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

Yeah, I bet you have news already. My heart rate went through the roof when I read her text and I got so mad. I couldn't believe what she was doing!
Mad as I was, I slammed the car door and walked up to Max's house. Before I reached the last step he already opened up.
"Hi baby", he said and reached for a kiss.
"Don't 'hi baby' me", I said and walked right past him.
I stopped in his hallway and crossed my arms.
"Shall we go to the living room?"
"Sure", I answered indifferently.
"What's this mess with Claire working for you and how the hell did you not even tell me! I was with you all weekend and you never even said a word about this!"
"Mira, I didn't know. If I had known, of course I would have told you", he said.
"Bull shit!", I yelled. "How can you not know? It's your goddamn company!"
"Do you really think I hire everyone personally? I have other people for me to do so. I trust in their professionality and ability to do so", he said calm.
"Okay, maybe you're right."
All this time I didn't even sit down. Neither did he. I paced around his living room. Still mad and not really knowing what to do with myself.
"Let's sit down", he said.
I gave in and sat down in one of the chairs. Max walked up to his little bar and poured himself a glass of whiskey. He asked me if I wanted something to but I told him no.
He then sat down, his shirt had the first few buttons unbuttoned, his sleeves were rolled up a bit, he didn't have his tie on anymore and in his hands he held a whiskey glass. The ice in it tingled against the glass as he twirled it around before he took a sip. His hair looked a bit messy, probably because he'd ran his hand through it more than he should have.
"I am really sorry you had to find out this way, Mira. I am."
My eyes were glued to the white carpet as his words reached my ears. My fingers fumbled with the buttons of my coat for a bit.
"Why are you so upset anyways?"
I lifted my head to look him in the eye, but he was staring at his whiskey glass.
"You really don't understand why this got to me?", I asked in disbelief.
He now aimed his eyes my way, raised his eyebrows and indignantly said; "No."
Then he threw back the last bit of his drink, twirling the left over ice a bit.
I rolled my eyes. Was he just stupid or being annoying right now?
"You used to fuck her Max! How can you not understand that this hurts me?", I said raising my voice.
He stood up and slammed his glas on the table.
"Yes I used to fuck her, Mira. Yes I did! I fucked the shit out of her. I used to."
He emphasized the word 'used'. Then he walked up to the big window, his hands in the pockets of his trousers.
His words hit me like a paper cut.
"Wow, just wow. Do you have to be so rude?"
I stood up too and he shook his head while he kept his back facing me.
"You're getting upset over nothing, Mira. N-O-T-H-I-N-G!"
He turned around and walked up to me.
I had my arms crossed and nervously tapped my right foot on the floor, or maybe it was anger or a combination of both.
"Maybe it's nothing to you, but it is to me!"
"I just fucked her, that's all. How many times do I need to tell you I had no feelings for her. Never had, never will!"
"Yeah, yeah now I know you just fucked her, but has it ever occured to you that she might have had feelings for you? That she actually still cares for you, still wants you? Huh? Have you thought about that?!"
"Claire never loved me, she never loved anyone but herself."
"That's what you think. You don't even really know her. How can you possibly say anything about her feelings?", I said, holding my hands on my hips.
"Do you really think she would set up a whole plan to come work with me just to get to me?", his voice was loud.
"Max, when are you finally gonna see that she wants you? Even her dad came to me on her birthday saying that you and Claire belonged to each other. That you both came from good families and that you were out of my league. Oh and that I'd better find someone of my own race."
I saw that the things I said were a shock to him. I guess he never knew what a racist her dad is, that he took their 'relationship' seriously.
"What?", he said in disbelief.
"Yes, shocker right?"
"Why did you never tell me this before?"
"Because I felt the same way. I knew you were out of my league. I felt that I wasn't good enough to be dating a man of your status", my voice softened.
"Are you serious right now?"
I closed my eyes and heaved a sigh. I didn't even notice Max coming closer to me.
"Oh baby", he whispered. With his right hand he reached for my hand. "Who poisoned your mind like that?"
Because of the empathic look in his eyes and the vulnerability that clinged on me, like a koala that clings on to a tree I couldn't feel more exposed and naked than I did when the first time we made love. I didn't know what to do with myself and I walked away.
"Wait, don't go."
Max came after me.
"I just wish you would have told me sooner."
I stopped my tracks in his hallway, after his words echoed a bit in this big room, I turned around.
"I told you before, men like you only liked me as a side chick or a one night stand, but they'd always eventually end up with a chick like Claire, tall blondes."
"Haven't I proved I am not like that? Mira, I love you!"
I was ready to walk away when he grabbed my hand and pulled me back.
"I don't know what to do anymore to prove my love to you. How I can make you see that you are all that I want."
The desperation was clearly visible. His eyes, his voice, his whole being made it show that he wanted me to believe him.
"I'm sorry, but the thought of her working with you is killing me. I need some time to figure things out."
I then opened up the doors of his mansion and walked away. We were both surprised by the snow that was rapidly falling down from the sky. It had already made a nice blanket that made the world look like one fluffy cloud. That didn't stop me from walking to my car. It didn't stop Max either, he came after me, defying the cold, not caring one bit about everything that happened outside.
"Don't go. Wait!"
I stopped and turned towards him.
"Does this mean we're breaking up?", he asked.
I stayed silent for a bit.
"Mira?"
I heaved a sigh. "No, but I need you to give me some space, okay?"
"If that is what you want, then I will respect your wishes.Drive safely in this weather."
"Thank you", I whispered. I got into my car and drove off his lane, seeing him in my rearviewmirror, standing there with his hands in his pockets, watching me drive away.

