If You Can Keep Me Guessing

"What the hell do you want?" I snapped at my mother. I put the phone on speaker.
"Hi Elizabeth. I just want to see you. I know that's the last thing you want to do but please know that I'm sorry and I've missed you every day since I left."
"Oh really?" I asked sarcastically. "Then why did you never come back? I asked you over and over to come home but you never did. Is it because you found the Adman guy?" I was scared of the answer.
"He is the reason I didn't come back. He's the reason I left too. When my fights with your dad got bad, I went out and met him one of the times. Then I met him every time. I fell for him."
"So you cheated on dad too?" my rage was growing with fury. "Does he know?"
"I'm not sure. But, Elizabeth, I swear to you that I missed you. I really want to see you and meet your husband. From what your father told me, he seems like a great guy." 
"He's better than great, he's fantastic. He's the best guy I have ever known. And I know I will never leave him no matter what because we are married. Marriage kind of means something, you know? We will be together until death do us part. And I respect him and talk things out with him instead of just walking away like you did. I learned from your mistakes."
"At least I'm making an effort to come back into your life!" she had snapped. "Just meet me once! That's all I ask."
"Fine but it's after my honeymoon. And I'm. I'm not leaving Baltimore to see you." I said a little calmer.
"I'm in Baltimore now. Can I see you today?" she asked. I looked at Alex and sighed. He just nodded. I pushed the hair out of my face. 
"Whatever. Come to our hotel. We'll meet you at the restaurant." I hung up on her and climbed into Alex's arms.

"I'm proud of you." he whispered as he rocked us a little.
"Yeah yeah yeah." 
"I'm serious. You're facing your demons right now. From what you've told me, she's basically the source of all your problems. She started all of it by leaving." he kissed my head.
"That's why I don't want to see her. I think she's going to make it worse." I admitted.
"That won't happen. Know why?" he paused and I shook my head no. "Because you have a great, fantastic guy to take care of you that you respect."
"I kind of hate you right now." I laughed.
"I kind of love you so get over it." he kissed me softly. I smiled a little and hugged him. 

"I'm scared." I whispered so quietly I doubted that he even heard me.
"I'm right here for you. Always." he whispered. 

-------------------
I was sitting at the bar in the lobby of the hotel we were in. Alex was standing behind me was rubbing my shoulders. I kept an eye on the door to see if my mother walked in. I leaned back into him and looked up at him. He hugged me and missed my head. 

"You look hot by the way." he said. I didn't think I did. I was wearing a Glamour Kills shirt, with black skinny jeans, converse from the night before, and a gray beanie with my hair in a fishtail braid. I barely did my make up. 
"Thanks I guess. You always look good." I sighed and saw her walk in. "It's here." She walked towards me. Her hair was still brown, but straighter and shorter. She was dressed like a business woman. She had the big sunglasses on that I personally hated on anyone. She looked... expensive. 

"Hi Elizabeth. This must be Alex. Nice to meet you." they shook hands.
"Nice to meet you too, Mrs Adman."
"Oh please, call me Kim." she corrected him and he nodded. "So are you going to say hi to me Elizabeth?"
"Hi. There's a table over there." I got up from my seat with my lemonade I had ordered and sat at a table nearby. Alex and Kim followed me.

"So Elizabeth, what have you been doing?" 
"Well I was living in Boston. I had a job as a DJ on a popular station there for a few moths but my ratings sucked so they cut me. Then I moved to Baltimore with Alex and worked with him for a little. Then I went back to Boston with Taylor. And now I'm back in Baltimore." 
"Oh that's good. Alex what do you do?" she asked as she sipped on a martini.
"I'm in a band with my three best friends. It's called All Time Low. Liz is our assistant and comes on tour with us."
"All Time Low?" my mother asked. "That's sounds familiar."
"It was my favorite band in high school mom. I went to see them every time they were in town. Their music was always playing in my room." I saw Alex smile. I mentally kicked myself because I never told him that and never wanted him to know."
"Oh, right. Well I'm happy you're doing well." we thanked her.

