Begin Again
Episode 14: Dial H for History
Rufus woke up feeling half refreshed, half groggy. He rubbed his forehead, then covered his eyes, trying his best to block out the harsh sunlight that was searing his eyeballs. He groaned. The weird thing was, he had no recollection of falling asleep the night before. Heck, he had no recollection of hanging out at the pub with Lily either for that matter. Had he really had that much to drink? He had planned on having a couple green beers, but, since Lily was there, he hadn't planned on getting smashed.
Lisa came into the room then, a cheery smile on her face. "Good morning, Sweetie!" She sat down on the bed next to him, and kissed his cheek. "How are you feeling? Nice and refreshed?"
Rufus looked at her. "Did I get drunk last night?"
Lisa giggled. "No, Silly! You were just so tired, you went to bed early, and slept through the night."
Rufus was quiet as he tried to recall the night before. Then he remembered, suddenly feeling tired, and wanting to take a five-minute nap before leaving to meet Lily. "Oh my gosh! Lily! Did I not meet her?"
Lisa shook her head. "I tried to wake you, but you were so out of it. You mumbled something about having called her, and that you weren't going to go. So, I just let you sleep."
Rufus sighed, and rubbed his face again. "Wow. I don't remember a lick of that. I wonder why I was suddenly so tired? I swear, I was fine one moment, then the next, it just hit me like a ton of bricks. I didn't even drink anything alcoholic." He saw his phone on the nightstand beside him, and he turned it on.
"Well, we did have a pretty exhausting day with all that driving around." Lisa smiled, and moved closer to him, her voice lowering. "Then there was all that lovemaking. It's been known to tire you out before." She grinned.
"But you weren't tired," Rufus said, not even managing to smile. This whole situation was just odd to him. This kind of thing never happened to him. He looked to see if Lily had called or texted him, but she hadn't. He sighed, then set the phone back down on the nightstand.
Lisa shrugged. "I had an energy drink earlier. Maybe that had something to do with it. I never was one to tire easily anyway."
Rufus sighed, and sat up in bed. "I just feel so bad for Lily. She didn't want to be alone on St. Patrick's Day, then what do I do? I fall asleep and let her be alone on St. Patrick's Day."
Lisa placed a hand over his shoulder. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure she understood. You can't help when you get tired. You had a long day. Besides, you've been working a lot lately. You really should hire someone to help you."
"I'll think about it," Rufus said as he climbed out of bed. He quickly sat back down, and grabbed his head.
"What's wrong?" Lisa asked, both looking and sounding concerned.
"I sat up too fast I guess. I felt a little dizzy," Rufus answered.
"Are you okay? Should I take you to the doctor?" Lisa asked.
Rufus shook his head. "No, I'm fine. I think I just need a shower, then some food in my system." He stood up again, this time slower, and was fine.
"All right. I'll go cook you some breakfast while you're in the shower," Lisa said.
Rufus walked around the bed to her side. He wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her cheek. "Thank you." He then headed to the bathroom. He couldn't even remember calling Lily last night. This whole situation was just weird.
He sighed. He'd call Lily later, and see what he had said to her. He hoped it was nothing embarrassing, for apparently, being overly tired gave him the same symptoms of being drunk!
~Begin Again~
Lily couldn't believe she was doing this. Not in a million years did she ever think she'd be going to Ivy Dickens for anything, yet here she was.
Lily hadn't seen William that morning, but he had another bunch or roses sent to her. This time it was five dozen. Now, the whole house smelled sickeningly sweet. She'd have to figure out what to do with all those roses later. But, right now, she had something much more important to take care of.
After she had eaten her bagel with fat-free cream cheese, and after she had drank her orange juice and morning coffee, she had showered, and gotten ready for the day. Now, she was outside of Ivy's doorstep, working up the courage to knock. She hated Ivy. In fact, there were very few people she liked less. But this had to be done. So, after taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, she knocked on the door.
After waiting a moment and not hearing a response, she knocked again.
She heard Ivy let out a cry of frustration from the other side of the door. "I'm coming! Just give me a minute. It's too damned early to be knocking on my door."
Lily smirked to herself.
A moment later, Ivy yanked the door open. "What the hell are you doing here?" Ivy looked tired. Her eyes were droopy, and her hair was disheveled. She was wearing nothing but a pair of Victoria's Secret grey shorts, and a matching tank top that had the Victoria's Secret trademark logo on the front.
"So nice to see you too, Ivy. Did I wake you?" Lily asked.
Ivy nodded. "Yes, you did."
"Good!" Lily pushed past her into the apartment.
"Um, excuse me, but I don't remember inviting you in!" Ivy snapped, looking over her shoulder at Lily. "Get out!" She pointed out the door.
"Don't worry. This will only take a minute. Trust me, I don't want to be here anymore than you want me to be here." Lily sat down on the plush, black leather recliner next to the couch.
Ivy sighed, then rolled her eyes, and shut the door behind her. She locked it, then turned to face Lily, her arms crossed over her chest. "Then why are you here?"
"Because I need answers. And I want you to be honest with me," Lily said simply.
Ivy walked over to her, and sat down on the black leather arm of the couch, facing Lily. "Answers about what?" Her arms were still crossed over her chest.
"About William. I remember when William and I first started reconnecting, you claimed that he was sleeping with you. Is that true?" Lily asked.
Ivy smirked. She raised an eyebrow. "Why? Are you and William having a little trouble in paradise?"
Lily rolled her eyes. She hated this. She hated begging Ivy for information, but it had to be done. Aside from William, whom she was not holding her breath over him coming clean, Ivy was the only one who could help her. "He cheated on me with some redhead, and I want to know if there has been other women."
Ivy grinned. "I bet she was a whole lot prettier than you. A lot younger too."
Lily sighed. "Were you really sleeping with him or not?"
