You'll never have me

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

"Hi."
The door opened and a very surprised looking face stared at me.
"Mira..hi. What happened to you?"
"Can I come in?", I asked hesitatingly.
"Yes, of course, but what happened to you? Was it Max?", Jerry asked as he let me in.
"What? No. No, or yes."
I heaved a sigh while I walked into his living room, trying not to cry.
"If Max did that to you then he ain't the man I thought he was", Jerry said walking up behind me. "Let me look at your face."
"What? No."
Jerry looked at me quizzically. "Baby girl, you confusing me right now. What's going on?"
My teary eyes found his and he immediately sat down next to me, holding my hands and let me lean on his shoulder.
"Ssshhh, baby girl. It's gonna be okay. Uncle Jerry is here", he said rocking me.
Through my tears a laugh appeared and a weird sound escaped from my mouth. Jerry would always say 'Uncle Jerry is here' when I am upset to lighten the mood a bit. And to be honest it worked, it always worked.
"Now, calm your tiny ass down and tell me what happened. I will make us some tea in the meantime."
I was still sobbing when Jerry came back with the tea.
He pulled out some tissues from the box he held and handed them to me.
"Dry them pretty eyes", he said. "Now what is going on?"
"It's all such a mess, Jerry. Such a big mess."
"What is? And who done that to you now, huh?" He pointed at my cheek.
"Was it Max?"
I looked at him and said; "No. No! He would never lay a hand on me."
A sigh that seemed to come from my toes escaped my mouth, before I continued.
"It was my dad."
"What? Why?"
So I told him what happened and how Max had been taking care of me.
"I knew your dad was, well you know, not an easy man, but I would not take him for someone who would slap his daughter."
Jerry was quiet for a moment. I could see he felt sorry for me and what had happened.
"You didn't just came by for this, there is more. Isn't there?"
I nodded.
"It's Claire and Max." My eyes lowered when I spoke those words.
"I knew that girl was trouble. I knew it."
"She works for him now and he didn't even tell me!"
"How did you find out?"
I sipped from my tea. The cup was a nice warm welcome for my hands who had been cold all this time.
"You know my boss is doing business with him right?"
He nodded.
"Well, I had to call him today and when I reached his secretary, I heard a voice in the background just before she put me on hold. At first I didn't realise who it was, but it didn't take me long. So when his secretary put me through I finally asked him and he confirmed."
"What did you do?", he asked.
"Nothing. I couldn't do anything since I was at work and I needed to stay professional. I mean what could I do? Scre-"
The doorbell interrupted me.
"Hold on. I have to see who it is."
Jerry got up and made his way to the door.
"Who is it?"
"Max."
He turned around and looked at me, holding his hand up as a sign to what he should do. I signed back to him waving my hands and mimicking I wasn't there.
"What do you want?", Jerry asked without opening the door.
"Can you please open the door?"
Jerry opened the door with the security lock on, so it was just a small crack.
"Is Mira here?", Max asked. He tried to look inside, but Jerry stood in front of the small crack so that he could not see me.
"No. Why?"
"I really need to speak to her."
"I'm sorry Max but I can't help you." Jerry was ready to close the door.
"I know she's here. I followed her cab", Max said persistently.
"Look Max, I don't know what's going on, but Mira doesn't want to see you or talk to you. I think you should leave."
"Could you tell her that I need to speak to her and that it's all a misunderstanding?", his voice sounded desperate.
"I will. Goodnight."
He then shut the door.
"Why did he follow you?", Jerry walking back to the living room.
"He was waiting for me outside. He had dropped me off this morning. I think he wanted to bring me home and also talk about Claire."
"I'm guessing you didn't want to talk to him."
I shook my head and sipped my tea.
"Mira, I have said it before but I don't trust Claire. I never did. Eddie and I have talked about this whole situation a lot and we really think she wants him back. She doesn't care if you are with him or whoever he is dating."
My thoughts had wandered off a bit. I didn't want to believe my best friend would do something like that.
Then we heard keys going in the lock and the door opened, Eddie was home.
"You never know who I ran into in the parking lot", he said, hanging his coat on the coat rack.
"Max."
Eddie's head turned towards Jerry and then he pinned his eyes on me.
"Mira, hi!"
His face lit up and a big smile formed on his face. He walked up to us and kissed Jerry.
"Hi baby", they simultaneously said.
"Do you want some tea too?", Jerry asked.
"Yes, sure."
Jerry got up to make more tea and Eddie crashed down on the couch next to me.
"What happened to you and why was Max here? Did he do this to you sweetie?"
I laughed "No, it was not Max. It was my dad. Max did came here for me though."
So I explained the whole situation to him. Unlike his partner, Eddie just nodded in understanding here and there, he wasn't as vocal with his reactions. He was a bit more calming, that's what made them the perfect couple to me. They sometimes were the complete opposite, but they complimented each other in this way.
"...so that's the story and why Max was at your door."
"Are you sure you don't want to talk to him? I mean maybe he has a good explanation for all of this. You should give him the chance to tell his side", Eddie put his hand on my knee and tapped it softly.
"No, if he didn't want things to work out this way, he could have told her that Claire would start working for him. He's the Goddamn CEO there, Ed!"
