CH 10-Crushed Hearts and New Revelations
When the limo pulled into the driveway, Fox got out and held the door open for Theresa. As she carefully stepped out, Fox noticed a sparkle of happiness in her eyes.
"Theresa, are you ok?" He asked closing the door behind her.
"Am I ok?" She looked up at him smiling. "Fox, I am better than ok! The night hasn't even begun yet and I already feel like I'm walking on air! The dress that you bought for me is beautiful, this limo is beautiful, my god these roses are beautiful!" She happily cried, looking down at the gorgeous bouquet.
Fox laughed at her over-excitement.
"Well, I thought you could use the special attention since lately you've been kind of down about my half-brother." He looked down at her.
"Yeah, well I just really want to be with Ethan. He was my first love and even though right now we're having a bit of problems, I just know that we will be together again." She smiled hopefully.
I don't know about that Theresa. Fox thought to himself. I have a strong feeling that tonight things aren't going to go according to the way you plan.
"What's wrong Fox? Don't you think Ethan and I will be together again?" She asked him, noticing the concerned expression on his face.
Fox took a deep breath.
"I just hope that you don't end up getting hurt Theresa."
"I won't Fox, because deep in my heart I know that Ethan still loves me." She looked up at him. "But enough about this. There is a party in there with your name on it, so let's go in and have a good time!"
"Well, I can't argue with that!" He smiled, taking her by the arm.
He turned the doorknob and stepped into the crowded mansion. Although he didn't recognize every face, there were a few people whom he remembered meeting when he had first arrived.
Standing by the piano, Fox noticed Sheridan and her husband Luis talking to Gwen and her fiancée Hank. Over by the window stood Coach and Dr Russell, with Whitney and Chad not too far away. His mother and father were of course mingling with different executives and Sam was enjoying a lovely dance with his wife Grace Bennett with Charity and Miguel close by.
Over by the stairwell, Fox noticed Ethan keeping a close eye on him and Theresa. He knew that there was a good chance he was still upset about their confrontation earlier but he didn't care. Ethan chose to push Theresa out of his life and therefore if Fox wanted to be with her, there was nothing he could do.
Fox glanced down at Theresa and noticed that she too had seen Ethan. Her face suddenly lit up at the sight of him, as she tugged on Fox's arm.
"There's Ethan," she looked up at him. "I'm going to go see if I can talk to him. I'll see you later ok?"
"Yeah sure," Fox sadly smiled down at her.
As he watched her walk over to Ethan, he felt a pain of worry in his stomach.
I really wish that you would just give up on him Theresa. He whispered to himself. I'm not only saying this because I care about you. I honestly feel that if you don't give up on Ethan soon, you're going to wind up getting more hurt than you can ever imagine.
"Fox darling!" Ivy came over to him with two fine-dressed men. "I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Kendall and Mr. Cumminton. They are the executive managers for the Banting Project."
"We are extremely pleased to meet you Mr. Crane. We have heard very good things about you." Fox shook both gentlemen's hands and smiled.
Although they were talking to him, Fox couldn't bring himself to hear a word that they were saying. He was way too worried about Theresa. He glanced over at her talking to Ethan and frowned.
Ethan you better be gentle with her. He thought to himself. I don't think she can handle you hurting her anymore.
"Hello Ethan," Theresa walked over to him.
"Hello," he tried hard to control his frustration. "I see you came here with Fox."
"Yeah," she smiled. "He was nice to bring me. He even had a limo come pick me up at my house!"
Ethan placed two hands on her shoulder.
"Theresa, you're playing with fire." He blurted out.
"What do mean?" She looked at him confused.
"I mean you and Fox." He explained, "He's not who you think he is."
"Me and Fox? Ethan—"Theresa tried to correct him.
"No, listen to me." He looked deep into her eyes. "You can't be fooled by Fox's charm and sweet words. He just uses those things to confuse women and then when he knows he has you under his spell, he takes advantage of you."
"Ethan, Fox wouldn't do that." She objected.
