Midsummer's Eve (14 page)

S
even

“O
h, my sweet Jesus! Could
it be? Was it really him
?

“Hey, Eve.”

Yes!
Adam
’s
voice sent a flood of wild emotions, ranging from elation to seething rage, r
acing through me with his sweet
,
sexy
Yankee accent. It was a voice that I had lain awake night after night on a tear soaked pillow waiting to hear and
had
consumed
multiple
bottles of anti-depressant because I wasn’t hearing it. Was it really the man who had gleefully purchased me a one-way ticket to hell
? T
he man who had caused me to question my very existence on this earth?

“
What are you doing home o
n a Saturday night, Eve?”
He
may have
asked the question, but it didn’t sound like he car
ed one way or the other what my
answer might
be.
Couldn’t he at
least sound just a little freaking
happy to be talking to me!

“
I thought you might
be on
a date tonight with our buddy
,
Deebo.”

But wait! Miracle of miracles! Could he be jealous? If so, it was a pathetic attempt at emoting. I took a deep breath, tried to sound as casual as possible under the circumstances, and took the liberty of embelli
shing the truth just a little. “
I have been on a few dates, but nothing serious.” There was total silence on his end, so I took the opportu
nity to question him. “Why aren’
t you with Chia? I was of the opinion that
you two were joined at the hip.”
Shoot
! Now I was the one sounding
jealous and
,
unlike his, my voice carried t
he appropriate depth of emotion.

“
I ended that.” H
e
was falsifying information again
.
“She wasn’
t what I wanted,
Eve
. The girl was trying to get too serious and you, better than anyone else, should know I’m not ready for a
commitment.”

God, he was lying through his teeth
! He wanted to get serious and commit to Chia more than he wanted the winning numbers for the next Mega Million Jackpot. I
about
chewed my tongue
off
to keep from blurting this out. Not ready for commitment my
dimpled
ass!

“
Being with her made me realize what I really wanted.” 

The way he spewed this lie might lead one to believe he was referring to me, when we were
both painfully aware that wasn’
t the case at all.

“Can I come over and talk to you,
Eve
?”

At that mo
ment, I would have given all
my worldly possessions
just
t
o be in his arms. But I wasn’
t blind to the fact that if
Adam
could be anyplace of his choosing right now, it certainly wouldn’t be with me. He would be jo
yously ensconced in Chia’s arms
,
if she
were
n’t already draped across lover boy Eric like a rebel flag
. Somehow the victory wasn’
t as sweet anymore.

“
Sure, come on over.” M
y short-
lived joy
was
being rapidly replaced by miserable defeat.

He was there before I c
ould comb my hair and apply lip
gloss or even consider changing into something sexy.
Not that it
mattered. I swear the man resembled someone who could just as easily have marched in a funeral procession. Still, when I opened
the door
I almost collapsed at the sight of him standing on my threshold
,
just like old times
. Somehow, against all odds, I held myself aloof.

“
C
an I at least have a hug?”
he mumbled
, not seeming overly excited at the prospect, but rather pitiful and disheartened.

“Sure.”
He drew me in
to
his arms and I immediately felt safely home again after a long dangerous journey into the abyss. It felt so right to be back in hi
s arms where I belonged. I didn’
t w
ant to let go. Ever. Why couldn’
t he just love me?

“
I have missed you so much,
Eve
. You don’
t know what I’ve been going through, worrying
that I had lost you forever.”

Not a whole hell of
a lot, I would imagine! “
When did you find time to miss me,
Adam
, when you were spending
every waking moment with Chia?”
Suddenly, thinking back over the months of agonizing pain
he alone had caused
made me angry enough to spit in his adorable face.

“
I was confused,
Eve
.”
Taking my hand, he led me to the sofa
and pulled me down beside him. “I was chasing the wrong dream.”

I’
ll say! How many nights had we sat on this very sofa, when I had erroneously believed the love we felt for each other was equal and would last through eternity?

“
What’
s wrong,
Adam
? You seem fairly depr
essed.”
I was
thrilled to the core that he was feeling exactly as I had months ago. Exactly as Lady Wonder had foretold he would feel, in fact.

“It’
s been a rough couple of days,
Eve
.”
His eyes were red and puffy as if he had actually been crying over the floozy and his poor fingernails, which were in
even worse shape
than mine, h
ad almost been chewed to the nub
.

