Chapter
10: The Truth Behind The Lies
It was clear and simple, Darren lost the bet, and it was Daniel who had
to take him to the airport. During their long, quiet ride, neither one spoke,
indicating the tension between Darren and everyone else. Daniel wasn’t in the
mood for getting into a fight with Darren, so he kept his mouth shut. To keep
from getting bored, he turned on the radio to find nothing on except for a
remake of the Charlie Rich song “The Most Beautiful Girl” by some new
country group he’d never heard of, yet somehow knew.
“Who’s the band singing this song?” Darren spoke for the first time
in an hour.
“I don’t know. They’ve done a good job with remaking this song.
Hopefully the DJ will say something about it,” Daniel replied. The sound of
the radio was once again the only thing heard in the cab of the SUV. Within
minutes it was over, the DJ’s voice booming in after it.
“That was some hot new country music from the US. The band’s called
South 65, and the song’s called ‘The Most Beautiful Girl.’ Some of you
might remember it as a Charlie Rich classic. These guys aren’t your typical
boy band, though. I’m told that their fans hate putting them in the same
category as the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync. Anyway, if you want to check them
out, the Internet address is www.south65.com,” said the DJ as he cut to
another song.
“That is so strange. I know I’ve heard them before. I think Chance
once played that CD for me while I was staying with her. She also told me that
she ditched school to see them performing in New York,” Darren told Daniel as
he recalled a faint memory.
“Didn’t she ditch school to see us?” Daniel replied.
“I don’t know. She probably did since it was a Tuesday.”
Once again, the silence between them encased the rest of the trip to the
airport. Reaching their destination, Darren hopped out of the car and retrieved
his things from the back. Wordlessly, he walked into the terminal, not bothering
to even say goodbye to Daniel when he left. Daniel knew why; he was still pissed
over the deal. He watched Darren walk through the sliding doors and disappear
into the crowd.
Three hours later, Daniel was back in Brisbane with Alexia making the
first of many arrangements for their wedding, which was scheduled for some time
in February (preferably Valentines Day.)
“So, where do we start?” Daniel asked as he and Alexia drove down the
rain soaked streets of downtown Brisbane.
“Well, I need a dress, you need a tux, we need to find some nice
invitations, and we need to decide where the wedding’s gonna be,” Alexia
summed it all up just before she saw a bridal shop. “Pull in over there!”
she nearly shouted.
Daniel pulled into the parking lot of the small shop and both hopped out
of the car. Alexia took a hold of his hand and tugged him along as if he were a
puppy. He smiled seeing the genuine excitement in her bright blue eyes.
For the rest of the day, Daniel and Alexia searched for all their wedding
necessities. Even as night fell, they searched the entire town looking for the
perfect spot to hold a wedding party and reception. Their search proved to be
futile, so they called it quits and went home for the night.
Alexia flopped down on the couch in the living room as Daniel began to
walk up the stairs towards his room. She let out a relieved sigh and slowly
started to drift off into her own little dream world. It was a dark place
illuminated by a single tiny light bulb at the top of a ceiling so high that she
couldn’t reach it. This place might not appear to be welcoming, but it was for
Alexia. She enjoyed the solitude that it brought her and bathed in the peaceful
surroundings of the darkness. It was here that she asked for help in her life,
and today was one of those days where she needed it most.
‘Why is my life so messed up?’ Alexia silently questioned the abyss.
‘What will happen when Daniel finds out my past? Will he keep his promise and
stay with me even though he knows about all the bad things I’ve done? Will he
still love me?’
Tears began to well up in her eyes as she kept the questions rolling
through her mind. Alexia knew her life was going to keep getting complicated if
she didn’t tell Daniel the truth, but she didn’t want to lose what could
potentially be the best thing that had ever happened to her in her entire life.
Her tears rolled down her face when her eyes couldn’t hold them any longer.
She was torturing herself with this decision and she knew why.
