Lacey immediately realized her mistake but the damage was done. Archie immediately climbed from on top of her and jumped up and turned the light on. Lacey and Archie both had the same horrified expression on their faces.
"Who in the hell is Danny?" Archie asked harshly.
Lacey avoided his question and his gaze that seemed to bore into her. She turned her body and went to cover herself with the sheets. Even though she had been with Archie for over a year, she felt vulnerable and exposed and completely out of place just lying there without any clothes on.
"I asked you a question, Lacey. Who in the hell is Danny?" Archie asks again in the same harsh tone as before.
"He's nobody, Archie. I'm sorry." Lacey says and she truly is.
"Nobody? He's nobody? Then why are you calling out his name while you're having sex with me?" Archie asks roughly.
"It was just a mistake. He's just a guy a work with. I didn't mean to do that and I'm really sorry for it." Lacey says as she tries to plead with Archie and apologize to him.
"Are you screwing him?" Archie asks in a really nasty tone.
"No! I haven't slept with him. I wouldn't do that to you." Lacey says and two weeks ago it would have been the absolute truth. Now she's not so sure. Her feelings for Danny have changed dramatically.
"But you want to." Archie says.
"No. I don't know. I'm sorry." Lacey says and wants to kick herself for letting that slip.
"Is this that guy you're working with now? The one you claim doesn't hit on you? The one you had all those headaches over?" Archie asks.
"Yes." Lacey answers honestly as she lets out a defeated sigh.
Archie starts putting his clothes on. "I knew something was up. You were acting distant yesterday and today, and now I know why." Archie says almost in disgust.
"Where are you going?" Lacey asks quizzically.
"I'm outta here. What did you expect, Lacey? You can't really expect me to stay here after that." Archie says as he puts the rest of his clothes on.
"I expected you to let me explain and apologize. I'm really sorry that I did that and I really didn't mean to." Lacey says softly.
"Save it, Lacey. I get it. I'm already way ahead of you anyway." Archie says in a taunting manner.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lacey asks.
"It means whatever you want it to mean. I know you're lying about sleeping with that dude, whoever he is. You wouldn't just call his name out like that while you're with me if you didn't. And here I was feeling bad about what I did. But now, we're even." Archie says as he puts his shoes on.
Lacey is hurt and confused by his statement. "What are you talking about, Archie? What did you do that you need to feel bad for?" Lacey asks.
Archie looks at her with fury in his eyes. The blue in his eyes seemed darker and Lacey didn't like what she saw. "What do you think I mean, Lacey?" Archie asks woefully.
"Are you saying that you cheated on me?" Lacey asks as she looks at him with sad and hurt eyes.
"Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I slipped up and slept with someone else. I really felt bad about it too. I probably wouldn't have if I had known that you were doing the same thing. So, we both hurt each other and we're even." Archie says dourly.
"That's where you're wrong, Archie. I didn't cheat on you. I only kissed someone else. You actually slept with another woman. I can't believe you would do that to me." Lacey says as she wipes a tear from her eye.
"I didn't mean to. It just happened. Yeah, I felt guilty. But I never thought about her while I'm with you." Archie says solemnly.
"Right. It just happened. How do you just happen to sleep with someone else?" Lacey asks.
"The same way you kissed someone and then called his name out during sex with me." Archie says smartly.
"I didn't have sex with him though. It was only a kiss. Kisses can happen anywhere. You have to have privacy and opportunity to have sex with someone." Lacey says.
"It just happened. I didn't plan it. They same way you claim you didn't plan to belittle me and chop my balls off by calling me another man's name." Archie replies.
"You need to leave." Lacey says as she wipes another tear from her cheek.
"Fine. I was leaving anyway." Archie says as he goes to leave her bedroom.
"You have a lot of nerve to be this angry when you did what you did." Lacey counters as she looks at the man she realizes she didn't know at all. "Leave your key." Lacey says angrily.