Well, I just bet it had! What with t
he ever-randy Chia undulating with Eric
on her
waterbed and ignoring both him
and his phone calls. That wasn’
t a good feeling! I should know! He was finally getting a taste of his own medicine and
Mary Poppins
couldn’t make it go down without choking him.

“
I was just thinking about
all the bad choices I’
ve made.”
He put his arm around my shoulder and drew me close until our faces were only inches apart. His breath carried the ever-p
resent fragrance of Budweiser. “
I realize now what a horrible mistake I made,
Eve
. I should never have cheated on you with Chia.”

I pulled away from the suffocating nearness of lips that were begging to be kissed. Not far enough! Scooting forward I perched on the edge of the sofa and absently twiddled my thumbs.

“
I made mistakes in the past,
Eve
. I’
ll be the first to admit it. Would you believe me if I told you that
when I was with her
, I was thinking of you?”

Not no, but hell no!
Great balls of fire! I didn’
t think it was possible for him to ever top some of the outrageous lies he had
told me
. But he just had! I c
ould almost hear Teri’
s outraged reaction when I repeated that lie
to her
. “
You will never know how
much
it pleases me to learn that I crossed your mind during your freq
uent romps with Chia
,
Adam
. But I’m curious.” Now it was my time to twist the knife a little. “What happened? Did you just decide
you didn’
t want to see Chia anymore and break it off with her? Why, it must have br
oken her confused little heart.”

“
Oh, yeah! She cried and screamed and threw a little tantrum, but I ended it with her nonetheless. I just couldn’t take her jealousy and her need to be with me every single day.” He threw his head back on the sofa for emphasis as he tried to persuad
e me of what a trying ordeal her alleged dumping
had been. “To tell you the tru
th, I was getting tired of her.”

Truth? Here we go again! “
Don’
t worry,
Adam
. There are plenty more Asian women at Castle and Avery. She shouldn
’
t be too difficult to replace.”

“
I don't want another Asian woman!”
Adam
turned to me with a maniacal glint shining in his eyes. Good grief, was he on drugs? If so, it was the hard stuff. Talk about a mood swing.
He
seemed as close to slipping over the edge as I had a few weeks earlier. “I want you,
Eve
!”

I realized that I should probably humor him and not agitate him
further unt
il he calmed down, but I’ve never really been a shining examp
le of when to hold ones tongue.”
How can you sit there and lie with a straight face,
Adam
?”
His vast array of untruths was about to cause me to
throw a minor tantrum as well. “You’
re only attracted to Asian women. Neith
er of us can deny that! You can’
t make yourself be attracted to someone
you’
re not. Is sex with them that much bett
er than with an American woman?”

Then he felt the need to eclipse every lie he had ever told
. “
No, actually Chia was pretty boring. She had a tendency to just lie there and make me do all
the work. She’
s not nearly
as exciting in bed as you are.”

The lying bastard! Never had there been born a more compulsive liar! I
didn’
t scream, talk dirty or
perish the thought
take it up the rear. For a split second, I wondered if Chia had found him as boring in bed as I had. Maybe it had taken lover boy Eric to bring out the hidden tigress in her. No,
that wasn’t the case at all. E
ven Lady Wonder had mentioned that’s why
Adam
was so crazy over Chia. T
he fireworks in the bedroom
.

“
I love you,
Eve
.” He
had a
forlorn look in his eyes
that was almost believable
. “Actually, I didn’
t think you would date while we were apart.”

“
No, you didn’
t.” I picked at a nonexistent hangn
ail on a perfectly manicured nail
. “You expected me to sit around, waiting patiently for you to tire of Chia,
and come crawling back.”

He grabbed my nervous hands and clutched them between
his. “
Yeah, something like that.”  H
e
actually h
ad the nerve to confess
it?
He was eithe
r drunk or had been slipped a vial of
truth serum.
“I was wrong,
Eve
.”

“I’
ll say
.”

“
Would y
ou give me another chance?”
With an urgency bordering on desperation he pulled me int
o his arms. “I promise, you won’
t regret it.”

I will admit to you that being in his arms almost caused me to forgive his past d
iscrepancies
.
Never had anything felt more wonderful
!
It felt so good to be
home!
However
,
I was far from convinced as to the au
thenticity of his murmured declarations
of love
.