Chapter 5 Disbelief

"Kyle, isn't that Tristan DuKat? " Sophie asked. "Owner of Noelle's Department Store."

Yes, it is," Kyle said.

"I wonder if he's thinking of renovating anytime soon," Sophie said.

"I doubt it," Kyle said. "He just renovated two years ago."

"Too bad. " Sophie looked around. "I'm sure there are other potential clients here."

"Will you give it a rest? " Kyle said. "It's Miss Van Horn's birthday party."

"I know. I know. " Sophie glanced around. She found Miss Van Horn smiling and giving the business to Mr. Deville. "How much do you want to believe that she's putting the moves on the chef."

Kyle did not respond.

"Oh. FYI," Sophie said. "I made an appointment for us to look at that apartment. You know the one we saw that had the view of the Chesapeake."

Kyle reached out and touched the side of her face. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I'm going to let you handle that yourself. Whatever you decide is fine with me. " He touched the tip of her nose with a finger.

"I thought we would do it together," Sophie said. "I really would love your input."

"Honey, I trust your judgement," Kyle said. "It's not like I haven't seen the apartment."

Sophie giggled under his tender touch. He knew the right thing to say and do to break her down.

"Keep that smile for me," Kyle said. "I need to go to the bathroom. Something I ate is not agreeing with me."

"I told you not to try that dip. It didn't look good."

"I should have listened to you," Kyle said. "Now I'm paying for it. Don't go far. When I'm done taking care of business, we can sneak out of here."

A smile crossed Sophie's face. "Sounds good to me." She shooed him away. "I'll just go mingle."

Sophie weaved her way in and out of the guests. She shook hands, smiled, and made small talk. She looked to see Chef Cecil Deville headed her way. "Mr. Deville. So good to see you."

"Miss Middleton. " He kissed one cheek and then the other. "You're looking beautiful this evening."

"Thank you, chef," Sophie said. "You're not looking so bad yourself. I heard you're getting ready to work on the renovations."

Cecil tilted his head. "I was under the impression that I would be working with you."

"I was just helping out Mr. Dern. I can vouch for him. He really is a great interior decorator. I gave him all the notes on what we talked about."

"I will give him a chance, because of you," Cecil said.

Sophie clasped her hands together in a prayer manner. "Thank you. I appreciate that. And you won't be disappointed."

"Alright," he said before excusing himself.

Fifteen minutes later, there was still no sign of Kyle. She hoped he was all right. Maybe she should have one of the guys go and check on him. She was about to have Rios go look when her cell phone rang. She recognized the familiar number belonging to Bella. To hear better, she ducked out into the hallway.

"Bella, I'm still at the party."

"I have some good news," Bella said. "Guess who's going to be working here in DC for a while."

"Don't tell me, it's you."

"Of course," Bella said. "King David is not shooting yet. I agreed to work on Bayside Hospital until it starts."

"Sounds good. It will be great hanging with my sister," Sophie said, strolling into the ladies room. She checked her appearance in the mirror. Her nose was shiny. She opened her purse to grab the face powder. She stopped in mid-motion when she heard banging and giggling coming from one of the stalls.

She was a little embarrassed that she'd walked in on whoever was making out in the bathroom, but she also felt envious that it wasn't her and Kyle. Maybe she should drag him inside a stall before they left.

"You won't believe what is going on in one of the stalls," she said to Bella.

"At that job of yours, nothing would surprise me."

Sophie stepped over to get a better look underneath the stall.

A moment later, the stall door flew open, the couple fell out, and landed at her feet. She looked to see her boss, Patricia, on top of Kyle. Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

"I guess your stomach is feeling better," she snapped.

"Sophie don't get the wrong idea," Patricia tried to explain. "You know, I never mix business with pleasure."

Kyle looked like he just wanted to slink away. He was busy trying to fix his clothes. She couldn't believe that the great Patricia Van Horn would try to explain her way out of getting caught fooling around with her fiancé.

"Sophie? Sophie? Are you there? " She heard Bella asked.

"I will fill you in later. " She quickly ended the call.

Patricia staggered to her feet. It was obvious that she was drunk. "You know, Sophie I must say, I always thought that Kyle was someone special. I was right. You have someone special. You are one lucky girl."

Sophie was so angry; she didn't know what to say or do. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from them as she could. She rushed out past them.

On shaky legs, she grabbed the banister and slowly made her way down the stairs. She made it in front of the building just in time to hail a taxi.

Sophie crawled in the backseat determined not to cry. She sat motionless for what seemed like eternity.

The drivers deep African accent snapped her out of the fog. "Where to, my Queen?"

Sophie quickly gave the address to her apartment building.

"Are you okay? " The driver asked, looking in the rearview mirror.

Sophie moved forward in the seat. "Let me ask you a question," she looked over the front seat to read his name, "Sam Ezenkwe."

The driver stopped the vehicle at the light. "Go ahead."

"Have you ever had your heart broken?"

"Who hasn't?"

"It's my first time," Sophie said. "It hurts."

"Yes, it does."

"I can find another job," Sophie mumbled. "But where can I find another guy like Kyle. Everyone said we were perfect for each other. I do mean perfect. We just decided to move in together. I didn't even tell my sister. Then after a year we were going to get married. Even you would have thought we were made for each other if you met him."

"No one is perfect," the driver said.

"You got that right," Sophie said. "I just found out the man is an ass. But we had the same dreams, ambitions, and drive. " She sniffed. "That's what made us the perfect couple. Now it looks like he just reached his."

"Hmm," the driver said.

"I mean I'm a go getter," Sophie said. "That's why when I felt the time was right, I proposed to Kyle."

"You proposed? " The driver asked in surprise. "The man is supposed to do that."

"Oh, he accepted," Sophie quickly added. She twisted the large three carts, princess cut engagement ring on her finger.

The driver gave a quick glance at her finger. "He has good taste."

"No, he doesn't," Sophie said quietly. "I just caught him cheating on me." She glanced out the backseat window. They were about to pass Cadence Supper Club. She was too upset to head home. She banged on the backseat for the driver to stop. She paid the fare and exited the vehicle.

Her feet hit the pavement, and her cell phone begins ringing. It was Bella. She was sure that she was calling to check on her. She answered on the third ring.

"What happened? " Bella declared. "You said you were going to call me back."

"I. I couldn't," Sophie said. Her body was shaking. "I had to get out of there, Bella."

"Out of where? What happened?"

"Kyle." Sophie managed to get out.

"What about Kyle?"

"I caught him making out in the bathroom stall."

"The silence between them was only for a moment, but it seemed like eternity.

"Say that again," Bella said. "I don't think I heard you right."

"You heard me," Sophie said in a low tone of voice.

"Sophie," Bella said. "Where are you?"

Sophie ended the call.

***

"She's been drinking a lot," Gerald, the club owner, said to Bella several hours later. "What's going on? I have never seen her like this. She kept saying something about someone stabbing her in the back."

Bella rubbed Sophie's hand in comfort. "She had a terrible day."

"I can see that," Gerald said. "I bought her to my office so that she could sleep it off, then I called you."

"Thank you, Gerald," Bella said, pulling on her arm. "Let's go home."

"She's going to have one hell of a hangover in the morning."

"Come on, Sophie. " Bella attempted to help her to her feet.

"I'll call Uber," Gerald said.

Sophie fell back on the sofa. "Bella, is that you?"

"Yes, it's me little sister," Bella said. "I'm taking you home."

"Why did Kyle treat me like that?"

"Because he's a jerk."

Sophie clumsily stood. She threw her arm around Bella's neck. "Yes, both of them."