Once he takes his key from his key chain and Lacey hears his car in her driveway, she gets up to lock her front door and heads straight for her shower. She doesn't want the scent of Archie's stink on her. She couldn't believe that he cheated on her. She had no idea he slept with someone else and that made her sad, and it scared her. She hoped he used protection. Although they always did, you could never be too sure. Lacey again started to cry while she was in the shower. She was hurt and devastated. And angry. She was just thinking earlier how she would feel if Archie actually cheated on her. Now she felt a thousand times worse. She felt really bad about kissing Danny. She felt extremely bad for saying his name during sex. She had no idea she would ever do a thing like that. She knew that that hurt Archie, but she was hurting too. Hurting more than she could ever dream of. As far as she knew, she had never been cheated on. She didn't like the way it felt. It made her feel inadequate. Like she was lacking in some way. Then she had to think of how Archie felt. She was sure he probably felt inadequate too. She just called out another man's name during sex. That could not have felt good. Just like her finding out he slept with someone else didn't feel good. At all. She started to cry more because she was hurt and their relationship was done.
Lacey needed to think of a way to make herself feel better because right now, she felt awful. Just awful. Awful for how she made Archie feel and awful for how he made her feel. All she did was kiss Danny. Some people would not think that was cheating, but others would. Lacey now knew that if she found out Archie just kissed someone, she would not be as hurt as she is now after discovering that he actually had sex with someone. He actually put a part of his body into a part of another woman's body. Of course neither of them were virgins when they met, and she isn't at all hung up on him being with someone else, the fact that he did that while in a relationship with her was making her feel like crap. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise. Maybe she needed to call out another man's name to find out that he had cheated on her. It scared Lacey to think she may have never found out about Archie's indiscretion. She would have continued to think that their relationship was ok. Not anywhere near perfect, but ok. She wasn't hopelessly in love, but she did love him. She didn't know if he would someday become her husband. She felt like she should be thinking of that considering she's 26 and not getting any younger. Her mother was already asking when she's going to settle down and get married. Her mother was already married and had her and her younger sister Clara was on the way when she was her age. Now Lacey had to start from square one. Now that her relationship was over, her chances of getting married anytime soon were at about zero.
Now Lacey had to agonize over when it happened. How long ago had it happened? Did he come home to her after he slept with someone else? How did he feel about this other woman? And then Lacey started to decide and came to the conclusion that it didn't matter. What's done is done. Now, she has to think about how her relationship with Danny will change. She had already resigned to going back to treating him like she hated him. And in some weird, strange way, she still did. Had he not been on her mind, and had she not want him so bad, she never would have called his name out like that. But Lacey knew that she couldn't blame that on Danny. It's not his fault that he invaded her mind and her thoughts and she ended up doing the unthinkable.
Lacey tried to think of which one was worse. She had to so she couldn't feel like she's totally biased in the situation and completely let herself off the hook. What she did was bad. Kissing another man was bad when you have a boyfriend. Calling that man's name out during sex with you boyfriend is worse. But Archie sleeping with another woman while she's his girlfriend is far worse than both of the things she did combined. Lacey was hurt. There is no denying that. But she would get over it and move on.
Lacey sucked it up and swallowed her remaining tears while she finished her shower. She got out and dried herself off before returning to her room to put on a nightgown. She then tore her sheets off her bed. She didn't want to sleep in any remnants of Archie. It was late and she had to get up in the morning but she didn't care. She needed to change her sheets. She wanted to burn them. God, she prayed he didn't sleep with that other woman in her bed. She prayed Archie had more respect for her than that to violate her in that way. That was the ultimate betrayal. Also sleeping with your relative or friend. Unforgivable in Lacey's book. Lacey didn't even know if she would have forgiven Archie for cheating on her. Her subconscious pretty much made the decision for her. It was over.
Lacey balled up her sheets and put them in her hamper before she walked to her linen closet to get fresh ones. She made her bed and climbed in and prayed that she would get some sleep. She didn't want to spend the rest of the night crying about Arche and the mistakes they both made to hurt each other.