That weekend I went out to get some groceries. My whole week consisted of work and sleep. I had no time for anything besides that. I did see a bunch of missed calls by Eddie, Jerry, Max and even Claire, but although I wanted to contact them, except Max and Claire, by the time I got home I was too tired to even eat some days, I would just go straight to bed. I decided to stop by Eddie's diner after I got my groceries. Maybe grab a bite there, nothing could beat the sandwiches he made. Walking through the shopping mall my eyes caught some newspapers and gossip magazines. I walked past a bookstore. I thought I recognized the faces that were on the front page. My heart bounced like crazy in my chest and my palms got sweaty. I didn't want to believe what I saw but as I walked closer and picked up the local newspaper there was no escape.

'Is Max Woods cheating on his girlfriend again?'

Max Woods who seemed to be in a relationship for a while, has been spotted with what seems to be his ex girlfriend, Claire Thompson, daughter of the multi millionaire Robert Thompson. Last week the two were seen numerous times out for dinner. They seemed to be very cozy together and Max even brought her out to his mansion.

Woods, who has a tumult past with women, has been laying low for a while now. He was spotted with an unknown brown woman for a long time, which seemed to be his girlfriend, but it was never confirmed by either of them. Woods and this mystery woman had been spending a lot of time together but were never seen to be intimate in public. Max who tries to keep his private life more private the last few years, because of the ugly divorce with his ex- wife, being a womanizer and his alcohol abuse, has been doing well now.
A source close to him has confirmed to us that Claire and him are in fact dating again. The unidentified brown woman was 'just a nice distraction for him', so said our source. Max supposedly would have said that she was something he wanted to try, because he only had been with blondes. The source said that he had fun with her as long as it lasted, but that his heart was still beating for Claire. He wouldn't be surprised if the two would get back together and get married.
Woods' ex-wife claimed he never wanted to have kids, but from what we have heard, it might be so that he changed his mind and maybe will have his own family with the Robert Thompson's daughter.