Ivy smirked. "And why should I help you? Huh? What's in it for me?"
Lily held back her smart comment about Ivy never doing something unless there was something in it for her. She knew that wouldn't get her answers. So, instead, she tried the softer, gentler approach. "Look, Ivy, neither of us will ever be the other's biggest fan. I think we both know that."
"That's the understatement of the past decade," Ivy said.
"However, we're both women, and, as women, we have the duty to protect each other from scum of the earth men. If a man is cheating on a woman, that woman deserves to know, no matter who she is," Lily stated.
Ivy laughed. "Oh, please! If I was being cheated on, and you found out about it, you'd be the first one cheering the guy on!"
Lily shook her head. "The old me, maybe. But, now that I've been cheated on, it makes me see things in an entirely different light. No woman deserves to be cheated on—not even you." Lily was surprised to feel sincerity in her own words.
Ivy's expression softened. "I tried to tell you before that he and I were together, but you didn't want to hear it. You chose to believe his lies so that you could get back together with him. You stole him from me."
"I was stupid to not believe you. But, because of your and my issues, which I'm not going to get into again, I didn't believe you. I was stupid enough to fall for William again, and I didn't want to hear anything that would put a dent in the happy life I wanted. I was an idiot, I admit it." It hurt Lily to say those words, but she knew they were true, which hurt even worse.
Ivy sighed. "I guess I can understand why you didn't want to believe me."
"So, it was true? You and William had a relationship going on?" Lily asked.
Ivy nodded. "The whole time I was with Rufus, I was just using him. I was never in love with him. While I was with Rufus, I was secretly sleeping with William because I was in love with him. Lord only nows why I was in love with him. Anyway, as for Rufus, I was only with Rufus to hurt you."
Lily nodded. "I had a feeling. Well, about the you not really loving Rufus, and just wanting to get back at me part."
Ivy sighed. "So, yes. William and I were in love. We were indeed sleeping together, so I wouldn't trust that this Cassidy person is the only woman. He's a liar and a manipulator. You have no idea."
Lily stood up. "Oh, I have a pretty good idea." Lily headed for the door, then stopped, and turned to face Ivy. "Ivy, thank you for helping me. You didn't have to, but you did anyway. I still don't think that you and I will ever be the best of friends, but I do detest you a little less." She smiled weakly. "I still don't think I can ever get over your lying about being my niece, but I know you took excellent care of my mother before she died, so I thank you for that. I also apologize for being harsher on you than I should have been. There. That's the best you're gonna get out of me. Ever." She smiled weakly.
Ivy smiled weakly as well. "And I never should have lied to you for money. Also, you were right. No woman deserves to be cheated on. Not even you, and that is why I told you the truth. And, for the record, I may not be family, but when I was pretending to be family, I honestly felt like I was."
Lily nodded, but didn't say a word. She just turned to leave.
"Lily, wait!" Ivy called out.
Lily stopped. "What is it?"
Ivy sighed. "There's something else you should know about William. Something I really think you need to know."
Lily turned to face her, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What is it?"
Ivy sighed. "You may want to sit down."
Lily didn't like the sound of that.
~Begin Again~
Rufus was thinking about what he wanted to do for lunch, when the bell rang, indicating someone had just entered the gallery. He looked up, and was happy to see Lily standing there. "Hey, Lil!"
Lily narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't 'hey, Lil' me."
Rufus was confused to say the least. "Did I do something to upset you?"
"Gee, Rufus, whatever could you have done to upset me? I mean, so you stood me up, then ignored all my texts to you as well as my ignored my voicemail. That's no reason for me to be angry with you!" Lily said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Wait. Lisa told me that I called you and told you I couldn't be there because I was too tired." Rufus was really confused now.
Lily held her head high. "I got no such call! You were too tired? What, so you didn't want to go, so you and Lisa thought up an excuse together?"
"What? No! I was all set to go out with you, then I suddenly got so tired. Lisa suggested I take a nap, and I wasn't going to. But then it got to the point where I could barely keep myself standing. I went to take a five minute nap, hoping that would cure it, but I ended up sleeping right through until morning. Lisa told me I mumbled something about having called you to cancel before I went to sleep. I didn't call you?" Rufus wasn't understanding any of this at all.
Lily shook her head. "Obviously not. I texted you several times, and even left you a voicemail. You didn't get any of my messages?"
"Obviously not," Rufus said, taking her line. "Lil, I wouldn't have ignored you. You know me better than that. And I would certainly never stand you up. Not intentionally."
Lily's expression softened. "Why didn't you check your phone?"
Rufus nodded. "I did! I found my phone on the nightstand by my bed. I must have placed it there before I fell asleep. I honestly don't remember anything before I fell asleep, but I do know that I checked for messages when I woke up, and there were none."
Lily crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, like I said, I texted you quite a few times, and left you a voice message. I don't know why you didn't get them."
"I'll have to take my phone into the genius bar. Something must be wrong with it," Rufus stated.
"Either that, or they got intercepted," Lily said, her tone accusatory.
Rufus shot her a look. "What do you mean? Intercepted by whom?"
Lily shot him a look right back. "Who do you think? Lisa of course. It had to be her. I'm assuming she was the only one there with you. Plus, she said you said you called me to cancel, which clearly, you didn't."
"Lil, don't start hating on Lisa again. I thought you were past that." Rufus was doing his best to keep his calm, but Lily was starting to anger him now.
Lily shrugged, her arms across her chest. "I'm just saying, it's possible. More than possible in fact. You know, she feels threatened by me. That first Monday you and I spent together, I ran into Lisa on the way home. Or, rather, she ran into me. She flat out told me to back off; to not even think about getting romantic with you. Otherwise, she'd turn you against me, and tell you she didn't want you hanging out with me anymore."
