A/N: here is chapter 4 as promised. this might be the longest chapter so far... (sorry not sorry) (also two uploads in 24 hours, unheard of for me) Anyway, enjoy!!

I sat inside the rather small diner, waiting for Angelica to burst through the door. It was maybe another 5 minutes before she arrived. She was wearing a pair of white ripped jeans and a light pink long sleeve blouse. Her hair was pulled away from her face in a low ponytail, and she was sporting a vivid red lip.

"Eliza!" Her face changed from excitement to concern when she locked eyes with me, "What's wrong, Eliza?"

"Alex…"

"I'm going to beat him up. What did he do?" She sits down across from me.

"An affair." I start to cry, "He is my first love, my everything, Angelica. I guess I wasn't his everything… not anymore at least."

"Hey, hey, hey, please don't cry. I will get Mulligan to bring you cake, and we will deal with this like the mature women we are okay. Let me go get you a chocolate cake so we can sort out this situation."

I nod my head at her and she leaves. I start to wipe my tears off my face when my phone starts buzzing rapidly in my hands. I look at who is calling me: Alexander of course… I ignore it but start to cry again as his face disappears from my screen. She comes back, "Eliza, he is worried about you, but he hurt you. Remember? The whole have sex with another woman is wrong."

I nod and she slides the cake to me, "Now let's eat this free cake that Herc gave us and let's talk about this and the special business that Jefferson probably suggested to you."

"Okay… so Jefferson told me on Friday that he thinks Alex might be… involved with someone else. I ignored it, but he left me his business card that said I could contact you about his services if needed. Which, how the hell do you know about his other past times?"

"I utilized them once or twice. When I was in England and he was in France, he helped me out with 2 guys who wouldn't leave me alone. This was all per John's request, but that is beside the point."

"Well that makes sense. If I had a gorgeous bride like you, I wouldn't want to lose you either. Anyway, I asked him a couple of questions like why you know about this and when we should meet up to ta-"

"When are you meeting to talk?"

"Tonight at the capital building after his meeting. Why?"

"I'm just curious. If it's after a meeting that means he is going to be cutting it pretty close to getting caught, he is either going to take you on a scenic walk as far away from that building or he is going to make it a subject and pay type of deal."

I nod, "He said I could ask questions so I assume we are going for a walk then…"

"You are probably going to want to change out of that outfit then, if he is meeting you, then you should wear darker colors than royal blue."

"I can manage that."

"Anyway, your story."

"Well, I ignored it but I was curious to see what he wanted. But then, when I realized it was tuesday, I decided I was going to take a leap and ask Alexander if he is in fact sharing himself with a woman that isn't me."

"And?"

"He lied to me. I didn't ask him, 'are you having sex with Maria?' but I asked him an easy question."

She rolls her eyes, "What was the question?"

"Why are you always leaving early and returning late from work. He said that Washington is trying to pass a lot of financial bills or something and he can't take a break from his work. I knew he was lying so I mumbled under my breath that I thought he was lying. He acted all confused, the whole 'where is this coming from' bullshit that I've heard too many times to count. I said that Washington has not passed a single financial bill in the past year and if he did the people would know. Then he fessed up."

"So Jefferson was right."

"Yup. He told me that Alex shows up late to work and leave early. And that when he is at work, he locks his office doors for no reason."

She takes a sip from her water bottle that she brought in, "That is very shady."

I nod, "It's been going on for a year, Angelica… A full year, and I didn't notice that he was being weird." I start to tear up again, "I didn't notice that he was leaving without breakfast and coming home after missing dinner, but claiming he wasn't hungry. I just dismissed it. I didn't notice that on the weekends he was going into work when he didn't need to. I missed all of the red flags. If I think about it, there was one time when we were… having fun… I noticed a hickey on his neck and when I asked him about it, he said he burned his neck on the hair straightener. And the funny thing about that story is that I believed him! I believe that obvious lie, and for what? For him to continue to break my heart and continue to hurt me. For him to continue to stick his di-"

"Hey now, relax. Eat more cake."

I shove a whole big fork full into my mouth angrily. I swallow it quickly, "How did I let it get past me? How did I ignore the obvious and let him go continue to fu-"

"Because you love him. Eliza, you love that man so much. I remember when I pulled you away from him at my party 16 years ago, and you wouldn't shut up about him. I remember watching your reaction to Dad after he agreed to give his blessing for your marriage. You love him, no matter what, you love him. You ignored these obvious signs and obvious red flags because deep in the subconscious of your pretty head, you knew it was true but you didn't want to believe that your beloved Alexander would ever do that to you. You want to believe he is perfect because that is what love does to you.

"You believe the best in me, in Dad, in Mom, and even in Peggy. Even though I am controlling, Dad is becoming a drunk, Mom has been gone for the greater part of 20 years, and Peggy is bipolar as hell. You see me as a perfectionist, Dad a movie star, Mom as a businesswoman, and Peggy as emotional because it's the better part of each of us. You see Alex as your star-crossed lover because it's the best part of him."

"I know, but it hurts, Angelica."

"I know it does, Sugar. Okay, it's almost 6:30, and you still need to change to meet Jefferson."

I wipe my eyes, once more, and stand up. Angelica follows suit, "I'll call you tomorrow after the meeting, okay, Angelica?"

"Of course! I love you so much, Eliza. You'll get through this."

"Thanks! I love you too!" I hug her and walk out of the diner.

I never thought about the fact that my subconscious already knew and I just ignored it because I didn't want to believe it. That's the thing with Angelica, though; whenever I talk to her, she opens my eyes to something I never saw before. Like when I first met Alex, she was the one who told me that he probably was single and wants to meet again. I was just going to awe over him for the night and let him go, at most he was going to be a fling and that was that. Never did I think that he might actually like me back. It was all her. She has a way of making sure that I see both sides, and that is the best part of her.

I continue my walk home, I know that I am going to have to face Alexander when I get home. I can't just ignore him, maybe I can pack a bag and go to Peggy's or go to Theodosia's place and stay for a night or two. Just to let the steam roll off before I confront Alex again. I decided to stop at a park bench and text Peggy to see if I can stay. She responds instantly, and her answer is, as expected, yes. Good. Now the embarrassment of returning to my war-zone of a house can be minimized. Oh, but the children… How do I explain this to them…

I figured it out, I just won't tell them. Mommy is just going on a vacation to get away from he cheating, lying, unfaithful, husband. Yeah… that's it. By the time I got to the front door, it was 6:45, and I only had 45 minutes to get to Peggy's if I wanted to be on time for my meeting with Thomas Jefferson.