This was too much for me. There were a few more paragraphs but I couldn't continue reading anymore. The pictures that were going with the words made me sick to my stomach.
A woman standing next to me, going through a gossip magazine, which also had pictures of Max and Claire on the front, said to me; "That Max is cute and rich, if I was that Claire I would want him back too."
I looked up to her, trying to hide my tears. I managed to show her a weak smile and agreed with her. I just stood there with the paper in my hands while the woman next to me flipped the pages. Pages with pictures of the man who I thought I loved. Who I thought loved me.
"Life of the rich and famous, isn't it great? Except for your private life being availeble for everyone. Ugh, she is so pretty, isn't she? Look how good they look together!"
The woman next to me kept babbling. I couldn't do this anymore and I put the newspaper back on the stand and paced away from the store.
The harder I tried not to cry, the faster the tears came streaming down.
I started up my car and of course the songs on the radio accompanied my feelings. 'Officially miss you', by Tamia was on and that song only kept the tears coming.
I don't know how I did it but I managed to get to Eddies diner. Before I got out I checked my face in the rearviewmirror, but I was a lost case. My eyes were all puffed up and red from crying.
As soon as Eddie saw me he knew something was wrong and he took me to the back, where I fell into his arms crying my eyeballs out.
"Shhhh. Let it all go honey", he said patting my back.
"I'm guessing you saw the newspaper from the day before yesterday?"
"Yes", I said between sobs.
"Both Jerr and I tried to call you, but you didn't pick up", he said.
I stepped back a bit and dried my cheeks with the back of my sleeve.
"I did see some missed calls, but work was crazy. I worked overtime last week and by the time I got home I went to bed", I explained.
"Come, sit down", he pulled out a chair from his desk.
I sat down while he grabbed another chair for himself.
"Didn't you hear or see anything?", he asked, surprised but with care.
I shook my head. With a tissue I blew my nose and said "What a jerk. I knew he lied to me, I knew it!"
Eddie didn't really know what to say.
"Do you really think it's true? I mean, Max really didn't seem like how he used to be before. These papers and magazines always exaggerate things, you know that", he tried to comfort me.
"I know, but the pictures were pretty obvious to me. I just can't believe he would do something like this to me!", I sobbed.
"I have to agree that it's gonna be hard for him to justify those pictures to you. But, who is the source who spilled that fake tea to the tabloids? Do you know anyone who would want to break you guys up?"
I shrugged.
For a moment Eddie and I were both sunken away in our own thoughts.
"Could it have been your brother or maybe your father?", he carefully suggested.
"I don't know, I don't think they even knew he used to date Claire."
"Hmm, okay."
"You know what, it doesn't even matter. At least now I know what kind of man he is!"
"Oh Mira. I'm so sorry for you", Eddie hugged me.
"You know, last week I told him I needed some space to figure things out."
"Oh yeah you went over to talk to him. But that didn't go well then I guess", he said.
"No, it didn't. All he said was he did fuck her but he never had feelings for her blablabla. You know the same old shit. I really wanted to believe him and I was ready to contact him to talk again. But I guess he's already over me."
Tears started to form in my eyes again and I started crying.
"Eddie it hurts so bad", I cried. "It hurts.."
"Oh baby I know. I wish I could take your pain away", he said, while giving me a hug again.
For a while I stayed in Eddie arms and cried until there were no tears left for me to cry. He actually didn't deserve my tears.
"You know both Max and Claire have tried to call me", I told him.
"Maybe he wants to explain something to you? I mean Claire just wants you to feel bad and have him for herself. But Max might have a good explanation for all of this? I mean, it's gonna be hard for him to talk himself out of this though."
All of a sudden the memory of that person in my parking lot popped up.
"You know when you dropped me off last week? When I was ready to go up to my apartment a person, I think it was a man, said to me that I needed to let Max go or something. That he was off limits for me."
Eddie looked at me quizzically, frowning. I could see him putting the pieces together.
"That might be the same person who went to the press to make up all these things!", he exclaimed.
"We don't know for sure if they made up everything."
"Come on sweetheart, Max might be a player, but he would never ever talk so degrading about you. I refuse to believe that", he said stern.
"Maybe, I don't know what to believe anymore..."
I heaved a sigh.
"Yeah I get that. For now I think the best you can do is give it time", Eddie said. "Now I will get you a sandwich, you look way too skinny to me. You need to eat something!"
Eddie disappeared into his kitchen and left me alone in his office. The radio was softly playing and in the back I could hear 'Try sleeping with a broken heart'. I let the song do it's work and softly cried some more, thinking about Max and the good times we had.
Knowing now, it probably was all a lie...

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A/N: Dear readers, I really hope you all had a nice Christmas . I hope you could all celebrate with the ones you love. 

Further more I would again thank you all so much for reading my novel. I can't believe you all stick around! It really means the world to me, cause every now and then I get so insecure that I think about quitting. Seeing you all support me and seeing my ranks go up every time I upload a new chapter makes me feel a bit better. This is really something that keeps me a bit positive while the rones still roam around the world.Which is a nice bridge to my question; where are you from? I would love to know where my readers live!I was born in Sri Lanka, but I live in the Netherlands, Europe for the ones that didn't know yet.