Rufus didn't believe that for a second. "Lily, stop lying. Lisa would never do something like that!"
"Excuse me, Rufus, but I am not lying. I may not be Lisa's biggest fan, but I wouldn't lie to you about her, just like you wouldn't lie to me about William." Lily looked hurt.
Rufus sighed, not feeling as angry. "Well, I'm sure she just got a little jealous. I mean, you and I used to be married, and we had a day together. A good day, and we plan on getting together every week. Any woman is bound to get jealous over their future husband hanging out with, and having a good time with his ex-wife. Don't worry, I'll talk to her, and assure her that she has nothing to worry about."
"Rufus, how did you feel when you were tired? Were you fine one second, then too tired to even think the next? Like, out of the blue?" Lily asked suddenly.
Rufus nodded. "Exactly! I was perfectly awake one moment, then just like that, I started to get tired, and I became increasingly tired by the minute until finally, I simply couldn't function. There was no way I could have gone without sleeping."
"And, how did you feel when you woke up this morning?" Lily asked next.
Rufus scrunched his eyebrows, wondering why the sudden third degree. "Well, I felt a little disoriented. I couldn't remember having fallen asleep. On the other hand, I felt refreshed; like I had just had the best sleep of my life."
"And, before you got tired, did you drink anything?" Lily asked, an eyebrow raised, and her arms still crossed over her chest.
Rufus nodded. "Yea, Lisa fixed us both a glass of green milk to celebrate the holiday."
"She drugged you," Lily said simply. "That's how she did it. She drugged you, then deleted my messages, and lied and said you called me. It's brilliant, really."
Rufus crossed his own arms over his chest. "Excuse me?"
"Last year, I went through this period where I was having insomnia. William prescribed me some sleeping pills. He said they were the best there were to offer. They were fast acting, and, like you, I was fine one moment—wide awake—then, I started to feel a little tired, and within moments, I couldn't even stand, I was so tired. They'd always knock me out for a good twelve hours straight, and I'd end up waking up in the morning not remembering even falling asleep, and being half groggy, half refreshed—just like you." Lily gave him a look as if to say, See? "They're potent. One pill per night is all it takes to put you out."
Rufus shook his head. "No. Lisa wouldn't drug me. That is so not her. It's just not her personality."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure? Because, she seemed pretty desperate to keep you when she threatened me."
Rufus glared at Lily. "I said she wouldn't do that, Lily, all right? I know she wouldn't. It's not in her to do such a thing."
Lily sighed. "You'd be surprised what a person can find themselves capable of doing when they're desperate enough."
"Well, Lisa didn't drug me, so stop it!" Rufus snapped.
Lily sighed. "Fine. I have a more pressing issue on my hands right now anyway."
Rufus was curious now. "What is it?" he asked, still a little miffed that she had accused Lisa of such a thing. The nerve of her!
Lily sighed, then told him all about her date with William the night before.
Rufus listened, feeling his anger well up inside of him. That sleaze! Of course William would swoop in and try to win Lily back. He should have known.
Lily then told him about the end of the night, and Rufus got even angrier. "You kissed that slime ball? Are you insane? Maybe you're the one who was drugged!"
Lily sighed, and shook her head, her arms still crossed over her chest. "Sadly, I don't have that excuse. I'll call it a momentary laps in sanity. And, maybe the three mugs of green beer I had. Anyway, I knew I couldn't go back to him blindly, so I went over to Ivy's and had a little talk with her."
"Ivy's?" Rufus asked in surprise and cynicalness. "What in hell did yo go to her place for?"
Lily sighed. "Well, when I first started talking with William again five years ago, Ivy claimed they were sleeping together. At the time, I hadn't believed her, but now... After he's been caught cheating on me, I had to know. She also doubts there hasn't been other women."
Rufus nodded. "For once, she and I agree on something. You know what? I did see her kissing some guy shortly before you and William got together. I couldn't see who the guy was, but it was probably William. It was the same time. It is what made me see her for who she really is."
Lily sighed again. "I'm sure it was. It all makes sense now. Anyway, that's not all. There's more."
"And what's that?" Rufus asked.
"Well, apparently, William is the one who helped wire my mother's money to her." Lily sighed yet again. "It just keeps getting worse and worse, doesn't it?"
Rufus walked over to her, and placed a hand overtop of her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Lil."
Lily shook her head. "It's okay. It's not your fault. It honestly all happened so long ago, I'm over it. I mean, it's always going to leave a sour taste in my mouth, but there's nothing I can do about it now, so what's done is done." Her eyes turned cold. "But I can say that even though I'm over what happened, I will never forgive William for that. He and I are finally over forever. For good. We're done."
"I'm glad to hear that part at least," Rufus said sincerely. He then smiled. "I know it must have killed you to go to Ivy Dickens for anything."
Lily rolled her eyes. "Ugh! You have no idea." She smiled. "But at least I don't have to hate her as much anymore. Hating William is exhausting enough."
"Tell me about it!" Rufus joked.
They both laughed.
"I'm surprised Ivy told you all that though, in all honesty," Rufus stated.
Lily nodded. "I am too, believe me. But I was nice to her, and told her I shouldn't have been so hard on her. I also told her that, as women, we have a responsibility to each other to tell the other when a man is cheating on her. I told her, I wouldn't wish a cheating lover on her even though I'm not her biggest fan. She said the same about me. She and I won't be besties anytime soon, but we at least came to an understanding."
"Well, I'm glad she told you the truth," Rufus said.
Lily nodded. "Me too. Now, if you'll excuse me, I better be getting home. I have to plan my attack on William."
Rufus grinned. "I wish I could be there when you give him the old heave-ho!"
Lily smiled. "I don't want any witnesses for some of the unladylike things I'll be saying to him."
Rufus laughed.