‘I love him so much, I can’t stand to hurt him anymore,’ Alexia
thought to herself as she rolled off the couch and made her way upstairs towards
the master bedroom where Daniel was probably asleep. ‘I have to tell him now,
or I’ll never be able to tell him.’
As Alexia approached the door to his room, she could hear his silent
breathing in the distance. She laid her head on the hard wood and listened for a
long time to each breath as it came and went. He sounded so peaceful; she
couldn’t bring herself to disturb him. Gently, she pushed the door open and
walked into the darkness of the room. She stopped at the foot of the bed and
stared at Daniel’s sleeping body on top of it.
Alexia smiled. She loved the way he looked when he was sleeping, so
innocent, so peaceful, so beautiful. She sat down beside him and rested her hand
on the top of his sandy brown hair. ‘Why am I so attracted to you?’ she
silently questioned him even though she knew there would be no answer. A slight
smile appeared on her face as she watched him roll over towards her.
Daniel opened his eyes and stared blankly at Alexia. She tenderly stroked
his hair as he began to get up. “Stay where you are. I’ve worn you out
enough today,” she whispered sternly. “Besides, I have to talk to you.”
“What’s on your mind?” Daniel asked.
Alexia closed her eyes and took in a long, deep breath. This was finally
the moment of truth. He’d find out the secret behind her lies. Daniel
patiently waited for Alexia to compose herself. A single tear slowly made its
way down her face, and as he reached up to wipe it away, she pushed his hand
back.
“Please, I don’t want you to do that. This is going to be really hard
for me to tell you, and I don’t need the distraction. Just listen, and don’t
say anything until I’m done,” Alexia said as she took another deep breath.
“Dan, you’re the most wonderful person I have ever met. You’re the
only guy that has ever treated me like a woman and not like some kind of sex
toy. I’ve been in so many shitty relationships throughout my life, and now
that I’ve found what I’ve always wanted, everything seems to be falling
apart. It’s not you. Trust me, you’re the only thing that’s right. It’s
the stuff around you that’s all wrong, the house, the car, the clothes, the
food, everything. And I’m not talking about how it looks. I’m talking about
how it was…” The phone cut off Alexia before she could finish her sentence.
“That phone is so fucking annoying,” Daniel angrily said before he
picked it up. “What?” he spat at the person on the other end.
“Whoa, Danny, calm down. It’s just me, Rebecca,” the charismatic
voice replied in a cool tone.
“Why are you calling me at 12 AM?” he asked in response.
“Darren hasn’t called me, and I’m getting restless. Could you do me
the biggest favor and give him a call to see if he’s okay?” Rebecca pleaded.
Her child like ways really affected his thinking, especially when the well being
of another close friend was involved.
“Why is it that I’m always the one stuck calling Darren at odd hours
of the night?” Daniel argued.
“Because you’re the sweetest, most wonderful guy in the entire
universe,” she replied in a very mushy tone of voice.
“You’re not the only one who thinks that,” he said, then added,
“Goodbye, Rebecca.”
“Bye, Danny. Don’t forget to call Darren,” Rebecca answered,
hanging up the phone soon afterwards.
“God! I hate that woman,” Daniel blurted.
Alexia giggled at his comment before saying, “Give Darren a call.
Don’t worry about me. What I was going to tell you isn’t that important
anyway. We can continue this conversation later.”
Alexia had lost every single ounce of courage she had gathered after the
phone rang. She left the room and headed for the den where she could sort out
her thoughts and regain some self-esteem before trying to tell Daniel again.
~~~~~~~~~~
“Two months have already gone by and I still have no idea what to do
for the wedding,” Alexia said as she and Daniel sat outside of a small café
in Brisbane waiting for their coffee. “I need to head back to New York and
find a dress. Maybe I’ll have some better luck over there.”
“You should go out there, just don’t be dating anyone behind my
back,” Daniel playfully replied as he took her hand and kissed it.
Alexia smiled. “You know I’d never do that to you. You’re the only
one for me, and it’s always going to be that way, no matter what,” she
sincerely answered.
