Kendra...

I turned to the mirror and looked at myself for the final time. The black pencil skirt and blue patterned shirt were new, and they looked amazing. I wasn't the kind that got my hair braided, but today called for a brand new hairdo.

What was so special about today that I had to get a new outfit and hair? At 5:00 am, my piece on the Hawthorne affair was released online, and it would be in the papers this morning. Mr. Cooper, and his Hawthorne-hating self, made sure that Eli's picture was on the front page.

Eli.

I've been trying really hard to not think about him or that day. Just the thought of him, and sent my stomach into a tight knot.

He didn't just lie, he pretended. He hid his whole life from me. Who does that? Claims to love someone but not actually tell them who you really are?

I held the tears the whole way back home, and for a minute, I thought I was fine. But the moment I stepped into my apartment, they came flowing down like crazy! I cried myself to sleep that night.

It's been a week, and I still feel like bawling my eyes out. But today wasn't the day for that. It was about me, my story and the backlash I was sure would come. I was happy.

Well, I should be.

I was angry. Angry at him for lying. Angry at myself for wishing he was here to calm me down. How is it I can hate him and still want him here?

"Mom, I'm ready!" Kyle yelled from the hallway

"I'm coming!"

I checked myself one more time before grabbing my things and heading out.

I may be on the verge of tears, but today was about me, and I was going to make it as good as I can.

********

"Kendra, you did it girl!" Will, one of my coworkers, said as he walked past my desk

"Thanks, Will," I smiled

That had to be the millionth time someone congratulated me that day. And I would be lying if I said all the attention wasn't going to my head.

The paper was selling like crazy. Stands had run out by lunchtime. Almost every news channel was talking about what I wrote. The whole country probably knew my name by now.

I should be happy, I was on my way to becoming the big shot journalist I always wanted to be. But here I was, sitting at my desk, staring at the door waiting for Eli to come through with that smile on his face I knew was meant just for me.

What was wrong with me? I am literally living out my dream and I'm worried about some guy.

"But he's not just some guy," said a voice in my head. I hated to admit it was right.

I felt a presence next to me. I didn't need to look up to see who it was.

"How are you doing?" Iris asked sitting on my desk

"I'm good," I answered as cheerfully as I could

She raised a brow at me. "You know that I know you're lying right?"

"Iris, my story is doing great, everyone is talking about it! Why would I not be good? I'm fine, I'm totally fine," I said

"If you're fine then why do you keep staring at the door waiting for a certain someone to show up?"

"I should have never told you," I teased, squinting at her

"I'm your best friend, you're supposed to tell me," she said, "I was gonna find out anyway. You know Alex can't keep his mouth shut," she added with a shrug

I turned to her surprised. "Alex knows?"

"Of course he knows. You know how those two are. They're worse than us," she chuckled

I wanted to ask if Alex knew how he was doing, but I stopped myself. I didn't care.

Correction, I shouldn't care.

"You should call him," Iris said

"Why should I?"

"Because he's not doing too well Ken."

I felt my heart drop.

"Alex said he hasn't left the house since you guys last talked. Been cooped up in his father's office barely talking to anyone. His mom's worried because he hasn't been eating."

A part of me wanted to drop everything and go back to Virginia, tell him I love him, and forgive him.

But he was getting what he deserved. He was the one that lied to me. He should be feeling like crap right now.

"That's too bad," I said dryly, turning to my computer

"Kendra..."

"He lied to me, Iris!" I turned back to my friend "He hid his whole life from me! How am I supposed to know if anything we had was real?"

And that's when I realized why this all hurt so bad. If he lied about who he was, he must have been lying about loving me too, right?

Iris took a chair close by and rolled it over to my desk, taking a seat next to me. She took my hands in hers.

"I know you're hurt, and I know you hate him. And as much as I hate him too for what he did, I really think you should at least talk to him, to find out if it was real. It would be good for both of you."

I hated when she was right. Talking to him might be the way to get over this. But I wasn't ready. As much as I wanted to see his face, I still was afraid to see it.

I felt the emotions rise, and a tear was about to show its wretched face again. But then the doors to the offices slammed open.

It wasn't who I wanted to see.

"You!" Brooke angrily pointed at me with a newspaper in hand

I guess crying over my ex would have to wait a while.

She walked over to my desk with purpose, her eyes lasered in on me. This was going to be fun.

"How dare you write these things about my husband?!" she said once in front of my desk

"Ms. Hawthorne, how are you?" I smiled

"I'm angry, that's how I am" she yelled

"Well that's unfortunate"

"Don't you dare play nice with me. You know what you did."

"And what exactly did I do?" I asked

"You lied!" She yelled, "you and this newspaper are spreading lies about my family!"

"Now ma'am, we both know that it's not a lie."