Lily headed to the door, then paused. She turned around to face him. "Oh, and Rufus?"
"Yes?" Rufus asked.
Lily bit her bottom lip. "Just check the trash bins for the capsule shells. Just humor me, okay? If you don't find them, then you can yell at me all you want, and I'll never bring it up again. But please at least check it out, okay? I only ask this of you because I care about you, and I don't want you to get hurt."
Before Rufus could respond, Lily left, the jingle of the door announcing her departure.
Rufus sighed. His fiancé would not drug him. He was sure of it! Lily was just being foolish. But he'd check when he got home anyway. But only because he wanted to rub Lily's face in it that she was wrong. Then maybe she'd finally shut up about Lisa, and he could marry Lisa in peace.
~Begin Again~
Lily was waiting when the elevator doors opened, and William stepped into the apartment. From the smile on his face, and the roses in his hands, she knew he thought she had called him over for an entirely different reason than she had.
"Hello, my Love! I'm so glad you called." William walked over to her, and kissed her cheek. "So, have you taken any more thought into us getting back together? These are for you, by the way." He handed her the dozen red thornless roses he had been holding.
Lily smiled, then took them from him. Then, she threw them in his face. "You lying ass hole! There were other women, weren't there?"
William looked so shocked that Lily would have laughed, had this not been such a serious matter.
He cleared his throat. "Lily, my Darling, I told you there were no other women." His tone was calm, but he looked nervous. He bent down to pick up the roses.
"I don't want your stinking roses, William!" Lily snapped, having lost her patience the moment he denied sleeping with other women. "I mean, gosh, how many roses can one woman have at a time? I seriously want to vomit from the over abundance of rose smell in this apartment!"
William let the roses stay on the floor, and he stood back up. "Maybe tulips next time?" he asked with a sheepish grin.
"Forget about the damn flowers! This is about you lying to me about there not being any other women. I know you slept with more than Cassidy!" Lily had both her hands clenched into tight fists, and she stared William down, her eyes boring into his, unwilling to break eye contact.
William swallowed nervously. "How did you find out?"
Lily released her fists. "I didn't know for sure, but I suspected. You just confirmed it."
"I swear they meant nothing, Lily! They were just for a little fun. I'll never let it happen again!" William said, sounding frantic.
"How many women were there, William?" Lily asked.
"I don't see why that matters. I'm not sleeping with anyone else now, and I never will ag—"
"How many women, William?" Lily asked firmly and coldly, her eyes still locked with his.
William looked away. "I don't remember how many, but there were a lot. I pretty much jumped from woman to woman. No one lasted more than a week or two until I met Cassidy."
"Oh my gosh," Lily said, covering her mouth, and shaking her head. "I should have known. What a fool I was. They warned me about you. Everyone warned me about you, but I didn't want to listen. No, I was too busy being a blind idiot!"
"Lil, you're not an idiot. You're just in love with me, and I'm in love with you!" William insisted.
Lily held a finger up to him. "For one, don't you ever call me Lil. Rufus is the only one who calls me that, and the only one who will ever call me that. Second of all, I was in love with you. But that ended that the moment I found out you were cheating on me. I now see you for who you really are. You're a lying, manipulating, scumbag of a man, and I want you out of my life for good. Oh, and Ivy told me what you did. She told me how you had my mother's money transferred to her. You son of a bitch! You're lucky I'm not a violent women, or I swear I'd gouge your eyes out, and shove them down your throat!" She was so angry, she was shaking, and she could feel her whole body flush with anger.
"You went to see Ivy? Why? Lily, you know she lies. You can't believe a word she says." William was clearly beyond nervous. Lily knew without a doubt he was the one lying.
She crossed her arms over her chest. "You're not one to talk about lying, William. You were also sleeping with her before we got back together. She had been telling the truth all along!"
"Lily, I was just using her!" William tried. He winced, apparently realizing how horrible that sounded.
"I bet you were cheating on her too, weren't you?" Lily asked.
"I wasn't, I swear!" William said.
"So, you need to cheat on me, but you didn't need to cheat on Ivy Dickens?" Lily asked. She was so annoyed. She didn't want Ivy to be cheated on either, but it still made her angry that he could be loyal to Ivy and not her. Even if he did end up leaving Ivy for her.
"We didn't date long enough for me to cheat on her. Anyway, I left her for you, didn't I?" William asked.
Lily rolled her eyes. "So not the point! The only thing that matters now is that you and I are through—for good. And boy do I mean it this time! I don't want you to even speak to me unless we have to speak for the divorce. You will agree to this divorce, and it will be uncontested. You leave this marriage with everything you brought into it, and I leave with everything I brought into it. Got it?"
William looked crushed and defeated. He nodded without a word.
Lily smirked. "Good! I already have my lawyer drawing up the papers, so you should be hearing from him soon. Now get the hell out of my house!"
"Lily, can't we at least talk about this first?" William asked weakly.
"Out!" Lily said in such an angry voice, she barely even recognized it as her own. She shot him a look to kill in case he didn't get the picture.
He got the picture. He headed over to the elevator, pressed the button, then turned back to face her. "I really did love you, Lily. But don't worry, I won't contest the divorce."
She sighed. "William?"
He looked hopeful. "Yes?"
"I've been thinking about that necklace you gave me—how Lisa mysteriously ended up with one just like it. That was you, wasn't it?"
William looked down to the floor. "Yes." He then looked at her and shrugged. "I guess I should have known I couldn't keep you away from Rufus for long. I never could." He then stepped onto the elevator, and then disappeared from both Lily's sight, and from her life.
Lily sat down on the couch with a sigh. She covered her face in her hands. She knew he was just trying to make her feel sorry for him, but it didn't work.
She burst into tears, and sobbed into her hands. The only person she could feel sorry for right now, was herself.
