to what he had to say, she pressed and held the one-key on her phone’s keypad to listen to the recorded message.
 

“Audrey, I’m sorry that I screwed up so bad. Please, forgive me. I didn’t know how to tell you; and even when I did, I was scared. I didn’t think you’d take it so badly. Call me when you get this.”
 

Too little, too late, she thought to herself as she deleted the message. I tried chasing him in college, and it got me nowhere. I’m not doing that
again. Knowing that she didn’t have to be at work until later that night for her graveyard shift, she picked up another envelope of heroin and began smoking it. As her drugs wore off, she felt like crap. Thinking about Alex and his death anniversary was starting to take its toll on her. Chad certainly wasn’t helping matters either.
 

Going into work that night, she thought a lot about Chad; and about Alex. She didn’t know what she was going to do about the situation at hand, but she did know that she was miserable. For a moment, she thought about calling Chad but backed down when she realized that it was almost three in the morning. What would I even say to him right now? She asked herself. I’m not even sure why I still care. He apparently doesn’t care for me. As the night wore on, her anger continued to grow, and it was beginning to test her limits.