A Husband's Reckoning (The Brent Trilogy 2)

Chapter 19

I cried for most of the night, but I tried to keep quiet because I didn't want to wake up Marcus who was sleeping in his room. I didn't know what to do after I left Whitney last night, so I drove around San Antonio without knowing exactly where I was going. I was driving so bad, apparently, because a police officer pulled me over, and after he made sure that I was in fact, not drunk, he took pity on me because he could tell that I had been crying, and told me to go home. I didn't want to explain to a stranger why I couldn't, but I figured it would be better to stop driving and find a place to spend the night. I thought about going in a motel, but I had just told George that I quit and he hadn't even called me – I wasn't sure if he was mad or he just still hadn't come back home from wherever it was he went to, but if he saw the note and was mad at me, maybe I wouldn't be able to work the rest of my notice off – not if he decided to fire me for leaving suddenly like I did on what the company saw only as a work trip.

If I didn't have a job and I was about to start divorcing procedures with Whitney – because there was no way we were going to get back together now – it probably was smart if I stayed over at a friend's house. The first person that popped into my head, was Lance, but I didn't want to go there for two reasons: Lance and me were done, and even though my situation had changed, I didn't know if that changed anything for him and I didn't want to bother him; the second reason was because I was mad at him and I didn't completely trust him – he had recorded me and Josh having a threesome with him, and then the CD with that video proof that I was one-hundred-and-ten percent gay who takes and receives cock ended up in my soon-to-be-ex-wife's hands. It was just too fishy of a situation and I didn't know if I could tell him what happened, even though I highly suspected that he already knew.

I also couldn't go to any of my friend's house, because all the friends I had were family friends of mine and Whitney. The only person I knew that Whitney didn't have any sort of connection with, was Marcus.

I called him and I asked him if it would be okay if I stayed over at his place for a few nights. He didn't even ask me why or what was going on, something for which I was incredibly thankful, and gave me his address. It wasn't far from where I was, and I drove to him. Marcus had ordered a pizza and he offered me a slice, but I couldn't eat. I felt disgusting and I asked if I could take a shower. Even though I took a shower earlier in Seattle, I somehow felt like I was going to scrub away the shame and the pain with the hot water.

While I was in the shower, Marcus had gotten the sofa ready for me with sheets and pillows and blankets, and told me that I could go to bed if I wanted to. I thanked him, and I cried as quietly as I could for most of the night. George tried to call me at four in the morning, but I didn't pick up. After five tries, he gave up. At least he wasn't that mad at me as to not to talk to me, but even if I still had a job there, I didn't plan on working past the next two weeks. I could find something. I was still young, only thirty-four. But when was I going to see Justin and Isabelle again? And with thoughts like that, I managed to sleep for a couple hours before Marcus came out of the bedroom, and left the apartment. I didn't want to be a nuisance more than I already was, so I got up, and folded the sheets and the blankets and put them all on one chair in the dining room table to get them out of the way. I tidied up a bit, and then Marcus came back, bringing breakfast with him and two cups of coffee.

"I don't know how you take your coffee even though we work daily together," said Marcus. "So I got you black and I have non-dairy cream and sugar in the kitchen."

"You didn't have to," I croaked, my voice sounding alien to me. "But I appreciate it."

Marcus left the bag of breakfast that smelled so good, and my stomach growled, because I hadn't eaten since yesterday in Seattle. He got my bedding and took it into his room, to get it out of the way. "Sit, Brent, let's eat, man."