While Jerry was expressing his displeasure he poured us all another cup of tea.
"I don't think the CEO knows about all the people getting hired", Eddie calmly spoke. Then he looked at me, I stared at the damp coming from my tea glass.
"Mira, what do you think? What do you want?", Eddie asked.
"I don't know", I whispered. "But I do have a question though."
Eddie and Jerry exchanged looks.
"Ask away."
"Can you tell me anything about Max and how he was before I lived here? I mean there must have been things in the news about him, right?"
Again the two exchanged looks.
"Sweetie, are you sure you want to hear about that?", Jerry asked concerned.
"Yes, I want to know how he was. I mean he has told me things, but he isn't very keen on talking about his past", I said to them.
"And I can understand why. He wasn't the man you know now, Mira. He was actually a jerk", Jerry said.
Eddie shot him a glare and Jerry mimicked 'what'.
"Jerry isn't wrong. Max was a real womanizer. If he wasn't getting drunk he was always with women, sometimes, or mostly at the same time. His whole divorce was a big thing back then. I don't know if he told you, but just when his company was getting bigger and bigger he and his wife were getting into more and more fights", Eddie said.
"Yes, I know. He told me all of it, but he wasn't very specific about it. Especially his affair with Claire."
"His affair with her was dirty. I don't think you'd really want the details", Jerry spoke.
"Did he love her? Do you guys know that?"
Silence filled the room and I was nervous. He told me he never loved her. That he could never love her the way he loved me. But what if that was all a lie? What if in fact he used to love her? What if he might still have feelings for her?
A tear fell down and soon others followed. I wanted to hold them back, but my emotions were taking over. I just felt so much hurt and pain. It felt like I was never good enough, not for my dad and not for Max.
"Oh, sweetheart", Jerry's voice was filled with compassion.
He came over to the couch and hugged me, just like Eddie did.
"I don't think Max ever loved her. I think he did love his wife though. If he didn't love her he wouldn't have been so lost when she divorced him", Eddie softly spoke.
Meanwhile I was still sobbing, my head resting against Eddie's shoulder.
"Claire was just someone to fill the empty nights, to escape the fights he had with his wife. I don't think they ever went on a serious date. You shouldn't worry about his feelings for her. Maybe he loved the sex he had with her, but again, I don't think he ever loved her as the person she was", Jerry said. "What you do need to worry about is Claire."
"I agree with Jer. I think she still wants him. That she works for him now is a sign."
"You know, that's what I don't understand. She told me a while ago she worked for Max's brother, Raymond. But last week she called me to tell me something but she never did, I think because I said I was busy or something. I can't really remember", I said pensive.
"That really is weird, but you know I think you should talk to Max. Give him the chance to explain what's going on."
"I have to agree with Eddie here, baby. At least let him talk to you. If you don't like what he is saying, you can always let him go", Jerry said.
"Maybe..."
I talked with them a bit about other stuff. I didn't want to think or talk about the whole Max/Claire situation. My mind needed some distraction.
"You know what guys, it's getting late and we all have work in the morning. I think I should go", I said getting up.
"We can't let you go alone. I will bring you", Jerry said getting up too.
"No, honey, you have to get up early tomorrow. I can open up a bit later. You go to bed now", Eddie said to Jerry.
They kissed each other good night, then I kissed Jerry goodnight. I hugged him and thanked him for being there for me.
"Always", he said.
Eddie and I then left and he dropped me off at the parking lot in front of my apartment building.
I waved at Eddie and then I walked up to the door. I was about to open the door when I heard someone say my name.
"You get one warning. Stay away from Max. If you don't you'll see what happens."
I turned around to see who was talking to me. Looking left and right I finally saw a shadow in the street lights.
"Who is there?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. Max is off limits for you."
I walked towards the person who was speaking but by the time I got there they ran away and I didn't feel like going after them.
When I came home I didn't bother for anything but went straight to bed.
Next morning I checked my phone and I saw a bunch of missed calls and texts from Max. I sighed, closed my phone and got ready for work. It was gonna be another long day at work.
Lucky for me I didn't have to contact Max for anything work related. By the end of the day I noticed he had called me numerous times and had left messages on my voicemail.
When the time came to go home it was already late, it must have been around eight p.m, I decided to listen to the advice my friends gave me and I called him.
"Finally. Mira, baby listen", Max started.
"No, wait. I want to talk to you but not over the phone."
"Sure. Where do you want to meet?", he asked.
He sounded desperate.
"I'll come to your place", I said. "I'll be there in a few."
Then I hung up and got to my car.
I pulled up to his driveway and parked my car in front of his door. I got my phone out to send a text to Eddie and Jerry to tell them I was going to talk to Max. I thought they'd want to know I listened to their advice.
I saw I had another text but this one was from Claire.

He girlie. Let's meet sometime this weekend. I told you I had some news.
It's about my new job, but I don't want to tell you through text. Please get back at me. Luv ya xxx