~Begin Again~
Rufus got home, feeling half sick. He hated not trusting Lisa. Especially when he was going to marry her. But he just couldn't shake Lily's words from his head no matter how much he wanted to. It was just that, something didn't add up from the night before. You don't just get that tired out of the blue. At least, he never did. Before last night that is. So now, here he was, about to greet Lisa and pretend that nothing was wrong when in fact, there was something very wrong. At least, he suspected something might be wrong. However, he hoped that the only thing wrong was him. Though, judging from the nagging feeling deep down in his gut, he wasn't wrong at all. He had to find out though. Then and only then could he calm his nerves...or irritate them even more.
"Hey, Honey! How was your day?" Lisa asked, running to hug him as soon as he shut the loft door behind him.
He turned around to face her, and put on his best smile. "Hey, Beautiful! It was a good day. I sold a lot of paintings."
"Did you? That's amazing! It will help go towards our honeymoon," Lisa said.
"Yeah," Rufus agreed.
They kissed sweetly on the lips.
"So, what would you like for dinner tonight?" Lisa asked.
"Um, whatever. We can go out if you'd like," Rufus said. "Yes, actually, you've cooked a lot lately. Let's go out." The trust was, he didn't want her in the kitchen. He needed her out of the way so that he could search the kitchen trash. He'd feel like an asshole searching it, but he had to do what he had to do.
"All right! Sounds good!" She grinned. "Just let me go freshen up, and then we can get going." She kissed him. "Where would you like to go?"
He kissed her lips. "Anywhere you'd like to go."
She kissed him yet again. "We'll figure it out." She winked at him and smiled, then headed to the bedroom. "I won't be long!"
"Take your time," he said, before heading to the garbage can by the couch. He looked through it. There wasn't much in it, and certainly no pill capsules. He was relieved, but not too relieved, for he knew there were other trashcans he still had to look through.
He headed to the kitchen trashcan next, and sighed when he saw how full it was.
He grabbed another trash bag, then got to work at transferring the kitchen trash over to the empty bag, making sure to do no more than two pieces at a time, so as not to miss anything.
For a while, he thought he had nothing to worry about. He wasn't finding anything but egg shells, plastic wrapper, non recyclable food boxes, unwanted food, and used napkins. But then, as he got to the bottom of the original trash bag, there it was—two halves of a pill capsule.
Rufus took the two halves out of the trash, and turned them over in his hand. They looked like a sleeping pill to him. He suddenly felt sick.
~BA~
I couldn't believe it. Heck, I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe that Lisa, the woman I was set to marry in just over a month, was capable of drugging me. And yet, here was the proof. I mean, I guess it wasn't a hundred percent proof, but she'd never taken a sleeping pill that I know of, and I know I certainly hadn't. At least, not of free will anyway.
I sighed. Was she really that threatened by Lily that she had to drug me?
I set the capsule halves down on the counter, then walked over to the dishwasher, and opened it up. I then looked for our glasses that we had drunk our green milk from. I found them, then examined them both carefully, looking for any sign of residue. I couldn't really tell.
I put the glasses back in the dishwasher, and shut the dishwasher door. I had just picked the capsule halves back up when Lisa came back out.
"I'm ready!" she said, a bright smile on her face. Her smile quickly faltered when she noticed the trash bag in the kitchen. "What's up? Changing the trash bag early? The garbage doesn't get picked up until Tuesday, Silly." She grinned.
I walked around the island into the living room area. "Lisa, Lily came by to see me today at the gallery during lunch. She wondered what happened to me last night. Apparently, I hadn't called her and cancelled after all," I said calmly.
Lisa looked nervous to me. "Really? Huh. Well, maybe I misunderstood you. Maybe you said you had to call her and tell her you couldn't go. I'm sorry."
I nodded. "Maybe." I looked her in the eyes then. "But that doesn't explain why Lily's texts and voicemail didn't show up on my phone."
Lisa shrugged. "Maybe she called the wrong number by mistake?"
I shook my head. "She knows my voicemail. She would have heard it wasn't me when it picked up."
"Well, maybe it was too loud in the pub for her to hear correctly, or maybe she had one too many beers at the time," Lisa said, sounding a little on edge.
"You know, it was so weird how I just fell asleep like that. It was just so out of the blue!" I said.
"Well, you did have a busy day," Lisa said.
I nodded. "True, but I've had even busier days in the past, and they never made me that tired. It's weird because I had the same symptoms as someone who has been drugged by a sleeping pill. Lily told me today about William having prescribed her a sleeping pill when she had insomnia. She had the same symptoms I had after taking one. You know, tired out of the blue even if you weren't the slightest bit tired before taking it. She fell asleep fast, and slept through the night, waking up feeling half groggy, and half refreshed."
Lisa swallowed, looking nervous. "That's weird," she said, her voice a little shaky.
"What's even more weird is that I found these two capsule halves at the bottom of the trash bag, and they look an awful lot like they're from a sleeping pill capsule. Do you have any idea why that might be, Lisa?" I couldn't stop myself now. I was on a role. I felt like a detective, who needed to get to the bottom of the case for his own sanity.
Lisa had tears in her eyes. "I don't know!"
I raised my eyebrows at her. "Don't you, Lisa? Because I know I never took a sleeping pill—at least, not that I'm aware of. And I haven't seen you take one before either. So where did this come from? Hm?"
Suddenly, Lisa burst into tears. "All right, I did it! I drugged you! I didn't want you going out with Lily, so I drugged you to make you sleep past your date. Okay? I'm sorry!" She started sobbing.
All I could do then was stare at her, my mouth literally dropped open, in shock. And there it was. Lily had been right. Lisa had drugged me, like Lily had said, and it had been for the reason Lily had said as well. Wow. Now the question was... Now what?
