No Strings Attached

Chapter Twenty Two

Why had she not started crying yet? Alex pondered over the question as she finally arrived at Jason's home. She opened the door using the spare key she'd been given and stopped to think. When she found out that Jonathan had been cheating, she'd cried there and then, continuing to cry for days and weeks beyond. It had been over 15 minutes since she'd seen Jason and Zara kiss and yet there were no tears. Absolutely none. At least not yet. Had his actions hurt her so much that even her tear ducts were numb?

Alex didn't know, but the moment she walked into the living room, she halted. They'd slept on the sofa last night after a passionate night together where she had repeatedly professed her love for him, only to get responses like; 'Show me how much' and 'Damn, you're amazing!' back. All she'd wanted was an 'I love you' back but even without one, she'd gone to bed a happy woman. But the sight of the neatly folded quilt and her neatly folded clothes did nothing to continue her anger to Jason. Instead it made her think about how much she really did love him.

She didn't understand.

Everything had been going so great! And he'd told her that Zara didn't stand a chance compared to her! What a bunch of lies. Every time she shut her eyes now, all she could see was the man she loved kissing the woman who took his virginity and possibly the only woman he's ever said I love you to.

Zara had that. And that was probably the main thing that had made Alex jealous of the seductive Bajan. The fact that at one point, Jason had said he loved her. Alex didn't have that. And the mere thought that she never would made her heart ache. She didn't know what she was going to do. When she witnessed the act of betrayal all she'd wanted to do was leave the house and just get some time alone but now, walking through the entire house that smelt like him, reminded her of him and held beautiful memories of him, she realised she needed to get even further away. She wasn't going to ignore the feeling that still resided in her gut.

She had to see Alexis.

And if her mother was still in Chicago then she'd talk to her too. They'd talk together and not about Jason, because Jason Arden was a subject that she'd need to handle alone, but they'd talk about Adrian Campbell. Her father.

She felt her phone vibrate and nearly jumped. For the past 10 minutes it had just been the click of her heels and her thoughts. She hadn't really left her phone, she'd just needed an excuse so that they wouldn't suspect anything. Bringing it out, she saw that it was a call from Jason. Almost immediately, her finger pressed the ignore button. She sighed at her background and shook her head. Then the device vibrated again, this time with a text message.

'Are u on ur way back yet? x'

'x' Alex chuckled bitterly at the kiss he'd sent at the end, even though a kiss was what possibly could be ending their relationship. She wasn't even sure what she was going to do at that moment. Deciding to ignore that as well, Alex decided that she was definitely going back to Chicago now and calculated that she had at least 12 minutes to pack and be gone before Jason arrived to come look for her.

She was happy that she'd packed lightly because it hadn't taken her long to be packed and ready. She'd booked the first flight out of Barbados and had already decided she'd take Jason's rental car.

She drove like a maniac to reach the airport, checking her rear view just to make sure that Jason wasn't near. She just didn't want to see him because if she did, she would break down crying and lose control. She retrieved her ticket and went to sit down. She'd called Mya telling her that she was coming back and she needed her to be at the airport at 5am. Mya had yelled and asked what the hell happened but nevertheless promised her best friend that she'd be there.

Alex tapped her foot impatiently as she waited for her flight. Jason was a smart man and so she knew that it wouldn't take long for him to not only realise that she'd gone, but to also work out that she was at the airport. The one thing she knew he wouldn't guess was why she was leaving early.

'Flight 6021 to O'Hare-." She didn't even wait for the announcement to finish. Instead, she bounced up and headed for her plane.

"ALEX!" Oh shit. She knew who it was. Of course she did, the hairs on the back of her neck had stood up and her pulse had accelerated. "Where are you going?" Slowly, she turned. Instantly, she could feel the hourglass of her sanity and strength finishing. Jason was being held back by security and it looked as if since he hadn't been allowed passed check-in, he'd resorted to yelling. "Baby! Where. Are. You. Going?" He shouted exasperatedly. Had he ran all the way here? Her question was answered when she saw Travis and Garrett walk towards him and try to calm him down. "Look man, that's my woman, can you please let me through? I have to know where the hell she's going!" That probably wasn't the right move as the strong men only held him back tighter. By now, they'd drawn in a crowd and everyone was staring at the man who was being denied entrance to talk to the woman who looked like a deer caught in headlights. The more she didn't reply to him, the angrier he got. "Alex, our flight isn't until tomorrow, so what are you doing?!" Alex's mouth flew open to answer even though she wasn't sure what would come out.

"Is she here?" Zara. Fucking Zara. The slut Zara. The bitch who'd kissed her man Zara had asked the question. Where had she come from? Alex had to resist the urge to drop her bags and jump over check-in to wring the hoe's neck.

Jason angrily rotated to face the woman and Alex used the opportunity of everyone focusing on Zara to run. "Why the fuck are you here?! I thought I made it clear that you were to stay away from Alex and I." Dismissing her with a disgusted look, he turned back around only to find Alex gone. This time with more force, he tried to push through but to no avail.

What could have made her go? He'd seen the look in her eyes and he hadn't recognised it. Her facial expression screamed that she was hurt and distraught but her eyes... Her eyes were unmistakably blank. She'd never looked at him blankly. Even when she'd ever looked at him in anger or annoyance, she'd never looked at him blankly. "Garrett, what did you say she said when she left?"

"Well she came down the stairs looking as if she had seen a ghost and then she told us she forgot her phone and she was going to get it."

That made no sense. She'd came down the stairs looking as if she had seen a ghost? Well what could have made her... It suddenly dawned on Jason.

She had seen the kiss.

She saw the kiss and decided to leave. He had to explain it to her. "When's your next flight?" He asked as the woman behind the desk typed.

"Tomorrow morning at 11." Jason cursed. That was the flight he already had tickets to.

He was going to explain it to her and she would listen because there was no way in hell that she was leaving him. He loved her too much to let her walk away that easily.