"What are you doing Kim?" Alex asked. I tuned her out after I heard that she was a successful something. I played with the straw in my drink to spin the ice around. After a few minutes Alex hit my leg. Kim was staring at me.
"What's your new husband like?" I asked with venom dripping on every word.
"He's very nice. You would like him. He works at the same place I do and he's the CEO. He's tall, with broad shoulders but he's really a teddy bear. You'd like him if you met him." I picked up on her saying that I'd like him. I would never like anyone that took my mother away from me.

"He has a son that's about your age. I know you're married but he's a cutie. And we have six year old twins, a boy and a girl." I spit my drink out.
"You guys have kids?!" I exclaimed. Alex tried to calm me down.
"Yes, John and Ally. They're adorable. Want to see a picture?" Alex said yes but I refused. I don't want to know what my half siblings looked like. Then, some guy came over and kissed Kim on the head and sat with us. 
"Hello there. I'm Ray. You must be Elizabeth and Alex." He shook Alex's hand and I just gave a little wave. He sat down. "You guys have room for one more? My son is on his way down." 
"Sure," Alex said. "The more the merrier." I gave him a death glare. Couldn't he see that I was uncomfortable?
"Perfect! There he is. Kyle! Over here!" he called. My eyes followed where he was pointing to. 

I couldn't believe this. My heart started racing. How could this e happening? There was no way. There had to be some mistake. Alex noticed me freaking out a little. He leaned over to me.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.
"That's Kyle." I whispered back.
"Yeah I know. It's Ray's son."
"No dumbass. That's Kyle. My ex boyfriend from high school Kyle." as I said this, Alex's eyes got wide. I nodded. I heard Kim start an introduction and I just stood and looked at Kyle.

"Holy shit." he said, shocked.
"Kyle! Language." Ray warned.
"What's going on?" Kim asked.
"I can't believe this." I shook my head.
"What?!" Kim was impatient.
"If you were around the house more often you would know! Kyle and I dated in high school! He took my virginity, got me to drink, do drugs, and smoke. When he was done with me he beat the shit out of me and left. Oh and he cheated on me." I saw the shocked look on everyone's faces and I looked at Alex and I just walked out. I sat on a chair in the lobby and tried my best not to lose it.

This wasn't happening. This was all too much. I held my hand over my mouth to prevent anything to come out of it. I saw Alex come out of the restaurant. He looked around searching for me then ran to me when he saw me.

"I am so sorry Liz. That was way too much information for them to put on you at once."
"We need to get out of here. I don't feel good if you know what I mean." I whispered and I saw Kyle walk out of the restaurant. He came over to us. I stood up to leave.

"You really had to tell our parents about that?! What the hell is wrong with you!" he yelled in my face.
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! You beat the shit out of me! You made me get into all those drugs! I had to go to rehab three times! You said I was a worthless piece of shit Kyle! You made me want to die." I whispered the last part. Kyle didn't hold back.
"You still didn't have to tell them about it! Thats personal between us and no one else. So right now," he got right up in my face. "You're still worthless to me Liz. You always will be."
"Dude back off." Alex said sternly.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Her husband."
"You got married? To him?" Kyle laughed. "See, you even know that you're worthless so you sank low to get him. You're a worthless little slut."
"Kyle. Walk away. Now." Alex said and tried to push Kyle away from me. Kyle punched Alex and sent him to the floor. He punched me in the stomach and I fell to my knees. 

I held my stomach and saw my mom and Ray just standing at the entrance of the restaurant. I was shocked. Kyle was about to hit Alex again but I got up and started attacking him. I scratched, punched, kicked, everything. I got him to the ground. I looked at Kim and Ray.

"You're just going to watch?!" I yelled. They froze and said nothing. Kyle got up but I kicked his stomach like he did to me. He stayed down. I went to Alex and kind of whispered to him. "Alex get up. We have to go to our room. Now." I helped him up and ran to the elevator.