Page 57 of The Friend Zone
“If you came here to sweet talk me, you’re wasting your time. You slept with my brother and pretended his son was mine. The only reason I’m here is because I want to know why. Did I mistreat you in some way for you to betray me with my own brother? Were you ever going to tell me Prince wasn’t mine?”
She swallowed hard and stared into her cup of coffee. Neither of them had ordered food to eat, and the coffees were more like props to give their hands something to do.
When she looked at him again, her woebegone expression almost made him feel sorry for her.
“You never did me wrong. You were a good boyfriend, and to be honest, I never really decided if I was going to tell you the truth or not. Part of me wanted to tell you, and another part of me wanted to go to my grave with the secret.” She took a break to sip her coffee. “I never meant to hurt you or for any of this to happen. This is no excuse, but you and I never saw each other much when we were together. I was alone in New York, and he—Cole—was around. He helped me out with little things around the apartment every now and again. Once or twice he took me to the store and kept me company when I was missing you. Then one day he was at the apartment and… it just happened.”
“Cheating is one thing, but you let me believe Prince was mine, Athena.”
“I know. At first I thought he was yours, or at leasthopedhe was. He had your green eyes, so I was almost certain, but when I learned the truth, I realized he took after your mom.”
“How did you find out he wasn’t mine?” Omar asked.
“Cole demanded a paternity test,” she replied, plucking at her napkin. “At first I denied his request, but he kept asking, and I finally agreed because I wanted to be certain. When we found out the truth, I didn’t know how to tell you.” She grimaced.
“So the reason you always hated taking money from me, was because of Prince’s paternity.”
She nodded. “Omar, I didn’t want you to find out like that. I hate what Cole did. He was so… cruel.”
Omar ran a hand over his bald head and watch a couple pass by. “How long were you seeing him?”
“We started messing around, and a few months later I found out I was pregnant. I stopped sleeping with him right away. When Prince arrived, I was stressed out because you weren’t around, and I felt like I was raising him on my own. Your family was great, your mom was helpful and offered advice, but Cole was there too. I don’t know what prompted him to ask for the paternity test, but he did.” She paused and shifted in the chair. Her voice went lower as it filled with shame and guilt. “Knowing he was the father brought us closer together for a little while, and we started messing around again. I was lonely. Then you showed up unexpectedly for Prince’s birthday and found his boxers.”
Omar’s hand fisted on top of the table. “When I called you from the airport, he was there.”
She nodded, looking everywhere but at him. “He left quickly and left behind the evidence you found. Sometimes I wonder if he did it on purpose, I don’t know. After you left, I broke off the relationship, hoping you and I could work things out and get back together, but that never happened.”
Omar’s opinion concerning Athena and Cole didn’t improve, but at least now he understood the timeline and background facts.
Tears shimmered in Athena’s eyes. “I wish I could take back everything—the cheating, the lies. But if I did, then I wouldn’t have my baby boy, and I love my little prince to death.”
“What are you going to tell him about me and Cole? How are you going to explain this?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know yet.”
“We have to tell him the truth.”
“I know.” She sighed. “Do you know why Cole is here in Atlanta?”
“He told us he was on vacation,” Omar answered.
“Not quite. He got into trouble at the management firm where he works—worked, again. This time he got one of the admins pregnant, and they’re expecting a baby at the end of the summer. The owners asked him to leave, so he doesn’t have a job anymore. I know all of this because I’m friends with one of the assistants working there. He’s in Atlanta because he no longer has a job, and I don’t think he knows what to do with himself.”
Omar shook his head in disgust. As usual, his brother’s private life was a mess. “He’s like a big kid. I’m not surprised he’s in trouble again.”
They sat in silence for a while, and then Omar said, “I want to see Prince before you go back to New York.”
“Any time you want to see him is fine by me. He loves you, and I want him to have a positive man like you in his life.”
Her words crushed him, and he couldn’t bear their emotional weight at the moment. “I need to go.” Omar pushed back his chair and dropped a few bills on the table to cover the cost of the coffees.
“Omar.”
He stopped, body tensing as he braced for the words.
“I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.”
Regret filled Athena’s face and clouded her eyes. He’d loved her once and planned to make a life with her. What if he had never found those boxers tangled in the sheets? He would have married her and been raising his brother’s son as his own. She wanted sympathy, but all he saw was a liar and realized he’d barely escaped a life mired in deceit.