"Yes he would Theresa. You just don't know him well enough!" He took a deep breath. "Fox is a womanizer! He treats all women like dirt! He doesn't care for any of them. He only wants them for one thing, and once he gets it he moves on to the next."
Theresa couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Look, I just don't want you to get hurt. You're too important to me. I would rather die than let anyone take advantage of you." He looked into her eyes.
"Oh my god," Theresa slowly smiled, staring into Ethan's deeply concerned eyes. "You want to protect me."
"Yes," he sighed, relieved that she understood him.
"You want to protect me, because you still love me." She threw herself into his arms. "Oh Ethan! I knew that this would happen! I knew that you would see we were meant to be together! Now, you're making up all this stuff about Fox, so that I would not fall in love with him. But don't worry Ethan I love you! I've always loved you! I'm so happy that you forgive me!"
Theresa knew that everyone in the room was staring at them, but she didn't care. Ethan was hers again, and she wanted the world to know it.
"You think what I told you was a lie?" Ethan looked at her amazed. "Theresa, it's the truth! I didn't just make that stuff up!"
"Ethan, it's ok. You can stop now! I told you that I loved you, you don't have to do this anymore! We can be together now!" She assured him.
"Dammit Theresa!" He yelled. "Why do you have to be so dense? Why can't you just listen to me?"
Theresa stared at Ethan stunned. She suddenly felt as though the entire room filled with darkness as he continued.
"I have told you millions of times, that we can never be together. Yet, you can never accept that. Theresa you lied to me time after time. There were many opportunities where you could have told me the truth, but you chose not to. You continuously lied to me over and over again. You know how important trust is to me in a relationship. There is no way that a relationship can continue if there is no trust. When will you understand that?"
Ethan watched as the tears poured down Theresa's face, but knew she had to hear this.
"You can tell me that you love me as many times as you want. And trust me, I know that you do. But that does not change the fact that I cannot trust you. We can NEVER be together Theresa. Please, just understand that."
Theresa closed her eyes and tried to block out the horrible words that were coming from Ethan's mouth, but she knew she couldn't. As the heavy tears poured down her face, she looked around the room at all the faces staring back at her. She felt completely humiliated and she wished that the ground would just open and swallow her up.
How could Ethan say those things? She thought as she felt the room start to spin. How could he embarrass me like this? How could—. Suddenly she realized that everyone was waiting for her to respond. She tried to speak, but no words came out. It was as if her throat had completely dried up. I need to get out of here. She frantically looked around the room for any exit. Finally she saw one.
She pushed passed Ethan and the entire crowd. She didn't even hear Fox call after her. All she knew was that she had to get out of there. She barged through the back doors and ran off into the night.
Fox angrily stared at Ethan.
He walked over to him, before going after Theresa.
"Nice going Ethan! You really know how to kick someone when they're down!" He pushed passed him and attempted to run after her.
Just as he was heading out the door, Gwen grabbed a blanket and handed it to him.
"Here, it's getting pretty chilly out there." She smiled at him. "Just make sure she's ok."
"I will." He grabbed the blanket and rushed out the door.
Theresa ran as fast as she could. The wind blew strong in her tear-stricken face. She finally stopped when she thought she reached a safe distance from the mansion. She breathed in the salty breeze from the ocean and fell to the ground; her dress covered in sand.
"I never want to see you again Ethan!" she cried to the raging waters. "I hope one day you feel the pain that you've caused me!"
Suddenly she heard someone call her name. She was about to get up and start running, afraid that it was Ethan.
"Theresa, wait!" The voice called again.
She reluctantly spun around and saw that it was Fox.
When he finally caught up to her, she through herslef into his open arms.
"Oh my god Fox!" She cried as he tightly held her. "This is not happening!"
He could feel her trembling in his arms as he caressed her hair.
"I hate to tell you this Theresa, but it is happening." He whispered in her ear.