~BA~
"Were you that insecure that you had to drug me to stop me from going out with Lily?" Rufus asked, still in shock that Lisa really had drugged him.
Lisa shrugged. "Can you blame me? You go out every week with your ex-wife, and come back so happy. Also, I've seen the way you look at her. You can't take your eyes off her when she's around. Not to mention you're always so possessive and defensive of her."
"Hey, when she accused you of cheating on me, and then accused you of stealing from her, I cut off my friendship with her!" Rufus reminded her.
"Cutting off the friendship didn't last long, did it?" Lisa shot back.
Rufus could hardly believe that Lisa was the one acting like the victim. He shook his head. "She apologized, and was sincerely sorry. Besides, you said you didn't have a problem with her and I being friends after what she did to you!"
Lisa threw her hands in the air. "Well, I didn't want to look like an unforgiving bitch! You would have resented me if I kept you from seeing Lily, and you know it!"
"You should have talked to me about how you truly felt. You should have trusted me to take into consideration your feelings. Yes, maybe as your fiancé I should have picked up on how you felt, but at the same time, I'm not a mind reader! If you had just told me how you felt, then we could have handled this together. But no. Instead, you felt you had to drug me!" Rufus snapped.
Lisa started crying again. "I know, and I'm sorry, okay? You just had such a wonderful day with Lily, and then you planned to get together on St. Patrick's Day. I just felt like you were starting to fall for her again. I didn't know what to do, so I panicked!"
"What you should have done, Lisa, is come to me about it. Did that ever cross your mind?" Rufus asked.
Lisa shook her head, her eyes on the floor.
"Where did you even get that pill anyway?" Rufus then asked. "Lily said William had to prescribe her a sleeping pill."
Lisa looked at him and blushed.
Rufus narrowed his eyes at her, suddenly having a sinking feeling. "You got it from William, didn't you?"
Lisa looked away. "We're friends, and he wanted Lily away from you, just as I wanted you away from Lily. Also, he's a doctor, so he was the perfect man to go to."
Rufus laughed bitterly, and looked off into the distance. "Oh my gosh, I cannot believe I'm hearing these words come out of your mouth! You went to William, Lisa? Really? Not only that, but you're friends?"
Lisa shrugged. "I wouldn't exactly say we're besties. We don't really even hang out together much except for a couple of lunches when—" Lisa cut herself off, and her eyes got wide. She hadn't meant to let that come out, apparently.
Rufus crossed his arms over his chest, and raised an eyebrow. "A couple of lunches? When?"
Lisa looked away. "I met him on his lunch break a couple times, and we went to lunch together."
"And why didn't you tell me?" Rufus asked her.
Lisa shrugged, still not looking at him.
"Oh, I think you know. You were about to say something. When you and William what, Lisa? What else are you hiding from me? Hm?" Rufus felt his anger welling up inside of him.
Lisa sighed, and finally looked at him. "We were working together for a short while to keep you and Lily apart."
"And how did you do that?" Rufus asked. Then, before Lisa could reply, something inside of his brain clicked. His eyes got wide. "It was you, wasn't it? You're the one who tipped him off about the plan to catch him in the act!"
Lisa looked like she was about to cry again. "I was desperate! I'm sorry! I called him, and then he got a coworker of his to play another redhead or something. I'm not sure of the whole story. But yes, I was the one who tipped him off."
Rufus sighed, and shook his head as he turned his back to her. "I don't believe this. I really don't believe this." He then turned around to face Lisa again. "I really can't believe you either! How could you, Lisa? How could you drug me, you're own fiancé? I mean, is this really what I have to look forward to? A lifetime of being drugged by you every time you get jealous of Lily's and my relationship, or my relationship with some other woman you can't seem to trust me alone with?"
Lisa shook her head. "Of course not! Look, I made a mistake, all right? I'm sorry! I'll never do it again!" Lisa promised.
Rufus laughed bitterly. "A mistake? A mistake? Lisa, a mistake is forgetting to put the milk back in the fridge, or burning dinner. Drugging me is a felony!"
"So what are you going to do, call the police on me?" Lisa asked with a sniffle, sounding a little worried.
Rufus sighed. "Of course not! But it doesn't mean I don't have the right to be angry with you! It doesn't mean that it was just some minor thing that I am supposed to just brush off as a mistake!"
Lisa looked down to the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I know," she said, it coming out in a whisper.
"You deleted all of Lily's texts too, didn't you?" Rufus then asked.
Lisa nodded, then sniffled, still looking to the floor.
"And you listened to her voicemail and then deleted it, didn't you?" Rufus then asked.
"Yes," Lisa admitted, her voice shaky.
"Great! That's just great," Rufus said sarcastically. He grabbed his coat then, and slipped on his shoes.
"Where are you going?" Lisa asked, her voice filled with tears as she finally turned to face him.
Rufus headed to the door. "Out!" He unlocked the door, and slid it open.
"Rufus, please! Stay here so we can talk this out!" Lisa cried.
Rufus whipped around to face her, his eyes filled with anger. "I can't!" he snapped, feeling his whole body shake, half with anger, and half with the hurt tears he was bottling up inside.
"Why not?" Lisa asked, the tears streaming down her face. She sniffled.
"Because honestly, Lisa, I can't even stand to be anywhere near you right now. I can't stay otherwise..." Rufus trailed off.
"Otherwise what?" Lisa asked.
Rufus sighed. "Otherwise, eloping might not be the only thing we don't do."
"What do you mean?" Lisa practically screeched.
"What I mean is, if I don't get some time to cool off, not only is eloping off, but the whole getting married thing could be off too." With those final words to Lisa, Rufus turned and left, slam sliding the loft door closed.
He winced when he heard Lisa sobbing from the other side of the door. He knew he should feel bad, but right now, he was frankly too angry to give a damn.
