His Secret

56. Adrian

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

ADRIAN

I wake up at five in the morning after a restless night, and find that Charlotte is gone. I send a message to Matías letting him know I will need the day off after all, but I don’t go into details. Not yet.

I send another message to Charlotte, asking her to please let me know she’s okay, but it goes unanswered.

After a shower, I put on a pot of coffee and then sit at the dining room table and decide who I need to call first.

Amelia. I call her number.

“What’s wrong?” she answers.

“What a way to answer the phone.”

“Well, it’s six-thirty in the morning and you never call this early. Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine,” I say with a sigh.

“Then why the fuck are you calling me at six-thirty?”

“Do you have some time to talk? You going to work soon?”

“I have an hour before I absolutely need to crawl out of bed. What’s going on?”

“Well, I wanted to tell you something before it runs through the grapevine, picking up some bullshit along the way.”

“I’m definitely awake now.”

With a long sigh, I say, “Me and Charlotte are gonna be getting divorced.” I let it sit there, but she doesn’t say anything, so I keep going. “Because…well, because I’m gay.”

I bite down on my thumbnail, holding my breath and waiting for her response.

“You’re…okay. You’re getting a divorce.”

“Yes,” I say with a nod.

“Because you’re gay.”

“Yes.”

Another several seconds go by. “Well, you know, this makes sense.”

“What do you mean?”

“Getting married to Charlotte? That whole thing never made sense to me. You didn’t know her. You hadn’t told me anything about you two dating. We knew of her because she was David’s daughter, but you never expressed interest. Then all of a sudden you two run off to get married? I remember questioning you about it and you were just like, ‘Yeah, it felt right.’ It wasn’t like you, though.”

I rub my forehead and get ready to tell her the part she’s never known. “Charlotte was pregnant. The father was an addict who was in jail. They needed her to settle down and have a decent partner. They were in the middle of acquiring a new business, and she was getting arrested, and disappearing for days.”

“Wait, so…okay, hold on. Dad made you marry her so there wouldn’t be negative press about David’s daughter? What kind of sense? And obviously you don’t have a kid, so she miscarried?”

“Well, yeah. It was for them, but I know Dad was more than happy to volunteer me considering he knew about me, and thought this was the perfect set up to get me with a woman. Hoping like hell it would stick. And yes, she miscarried. She went through a rough patch after that, and then went to rehab. She’s been clean since.”

“Damn,” she says. “This is crazy, Adrian. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me!”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t tell anyone.”

“I’m so fucking pissed. How could Dad do that? How could Mom let him? Because you’re gay? Jesus fuck, everyone is gay.”

“What?” I ask with a laugh.

“Okay, maybe not everyone. But there’s gay people all over the place. He’s still acting like this in 2024?”

“I just wanted to let you know, because Charlotte knows now, and I’m sure her parents will find out soon, and it’ll eventually trickle through.”

“How’d she take it?”

“Not good. There’s another detail I may have left out.”

“Oh god,” she groans.

“I don’t want you to think less of me.”

“Jesus,” she murmurs on the other side.

“There’s a guy here.”

“Lord have mercy. Adrian, I’m trying to be on your team.”

“It’s a long story, but it wasn’t just some stupid fling or one-night stand. I know him. He’s who I was with in college. The one Dad found out about.”

“Oh. Well, damn.”

“Anyway, that’s a story for another time. Charlotte is upset and took off. We haven’t talked about what will happen next, but I imagine she’ll move back home.”

“And you? What are you gonna do?”

“I’m going to finally live.”

She’s quiet for a little bit. “Good. That’s good, Adrian. You’re in quite a mess right now, but it’s not fair what you had to go through. I wish you would’ve told me, because you know I always have your back, but that’s your journey. I love you. Let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Tears fill my eyes. “Thanks, Ame. I love you so much.”

“We’ll talk later.”

“Okay.”

After I end the call, I swipe at my eyes and send a message to my dad.

Charlotte knows everything, and I told Amelia. I don’t appreciate you threatening Matías either.

His response comes a lot faster than I expected.

Can you come to Chicago soon?

For what?

There are a few things we need to go over.

I don’t reply, because I don’t know what the hell he’s talking about. I tell him that the news about my sexuality and affair is out there, and he responds like we need to have a business meeting .

I call Charlotte, but it goes straight to voicemail. I decide to send another message to my dad.

Charlotte is gone and isn’t answering my calls. If you or David hear from her, let me know so I know she’s safe.

He doesn’t reply.

But Matías does.

That’s fine. Take care of what you have going on. I’m here if you need me.