“At least you’re honest,” he said. “So, when do you plan to go to
New York?”
“Probably this week. There should be sales galore out there since
it’s so close to Christmas. That reminds me, you’d better get me something
nice. I already have your gift. All I have left to do is find a box that’ll
fit it.”
“Oh, don’t worry. I already know what I’m getting you for
Christmas. And trust me, you’ll be very happy with it,” Daniel replied as
the waiter brought the coffee to the table. He deviously smiled at Alexia as he
thought about the brand new silver Mercedes Benz 2002 SL Silver Arrow sitting in
the darkest corner of the garage under a black cover.
“Ooh! What is it?” Alexia questioned, her eyes becoming enlarged like
a child’s eyes just before opening a shiny package.
“I’m not going to tell you,” he answered, the sheepish grin on his
face becoming larger as he watched her become even more amazed.
“Grr! You’re no fun.” Alexia glanced at her watch and suddenly
realized she was running later. “Shit. Dan, I’m so sorry. I have to get
going. I’m supposed to meet florist in twenty minutes. I’ll see you when I
get home tonight. Bye. Oh, and thanks for the coffee.” She stood up, kissed
his cheek, then left the café.
Minutes later, Daniel also proceeded to leave the small table and headed
home. He went straight into his den and began work on a song that he was writing
for Alexia. He barely had a few lines written, but he was determined to have it
finished before the wedding. As he re-read the first few lines of the chorus and
fiddled with the chords on his guitar, the song seemed to come to life. Within a
few hours, the song was finished with only a few minor details needing to be
worked out.
“’The Way You Do The Things You Do.’ Perfect,” Daniel read aloud
just before Alexia walked into the house, her hands full of shopping bags. He
hid the completed song in the bottom drawer of his desk and went to help her.
“Dan! Help!” Alexia cried as one bag dropped. Daniel stepped into the
room just before the entire pile in her arms fell onto the floor.
“Enough stuff?” he asked, taking a few multicolored boxes off her
hands and heading for the stairs.
“Well, I have to look pretty, don’t I?” she retorted, going back to
the car to pick up more merchandise from her day of shopping. Alexia returned
with four more bags and set them down in front of the staircase just before
sitting on one of the steps and throwing off her three-inch high stiletto heels.
“It’s so hard to be a girl,” she whined.
Daniel sat down beside her and said, “Is it really?”
Alexia rolled her eyes at him. She set her purse on her lap and began to
look inside. “I’m leaving for New York tomorrow morning. To spare you some
sleep, I already ordered a limo to pick me up at 6:30 so you won’t have to
wake up. I’ll be gone up until Christmas Eve. I’m sorry it’s going to be
so long. I just really need to find the perfect dress,” she explained.
“It’s okay. Just be home by Christmas. I’d hate to spend it
apart,” Daniel replied as his hand slid around her back.
“I know, me too,” she responded, slowly closing in for a sweet,
tender kiss. As their lips parted, Alexia reached for one more, the tension the
bad built up between them in the last few months finally being released.
“Let’s go upstairs,” she whispered into his ear.
~~~~~~~~~~
Alexia crept out of the house that morning at 6:30 as she said the night
before. Her intent was not to wake Daniel while he peacefully slept, and she
achieved it by getting ready downstairs in one of the other guest rooms. It was
back to New York for more than just a wedding dress. Her accountant had warned
her a few days before about a potential police investigation into her crime
spree around New York City, and she needed to get her money out of the bank as
soon as possible.
Besides the money issue, Alexia was in search of another victim for her
little game. She knew it was getting harder for her to stay with Daniel since
she loved him so much, and the last thing she wanted to do was hurt him.
‘After the wedding, I’m going to disappear so he’ll never have to see me
again, and so I’ll never have to hurt him again,’ she thought, tears welling
up in her eyes as she tried not to think about it.
