Promise Me Always (2 page)

Two red lights later, I heard a buzzing noise and held my breath as my phone jiggled beside me.
That better be Palmer!
I looked at the screen and saw a picture of Jared blowing me a kiss.
Fuck!
What the hell could he possibly have to say to me after what I just caught him doing?! After what I just witnessed, I had nothing to say to him. A few minutes later my phone buzzed again. This time, it was a text from Jared.

Baby I really need to talk 2 u. Plz.

No, thanks
.

I switched my phone off vibrate so I would hear it when my sister
finally
called me back. I threw it down on my passenger seat and just started sobbing again.
How could I be so stupid?

I wiped the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand as I replayed his words from the first time this happened.

“I’m sorry, baby! I will never do it again!”
he had pleaded with me.
“It means nothing, Tess! Nothing! I was just drunk! That’s all, baby.”

I never should have taken him back after that. Even though I was really hesitant, he begged, pleaded, brought me flowers – the whole shebang—for over three months and I finally broke down. He was really convincing; I figured any guy that asked for forgiveness for that long really must be sorry.

Then my phone started to play “Pretty Good at Drinkin’ Beer” by Billy Currington, I knew my sister was finally calling me back. I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Hey,” I answered pathetically.

“Sorry, Tessa—we walked down to the liquor store because we ran out of beer already. I left my phone in the apartment. What’s up?”

“Jared’s what’s up. He did it again, Palmer,” I said, with a crack in my voice.

“That asshat!” Palmer screamed into my ear. I could tell she had already had a lot to drink tonight and I couldn’t help but laugh to myself over her word choice. “Where are you? Do you need someone to come pick you up? Matt is sober and I am sure he wouldn’t mind.”

“No, I’m driving. Just got on the highway. I should be there in about fifteen minutes,” I said, fighting back tears. I knew the moment I saw her I would break down.

“Alright, Tess, I’ll watch for you and meet you in the parking lot so we can talk.” I heard her jostle the phone a bit. “Cole,” she yelled to her boyfriend. “Pour Tess a shot… Yes he did… No, we don’t need to go find him—not yet anyway,” she said, her voice laced with anger. “Tess, we are getting your shots all ready for you, doll,” her attention back on me. “See you in a bit. Love you.”

I hung up and sat the phone back into the cup holder. The tears had finally slowed. Trying to maintain my current mindset, I turned up the radio to distract me.
“Wide Awake” by
Katy Perry was playing.
Isn’t that fitting?

Just that short conversation with Palmer made me feel better. She always had a way of making me calm down. That was her specialty. She was the complete opposite of me in every way, even down to the way we looked. She had long blonde hair that fell halfway down her back and gorgeous hazel eyes that would bring any man to his knees. Standing at six feet tall, she always stood out in any crowd. She had just as much attitude to back up her look, too.

Right before I made it to Palmer’s, I received another text from Jared.

R U home? I’m outside. Plz call me :(

I parked the car and then shot him a quick text back, just so he would leave me alone for the night. I knew I was going to have to talk to him eventually, but I just couldn’t do it yet.

Staying at my sister’s. Don’t come over unless you want your ass kicked.

Hopefully that would keep him away for awhile. He was very persistent. He didn’t give up very easily, even if he knew what he did was wrong. He went after what he wanted and I guess that is part of the reason I fell for him.

As soon as I got out of the car, Palmer’s arms were around me and I broke down—“ugly cry” broke down. Really, I didn’t know why I was crying so hard. It isn’t like this was the first time he did this to me. I should have seen it coming. ‘
Once a cheater always a cheater’
—isn’t that how the saying goes? We had been together for two years the first time it happened. Well, the first time he got caught. I couldn’t help but think back to that night while I cried in Palmer’s arms.

It was early December and the day of his company’s Christmas party. Jared was an executive at his father’s commercial construction company. It was a very large business with over three hundred employees. Jared had just finished college and already had one foot in the door, thanks to his father. Really, I don’t even know why it was so important for Jared to get his degree. His father was going to give him the position whether he had it or not.

The whole day started out perfectly. Jared sent me down to the Hyatt where the party was being held. When I arrived, he had a personal stylist make me over from head to toe. Then, she escorted me to a luxury suite where the most gorgeous gown was waiting for me. It was a strapless, flowing dress in a striking crimson red. It had sequins on every inch of it. It was the perfect dress for an elegant, black tie Christmas party.

He arrived right on time, commenting how beautiful I was and how he couldn’t wait to take me out of my dress later that night. We begrudgingly left our suite and headed down to the ballroom. Everything was just remarkable. His father had gone all out.

There were over four hundred people in attendance and you could hardly tell because the ballroom was so massive. There were four huge Christmas trees in each corner of the giant ballroom. White drapes were lining the walls and the custom lighting effects made it look like snowflakes were falling all around us. It was breathtaking.

Dinner was exceptional. There was a band playing soft classical-style Christmas music the whole time we ate. Jared was being so sweet, too. He whispered the most romantic and naughty things in my ear all throughout the night.

