TWENTY FIVE
Brenda really couldn't believe Christian would do something like that.
He actually flew to New York to fight Jax, which was insane.
In the back of her mind she knew it was a possibility that Christian would hit Jax, if he felt like he did something inappropriate, but flying to do it was next level crazy.
She was in a room down the hall from the master bedroom.
She was just sitting in a chair not sure of what to do, still trying to wrap her head around what Christian had just told her.
What if he was lying?
Maybe he was just pulling her chain?
She dismissed that.
Christian wasn't lying.
He did it.
She wanted to call Jax and check on him but what was she supposed to say?
What if he thought she knew what Christian was going to do and didn't warn him?
If he was thinking that, he would probably ignore her anyway.
This was just a total mess.
She had so many questions.
And those questions needed to be answered.
She got up and went back down to the master bedroom.
She walked in and sat down in one of the chairs.
Christian was still sitting on the couch.
He was busy looking at his phone.
He looked briefly up at her. "You aren't done with telling me how awful I am?"
"No, because you are awful, Christian. Why would you do that?"
"Why would he put his motherfucking lips on you?"
"It's not like I had sex with him, Christian."
"So, that makes it better? Brenda, I can't believe how fucking clueless you are."
"I'm not clueless. I know what Jax did was wrong. I think I handled it. You didn't have to go to New York to hit him."
"I went to New York to talk to him, man to man."
She shook her head. "No, you didn't."
"Yeah, I did."
She cocked her head to the side. "Well, what happened to the talking?"
"I asked him if he had feelings for you and he said yes. There was no talking after that. That's when I hit him."
That caught Brenda by surprise. "He…said he had feelings for me?"
"Yes, but you should have already known that."
"How would I know that, Christian? He never made a move on me."
"Brenda, did he not make a move on you when he first laid eyes on you?"
"He flirted a little, but he never was inappropriate after that. Well, before he kissed me. I think he just had too much to drink that night."
"He wasn't drunk when he told me he had feelings for you."
"I don't believe Jax said that."
"Brenda, believe whatever the fuck you want to believe. I have no reason to lie."
"Why did you keep hitting him?"
"We were fighting."
Her eyes widened. "Jax…hit you?"
"He tried."
Brenda couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Where did all of this happen?"
"In my hotel room."
"Did security come?"
"It didn't last that long."
"Where was Taylor and why did he let it happen?"
"Taylor works for me. He doesn't tell me what to do, unless I ask for his opinion. He would have done the same, if someone would have touched Miss Jones."
"What do you mean, if someone would have touched Miss Jones? Why would he care?"
"They are dating, Brenda. I told you that you are clueless."
"I didn't know that. I thought they were just friends."
"Why do you think they are sharing the bottom level of this house?"
"I don't know."
He shook his head. "Yeah, you are definitely not clueless. I'm starting to believe that you really didn't know Jax had feelings for you, because you are clueless as fuck. And by the way, did you call Jax?"
"No, and say what?"
"I don't want you calling him and saying anything. I don't really want you to see him again, but I know you have a contract that you have to honor. I could buy you out."
"Christian, no. I love that job. I doubt I'll even see Jax that much, especially after this."
"Good."
"Did you hurt him?"
He answered her question with a question. "Do you have feelings for Jax?"
"Of course, not."
"Because if you do, you can go be with him. I don't want anyone that does not want me."
"I honestly do not know you, Christian."
"Yes, you do. I have never hid who I was from you. You know what's crazy, you are more upset with me than Jax, who put his lips on you, knowing that you are a married woman."
"Because I think it was a mistake."
"Excuses."
"I'm not making excuses for him, Christian. You were not there."
"When I kiss someone, I want you to make the same excuses for me."
"When, Christian? So, are you going to retaliate now?"
"I don't know yet."
"Whatever, Christian. Just let me know when you decided to get your revenge."
"What are you going to do, Brenda?"
"Leave."
He shook his head and chuckled. "You are so full of shit."
She stood up and went into her bathroom to grab a few of her toiletries.
She then went into her closet to grab some loungewear and undergarments.
After she finished she went back down to the other room….
Brenda was so happy she had to fly to Miami for a shoot the next morning.
It didn't have anything to do with Jax Cosmetics.
She was shooting an ad for a fine jewelry company.
It was just a one day shoot.
Christian was gone when she got up.
She wasn't sure if he remembered or not, so she left a note in his bathroom.
She could have texted him but she didn't want to.
So, after she left the note, she grabbed her bags, and went to the airport….
Brenda arrived in Miami and went straight to the hotel.