"But why? I could have sworn that Ethan was going to tell me that he loved me!" She drew herself away from him. "I can't believe how stupid I was! God, I even got you to buy me this stupid dress, and he didn't even say anything about it!"
Fox watched her violently attempt to rip the dress to shreds.
"No, Theresa don't!" He fought with her, loosening the dress from her grip.
"He didn't even like my dress," she sadly looked up at him. Fox knew that she just used the dress as a cover up. But deep down inside her heart ached from much more than that.
As she heavily cried into his chest, he had to try hard not to break down himself. He had never felt this way before. Right now, he felt as thought he were feeling her pain along with her and it killed him.
He carefully lifted her chin and smiled at her when her gaze met his.
"If it means anything, I liked your dress." He winked at her trying to make her smile.
When she lightly giggled, he grinned.
"Fox, how do manage to make me laugh when I feel like my whole world is about it crumble?" She looked up at him.
"I don't know." He paused. "I guess it's just that I can't bear to see you unhappy. And since I know that there isn't much that I can do to change what you're going through, I figure that I can at least make you smile, right?"
Theresa just took a moment to stare into his eyes. For the first time, she could see how much he cared for her. She thought back to all the times when he had tried his best to make her laugh. No matter how distraught she was, he was always there to make sure she didn't crumble.
"Oh my gosh," she whispered continuing to look into his eyes. "I can't believe I didn't see this before."
"What?" Fox looked at her confused.
"You love me." She slowly smiled as she realized how he felt about her.
"Yeah," he smiled. "I guess I do."
He never really said it out loud, and part of him didn't even realize it, but it was true. He did love her.
"Oh Fox," she cried, a single tea rolling down her face.
She closed her eyes and felt his lips softly brush against hers. He pulled her close to him as he deepened the kiss with his tongue. Her lips tasted so sweet. He felt as though he could kiss her forever. Theresa let herself completely give in to the warmth of his lips. The feeling of his tongue exploring her mouth filled her with complete bliss.
As the wind blew softly though her hair, everything seemed utterly perfect. She now knew at that very moment that Fox was the one for her.
When the limo pulled into the driveway, Fox got out and held the door open for Theresa. As she carefully stepped out, Fox noticed a sparkle of happiness in her eyes.
"Theresa, are you ok?" He asked closing the door behind her.
"Am I ok?" She looked up at him smiling. "Fox, I am better than ok! The night hasn't even begun yet and I already feel like I'm walking on air! The dress that you bought for me is beautiful, this limo is beautiful, my god these roses are beautiful!" She happily cried, looking down at the gorgeous bouquet.
Fox laughed at her over-excitement.
"Well, I thought you could use the special attention since lately you've been kind of down about my half-brother." He looked down at her.
"Yeah, well I just really want to be with Ethan. He was my first love and even though right now we're having a bit of problems, I just know that we will be together again." She smiled hopefully.
I don't know about that Theresa. Fox thought to himself. I have a strong feeling that tonight things aren't going to go according to the way you plan.
"What's wrong Fox? Don't you think Ethan and I will be together again?" She asked him, noticing the concerned expression on his face.
Fox took a deep breath.
"I just hope that you don't end up getting hurt Theresa."
"I won't Fox, because deep in my heart I know that Ethan still loves me." She looked up at him. "But enough about this. There is a party in there with your name on it, so let's go in and have a good time!"
"Well, I can't argue with that!" He smiled, taking her by the arm.
He turned the doorknob and stepped into the crowded mansion. Although he didn't recognize every face, there were a few people whom he remembered meeting when he had first arrived.
Standing by the piano, Fox noticed Sheridan and her husband Luis talking to Gwen and her fiancée Hank. Over by the window stood Coach and Dr Russell, with Whitney and Chad not too far away. His mother and father were of course mingling with different executives and Sam was enjoying a lovely dance with his wife Grace Bennett with Charity and Miguel close by.
Over by the stairwell, Fox noticed Ethan keeping a close eye on him and Theresa. He knew that there was a good chance he was still upset about their confrontation earlier but he didn't care. Ethan chose to push Theresa out of his life and therefore if Fox wanted to be with her, there was nothing he could do.
