CHAPTER 23
Scarlet
I stretched, feeling content and refreshed. I had needed that nap just as much as I’d needed Tobias’s reassurance. Thinking of him brought a smile to my face. Yet, I rolled over to find the bed empty and cold from his absence.
I struggled into a sitting position and glanced around the hotel room. I frowned, seeing that I was alone. His clothes, phone, and keys were gone.
How could he have just left without bothering to say goodbye? Something didn’t feel right.
I climbed out of bed, knowing that it was probably past time for me to have checked out of the hotel already. Fortunately, the girl at the front desk was so smitten with Tobias that she was probably being lenient with me. Regardless, I was glad that I had already packed my belongings. The only additional things I needed to gather were the two bouquets of roses Tobias had given me.
Standing up, I slowly stretched again and I noticed a scribbled note on the nightstand beside the phone. I walked over to it, recognizing Tobias’s handwriting, remembering it from four months ago when he had left me the note about feeling free to order room service if I wanted to.
My eyes quickly scanned over the note, which read: We need to talk, but not now. I need some time.
I blinked, feeling a brick going through my stomach that had nothing to do with the babies. Tobias’s hurried handwriting confirmed what I’d been feeling all along since waking up. Something was wrong.
Still staring at the note, I shook my head.
The implications behind the note were clear. Tobias was suddenly having second thoughts about me and the babies for some reason. But why? How had things changed between us so quickly? How had things managed to change in my sleep, for crying out loud? The two of us had been in perfect bliss before I’d fallen to sleep, so what could have made him so suddenly have a change of heart after promising to be there for me?
It just didn’t make sense.
I sank down onto the bed, my mind spinning in circles.
As the pregnant and hormonal one, I was the one who should have been dealing with unpredictable mood swings, not him.
I looked to the nightstand again for my phone, only to find that it wasn’t there.
Did he take my phone? He couldn’t have…
Confused, I glanced around the room, breathing a sigh of relief to find my phone tossed on the bed. I could have sworn I’d left it on the nightstand, but that was beside the point at the moment. For now, I needed to figure out what was wrong and why Tobias was being so hot and then cold with me.
I tapped my phone’s screen and immediately scrolled through my contacts for his name. I had a feeling he wouldn’t answer though, and I was proven right when my call went to voicemail. Although I didn’t leave a message, it didn’t stop me from calling back two more times.
Swearing, I realized there was nothing much left for me to do but get on the road to head back home. Whatever was going on with Tobias would have to be worked out later if I didn’t want to get charged for completely overstaying my welcome.
Remember, don’t stress yourself, a voice in my head reminded.
Just as I was about to set my phone down, I noticed that I had a missed call from Mila. Although Tobias was a much bigger concern at the moment, I knew that ignoring Mila for too long would just cause additional problems that I wouldn’t feel like being bothered with. Sighing, I reluctantly called her back, knowing that she would worry otherwise.
“Scarlet!” she answered almost immediately after the first ring.
“Hey Mila,” I said.
“Uh oh. What’s wrong?”
I swallowed, my throat feeling too tight. “I wish I knew.”
“What happened? Did you tell him?”
“Yes, I told him…”
“And?”
“He initially didn’t take the news too well. He went into shock.”
“Well, it was shocking news,” Mila said, “so you can’t really fault him for that. It’s not everyday that a man finds out he’s about to be the father of twins.”
“Yeah, I know. But I’ve been such a mess myself these days. My mood goes up and down. The way he froze and went into shock…I couldn’t handle it. We were out at dinner, and I left him. I just felt like I needed time alone, and that he needed time to collect himself. I had assumed his reaction meant he didn’t want anything to do with me or the babies. That’s why I got mad and snuck out. I left him sitting right there at the dinner table, alone. But it turned out that I had misinterpreted things.”
“Scarlet,” Mila groaned. She sighed. “All right, what happened after that?”
“I came back to my hotel room and went to sleep,” I said. “He surprised me this morning though. I was just about to leave when I found him standing outside my door with two dozen roses.”
“Awww,” Mila squealed. “So everything’s all right now then?”
