Blindside

Episode TEN

Author's note: He's crying? O.O Say it isn't so Roni! 

Noah

Shaking off the initial shock, Noah stared at this girl for a moment as her words sunk in. If it wasn't because Noah had always and still had blind faith in Roni, he'd be feeling more than just disgust. There was no way this was true, and it pissed him off that anyone would even suggest it. But understandably his heart had come to a near standstill just hearing the genuinely pained words.

"I'm sure they're together now, but there's no way to track my dad's phone since he turned it off."

"My wife's at home with my—"

He stopped when he remembered Roni's text. Instinct had him reaching for his phone, but he still didn't believe any of it for a second. Of course, Roni's phone went to voicemail, but she did text him and he clicked to read it anxiously.

Sorry I can't talk right now.

Noah closed his eyes, but they flew wide open as he was reminded of the auto-response she'd sent him last night when she'd so uncharacteristically worked late. Now his stupid ass couldn't even remember what her reason for working late had been in the first place.

No way.

There was no fucking way. There had to be a reasonable explanation for that and this—for everything. "Your mom ever see them together or is she just—"

"She confronted them two days ago."

Now he felt the air being sucked out of him, but his heart still refused to believe it. "Where?"

"At his office. Of course, they both denied it, but—"

"She was there for an appointment," Noah said trying to stay calm, but this made him livid. "My son's his patient. Was."

Chloe shook her head even as she continued to wipe away tears. "It's what he tried to tell her, but my mom saw the texts. Why would he be sending photos of himself to her? And she heard him on the phone with her the night before saying he could hardly wait to see her the next day."

Swallowing hard, Noah willed himself to stick with his guns. This had to be some kind of mistake. "What kind of pictures?"

She shook her head. "I don't know I didn't see them. My mom was hysterical when she was telling me most of it, but she said he sent her a picture of himself. Doctors just don't do that. And he snagged the phone away from her when she confronted him about it, so she didn't get to see all of it, but she did see it was to your wife . . . Roni."

Noah shook his head. Twilight Zone. It's what it felt like. Like this might all be some fucked-up dream brought on by the insecurity he hadn't felt in years. His head still didn't know what to make of all this, but he sure as hell wasn't jumping to the same conclusions these two had before he spoke to Roni.

"Look. It took my mom a long time to accept that what she thought she was imagining was true. But she has no choice now—"

"Long time? What are you talking about? My wife didn't even meet your dad until just a few weeks ago."

Now Chloe shook her head in what looked too damn much like sympathy—for Noah. The dejected husband in denial.

"My mom's suspected for months now." Chloe rolled her eyes. "From the stories I've heard over the years, my dad's been doing this kind of stuff for years. My mom admits now that she had some knowledge of his meaningless flings, but with four kids, she wasn't willing to end her marriage for something trivial. I'd also heard him and my uncles on many occasions quip about how it's cheaper to keep her." Chloe huffed in disgust, but her expression fell, and her eyes welled up all over again. "She's afraid he's in love this time because he's never been this blatant before. With us all grown now, she's terrified he's really going to leave her." She tilted her head, wiping tears away. "Has your wife ever—?"