“You will never know how sorry I am,” Alex insisted.
“Oh, believe me, I know how sorry you are,” Timber replied, hoping that he had caught on to what she really meant by that.
Weeks had passed since Alex’s return from Australia, and he’d refused to stop contacting her. He had resorted to calling and texting and emailing constantly, begging her to hear him out. When she received the tenth floral arrangement in one week, she finally took his call.
“Those women didn’t mean anything to me, Timber. Don’t you know that? You’re the only woman who matters. There was nothing going on with any of them. We were just friends, and being seen together for publicity!”
“Alex, do you really expect me to believe that? I saw the pictures. You and those women seemed to be way more than just friends. And what about Alana? The woman who answered your hotel room phone and couldn’t seem to stop using your razor?”
“The water had gotten shut off in her room! That’s the only reason she was there. And we were waiting on our call time, so she answered the phone thinking it was a production assistant, calling to let us know that the director was ready for us.”
“Oh, you’re good.” Timber smirked, shaking her head in utter disbelief. “Well what about Sasha? You claimed to not even really know her when we saw her at the listening party.”
“Sasha? Please….” Alex said condescendingly. “That was nothing. I ran into her when I was out at an event, and we just so happened to get photographed together. That’s it. But blogs are messy and thrive on gossip and drama, whether it’s true or not. That’s how they grow their traffic and get paid. You know how the game is played.”
“Alex, I don’t believe anything you’re saying to me right now,” Timber said firmly. “The bottom line is you made a promise to me to be monogamous and you broke that. I can’t be with a man who I can’t trust.”
“Timber, I’m telling you. You can trust me. I haven’t done anything but love you and only you since we started dating. And you should know that I haven’t been seeing anyone since you left me. All of my time and energy has gone into getting you back.”
“Well you’re wasting your time and energy, because that’s not going to happen,” Timber said coolly as she emailed an updated ingredients list for her professional line of products over to the manufacturer’s lab.
Timber was so pleased with the progress that she was making in the opening of the Soothing Bliss store and spa. The furniture and equipment that she’d ordered had arrived earlier that week. The manufacturer was ready to ship out the first round of products that she’d be selling in the store. And construction plans were already underway for the spa area, which would start off with updated manicure and pedicure stations, then move on to adding facial and massage areas.
“Are you listening to me?” Alex asked as Timber heard her doorbell ring.
“Not really,” she said, running upstairs.
“Timber…I love you,” Alex uttered almost inaudibly.
She chose to ignore that last statement and looked through the peephole to see who was at the door, expecting it to be a delivery service. It wasn’t. It was Alex, standing there with a pitiful look on his face and a bouquet of orchids in his hand.
“What are you doing here?” Timber said into the phone.
“Can I please come in?”
“Why?”
“Because I need to see you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m going crazy, Timber. I need you in my life. You can’t do this to me. Please let me in. Please?” Alex begged.
Timber threw open the door. “The only reason I’m letting you in is because you’re embarrassing me in front of my neighbors.”
“Thank you.” Alex sniffled as he walked in and looked around. “I really miss being here. But more than that, I really miss you.” He attempted to hug her, but she took a step back.
“Wow, am I that bad?” Alex asked with pain in his voice.
“Yes, you are. Now will you please—”
“Wait,” Alex interrupted, his eyes squinting as he glared at Timber suspiciously. “This is about that Barry guy, isn’t it? You’re seeing him again, aren’t you?”
“First of all, his name is Brian.”
“Whatever his name is—”
“Secondly,” she interjected, “It isn’t any of your business who I’m seeing. So again I ask, will you please leave?”
“Come on, Timber. You don’t want to do this. Don’t you know how much I love you? I wouldn’t be going through all of this if I didn’t. And I definitely wouldn’t have made the effort to be the driving force behind you opening the Soothing Bliss store if I didn’t.”
“I’m sorry,” Timber said as her head spun from Alex’s claim. “Excuse me?”
“What?” Alex asked confusingly. “You do know that if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have had the courage or the motivation to open the store.”
“Alex, are you being serious right now? I’m the one who shared with you the news that I wanted to move Soothing Bliss into a commercial space back when we first met.”
“The thought may have come and gone, but it never would have come to fruition without me.”
“How is that, Alex? You had nothing to do with it. You’ve never even helped me. Not once. All you did was make me feel like I wasn’t good enough for you without the store!” Timber said, her voice rising.
“Whoa, hey, whatever you say,” Alex said, moving in closer. “Look, I didn’t come here to argue about your company. I came here to tell you how much I love you and—”
“Get out,” Timber interrupted.
“What?”
“You heard me. Get. Out.”
“Do you have any idea who I am and what you’re doing?”
“I know exactly who you are, which explains exactly what I’m doing,” Timber said as she opened the door.
“You’re going to regret this,” Alex told her, walking out slowly. “And when you come running back to me, I can’t guarantee that I’ll be willing to take you back.”
“Goodbye, Alex,” Timber said before slamming the door behind him.