“I wish it was that simple.” I paused and took a deep breath. “Okay, so he showed up with the roses and apologized. Said all these wonderful things about how he didn’t want his children growing up without him. How he wanted to be a part of their lives, and my life too. And he said that he would always be there for me. That he would take care of anything that the babies and I needed.”
“I’m not understanding the bad part of this,” Mila said.
“The bad part is that I believed him, and I was elated. We made up and…Well, I took a nap. When I woke up, he was gone. He hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye. All he did was leave a note saying, ‘We need to talk, but not now. I need some time.’ I’ve tried calling him three times already, but he won’t answer. My calls keep going straight to voicemail. I don’t know what happened.”
Mila held on to the other line in silence for a while. “I wish I could give you some insight, but I don’t even know what to say.”
“Tell me about it. It just doesn’t make sense!”
“Unfortunately, sometimes men don’t make sense.”
“Why do I keep winding up with these kind of flaky guys?” I said, frustrated.
“Well, he did say that you guys needed to talk. So maybe that’s a good sign,” Mila said. Her words were useless in cheering me up though. “I’m so sorry, Scarlet,” she said. “I just wish you would have at least texted me back sooner. I was worried about you, you know.”
“Huh? You texted me?”
“Yes. Repeatedly.”
“I didn’t see any text messages,” I said. “Hold on.” I glanced down at my phone, and sure enough, I had messages from her. The problem, though, was that they had already been opened and read.
Did you tell him?
Did he believe you?
Is it done?
Is he going to give you money?
“Oh no.”
“What?” Mila said.
I swallowed. “I must have been sleeping when you sent those texts. I think Tobias read them.”
“Oh,” Mila said. “Well, why wouldn’t he just wake you up and let you know you had messages?”
I shook my head. “Mila, don’t you get it? Look at what those messages say. Think about how they sound.”
“What do you mean?”
“The messages sound like he’s being set up! He doesn’t know you, and he doesn’t know that I told anyone else about the babies. From his point of view, it sounded like I was lying to him about everything. Like I was just trying to get money out of him.”
“Oh shit.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Listen, I’ve got to get out of here. I…I’ll talk to you later.”
“Scarlet, I’m sorry! I hope this isn’t all my fault! How was I supposed to know he would check your phone?”
“I know it’s not your fault,” I said. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.”
I ended the call, unable to believe my luck. No wonder Tobias didn’t want to accept my calls. He had misinterpreted everything and clearly thought I just trying to use him for money.
I had to figure out a way to let him know the truth. My hands shaking, I tried calling him yet again. But just as I expected, I got no answer.
Shit.
Not knowing where he lived, I contemplated going to his office again, but feared that would be in poor taste at a time like this. Plus, I didn’t want his co-workers to think I was some crazy woman stalking him.
A knock on the hotel room door startled me out of my thoughts. For a second, I grew hopeful that it was Tobias and that he hadn’t actually left me after all. But when I answered the door, it was the receptionist from the front desk.
“Hi, Ms. Kale!” she said, cheerfully.
“Hi…”
She bit her bottom lip nervously. “Look, I’m really sorry about this, but it’s past your check-out time already. I’ve let you stay because your boyfriend left and told me you were taking a nap. But I’m afraid if you stay any longer, you’ll have to pay for an extra day…”
“I’m on my way out now,” I said.
“Are you sure? I don’t want to be rude.”
“No, it’s fine. You’ve done more than enough already by letting me stay here longer than I was supposed to. I appreciate it. Thank you.”
“No problem, Ms. Kale,” she said, smiling widely as she briefly eyed the roses behind me.
“Just let me grab my things.”
“Here, let me help you,” she offered. She took my suitcase and I took the roses, and together we headed down to the main lobby. She chatted excitedly with me the whole time, although I had no idea what she was talking about. My mind was entirely too preoccupied with what I was going to do, and how I was going to explain myself to Tobias the next time I managed to get in contact with him. With him dodging my calls though, I realized I was probably going to have to wait until he reached out to me again.
I just had to hope his heart hadn’t hardened to me by that point, because I wasn’t at all the kind of woman he obviously now thought I was.