Danny arrived to his place the same way he felt the day before. He again had Lacey Porter on his mind and it was starting to aggravate and frustrate him. He wanted her. Bad. And he had to have her. He had to get her out of his system. He was at the brink. Danny had never had a woman work him up this much. Maybe because he was used to just saying how he felt and asking for what he wants and getting it. No other woman had ever put up this much of a fight. It intrigued and annoyed him to no end. He just wanted her to stop putting him off and pushing him away so that he could do all the things he desired to do to and with her. And then he just wanted to get to know her better. He wanted to wine and dine her. Take her out on a date. Spend time with her that didn't involve work or sex. He hated to admit it. No, hated is the wrong word. He never thought he's admit it but he really likes Lacey. A lot. He never really hated her, but he definitely wasn't fond of her either.
Oh, how the tables had turned. He felt like a teenager with a crush. He remembered having a crush on a girl in high school that reminded him a lot of Lacey. She wasn't as pretty as Lacey though. Lacey was actually the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. And Danny has had and seen some beautiful women in his lifetime. He wanted to do everything with Lacey. From a walk in the park, to a movie, to them cooking together and ultimately sharing his bed and body with her. Danny knew that he didn't just want sex from Lacey. He could get that anywhere. It wasn't at all hard to find. All he had to do was make a phone call.
Danny was starting to get that feeling again. He didn't want to use Deirdre again, but he felt like he had no choice. She would have to do until he got Lacey for real. He picked up his phone as he walked towards his bedroom. She again answered after 3 rings.
"Hello." She answered in either a breathless or annoyed tone.
Danny cut right to the chase again. "I need to see you again." Danny says.
"Nope. Not happening Danny." She says.
"Why?" Danny questions.
"Because that little game we played was too much for me." Deirdre retorts.
"What do you mean, Deirdre? We've played games before. We have an arrangement. What's the problem now?" Danny asks in his charming tone.
"I wasn't pretending to be the woman you clearly love back then." She answers.
"So, what's the problem? I would do the same for you." Danny answers, though he's not really sure he's willing to pretend to be another guy for someone else to get their rocks off. He might have too much pride for that.
"Because I know that I'm just a substitute for Lacey and I will never fill her shoes. Why don't you just call her instead?" Deirdre asks in concern for her friend.
"It's complicated." Danny admits honestly.
"You love her, don't you?" She asks though she already knows the answer judging by how he acted the night before.
"No, not yet. But I want to." Danny confesses.
"Well, Danny. I never thought it would happen. A woman has you whipped. And while I enjoy our relationship, I think you need to go and be with Lacey. Show and tell her how you feel." Deirdre says.
"I want to apologize for asking you to do that." Danny says in a low voice. His charm and charisma is gone.
"It was actually fun until I figured out what was really going on. Then it became not fun and too much. I knew that you forgot I was there." Deirdre says softly.
"I'm sorry. I hope I didn't ruin our friendship." Danny says truthfully.
"It's ok and of course not. Just call Lacey next time, instead of me because that's who you really want. We can do dinner sometime soon. Your treat." Deirdre says in a playful tone.
Danny smiles at that. "Of course." Danny says then he hangs up. He's still quite wired and antsy. He wishes he had Lacey's number. Then he thought that he wouldn't be able to call her anyway since she has a boyfriend. Danny undresses and heads for his shower. He'll just order takeout and watch a game.
After he takes his shower and pretends Lacey is in there with him.
The next morning Lacey awoke feeling a little down. Surprisingly, she got a good nights sleep. She fully expected to toss and turn the whole night like she did a few nights ago. Her body and mind must have known just how tired she really was and did her a solid by letting her sleep. She was not in the mood for work or to face the outside world. But she had to. She couldn't just sit holed up in her bed feeling miserable. She was hurt and almost devastated, but that's no reason for her to crawl into a hole and die. She would put on her game face and keep it moving. She was strong. Nobody knew her pain anyway so it was an easy thing to do.
She went to her closet and found her attire for that day. She dressed in a cobalt blue Valentina Sweetheart Pencil dress with a black belt and cobalt blue pumps that had a black lace overlay. She removed her hair from the ponytail and straightened it with her flatiron. She applied mascara and eyeliner to brighten her eyes because she felt they looked a little sad. She didn't want anyone asking her if she was ok. Not really, but she would be in time.
Lacey drove to work and actually put on Nicki Minaj to help herself feel better. The amount of trash Nicki talked would help her out. She didn't want to listen to any love or any sad post breakup songs. She blasted Nicki and headed for work. She stopped to get her a coffee and wished she could throw some liquor into it. Lacey wasn't really a drinker, but she needed it to mellow out. Just a little something to take the edge off.