After dinner, we were all escorted into a different ballroom where everything was set up just like a giant high-end lounge. There were white sofas and chairs circling an enormous dance floor. The lighting was a dark blue color and the same snowflakes from dinner were falling all around us—the whole room screamed ‘winter wonderland’. There was a DJ in front of the dance floor getting the party started.

We had been dancing for about an hour when I started to feel ill. I ran to the bathroom and made it just in time to see my whole dinner come up.

When I finished and I had freshened myself up, I opened the rest room door. Jared was standing there, talking to his father’s secretary. Pamela was a short, busty girl with bleach blonde hair. I had met her before and something about her just screamed ‘slut’ to me.

She was obviously drunk, swaying back and forth. She was also touching Jared’s arm a lot and it was making me even sicker just watching it. When he saw me, he walked right past her and asked me if I was okay. I told him I was feeling ill and that I wanted to go back to the room. Jared said he couldn’t leave yet because he was in charge of the raffle giveaway that was going to be happening in about thirty minutes. I told him it was no big deal and that he could just come up after he was done. He agreed and I made my way back up to the room to get some rest.

As soon as I made it to the room, around nine thirty, I changed out of my dress and passed out—the exhaustion of the long day and then being sick was taking its toll on me. I woke up later and looked at the clock. It was midnight and Jared still wasn’t back yet. I tried calling his cell, but it went straight to voice mail. I texted him and got no reply. Finally, at twelve thirty, I decided to get some clothes on and go downstairs to find him.

When I got back to the ballroom where the party was held, there were still a few people hanging out on the dance floor… but Jared was nowhere to be found. I spotted his father at the bar and asked if he had seen him. He said he thought he saw him go outside with some co-workers, so I turned and headed for the exit.

At first, I didn’t see anyone. Then I heard noises coming from around the corner. When I peeked my head around the wall, there he was—with Pamela.

He had her pushed up against the brick wall of the hotel with his pants around his ankles. Her legs were wrapped around his waist and her dress was bunched up around her chest. I was going to be sick all over again.

I must have let out a gasp when I saw them because I heard Jared yell out for me as I was making my way back inside. “Tess… wait… Oh, God…
Babe, come back. Tess!” he yelled.

I couldn’t speak. I was sick as a dog and he was fucking some slut against a hotel wall. I was devastated. Luckily, I beat him to the elevator and the doors closed moments before he got to it. I went straight up to the room, grabbed my purse, and then took the stairs back down to the lobby. I made it to my car without running into him. Once I got out of the parking lot, I called the first person I always called—Palmer.

It was déjà vu—me, in my sister’s arms, crying like a dope in the parking lot of her apartment complex because the man I loved was cheating on me.

“How did you find out this time, Tess?” Palmer asked me softly, rubbing small circles on my back.

“Oh, Palmer! It was horrible!” I cried, sobbing into her shoulder. “Way worse this time.”

“I swear—I am going to cut off his dick, Tess. I wanted to do it the first time but now I’m determined,” she said, pulling me away from her and looking me in the eye. Her face was a mixture of concern and fury. “I will go
Lorena Bobbitt
on his ass if I ever see him again.” With that one statement, I was laughing again. God, I loved my sister. She always knew just what to say to make me feel better. “So, spill it—how did you catch the little bastard this time?” she asked.

Trying to hold back the tears, I filled her in. “I called Jared this morning after my portfolio class and asked him if he wanted to catch dinner after he got off work. He told me he was working late tonight on some new building contract and that he would be home around eleven. He told me to go ahead and eat without him and to just come over later and we would watch a movie. I thought it would be a nice surprise for him if I was waiting in his bed when he got home. I went over to his house around ten thirty with a bag full of candles and champagne.” I couldn’t help the tears—it was like a dam broke and they just started falling. I took a deep breath to try and control them. “When I unlocked the door, I heard talking and a high pitch giggling coming from his bedroom. I thought he had left the TV on again like he always does,” I paused, trying to find the stomach to say what happened next. “When I went in to turn it off, boy, did I get to see a show.”

“Oh, Tess! I’m so sorry you walked in on them. Was it Pamela again?”

“No! It was Monica, his assistant! I am so stupid. God knows how long this has been going on,” I cried. “Palmer, why would he do this to me again? Do you think he was ever faithful to me at all?”

“I don’t know, doll, but who cares now if he was? He isn’t worth the tears,” she said, brushing the tears from my cheeks. “Does he know you were there?”

“Yeah, he knows. After I walked in and saw them, the only thing I could think to do was chuck the bag of candles I was holding right at them.” I giggled at the memory of the candles hitting Jared in the head and then falling to hit Monica, as well.

“Has he called you yet?” Palmer asked with concern. She looked at me with those big hazel eyes and I knew she was worried that I would take him back again.

“Yes, but I didn’t answer. He sent me some text messages, too. I replied, telling him I was coming here and that if he stopped by—Cole would beat his ass. Pretty sure he won’t be calling me until tomorrow now.” Her face relaxed a bit when I said that, like she was relieved that I hadn’t let him talk me into forgiving him.

Palmer started to laugh. “Well, Cole isn’t the only one that would beat his ass. All the guys are here tonight. They are all drunk and pissed as hell that he did this to you again. I almost had to chain them down to keep them from going and kicking the shit out of him.”