SECRETS OF THE PAST
Chapter Nineteen
When morning came, Frank walked
into the shower and was ready to get his suit, but before he had the chance to
get his suit out of the closet, the phone rang. He picked it up.
"Hello?" he said,
sitting on the bed.
"Hey, Frank. It's
Leah," Leah said.
"Hi, Leah." She sounded
happy to hear his voice.
"What time should I be
there?" she asked.
"Um…well, we are leaving at
nine o‘clock. I will come and get you," he told her, before she could say
anything.
"Okay. Cool. I will be ready
by then. Love you." She meant it. She loved him so much.
"Love you, too." Frank
put down the receiver.
He glanced at the clock, and it
was only 7:45. He got his suit out of the closet and put it on the bed. Then,
the phone rang again.
"Hello?" he said in a
hurried tone.
"Hey, Frank. It's Erica.
Look, I know what happened between us is a secret, but I was wondering if I
could see you." Erica heard his voice. It was erotic to her.
"I know. So do I, but I am
breaking up with Leah today. I made up my mind," he told her.
"Frank, don't! Don't break
up with her. She loves you. And you and I hate each other's guts. Let's just
call it a one night stand, Frank, and forget about it," she told him.
"I can't, Erica. I can't lie
to her. I have to tell her before it eats me alive." He felt guilty enough
not telling her yesterday.
"Well, it's your decision.
All I know is that I don't love Danny. Never have. Never will. I have always
been in love with you, Frank. I just had to tell myself to hate you because I
liked you." She bit her lip.
"Well, Erica, I don't know
how this is gonna affect our relationships with Kyle, Crystal, and Danny. But
if we want to be together, we just have to face everyone, no matter how much
they hate us." Frank took his towel off and dried his hair with one hand.
"Me either, Frank. You're
going to the funeral, right?" She went to her closet, getting something to
wear.
"Yeah." He wondered
what she wanted.
"What time will you be
back?" she asked.
"Um…I guess by noon.
Why?" He ran a brush through his hair.
"Well, I was thinking that I
would come over and cheer you up a little." She smiled when she said it.
"Well, all right. Sure. I
can use it, after what I am gonna do." He could use all the cheering up he
could get.
"All right. See you
later." She clicked off.
"Yeah. See ya." He hung
up the receiver again and lay on his bed, wishing that he had never been with
Erica.
*****
Jack and Rose got ready for the
funeral. Jack dressed all in black, and so did Rose. When Frank came down the
stairs, he was dressed in his dark blue suit, looking pretty hot and sexy, but
his face didn't show it.
"Hey, Frank. How was
camping?" Rose asked.
"It was okay, Mom," he
said, looking at her with an awful expression.
"Why are you sad?" Rose
asked.
"I have to break up with
Leah. I cheated on her when I knew I shouldn't have." He looked up at his
mom.
"Aw, Franklin." The
look in Rose's eyes expressed how he was feeling at that moment.
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I am
gonna go for a drive. I will be at the funeral when it's time," he said,
grabbing the keys out of his pocket.
"Okay. Good luck, son."
She hugged him before he left.
"Thanks, Mom." He
hugged her back.
He walked outside, got in his
car, and started the engine. He put on a song he had often heard, Save Me,
by Remy Zero.
After checking in his rearview
mirror for oncoming traffic, he backed out and drove down the road to the
freeway to go to Leah's house.
By the time he got there, all he
wanted to do was turn back, but he just had to see her. He walked up the
walkway to the front door and knocked. Leah's mom answered.
"Hey, Frank." She
smiled at him. He looked handsome in his suit.
"Hey, Mrs. Carlson." He
felt like this was the last time he would be seeing this house.
"Leah is upstairs, getting
dressed," she told him.
"All right. I will
wait." He took off his sunglasses.
"You want anything to eat or
drink?" Mrs. Carlson asked.
"Nah. I am not hungry."
He looked up towards Leah's room.
"All right," she said.
Mrs. Carlson went upstairs and
called Leah, telling her Frank was there. He waited for Leah to come down the
stairs after her mom had called her.
She came down the stairs and
kissed him.
"Wow! You look good in
black," Frank said.
"Thanks. You look
handsome." She kissed him again.
"Leah, we need to talk."
He couldn't take it anymore.
"Okay, Frank." He took
her hand and followed her up the stairs.
When they got to her room, she
looked at him, confused. "What is it, Frank?"
"Leah, there's no simple way
to say this, and believe me, it hurts me more to do this to you than you'll
ever know. I feel like shit doing this, but I have to, Leah. I'm breaking up
with you." He stared at the floor.
"You're breaking up with me?
Why? Did I do something wrong?" Leah had a worried look. She couldn't
begin to wonder what she had done to him.
"No. You're the best
girlfriend in the world. I love you so much. I don't wanna hurt you. Leah, I
messed up big time. I cheated on you," he said, looking at her. She wasn't
even crying.
"You cheated on me with
who?" she asked.
"Erica. We had sex once on
the camping trip," he told her.
"But why? You hate her
guts!" Leah was so angry at him that she wanted to rip his head off.
"I know I do, but I guess
that when we saved each other, we became closer than we expected." He
wanted her to hit him.
"Frank, can't we talk about
this?" Leah asked.
"Leah, don't make this
harder than it already is." He looked at her.
"Frank, you cheated on me.
The least you can do is hear me out. I should be kicking your ass down the
stairs, but I'm not," she said calmly.
"At least if you were mad
and hit me, I would understand. Why are you so calm about this? Don't you hate
me?" Frank walked to her.
"Yeah, I do. Very much, but
I am not losing you for doing something stupid." She had tears in her
eyes.
"Leah, let me go. If I do it
again to you, it would be like treating you like a whore. I don't wanna treat
you like that. Let me get Erica out of my system." He tried to hold her,
but she pulled away.
"Fine! Be with her. See if I
care." She turned around and got her sunglasses.
"Leah, I am sorry."
Frank could say it over and over, but he knew it didn't matter.
"Not as sorry as I am,
Franklin! So, are we still going to the funeral or what?" Leah calmed
herself.
"Yeah." He walked out
first.
"The least I can do is pay
my respects to your family and all before I start dating other people,"
Leah told him.
"You're gonna date other
people?" he asked, hating the idea of her seeing someone else.
"Yes. I don't have a
boyfriend anymore. Now it's time to find a new one," she said coldly.
He knew she was mad, so he didn't
argue with her about it. They got into the car and didn't talk at all. When he
reached the cemetery, he got out of the car and was going to open the door for
her, but she got out before he could open the door.