~Begin Again~
William knocked on Cassidy's door, feeling confidant. He was tired of fighting for Lily when she didn't want to be fought for—at least not fought for by him. He loved her, but frankly, this whole fighting for Lily thing was just down right tiring. He was William van der Woodsen, and William van der Woodsen shouldn't have to fight for a woman. At least, not to the point of begging.
Cassidy opened the door. She scowled when she saw William standing there, and shot him a dirty look when she saw him bringing forward the huge bouquet of peonies that he had had hidden behind his back. She tried to slam the door, but he stopped the door from shutting.
"Cassidy, wait. Please, here me out. Let me explain," he pleaded.
Cassidy glared at him. "You cheated on me. What is there to explain? Or is it, you cheated on your wife? Gosh, you're just an all around cheater!" She stomped her foot, shaking, and turning red with anger.
William held back a grin. She was so sexy when she was angry. It must be the Irish roots in her, he thought. "I cheated on Lily because I was bored in the bedroom, and frankly, I was falling out of love with her. She never let me be me. She was always trying to make me into someone I'm not."
"That's why you should have been with me and only me. I was perfectly happy with the way you are. That is, until I found out that you're a lying, two-timing, cheating bag of scum!" She tried to slam the door again, but William stuck his foot out, stopping her. "It's over between Lily and I. She is divorcing me, and I told her I will not contest the divorce. She's having the papers drawn up ASAP."
"So I'm your second choice." Cassidy rolled her eyes. "No thanks!"
This time, William pushed through the open doorway before she could slam it in his face.
"Hey! Leave this once, or I'm calling security!" Cassidy snapped.
William set the flowers down on top of the mantle, and turned back to Cassidy. "Cassidy, please, just hear what I have to say. All of what I have to say. If you still want me gone after I say what I need to say, then I'll leave, and you'll never see me again."
Cassidy sighed, and rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest. "You have five minutes."
"I'll admit, I was a player. I loved my women, and I had many. I guess, I really had no business being married," he began.
"You think?" Cassidy asked, sitting down on a plush white leather chair.
William sat down on the matching couch in front of the chair. "I never lasted with a girl for more than a week or two at best. But, when I met you, I found myself not wanting to let you go. I had no desire to find another woman. I only wanted to be with you."
"And Lily," Cassidy quipped.
William nodded. "True. But I found myself wanting to be with Lily less and less, and more and more with you. Heck, even when Lily first started to suspect I was cheating, I didn't stop seeing you because I didn't want to. I was falling in love with you, and I just couldn't get myself to break it off with you no matter how dangerous it was to keep seeing you."
"If you love me so much then why did you keep seeing Lily?" Cassidy asked.
William shrugged. "Old habits die hard. Lily is my wife, and I guess a part of me was having a hard time letting go of that. I do still love her to an extent. I mean, she's the mother of two of my children." He sighed, then looked Cassidy directly in the eyes. "But I'm just no longer in love with her the way a husband should be with his wife. She and I are just so different that we both just grew apart. The part of me that was still holding on was trying to hold onto something that just isn't there anymore. Not on her part, and not on mine."
Cassidy looked away, and was silent for a minute. Then, after a moment, she looked back at William. "I was falling in love with you too. It really hurt me when I found out you were married all this time. And heck, if you cheated on her, who's to say you wouldn't cheat on me?"
"But that's just it! After meeting you, I could no longer get myself to cheat with anyone else, nor could I get myself to even want to! Cassidy, meeting you was like... I don't know. There isn't even words to describe it. All I can say is, I felt complete in a way that I never felt before—not even with Lily!" William was surprised to realize he actually meant every word he was saying to Cassidy. For once in his life, he didn't feel the need to spout out lies. He didn't have to. "Please, Cassidy, give me another chance."
Cassidy bit her bottom lip. "I don't know. I want to get back with you, William, but how can I ever trust you again?"
William had been thinking about this on the way over, so he knew exactly what to say. He just hoped she'd be as all for it as he was. "Let's go away together."
~BA~
Cassidy raised her eyebrows at me. "Excuse me?"
I nodded. "You heard me. Let's go away together. We'll go on a boat, and travel around the word for a while. I can take a leave of absence from work. Lord knows I could use the break."
"I can't just up and leave work," Cassidy said.
I shrugged. "Why not? I have enough money to support us both. Heck, you know what? We could even move to Tampa. You said your parents and little sister live there, and you're sad because you never get to see them anymore. Let's move there. I have nothing holding me back here anymore. I mean, I have Serena, but she's grown and married now, and living her own life. She doesn't need her daddy around twenty-four-seven. She and I can still visit whenever we want. And my Lola is from Miami. Her mother still lives there in fact. Lola even has a boyfriend from Orlando, so I'm sure she'll be in Florida sometimes. What's a short little drive from Tampa to Orlando, or vise-versa? Heck, Even Miami is just a little over 6 hours from Tampa."
Cassidy smiled. "It would be nice to be near my family. I miss my little sister so much I could cry! To live near her would be a dream come true."
"We can get a nice little place together by the water. And, I'm sure Tampa needs hair dressers just as much as New York does." I winked. "As for my job, I have enough contacts at the hospital to get me into the Tampa hospital."
"And, ever since my roommate moved out to live with her boyfriend, it's been a struggle keeping this place," Cassidy said as if seriously contemplating my offer.
I nodded. "See? Everything is pointing to this being the right decision."
Cassidy sighed, and crossed her arms over her chest. "I don't know. This is a huge step. Especially after I recently found out you were secretly married."
I shrugged. "How about this? We take this trip. We can go to Europe, and take a month off just to sail around Europe. We'll get to know each other better. Then, if you decide you don't want to be with me after what I did, we can break up. And, if you want to be with me, well, Tampa, here we come!"
"This is still crazy," Cassidy said.