She headed for the elevator and ran into Danny.
Great. Lacey thought. Just the person she's dying to see. He presses the button and they both hop on and he presses their mutual floor.
"Good morning, Lacey. You look beautiful." Danny says sincerely.
"Good morning, Danny. Thank you." Lacey says. They share an almost comfortable silence until Lacey speaks. "Do you mind if I come straight to your office with you? I don't feel like dealing with Whitney yet." Lacey asks and hopes he says yes.
"Of course. Is she still hounding you?" Danny asks in concern.
"Yes. And I don't have time for her foolishness." Lacey says flippantly.
"That means you don't have time for my foolishness either then." Danny says as he flashes her a huge grin.
Lacey smiles back at him. "Hey, you said it, not me." Lacey says as she already starts to feel a little better. They arrive to their floor and head for Danny's office. Lacey immediately gets to work while Danny fiddles around for a moment. He was watching her while he milled about around her. She again looked stunning in that blue dress she was wearing. After grabbing his pile of reports to go through, he finally has a seat at his desk.
Lacey pretended not to notice his intoxicating scent. She really forced herself to focus on her papers as he rolled his sleeves. It was something he always he did, but it didn't make things easier. Lacey really liked his arms and wondered what he looked like without his shirt on. And his pants. All of his clothes really. She removed that image from her mind and starts to focus on other things she shouldn't think about.
Lacey gets lost in her thoughts again thinking about Archie. So much so that it caused Danny to notice.
"Are you ok? You seem different." Danny says.
Lacey exhales a little louder than she intended. "No, I'm not ok." Lacey confesses.
"Why? What's wrong?" Danny asks.
"My boyfriend and I broke up." Lacey says in a pained voice.
Danny tries but fails miserably to try to not show his happiness at Lacey being single. "I'm sorry to hear that." Danny lies, and smirks. He didn't mean to, it just came naturally.
Lacey takes in Danny's response to her confession. She knows he's not sorry at all. "No you're not. Judging by your reaction, you're thrilled to hear that we broke up." Lacey says as she gives him a deadpan expression.
"You're right. I'm not sorry. His loss is my gain." Danny says honestly as he stares at her longingly.
"I'm glad that you're happy about my pain. Thanks." Lacey says sarcastically.
"Look Lacey, I'm sorry you're hurting, but I'm not sorry that you're single now." Danny admits honestly.
"Just because I'm single now doesn't mean that I'm suddenly yours, Danny. I need time to get over my broken heart." Lacey replies.
"Why are you heartbroken?" Danny asks in concern.
Lacey sighs and turns her head to stare off to the side. It almost hurts too much to say it out loud. She just sighs again and tries to hold her tears in. She looks back at Danny and gives him an expression that hurts him to see. "I found out he cheated on me." Lacey says as she gives him a doleful expression.
Danny cringed at Lacey's answer. What idiot cheated on Lacey? Why would he cheat on her? "Well, you're better off without him Lacey. Any idiot stupid enough to cheat on you doesn't deserve you. I would never cheat on you if you were with me." Danny says truthfully.
"Thanks, Danny. But you don't even know me that well. He obviously had a reason to do that." Lacey replies.
"Don't start thinking that something is wrong with you because he's a prick. I'm a guy. I know. We're dicks sometimes. Sometimes we mess up good things for stupid reasons. You shouldn't feel like it's your fault. You're perfect." Danny says.
Lacey smiles despite herself. "I'm not perfect, but thank you." Lacey counters as she gives him another smile.
"I just got an idea. How about I take you out tonight to cheer you up?" Danny asks.
"As long as you know that this isn't a date and you're just cheering me up." Lacey says.
"Absolutely. I'll be a boy scout." Danny says as he flashes her that smirk of his.
"I hope you mean that." Lacey says as she eyes him carefully.
"Of course I mean it." Danny lies.
"I'm not sleeping with you." Lacey says seemingly out of nowhere.
"Duly noted." Danny says.
She doesn't stand a chance. Danny thought as he smiled again.