Chapter 2
Jealousy
Martin was sure, for now, that he’d convinced Randi that he wasn’t in love with Celia. The smile on her lips as she moved out of his arms was a good sign that all was well. She turned twice to give him a quick look and then was out the door.
She would be getting a motel room so he could rest but after that kiss, rest nor sleep was not what was on his mind. He ran his hand across the back of his neck and tried to wipe the smile from his lips.
“Randi, Randi. What are you going to do to me before this is all said and done?”
“I think the question should be, ‘What are you going to do to her?’”
From Mike’s tone, Martin could tell that a few moments alone had not done much to dissuade his anger. He turned to face his friend. “If I remember correctly, you were the one who suggested I break up with Celia. What’s changed? Do you think I should still be dating her?”
“I don’t know what to think. I can see things from her point of view and I don’t like what I’m seeing. We’ve talked a lot, sadly, about your fling and I just wonder what’s coming down the line for Randi.”
Martin didn’t know if he should drop this or try to convince Mike that he wasn’t the big bad wolf Celia had painted him out to be. Martin took a few steps toward Mike and decided to go another route. “Did you learn anything about her condition?”
Mike, too, seemed ready to move on - at least for now. “Celia is resting. They’ve cleaned her up and bandaged her cuts. Her shoulder is sprained and she also has a fractured right leg. It will need a cast but not surgery. They were vague about her head injury but said someone could see her in thirty to forty-five minutes.”
Martin had no plans of rushing in to see Celia. In his mind, there was no need unless she was awake. He only nodded but did feel some relief.
“The nurse told me about the phone call and that the family has verbally designated you to be informed about what’s going on.” Mike’s anger seemed to be just below the surface again. Not wanting to make eye contact, Mike moved to the coffee pot, poured a cup and walked to the window.
“Yes, her parents set that up. It’s just temporary until they get here. They told the doctor if a signature is needed, I could sign for them.”
“I doubt that would be legally binding but, then again, who knows? This is Hollywood after all. I wouldn’t be shocked if they let you go in and assist.”
Martin didn’t say anything about the last comment. He went over and warmed up his cup of coffee and spoke, “Hopefully it won’t be needed. Her parents have a flight this evening. Did they mention anything about her head injury?”
“Not really. I didn’t talk to a doctor. If it hadn’t been for the nurse seeing us together this morning, I doubt she would have told me anything.”
Martin nodded. He could again see the anger and jealousy Mike was feeling. He would keep ignoring it. “Hopefully she’ll not need anything else until they get here. I don’t feel comfortable being here.”
“You should feel out of place. You really hurt her. The anger she feels toward you, well, I’m not sure she’d even want you here. I know she wouldn’t want Randi here.”
Martin nodded and couldn’t help but smile. “I was pretty sure she was about to slap me that day when I mentioned Randi’s name. Celia can be a spitfire when she wants to be.”
“There’s no love lost between the girls.” Mike turned from the window to face Martin. “You know, I really don’t blame Randi. She had no clue what was going on. When I think back, I can’t believe that I even played a part in any of this.”
“I didn’t plan it. It just happened.”
“Right. But you allowed it to happen. You kept two women under the same roof.”
“Hindsight is something I didn’t have at the time. I was taking one step at a time and trying to figure out what was going on. I thought Randi was playing me,” Martin added.
“Playing you or not, it was wrong.”
“I know that. I knew that. Sometimes you do stupid things when you’re falling in love.”
“You were in a relationship. Didn’t you care how it was going to make Celia feel? Did you know you were breaking her heart?”
Martin had not considered Celia’s feelings and on that point, Mike was right. He had no defense for his actions and said as much. “I did care that I was hurting her. I just didn’t know any way to stop it. I was self-centered. I’ll admit I was only thinking of myself, but in the situation, I did the best I could.”
Mike laughed. “You lied. You cheated. Don’t give me that.”
“I’m not making excuses but I’m not going to hide from reality. Celia brought a lot of this on herself. I tried to get her to call off the party but she wouldn’t. She was setting me up, hoping with both of our families there, I would propose. She even had Christmas cards printed up saying that we were getting married.”
“What did you think she would expect? You start dating her and a few months later, you all but let her pick out that monster of a mansion. Marriage would be the next logical step.”
Martin knew he needed to rein this back in. At this moment, with Celia in a hospital bed, he was not going to get Mike to listen to reason. He took a deep breath, tried to clear the anger from his mind and looked at his friend.
“I started everything out wrong with Celia. We moved in with each other before we should have. I never should have let her take such control in picking out the house we were going to move into. I made a lot of mistakes.”
“She told me that. How you gave her this song and dance about a farm and dogs. None of that changes what you did.”
Martin inhaled breathing through his nose trying to calm down his urge to strike out at Mike verbally. “I know you’re upset. I know you have feelings for Celia, but what happened between us, is just that - between us. It has nothing to do with you. I’ll deal with Celia. I know I didn’t do right by her but us fighting over the facts is not going to help anyone.”
Mike paused, took a sip of his coffee and nodded. “Just tell me one thing. Why are you here? What do you want? Are you here because you feel guilty? If not, you should. It embarrassed her having her family know what was going on. She kept saying over and over that you left her for the help.”
Martin knew he should leave but his temper wouldn’t let him. “Sure I feel guilty. I’m human. I know I hurt her. I also know Celia and she’s been laying the groundwork, making this look like I’m the only one at fault. My actions were inexcusable but she was in the relationship, too.”
“Sure. Blame her.”
“I will, for some of it. She did nothing to make our relationship work. She loved my money but hated my career and belittled it every chance she got. She did nothing around the house, never cooked a meal. She didn’t want kids and she doesn’t like my mother. She would never go with me to a cast party or social event. I changed my world to try to fit into hers but it didn’t work.”
Martin turned to walk out the door but whirled around for one last comment. “I’m sorry I hurt her but I will never back down from ending the relationship. The only thing I regret is the way it happened. You’re right. It shouldn’t have happened when Randi came along, it should have happened long before that.”