Chapter 13

Friday morning and Jack was gone, I felt cold and alone. There were clouds outside so I took a warm bath, and called to have breakfast brought up. I didn't want to face whoever was downstairs waiting for me. I spent my morning texting people back letting them know I would be home soon and my vacation was going well. I even got a message from Casey asking me to call her, that she had news to tell me. I hit the call button and waited for her to answer, "Hello? Whitney?" She called. "Yeah, what's up?" I asked not really interested. "Where are you?" She questioned. "I'm on vacation," I answered. "Your office told me that. Where at?" She pushed. "What's the news, Casey," I managed to try and keep it professional. I owed nothing to her or her parents, after all that's happened. "I think we should meet in person," she told me. "I'm not coming home till next week, just tell me," I urged. "I wanted to tell you Alicia had a baby a year ago," Casey began. "Who's Alicia?" I asked. "Caleb's girlfriend," She answered. "It couldn't have been Caleb's," I said almost laughing. "I finally convinced her to do a DNA test a month ago, and we got the results back last week," she told me. "Why are you doing this?" I asked her. "What do you mean?" She questioned back. "Do you enjoy pointing out that I didn't know him? Maybe I wasn't good enough for him?" I almost screamed. "Whitney, I just thought you should hear it from me, before you hear it from someone else," Casey defended. "No Casey, you are doing this to hurt me. Chicago is a big place I wouldn't have found out," I yelled and hung up. I paced my room till a knock at the door stopped me. It was my breakfast, Miguel brought it in, "Are you ok, Miss Clark?" He asked searching me confused. "I'll be fine, thank you," I tried to force a smile as tears found their way out of my eyes. He nodded and walked out, I was alone with my thoughts and my food.

I grabbed the blanket and wrapped myself up and opened my balcony doors and sat on the chair watching the ocean. It was chilly but I didn't really notice. I sat there trying to do the math in my head, if her baby is a year old the she was pregnant when the accident happened. Did she know then? Was that what the lawsuit was really about? I don't blame her, she probably thought Caleb would leave me and she would have his money, now she has to think about her kid. Did Caleb know? Was he planning on leaving me? How could I have been this stupid? Caleb had a whole other life and I assumed everything was fine. We weren't perfect but we seemed happy unlike what Casey thought. I sat there starring out at the ocean and impending storm approaching but I was numb completely numb. Then I began to think maybe moving back to Ohio would be best. My phone started ringing again, I pulled myself up and looked at it, Barbara. No doubt calling to rub it all in, I turned off the phone. I wanted to smash it into oblivion.

I went back to my perch on the balcony and back to the questions. I lived a life that was a complete lie. There was another knock on the door, Miguel walked in and saw the untouched food and me staring off at the ocean. "Miss Clark, it's beginning to rain," he called. I didn't move, "Miss Clark," he called again. I slowly turned my head and stared at him empty, "It's beginning to rain," he repeated. I turned back looking out again and felt a few drops hit me. He walked out to the balcony, "Miss, are you feeling ill?" He asked. I looked up at him, "No," I murmured shaking my head. "Are you ok?" He asked. I shook my head again as the tears flowed. Miguel helped me up and brought the chair inside my room and shut the doors to the balcony, "Don't go back out there, it's too cold," he told me as he sat me back in the chair. He took the breakfast out, he probably wasn't prepared to deal with someone who had gotten horrible news.

After a few hours Madame showed up in my room, "What happened?" she asked her voice and accent soft. I turned and looked at her, it was the first time I had actually looked at her. Her hair was braided today and her hazel eyes made her skin look more tan. She looked to be in her mid 60's, this was a different side of her. "Did you get bad news?" She asked. I nodded, "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked. I turned back to the ocean, "His girlfriend has a baby," I squeaked out, still staring at the ocean. She took a deep breath and let it out, "Whitney, you've made such progress here," she told me. I didn't say anything, just stared off into the horizon. "Do you know why I made this place?" She asked. Ok, she wanted to engage, I'll engage, "Yeah, so people could fuck their way into feeling happy," I answered. She smiled, "Well no, sex alone isn't going to make you feel better. The attention that someone cares, helps you care. The yoga classes, the dinners, the girls days, even the special drinks at cocktail hour all shows you someone cares about you. Once you feel someone cares, you begin to care. What you do or don't do with the escorts is completely up to each individual," she explained. She took another deep breath, "My husband left me Whitney, I had a miscarriage and after he blamed me, he left me for a child bride," she shared. I looked at her in surprise, this revelation made her more human, "Well, I thought eighteen was a child," she shrugged. I smiled, "And then I had a friend, who showed me someone cared. It was simple bringing my favorite espresso, then inviting me to my favorite lunch place. The slow build of care made me realize I was still cared for and I needed to care about myself," she finished. I paused, she was right, I had people who cared about me. I was making progress and I couldn't let this take me completely back into the grief. "I think I just need some time," I whispered. She nodded put her hand on my shoulder, "If you need anything, I'll be in my office," she offered, before leaving. After awhile I forced myself up, pulled out my ripped tight black jeans again and the one sweater I brought. I threw my hair up in a messy bun and asked Miguel to get me a car to town.

The car dropped me off at one of the shops and I walked around, trying to take my mind off everything. I found a souvenir for Beth a small ankle bracelet and a shot glass. I walked around just looking, and walked to the next shop. After about an hour walking through the small town, I climbed back in the car and headed back. The rain had stopped and the air smelled fresh, I had always loved the smell after the rain. I took the things up to my room, and there sat Jack on my bed, head in his hand. He looked up when I shut the door, "Where were you?" He asked softly. "I went into town," I answered setting my bag on the desk. "Where did you go?" I asked. "I left to shower and waited for you at breakfast," he replied. "I thought I was being given a new escort," I stated leaning up against the wall, still a little hurt. He furrowed his brow, "Where did you hear that?" He asked. "Madame told you that, didn't she?" I asked. He walked towards me, "Did she tell you that?" He questioned. "I was outside the door," I answered. He stopped where he was, I walked past him into the bathroom and turned on the shower, I wanted a warm shower before dinner. "How much did you hear?" He asked standing in the door way of the bathroom. "I heard somethings weren't in the contract and she was going to give me a new escort," I told him as I took off my clothes. "That's not… I told her what you had said about Roman," he explained. I nodded and walked into the shower. The hot water was a warm welcome on my cool skin, I stood there letting the water pour over me, washing away the bad day. I heard the door open and close, I felt him behind me kissing my shoulder. "You can't fix everything with sex," I said as his hands slid across my wet body. He didn't say anything, his finger found my sweet spot and I put my hands on the glass to brace myself. His fingers gently exploring me, the more he did the wetter I became, until he with drew his fingers. I opened my eyes and turned wondering what was happening.

Jack grabbed my hand and pulled me over to the bench, he sat down and pulled me, lowering me on him. I shut my eyes and inhaled as he slipped into me, the instant pleasure I felt as his penis parted me. My legs behind him, he lifted me up slightly and lowered me back down. I wrapped my arms around his neck as we kissed, then I rested my forehead on his as he continued to slowly lift and lower me, I started panting. Jack kissed my neck and a moan escaped me. Then suddenly he stood planted his feet on the ground and pushed me into the wall and picked up his pace. The more I moaned the harder he slammed until I spiraled into a climax, "Jack," I called out amid moans. It wasn't long before he stilled, his head on my forehead and breathing ragged as he climaxed. He kissed me, madly with passion like he couldn't get enough of me. Then he turned off the water and wrapped me up in a towel and took me into my bed where we laid till dinner.