Page 25 of War
The news took Krista by surprise. Truth was, she didn’t question why Eli would question E.J. The fact he wanted to test the other two children, made him an asshole of epic proportions.
“Faye, can you honestly say Eli fathered E.J.?” Krista asked. “You have to admit the conception date is awfully close when you were with both men.”
“You’re making me sound like a ho,” Faith defended, “I was separated from my husband and ending a relationship with Darren. There’s a difference.”
“Don’t deflect,” Krista replied, “you have to admit the days were close enough where either man could be the father.”
“You accept Simone’s daughter but you had to nerve to question E.J., that’s why I’m pissed at you, Eli!” Faith calmly stated. “You wanted to test E.J., fine, I get it. But all three of our kids? You know the struggles we went through trying to conceive Nathan! You remember all of the miscarriages we had! You knew all of that! And you had the nerve to question if I was loyal to you back then?”
“I doubted Elena the moment Simone told me about her. And in terms of you? Yes, Faye, let’s talk about your behavior for a moment. Let’s talk about how you kept texting your ex-boyfriend while you were pregnant. Let’s talk about how you two had a ‘friendly’ lunch and I was supposed to be okay with it? Let’s talk about all the fights we had and you’d mentioned some things only to end it with a, ‘I didn’t mean it’ or ‘just kidding!’” He walked up to his wife and stared down into her eyes. “In case you’re forgetting, Faith, I let you stay here while I knew all of that was going on. I could’ve kicked you out and made you into a stereotype.”
Faith remembered Eli’s hurtful words that morning. She’d never seen him so angry. It wasn’t just anger. He was heartbroken. She felt a weird tension between the pair. Eli was on the verge of giving up and worst yet, Faith was pushing him to.
“I’m leaning towards a divorce,” she quietly admitted, “it’s something that’s been on my mind for a while. I don’t trust him and now that he wants to question all three of our kids, when they have no part in any of this foolishness, I don’t see any other option.”
Krista’s eyebrows rose before settling down. “Don’t you think that’s a harsh solution to what is a temporary problem? Why don’t you just get all of the children tested as a ‘ha-ha’ to him? He’ll shut up for good about that.”
“Why should I give my husband a DNA test because he doesn’t believe his ho?” Faith countered. “I’m not going to give into Eli’s demands.”
“Faye,” Krista pleaded, “think about this. You’re hurt. I get it. You’re hurt and you want to hurt Eli back for putting you through all of this. But this isn’t the way to go.”
“What should I do?” Faith replied. She concentrated on a recent news story about Darren. His home was robbed and a safe was stolen. “He acts like he hates me.”
“Faye, when was the last time you slept with Eli?” Krista asked. “You can tell me. I know Cam’s ass was all in your grill but we’re adults here.”
Faith sighed. She honestly couldn’t remember. “I guess sometime this summer.”
It was already fall. “Faith!” Krista scolded.
“Between the shop, the kids, and recovering from Aubri’s birth, I just haven’t had the desire to!” Faith defended. “It’s not my fault.”
“It has nothing to do with any of that. You couldn’t wait to start having sex again after E.J.” Krista pointed out. “Have you and Eli had a sit down talk about everything?”
“Each time we talk about everything, the anger from both sides come out. I bring up Simone and he brings up Darren. And it’s right back to where we were.” Faith shook her head. She glanced at a photo of her and Eli when they went to Italy for the first time. They fought the first night they were there for the same issue that had been present during their entire marriage – Faith’s lack of trust. “I don’t see how this is going to end well.”
“Would you still be considering divorce if Eli didn’t question E.J.?”
Faith shot Krista a look. “What? What kind of question is that?”
“You’re hell-bent on not trusting Eli but you act brand-new when Eli is questioning E.J.,” Krista pointed out, “his concerns are valid.”
“His concerns are not valid.” Faith replied. “He has nothing to worry about.”
Krista wanted to mention how that wasn’t necessarily the truth. Faith notoriously kept contact with Darren behind Eli’s back, who’d long suspected something was going on. What upset Krista even more was Faith didn’t seem Eli should be at all bothered by her actions. She wondered how that was going to play out in her relationship with Tony. “If you say so, Faye.”
~~~~~
J. Cole’s words were music to Eli’s ears.
As he worked in the warehouse under the bright lights, Eli was stripped down to his white tee and jeans. He was doing a mockup design of a bridal bouquet, with fake roses, peonies, and hydrangeas with accented crystals. The bridesmaids bouquets were a smaller version.
“Neighbors” blasted overhead as Eli concentrated on the bouquet. Everyone always complimented on his designs but no one ever saw the hard work that went into beforehand. No one also saw his extreme patience when he had to deal with a bride who changed her mind at least five times.
He turned the bouquet around on the turntable to get another look at it. No, it wasn’t perfect. He was sure the bride would love it but Eli didn’t love it. He had a personal rule – if he didn’t love his work, it couldn’t go out into the public. Always quality over quantity.
His work phone interrupted his train of thought and he immediately recognized the number. His friend, Shanita, called him again. “Hey Shanny,” Eli picked up the receiver, “I got your message but I’m swamped with work right now.”
“You need to see me ASAP, Eli.”
