Chapter 8: The Lies Begin Again

Sara was angrily waiting for Dawson at his apartment, anxious to hear his excuse for being out so late. After inhaling his dinner at Mattie's, he told her that he forgot something at the school and needed to get it tonight, which she figured to be a lie, watching him squirm and get more impatient as she pleaded to go with him. He left her over two and half hours ago and she had no idea where he was and he wasn't answering his cell phone. Sara wondered again who that woman was that Dawson reacted so strongly to seeing at Mattie's. He never looked at her like he did to that woman, Joey she thought her name was. Her fiancé didn't look to happy at the looks exchanged between the two of them and Sara couldn't help but wonder what Joey's relationship to Dawson was and if she was threat to her and her future with him. Staring at her watch, she saw that it was almost 11 p.m. and there was still no sign or word from Dawson. Just as she was about to get up and try his cell phone again, she heard his keys in the lock, hiding a smug grin on his face as he entered the apartment. Tossing his keys on the table, he looked up and stopped short when he saw Sara sitting in his living room.

"What are you doing here?" he asked with a surprised look on his face. She smiled sweetly, trying to hide her jealousy.

"I missed you so I thought I would surprise you," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck, immediately smelling another woman's perfume on his clothes. She froze for a minute and wondered how she should react. "Did you get everything you needed at school?"

"Yes I did," he said softly, wiping his lips, hoping all of Joey's lipstick was gone from his face. "Look Sara I'm really tired so I should ah get some rest." Pulling away from her, he could see that she was upset about something, but didn't want to find out what was exactly bothering her. She nodded sweetly and leaned in close to him, kissing his cheek and neck softly, wrapping her arms around him again. He knew what she wanted, she was rarely subtle when it came to sex, but now that he found Joey and spent part of the evening with her again, the thought of sleeping with or kissing Sara made him sick to his stomach. As her kisses increased and her hand trailed down his chest, slowly undoing the buttons of his shirt, he pulled back from her and squeezed her hands. "Honey that's really sweet but I'm kind of tired and not really in the mood tonight." She looked pissed after he said that, but still smiled sweetly and turned to grab her coat. "Dawson we're getting married, so whoever that woman was tonight better be taken care of before we walk down the aisle," she said with a fake grin on her face, kissing his cheek again softly and slamming the door to his apartment behind her.

Paul was also waiting up for Joey at their apartment. She told him she had a throbbing headache and wanted to go for a walk, which he didn't believe. Their entire night was ruined after running into the other couple at Mattie's. She backed out of going to the movie and suddenly claimed she didn't feel well, but refused to let him go with her on her walk. She was never a good liar and he could tell now that something was going on with her and that guy they ran into at the diner. The looks on both of their faces pretty much gave that away and Paul knew Joey never looked at him like that before. It was close to 11 p.m. and he had no idea where she was. He was about to go look for her himself when she strolled in the door, looking exhausted but different, with almost a happy glow to her face. She found him sitting in the living room, barely paying attention to the magazine in front of him. They smiled at one another and she joined him on the couch, taking off her jacket and sitting a good distance from him. Neither one of them said anything for a minute.

"We should make sure everything is set for the rehearsal dinner tomorrow and double check all the arrangements for the reception," he said softly as he half-read the article in front of him. Joey nodded, not really listening to what he was saying, her thoughts were still back at Carlisle Park, where she and Dawson talked and made out like kids for hours. She loved him, but she still loved Paul and that love was different now. Unsure what to say, Paul leaned over and kissed her on the lips softly, feeling that she wasn't really into the kiss and that her mind was elsewhere. "I'm off to bed," he said, getting up and walking into their bedroom, but not before he looked at her privately, noticing her quickly reach for her vibrating cell phone and smiling broadly while answering it. Paul had a sick feeling about who could be calling her this late and whom she was with while she was on her "walk," but he refused to give up. There were only six days until their wedding and she would walk down the aisle, he was confident about that.

Joey fell asleep on the couch that night in her clothes, talking to Dawson, who was calling to report that he got rid of Sara again for the evening and that he missed her already. He invited her to come over to his apartment, but she resisted, no matter how tempted she was. She knew Paul was suspicious about her actions tonight so tempting and taunting him more was probably not a good idea. They stayed up and talked until 2 a.m., talking about what they were up to since they parted at the Honolulu airport. He still made her laugh like he always could with his corny jokes and movie references and he listened attentively as she talked about work and projects she was busy with. Before parting in the park earlier, after a half-hour goodbye, they exchanged phone numbers and addresses, vowing to keep in touch. They never really talked again about Paul or Sara, but Joey knew she had her own decision to make about her relationship with Paul and their impending marriage and she had to make it soon. Paul found her asleep on the couch the next morning, covered in a blanket from one of the chairs and her cell phone resting next to her face. Trying not to wake her, he checked her incoming calls and found a number he didn't recognize. Taking the phone with him into the kitchen, he selected the unknown number and hit TALK, dialing the person back. After a few rings, a man answered, muttering something into the phone about a dream he had about her. Paul felt a rush of anger through him.

"I don't know who you are, but I want you to stay away from me and Joey," he snapped. "Whatever your relationship is to her and what happened between you is over. We're engaged and we're getting married so forget about it." He was tempted to just hang up the phone, but as he was about to hit the END button, he heard the voice on the other end say something.

"I love her Paul and she loves me too," the voice whispered. "I'm not trying to ruin this for you, but I won't walk away from her again." Paul wanted to shout something back at him, but he heard Joey stirring and the voice on the other end had hung up the phone.