I nodded. "I know." I really hoped she agreed to this. I honestly didn't want to lose her. It wasn't about not wanting to be alone, because, let's face it, William van der Woodsen was never on a shortage of women. But I honestly really was in love with Cassidy, and I really didn't want to lose her. I could handle losing Lily. After all, it wouldn't be the first time. Not at all. But Cassidy, no. What she and I had was real, and I truly had no desire to cheat anymore as long as I was with her. As clichéd as it sounds, she made me a better man.
Cassidy then grinned at me. "Lucky for you, I happen to like crazy."
I grinned in return. "I'm so relieved!" I got up to hug her, but she stopped me, holding out her hand in a stop position. "But if you even cheat on me just once, I swear I'll rip off your balls and make you choke on them!"
I swallowed hard. Knowing Cassidy, I had no doubt she would.
~BA~
William nodded. "Point taken. I will never cheat on you again for as long as I live. I'll even see what my lawyers can do to speed up the divorce process for Lily and I."
Cassidy smiled, then held out her arms. "In that case, come here, you! You have a lot of making it up to me to do."
William grinned, ran to her, took her into his arms, and kissed her, vowing to never let this woman go again. She was one hell of a woman, and he was one hell of a man. He needed a woman like her in his life, and in his bed.
Cassidy grinned as she broke the hug. "I always wanted to see Paris, and Milan, and—"
William cut her off. "We can see it all, my Love!"
Cassidy squealed, and clapped her hands. Then, she stopped, and raised an eyebrow. "Do you even know how to steer a boat?"
William shook his head. "Na, but I figured I can just read a manual or something. It can't be that hard."
Cassidy looked at him funny.
William burst out laughing. "I'm messing with you! I have my captain's license. I have ever since I was in my twenties. I've always loved to sail."
Cassidy grinned, and playfully slapped his shoulder. "You jackass!" She then kissed him, and held him close again. "So, you have your own boat? I never knew that!"
William held her close in return, savoring the moment. "No, I don't own a boat. I always figured it would be too much of a hassle to own one. I prefer to charter my yachts. We can start in Barcelona. We'll fly there, and charter the yacht, or we can start anywhere else you'd like to start off, and charter it there instead."
"Barcelona sounds perfect," Cassidy said dreamily, her head resting against his chest now.
William kissed the top of her head. "Barcelona it is. Later tonight, I'll book our flight." He smiled, and lovingly stroked her hair. It looked like it would be a good life for him after all.
~Begin Again~
Lily was just thinking about taking a bubble bath to try to wash away her terrible day, when the elevator doors opened.
She sighed, and turned around from her spot halfway up the stairs. "William, I told you to get out! That meant, not coming back, like ever." She stopped short when she saw that it wasn't William, but rather, Rufus. She placed a hand over her heart.
"Rufus, what are you doing here?" She headed down the stairs, and sat down on the couch. She pat the seat beside her, noticing how down he looked. "What's wrong?"
Rufus sat down beside her, and faced her. "You were right," he said simply. "She drugged me to get me away from you. I found the capsules in the trash. I confronted her, and she admitted it all. She deleted all your messages too."
Lily looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to be right." She looked at him again. "I didn't want you to be hurt."
"I just can't believe she drugged me, Lil! Instead of talking to me about her insecurities, she drugged me." He sighed, and shook his head. "You think you know someone, and it turns out you really don't know them at all."
Lily nodded. "I know that's right!"
"Get this—Lisa even admitted to working with William to keep us apart. She is the one that tipped William off to Blair's plan so that William knew to bring a decoy redhead!" Rufus said, sounding as if he could hardly believe it himself.
Lily gasped. "That bitch! And that bastard. Gosh, it seems like William's been busy. I've been finding out a lot of things about him and his misdeeds today."
Rufus looked at her. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you about Lisa."
Lily smiled and shrugged. "It's okay. It's not like I believed you when you told me about William cheating on me."
"I guess we need to learn to trust each other better, huh?" Rufus asked with a weak smile.
Lily smiled back. "Yes! I mean, if we can't trust each other, then who can we trust? Right?"
Rufus nodded. "Right! Obviously we can't trust our significant others."
"Ex significant other in my case. I told him I want a non-contested divorce, and he agreed." Lily said. "What did you say to Lisa?"
Rufus sighed. "I told her I needed some time away from her to think about whether or not I still want to get married." He sighed again, then nodded at Lily. "Did William try to deny anything when you confronted him?" Rufus asked. "Lisa did until I badgered it out of her."
Lily nodded. "Of course! I had to badger him too, but eventually he admitted there were other women before Cassidy, and a lot of them at that."
Rufus gently stroked her cheek. "I'm sorry, Lil. You don't deserve that."
"And you don't deserve to be drugged," Lily said.
"That's something you don't hear every day!" Rufus said with a grin.
Lily laughed. "No, you don't," she agreed.
"At least I know you'd never drug me," he said to her, his tone soft, and his eyes a bit lowered as he gently stroked her cheek some more.
"And I know you'd never cheat on me," Lily said, her tone just as soft as she gently stroked his cheek in return. Her eyes were lowered as well.
"Never," Rufus murmured.
Then, before either of them seemed to know what was happening, they slowly leaned in to each other until their lips finally met. They kissed softly at first, then more passionate. Then, Rufus got up off the couch, extending his hand to Lily.
Lily let Rufus help her up off the couch, then he picked her up.
Lily placed her hands on each side of his face, and they resumed their kissing.
As Rufus carried her upstairs to the bedroom, part of Lily's brain that told her it was wrong; that Rufus was still engaged. But the other part of Lily's brain—the more dominant part of her brain—told her that, if kissing Rufus and making love with him was wrong, then she really didn't care to be right. She decided to go with the latter. After all, as already noted, it was the more dominant side of her brain.