Fox glanced down at Theresa and noticed that she too had seen Ethan. Her face suddenly lit up at the sight of him, as she tugged on Fox's arm.
"There's Ethan," she looked up at him. "I'm going to go see if I can talk to him. I'll see you later ok?"
"Yeah sure," Fox sadly smiled down at her.
As he watched her walk over to Ethan, he felt a pain of worry in his stomach.
I really wish that you would just give up on him Theresa. He whispered to himself. I'm not only saying this because I care about you. I honestly feel that if you don't give up on Ethan soon, you're going to wind up getting more hurt than you can ever imagine.
"Fox darling!" Ivy came over to him with two fine-dressed men. "I'd like to introduce you to Mr. Kendall and Mr. Cumminton. They are the executive managers for the Banting Project."
"We are extremely pleased to meet you Mr. Crane. We have heard very good things about you." Fox shook both gentlemen's hands and smiled.
Although they were talking to him, Fox couldn't bring himself to hear a word that they were saying. He was way too worried about Theresa. He glanced over at her talking to Ethan and frowned.
Ethan you better be gentle with her. He thought to himself. I don't think she can handle you hurting her anymore.
"Hello Ethan," Theresa walked over to him.
"Hello," he tried hard to control his frustration. "I see you came here with Fox."
"Yeah," she smiled. "He was nice to bring me. He even had a limo come pick me up at my house!"
Ethan placed two hands on her shoulder.
"Theresa, you're playing with fire." He blurted out.
"What do mean?" She looked at him confused.
"I mean you and Fox." He explained, "He's not who you think he is."
"Me and Fox? Ethan—"Theresa tried to correct him.
"No, listen to me." He looked deep into her eyes. "You can't be fooled by Fox's charm and sweet words. He just uses those things to confuse women and then when he knows he has you under his spell, he takes advantage of you."
"Ethan, Fox wouldn't do that." She objected.
"Yes he would Theresa. You just don't know him well enough!" He took a deep breath. "Fox is a womanizer! He treats all women like dirt! He doesn't care for any of them. He only wants them for one thing, and once he gets it he moves on to the next."
Theresa couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Look, I just don't want you to get hurt. You're too important to me. I would rather die than let anyone take advantage of you." He looked into her eyes.
"Oh my god," Theresa slowly smiled, staring into Ethan's deeply concerned eyes. "You want to protect me."
"Yes," he sighed, relieved that she understood him.
"You want to protect me, because you still love me." She threw herself into his arms. "Oh Ethan! I knew that this would happen! I knew that you would see we were meant to be together! Now, you're making up all this stuff about Fox, so that I would not fall in love with him. But don't worry Ethan I love you! I've always loved you! I'm so happy that you forgive me!"
Theresa knew that everyone in the room was staring at them, but she didn't care. Ethan was hers again, and she wanted the world to know it.
"You think what I told you was a lie?" Ethan looked at her amazed. "Theresa, it's the truth! I didn't just make that stuff up!"
"Ethan, it's ok. You can stop now! I told you that I loved you, you don't have to do this anymore! We can be together now!" She assured him.
"Dammit Theresa!" He yelled. "Why do you have to be so dense? Why can't you just listen to me?"
Theresa stared at Ethan stunned. She suddenly felt as though the entire room filled with darkness as he continued.
"I have told you millions of times, that we can never be together. Yet, you can never accept that. Theresa you lied to me time after time. There were many opportunities where you could have told me the truth, but you chose not to. You continuously lied to me over and over again. You know how important trust is to me in a relationship. There is no way that a relationship can continue if there is no trust. When will you understand that?"
Ethan watched as the tears poured down Theresa's face, but knew she had to hear this.
"You can tell me that you love me as many times as you want. And trust me, I know that you do. But that does not change the fact that I cannot trust you. We can NEVER be together Theresa. Please, just understand that."