Her shoot was early the next day.
She had no plans on leaving her room until it was time for her to go to the set.
She was not in the mood to be around anyone.
While she was hanging out in her room, watching TV, an idea came to her.
Maybe she could fly to New York before going back to Seattle?
She would only stay for a few hours and no one would have to know.
She just really wanted to make sure Jax was ok.
She canceled her Seattle flight and booked a flight to New York.
She didn't hear anything from Christian, but that was fine.
They would probably just argue anyway.
It's later that night, Brenda is talking to Lois.
"Can you believe that, Lois? Don't you think that is insane?!"
"I don't know about insane. Maybe he was just really angry?"
"Please, don't tell me you are taking his side?"
"Jax was wrong for kissing you. He knows you are married."
"I think he just had too much to drink."
"Maybe, but Bren I told you that he was in love with you. I don't know why you didn't believe me. Something was bound to happen. You two spend a lot of time together."
"I promise Lois, nothing happened before that night."
"Again, something was bound to happen. This reminds me of you and Miguel."
"How?!"
"Sonny never trusted Miguel. He always felt like he wanted you."
"Miguel loved Lily and I never trusted her, but he didn't listen to me. So, I don't want to hear anything about Sonny not trusting Miguel."
"My point is that, yes, Miguel may have had feelings for Lily, but as soon as the opportunity presented itself with you, he wasted no time."
"It's not the same thing. That was a complicated situation."
"It is, because he secretly wanted you too. Brenda, I don't know why you don't see what we see."
"You never told me you thought Miguel wanted me? You never told me that."
"No, but I wasn't shocked when you briefly became a thing."
"I don't want to talk about Miguel. Christian said he hit Jax when he admitted he had feelings for me."
"He probably feels like Jax was faking a friendship to get close to you, which let's be honest that's exactly what he was doing, Brenda."
"I don't know. I just didn't see it. Christian also had the nerve to ask me if I had feelings for Jax."
"Do you?"
"No, I don't! I care about him as a friend."
"Brenda, let me rephrase it. If you didn't know Christian, would you be open to dating Jax?"
Brenda got silent for a few seconds.
"Lois, I don't know. I have never thought about it."
"I think you would and that makes that relationship dangerous."
Brenda sighed. "It doesn't matter, because I do know Christian. You know he told me if I wanted Jax, I could go be with him, because he doesn't want anyone that doesn't want him."
"Wow."
"Yeah. He should already know that I don't want Jax. He should know that more than anybody."
"You haven't called Jax, have you?"
"No, I have not. I booked a flight to go to New York after I leave here."
"Brenda, Brenda, Brenda! Please, do not do that. If Christian does not want you calling him, he definitely doesn't want you going to see him!"
"He doesn't have to know, Lois."
"I would not do that, unless you are ready for your marriage to end. I think he will divorce you. I don't think he plays games. If that is what you want, then do it…."
It's a couple of days later.
Brenda finished her shoot the day before and she is up early packing her bags.
She was supposed to be headed to New York.
She sat down on the bed.
She thought about what Lois said.
I think he will divorce you
She had to make a decision.
Was she willing to risk her marriage to go check on Jax?
She decided to cancel her flight to New York and book a flight to Seattle instead…..
On the flight to Seattle she decided to text Jax.
She didn't know what to say.
She just told him that she was sorry and she didn't know Christian was going to do that.
He sent her a reply within seconds.
It's fine, just a little disagreement between men. I don't blame you. I kissed you and I'm sorry for any friction that it has caused in your life.
She didn't reply back.
She just wished it never happened.
She was going to miss having him in her life but that friendship was over.
She was still angry with Christian for doing what he did, but she still loved him.
As her husband, he was her priority…
Brenda got home around four that afternoon.
Christian was in his office working.
He was always somewhere working.
She still loved him but still didn't want to sleep in the same room as him.
So, she went and got a few things out of their room and put them in the room down the hall.
It wasn't much, just some loungewear.
She was really tired from the flight.
So, she showered and crashed.
A couple of hours later she woke up starving.
She went downstairs to the kitchen and got something to eat.
She was sitting at the counter when Christian walked in.
"You're back."
She didn't say anything.
He opened the fridge and grabbed a bottle of water. "Are you ignoring me?"
She rolled her eyes. "What do you want me to say, Christian?"
"A lot, we haven't spoken in three days."
She sighed. "I don't have anything to say."
"I'll start, how was the shoot?"
"It was fine. It was a long one, but the pictures came out great."
"See, that didn't hurt."
She was so confused. "Why are you acting like we haven't been fighting? Did you get actual therapy?"