"You all hate my family so much that you made up a story about my husband and our dear friend Remona."

I could tell that saying that woman's name took more effort than she wanted to let on. She knew it was true.

"That picture on the front page says otherwise," I said

"Oh please, that was edited!"

Eli would not have liked to hear that.

"And I guess the conversation and moans I heard in the girls' bathroom at our kids' school was just part of my imagination, huh?"

She tried to hide the shock on her face, but I saw it. She probably hoped that that part of the article was a lie. Or maybe she knew and was shocked that I of all people found out.

"You're lying!"

"You have a lot of nerve showing up here Ms. Hawthorne," Mr. Cooper stepped through the doors, taking a stance that let you know he was not to be messed with.

Brooke swiftly turned to him. "Just wanted to let you know that my family and I will be suing you and this newspaper for that lie you published!"

Mr. Cooper looked unbothered.

"By the end of this, this newspaper would cease to exist!" she threatened. But again, my boss didn't seem to care.

She then turned back to me and took a few steps forward.

"As for you," she pointed her well-manicured red nail at me, "You and that little brat of yours are going to pay for this."

Ok, she crossed the line.

I took a step forward. Iris grabbed onto my arm, trying to hold me back, but I pulled away. I stood a foot away from Brooke, my gaze as intense as I could make it.

"You could do and say whatever you want to and about me, but you and your grimy family better stay away from my son, or so help me God I would..."

"You would what?" She cut me off, "Write another lie about us?" She chuckled

"I'll call my friend Angela for some help," I smirked, "You remember Angela right?"

I must give this woman props, she was putting up a good front and hiding her emotions well. But it wasn't enough. I could see the fear in her eyes at the mention of Angela.

She simply stepped back and turned, making her way to the door. She knew that there wasn't more she could say without letting another secret out.

"Ms. Hawthorne," Mr. Cooper stopped her as she passed right by him, "If you or any one of your family members step foot in my building again questioning the integrity of my journalists, there's going to be more so-called lies in my paper for you to defend!"

She didn't bother to respond and just walked away.

Once she was out, the room erupted with chatter. My boss looked my way and sent a proud smile and nod before returning to his office.

"That was awesome!" Iris said, "I've never seen someone shut her up before."

"I know right," I heard another coworker respond

Was I absolutely proud of myself for standing up to her and shutting her down? Hell yes! But why did I want to hear an "I'm so proud of you" from Eli?

I needed to get over this, fast.

********

Eli...

I smiled to myself as I read the final sentence of the article. She did good, real good Knowing how worried she was about doing all of this, I was so proud of her for facing that fear and publishing it. Man, I wish I could say all of this to her face.

The last week has been tough. I had given up on calling her, but it didn't stop the crappy feeling I felt. There were times I would just stare at the phone, wishing she would call. But she never did. Instead, it was Kyle, who made me feel even worse. I wanted to answer every time, but I was not ready to explain it to him or lie to him. Kendra obviously hasn't told him anything, which means she doesn't want him to know. I couldn't go against that, it was her son after all.

But damn it, I missed that boy, and I didn't think it would be like this.

There was a knock on my office door.

"Come in," I said, putting the newspaper away.

The door creaked open and my mother entered the room with a stack of papers in her hands.

"Angela said you needed these," she said

My sister was still mad at me and was using our mother as the messenger whenever she could.

"Oh right. You can put them over there," I said pointing to a desk at the side of the room

She nodded and headed over to the desk and gently placed the papers on it. She turned and was about to head to the door then stopped.

Oh boy, something was on her mind.

"When were you planning on telling us about your relationship with the Kendra girl?" She asked, "Were you planning on hiding her away in Washington forever?"

"It wasn't that serious mom," I lied

"That argument you two had said otherwise Eli," she caught my lie

"Why are you always like this? You always have to know what's going on in my life and give your unwanted opinions. Can you just, I don't know, mind your damn business? I don't have to tell you what's going on in my life mom, I'm not 12 anymore!" My voice raised

She raised her hands in surrender before turning and walking to the door.

"I'm here when you're ready to stop being an ass and talk," she said over her shoulder before stepping out and shutting the door behind her.

I bowed my head and sighed in disappointment.

Great, now all the women in my life were pissed at me.

Hey my wonderful readers! Yes I'm back, for a little while at least. School has been beyond stressful and it's been hard to focus and find the inspiration to write. But now that I have a little bit of time on my hands, I thought I should finally get back to writing and give you guys the final chapters of Loving Wright (There's about 3 more left after this one!)

I want to thank those of you who stuck by me through all of this. I know it's been frustrating, but I hope these final chapters are worth the wait. And to the new readers, welcome! I hope you guys stick around for a long time. 

As always, don't hesitate to vote and leave a comment. Your feedback is always welcomed. 

The next chapter has already been written, so look out for it next week!