FAY
There has to be an end to this madness. we weren't Infront of grandma anymore but he was still acting really nice to me. Why was he trying to mess with my brain like this? What are his motives? Why did he just change overnight? Or was Karen right?
All these questions were making my head ache, and I needed him to come clean, I needed to know if this was some game to him. I needed to let him know that if he was just acting, he was digging a big hole in preparations to burying his relationship with his family.
He opened the door to his car for me as he stepped aside, waiting for me to go into the car. But all I did was stare at him... More like gave him a pointed look to his very innocent face.
"Why are you doing this?" I asked him, crossing my arms to my chest as I awaited his reply.
He raised a brow in inquiry. "What are you talking about? You don't want me opening doors for you?" He asked, looking confused.
I sighed frustratedly, angrily shutting the door, leaving him shocked. "You know damn well what I'm talking about." I gritted. "You can't just pretend to be okay with us, to be- to be nice to me or to be sorry for what happened at the Brunch. You shouldn't be lying to Grandma or your brothers-"
"Who says I'm lying?" He asked calmly. This was usually the time he'd get angry and flare up at me.
I scoffed. "It's pretty obvious that you're lying, El. You don't just go around apologizing to people, that's just not your setting."
"What's so hard to believe about that? I've changed Fay," he took a step closer to me, placing both his hands on my arms, pulling me closer to him. "I want to make us work... Why do you find that hard to believe?" He asked, softer this time.
I got lost in his eyes for a moment but immediately, I wrenched his hands off my arm as I took a step back. I cleared my surprisingly dry throat. "I find it hard to believe because just three days ago you made it clear to me that you hated my guts."
"That was three days ago, Fay. If someone had told me that I was three days away to discovering that you are more important to me than I can ever imagine, I wouldn't have even believed it... but here we are Fay, let's start afresh."
Is this happening? Is Elroy honestly saying these things? He looked sincere, his eyes said it all. But I still couldn't bring myself to believe him, I still couldn't let myself fall into his awaiting trap.
"I don't believe you. You managed to make everyone believe you but- I'm honestly not convinced. Not even one bit." I said to him.
He raked his fingers through his hair. "Fay, like I said before, I honestly don't expect you to believe me.... For years I've treated you badly, and it's totally normal for you to think that I have some motive in all this... But think about it? What could I possibly gain by hurting my grandma? Or lying to my brother and ruining my relationship with my family?" He asked. "I would never risk hurting my grandma for some stupid selfish act."
I gave a half laugh. "You didn't think about that before going ahead to ruin the brunch, did you?" I asked him.
"That was before, okay. I had never been so close to losing everything that I cared about because of my foolishness. Now that I have gotten a glimpse of that, I'm trying to change."
"People don't change, Elroy. Fine... You might have actually felt a tiny bit of guilt for destroying the brunch. And you apologizing to everyone is like the best thing to do. But it doesn't wave away the fact that you're doing it for a reason."
He sighed, looking away for a minute, almost like he was thinking of another way to convince me or something.
He turned to me again. "Fine. You caught me. I may have not been totally honest with you. And you were right, there's a motive to my recent behavior, as to why I've changed."
I felt slightly disappointed, maybe a part of me wanted him to have really changed, to want us to work. But then again, things don't always go our way.
"I knew it." I muttered distastefully under my breath.
His eyes widened. "Don't get me wrong... I'm not faking all this... My apologies, my talk about wanting to change, in fact, anything that I've done and said since this day began. I was totally serious about all of it."
Now I'm back to square one.
"What are your motives?" I asked him.
He sighed. "You know me Fay. I always think I'm right and honestly sometimes I feel like I'm in the wrong but- something always tells me that I'm right."
"Go straight to the point."
He licked his dried lips in nervousness, unconsciously drawing my attention to his lips.
I looked up at him immediately, not wanting to be caught.
"Listen," he started. "... I've finally figured out the reason why Yvonne came to you for help." He said.
"Oh, so all this was because of the contract? Are you seriously still on that? Didn't you get what you wanted already?" I shot questions at him angrily.
"No no... Don't get me wrong. I wanted the contract off... But I did it the wrong way, a way that made me look like the bad guy. Yvonne is up to no good, Fay... She wants you just because you can help her out with new designs for the merge program. I figured that the only way to make you finally see the reason why I wanted the contract gone was to make you see that reason yourself. I don't want to be in control of that, I want you to see Yvonne for who she really is. That is why I told your mother to sign the contract back up... You still work for Yvonne." He said.
I was beyond shocked, but I had to ask him the question that had been on my mind for a while now. "How? How do you know that Yvonne's motives are- bad?"
He hesitated. "I may know Yvonne more than you think." He said, and his reply got me curious.
"What do you mean?"
He exhaled. "Yvonne and I dated... In secret. She broke the relationship with me a month before we got together."
I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out.
"I was foolish to think that Yvonne's intentions were good, turns out she was only with me to steal my new designs. She was also the one who suggested that we date in secret. She lied about being scared of her Dad and all. I believed her, but months later, she broke things off and the next thing I know, she comes up with her own industry, lunching my designs as hers." He said.
"Wait a minute... You... Dated Yvonne?" I asked, still not grasping that fact.
"Secretly dated." He cleared up.
"How do you expect me to believe that?" I asked. "How am I sure that this isn't part of your stupid game to make me fall into your trap?"
"You can ask her." He shrugged. "She'll confirm it."
Elroy dated Yvonne? In secret? Yet here I was, thinking that I was his first girlfriend. "Well, this is a lot to take in, El. Why didn't you tell me before?"
"I didn't want it to get to the press. I just wanted it to remain secret." He said.
I sighed. "I can't judge a story by listening to one side of it... I'll take your advice. I'll talk to Yvonne and then I'll hear her side of the story."
"Okay."
"But this doesn't make anything change between us. I still hate you, and there's not a damn amount of sweet things you do for me that's gonna change that. I still smell a rat and I'm not ready to fall right on top of it."
I walked pass him to open the door myself, after getting the in, I shut it.
I was lying, I didn't hate him and I was one step ahead to believing him.
But then again, He's Elroy, he'd do anything to sell his story, even if it meant changing his original plans.
What in Christ name was he up to?