As Alexia’s limo sped away from the house, Daniel was woken by a sudden
phone call. He shot out of be to answer it wondering if maybe Alexia forgot
something and needed him to bring it to the airport.
“Hello?” he sleepily answered.
“Hey,” came a feminine voice from the other end.
“Who is this?” Daniel asked, confused.
“I’ll give you three guesses,” the girl seductively replied. She
sounded very familiar, but for some reason, he didn’t know who it could
possibly be.
“Alexia?” Daniel questioned.
“No.”
“Michelle?” he tried again.
“Uh-uh.”
“Colby?” Daniel used his last guess.
“Wrong again. I’ll give you one more guess, Danny,” she replied.
“Oh my God,” came his slow reply after a long pause. ‘Could it
really be who I think it is?’ he silently questioned. “Chance,” Daniel
whispered. It had been months since he had heard her voice, and it was very
comforting to finally find out she was alive and well.
“Yep,” Chance replied.
“I thought you were dead!” Daniel nearly yelled, his voice sounding
more relieved than irritated. “I thought that since Darren didn’t bother
returning my messages, he was pissed at everyone over here for sending him to
give your eulogy. You have no idea how relieved I am to hear your voice. I
missed you so much. Have you heard the good news?”
“Yeah, you’re getting married. Congrats, Danny,” Chance said.
“Look, I don’t have much time to talk. I’m sending you a very important
email, top secret. Read it right now because I can tell you’re alone. Give me
a call when you’re done. I’m at the studio. I’ll talk to you later.
Bye!”
“Bye Chance. It was good to hear from you again,” Daniel replied. He
stood up from the bed, stretched, and then headed for the den downstairs where
his laptop was hooked up to a cable modem. He quickly logged onto the Internet
and found the file that Chance had just sent. He downloaded it to find a picture
of Alexia with dark almost black hair and a caption reading, “Peterson
swindles over a $1 million from prominent New York politician.”
Daniel was amazed and angered by what he saw. ‘This must be Darren’s
handy work. I know how much he hates Alexia. I can’t believe he’d stoop this
low to try and break us up,’ he thought, quickly grabbing his phone and
dialing the number to the studio. The receptionist picked it up and quickly ran
to get Chance on the phone.
“Hey Dan,” she spoke into the phone without having to ask who it was.
“You’re lying! This is a fucking joke!” Daniel screamed over the
phone, startling her. “Darren put you up to this, didn’t he? I knew he hated
Alexia from the moment they met, but I wasn’t expecting him to stoop this low
to break us apart and ruin our relationship.”
“Don’t start dragging Daz into this right now. It’s between you and
me. I mean, yeah, Daz found the article in a newspaper, but that’s not the
point. We’re both doing this for your own good. We’re not trying to screw up
your relationship with Alexia,” Chance explained in almost a yell.
“This is not the Alexia I know,” Dan firmly replied, still unable to
comprehend the article.
“Well, then, who is?” Chance’s ice-cold retort came as a shock to
Daniel. He had never seen her so unhesitant and ready with a come back.
“Um…” Daniel began, still recovering from her question.
“You don’t know shit about her, do you?” she coolly asked.
“Don’t go messing with my head!” he tried changing the subject.
“Admit it, you don’t know anything about her, but she sure as hell
knows everything about you, including all the information in your back account
and your signature. Now tell me that you are going to confront her about this
today after you check your balances and see if you’re missing any money.”
“God, I hate you,” Daniel said. He didn’t want the truth, but knew
he should find out if Alexia was truly genuine, or a thief who stole everything,
including his heart. “Fine, I’ll do it, but when I find out she’s not this
person in the article, you’re going to apologize to both of us.”
“Fine,” Chance confidently replied, then hung up without saying
goodbye.
Daniel sat at his desk staring at the computer screen which still had the article opened up. He couldn’t believe how Chance was able to make him realize that he really didn’t know much about his soon to be wife. Wanting to find the truth, he quickly logged back onto the Internet and began to search for more information about Alexia and her past.