Theresa closed her eyes and tried to block out the horrible words that were coming from Ethan's mouth, but she knew she couldn't. As the heavy tears poured down her face, she looked around the room at all the faces staring back at her. She felt completely humiliated and she wished that the ground would just open and swallow her up.
How could Ethan say those things? She thought as she felt the room start to spin. How could he embarrass me like this? How could—. Suddenly she realized that everyone was waiting for her to respond. She tried to speak, but no words came out. It was as if her throat had completely dried up. I need to get out of here. She frantically looked around the room for any exit. Finally she saw one.
She pushed passed Ethan and the entire crowd. She didn't even hear Fox call after her. All she knew was that she had to get out of there. She barged through the back doors and ran off into the night.
Fox angrily stared at Ethan.
He walked over to him, before going after Theresa.
"Nice going Ethan! You really know how to kick someone when they're down!" He pushed passed him and attempted to run after her.
Just as he was heading out the door, Gwen grabbed a blanket and handed it to him.
"Here, it's getting pretty chilly out there." She smiled at him. "Just make sure she's ok."
"I will." He grabbed the blanket and rushed out the door.
Theresa ran as fast as she could. The wind blew strong in her tear-stricken face. She finally stopped when she thought she reached a safe distance from the mansion. She breathed in the salty breeze from the ocean and fell to the ground; her dress covered in sand.
"I never want to see you again Ethan!" she cried to the raging waters. "I hope one day you feel the pain that you've caused me!"
Suddenly she heard someone call her name. She was about to get up and start running, afraid that it was Ethan.
"Theresa, wait!" The voice called again.
She reluctantly spun around and saw that it was Fox.
When he finally caught up to her, she through herslef into his open arms.
"Oh my god Fox!" She cried as he tightly held her. "This is not happening!"
He could feel her trembling in his arms as he caressed her hair.
"I hate to tell you this Theresa, but it is happening." He whispered in her ear.
"But why? I could have sworn that Ethan was going to tell me that he loved me!" She drew herself away from him. "I can't believe how stupid I was! God, I even got you to buy me this stupid dress, and he didn't even say anything about it!"
Fox watched her violently attempt to rip the dress to shreds.
"No, Theresa don't!" He fought with her, loosening the dress from her grip.
"He didn't even like my dress," she sadly looked up at him. Fox knew that she just used the dress as a cover up. But deep down inside her heart ached from much more than that.
As she heavily cried into his chest, he had to try hard not to break down himself. He had never felt this way before. Right now, he felt as thought he were feeling her pain along with her and it killed him.
He carefully lifted her chin and smiled at her when her gaze met his.
"If it means anything, I liked your dress." He winked at her trying to make her smile.
When she lightly giggled, he grinned.
"Fox, how do manage to make me laugh when I feel like my whole world is about it crumble?" She looked up at him.
"I don't know." He paused. "I guess it's just that I can't bear to see you unhappy. And since I know that there isn't much that I can do to change what you're going through, I figure that I can at least make you smile, right?"
Theresa just took a moment to stare into his eyes. For the first time, she could see how much he cared for her. She thought back to all the times when he had tried his best to make her laugh. No matter how distraught she was, he was always there to make sure she didn't crumble.
"Oh my gosh," she whispered continuing to look into his eyes. "I can't believe I didn't see this before."
"What?" Fox looked at her confused.
"You love me." She slowly smiled as she realized how he felt about her.
"Yeah," he smiled. "I guess I do."
He never really said it out loud, and part of him didn't even realize it, but it was true. He did love her.
"Oh Fox," she cried, a single tea rolling down her face.
She closed her eyes and felt his lips softly brush against hers. He pulled her close to him as he deepened the kiss with his tongue. Her lips tasted so sweet. He felt as though he could kiss her forever. Theresa let herself completely give in to the warmth of his lips. The feeling of his tongue exploring her mouth filled her with complete bliss.
As the wind blew softly though her hair, everything seemed utterly perfect. She now knew at that very moment that Fox was the one for her.