Destroy Rebuild

“We reported two months ago that Sohpia’s father, Angelo Valentino, died unexpectedly of a heart attack,” Jason said, casting a frown to the camera.

“Well, hey, maybe this is just her new way of coping,” Maria winked.

“I’ll say,” Jason grinned slyly.

I couldn’t stop looking at the picture. Once it was gone, Megan turned the TV off and slowly turned towards me, my eyes drifting down to hers.

“Whitney,” she said quietly. “I’m so sorry.”

I couldn’t force my mouth to make words. I felt completely dumbfounded. This was nothing I expected. I was numb.

My eyes dragged themselves off Megan’s, swooping across the hardwood floor, then made their way up to my son I was still holding in my arms. When his greens connected with mine, the numbness wore off and I felt every ounce of pain the shock was shielding me from.

“Oh, my god,” I sobbed, the tears stinging.

Megan rushed over to us and held out her arms for me to give her Will. I guess she expected me to break down, but I didn’t. The pain was quick to turn to anger, and I’d never felt more in control of myself before.

I turned away from her, holding Will closer.

“I’m fine,” I nodded.

She offered me a sad frown before asking, “Are you really?”

The anger didn’t last long, because as soon as she asked, the pain washed over me again. It was too intense and unbearable to fight, and I held my son tight as the tears streamed down my face.

“How could he do this to us?”

Megan wrapped her arms around us. “I’m so sorry, Whit. I was barely paying attention to the E! podcast when I thought I heard them say his name and something about hooking up with someone.”

I kissed the top of Will’s head and sobbed again. I never wanted anything like this to happen to him.

“He didn’t act suspicious or guilty of anything when you talked to him earlier?” she asked.

I took a moment to think. “He didn’t seem to want to give any detail about how his night was.”

Megan bit the corner of her lip and pulled out her phone. “I haven’t checked Snapchat yet.”

“Please,” I begged. “If you find anything, I really don’t want to see it.”

She nodded and I watched as she touched her screen a few times. I already couldn’t see what she was looking at, but I turned away anyway.

“Alex didn’t post anything,” she said.

It was silly that I felt a bit relieved. I heard short snippets of loud music and Megan sighed.

“Well, Jack posted some things, but he was smart enough not to take any pictures of them.”

I nodded and pulled out one of the stools at the island. As I was sliding on top of it, she gasped.

“E! posted a story about it.”

My stomach flipped inside of me. That meant there were more pictures and more of a story to it.

“Do you…want me to read it to you?”

“No,” I said with a sarcastic laugh through my tears.

It was silent as she read through the article. My sight was blurry as I looked down at my happy son, his mouth open wide in a smile. I blinked a few times to clear it, resulting in a tear falling and splashing onto his nose. I cried a little harder.

“Okay, so, he was with her for most of the night. They didn’t arrive together and they didn’t leave together, but they spent their time there with each other and friends,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “He is such a fucking asshole.”

“Somewhere in Neverland” blared from the couch and I felt my heart sink to my feet. Megan took a few steps to retrieve my phone and her eyes widened at what I already knew.

“It’s Alex.”

I nodded and took my phone as she handed it to me. I couldn’t speak to him. Not in the
condition I was in.

I placed my phone down on the counter and waited for it to stop ringing.

“You’re not going to answer it?” she asked.

I shook my head. “I can’t talk to him right now. I don’t even want to hear his voice.”

The ringing stopped and I felt the tension release from my body until he started calling again. Megan and I made eye contact instantly.

“He knows you know,” she whispered.

“How does he know that?”

“Oh, please. You have to know by now. It’s practically everywhere. That, or he’s calling trying to cover for himself, that piece of shit.”

I looked down at my phone that was flashing his name.

“Answer it,” she demanded.

“No.”

“Answer it or I will!”

I reached for my phone just as she did, right as it stopped ringing. I was back to angry by that point.

“Stop! I physically cannot talk to him right now, and I don’t want you to either!”

She scoffed. “He has to know how much of a piece of shit he is! One of us has to let him know how fucked up he is for this, and I’m more than happy to be the one to do it!”

“I get that you’re trying to help,” I said in a calmer voice. “I really do. And I appreciate it more than you’ll know. But, this isn’t your battle to fight, Meg.”

She rolled her eyes again, but nodded. “I hate him now, that’s all. He’s fucking around on my best friend. I don’t like that shit.”

I nodded, then jumped as my phone let out a ding, signaling I had a new voicemail from Alex. I contemplated listening to it while Megan stood impatiently next to me. I finally opened my phone and let it play.

“How the fu- hey…hey, it’s me. Listen, there’s something I really need to talk to you about. It’s pretty important, so please call me back as soon as you get this. I love you.”

“He sounded nervous as fuck,” Megan chuckled.

I nodded and closed my phone again. “He did.”

She sighed and sat on a stool across from me. “You really just need to break up with him.”

I scoffed and gestured to the suddenly sleepy baby in my arms. “It’s not as simple as breaking up for us.”

She frowned and shook her head. “Well, you have to do something to make him pay for this.”

I nodded and let my eyes fall shut as I barely attempted to brainstorm ways to get back at him. I felt my stomach churn and every single hair follicle on my body stood up at the idea I’d just thought of.

“Hey, Meg?” I forced past my lips, as my mouth was suddenly so dry it was hard to speak. “Do you think you could watch Will for me again tonight?”

She furrowed her brows in confusion, but nodded anyway. “Why?”

I reached for my phone and after unlocking it and pressing a few buttons, I pressed it to my ear. Megan’s confusion only intensified as I waited for the call to connect.

“She lives!” Eric answered enthusiastically.

“Haha, hey, Eric,” I smiled, and Megan’s mouth fell open with force.

“How you been, Whit? I feel like I haven’t heard from you in ages.”

For a brief moment, Alex’s face flashed in my mind, a look of torturous betrayal spewing from his eyes. I almost felt guilty enough to hang up, but I guess Megan saw that and she held up the picture of Alex and Sophia, reigniting the fire in my soul.

“Actually, I was wondering if I could cash in one of those rainchecks tonight.”

Notes