"You are so fucking funny. Have you moved back into our bedroom?"
"No."
"Well, you should. Our bed is big as hell, there is plenty of room to be angry."
"I thought you were just as angry with me, as I am with you."
"I am angry with you."
"So, why do you want me to come back in that room?"
He took a sip of his water. "Did I ask you to leave?"
"No, I just couldn't believe you did what you did. I really just didn't want to be around you. So, I left."
"Brenda, this is who I am. You need to decide if you want to continue life with me."
"I'm here aren't I?"
"Let me ask you a question, were you tempted to go to New York?"
"Yes, because I really wanted to know if Jax was ok. But I decided to not go. I didn't want to make things worse between us."
"It would have gotten drastically worse, Sweetheart, because we would have been over. That man kissed you."
"I didn't go Christian, so let's drop it."
"Did you contact him at all?"
"I texted him. It was brief. Are you going to break up with me over it?"
He shook his head. "But let that be the last time you communicate with him. Unless, it is work related. Brenda, I just want you to really put yourself in my shoes. Think about how you would feel if I kissed someone and did all of the things that you have done with Jax. I mean the dinners, lying about being at the beach house, him flying out to your shoots, that have nothing to do with him. Just think about it all."
"I know you have a right to be upset. I just can't believe you flew to New York."
"I was angry, but let's switch gears, there is something else we need to talk about. It seems to have slipped both our minds."
She had no idea what he was referring to. "What?"
"The trip that you gifted me for Christmas. We are supposed to leave in a few days."
"I didn't forget. I just assumed that it was off."
"No, I'm going."
She nodded. "You should. I think you will enjoy yourself."
"And you will too."
"Christian, we are barely getting along. That would be two weeks of traveling together, staying in the same hotel room, sleeping in the same bed. And I can guarantee they won't be California King beds."
"We'll deal with it. I would never leave you here."
"Why not?"
"I just wouldn't. And it's not about trust. Brenda, if I didn't trust you, I would just end it. Let's just clear that up. I don't trust those other motherfuckers, but I want you to come. I can't leave my clueless wife behind."
"You think you are so funny. Christian, why did you ask me if I have feelings for Jax?"
"Because I wanted to know. I'm not going to compete with anyone for your affection. I care about you a whole lot, but I will let you go."
"I wouldn't do that. I would fight for you if you had feelings for someone else."
"Brenda, I would never put you in a situation like that in the first place. That's the difference between you and me. I'm never going to let any other woman think there is a possibility of anything happening. There aren't going to be any fucking dinners at the beach house. No, they can't come see me when you aren't around. You know why people end up cheating on their spouses, because they start doing the shit you were doing. Just opening up that door just a little, giving the people that have secret agendas access. I knew Jax wanted you. I knew it. Ned is your friend. Jax was never your friend."
"Christian, I have a question to ask you. Where did you go the night you didn't come back to the penthouse?"
"I slept here."
She didn't stop there, she continued her questions. "Are you going to kiss someone else to get back at me?"
"No."
"Well, why did you say, when I kiss someone else?"
"I was just fucking with you, because I was angry."
She continued to question him. "Where did you go that night after we left your parents' house?"
He leaned up against the counter. "Just driving, to clear my head. I was trying to calm down, but there was no calming down. I wanted to and needed to have some words with Jax."
"How long are you going to be upset with me?"
He briefly looked off. "I don't know. How long are you going to be upset with me?"
She shrugged. "I don't know."
"Well, we are going to have two weeks of traveling to figure it out."
"I didn't say I was going, Christian."
"You're going."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I know you. You are just being dramatic."
"You can't call me that anymore. Mr. Hopped on a flight to New York to fight someone."
"That wasn't me being dramatic. That was necessary. Well, it has been nice talking to you but I have to get back to work."
She watched him leave….
It is much later, Christian has just finished working.
He ate and headed up to the master bedroom to shower and go to sleep.
He walked by the room Brenda was sleeping in, he paused but continued on.
He opened the master bedroom door and walked in.
Brenda was in bed watching TV.
He smiled. "Welcome back."
"Christian, I have a question to ask you. Why did you ask me if I was tempted to go to New York? I have been sitting here thinking about that."
"Because I knew you cancelled your flight to Seattle and booked one to New York."
"I'm not going to ask you how you know that."
"It doesn't matter. You made the right decision, because if you would have gone to New York, that would have been the end of us. I really meant that. It would have been hard to let you go, because I care a great deal for you, but I would have done it. Any more questions?"
"No."
He went into the bathroom….