Before It's Too Late

Chapter 22

David: Babe, where are you? I just arrived at our apartment. Please let us talk before the family dinner tomorrow.
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David: Ave, babe, I love you. Only you.
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David: Babe, tell me where you are, and I'll come to pick you up.
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Avery: Talk to your parents first and be honest with them. Spare them a heart attack. I'll talk to you when I want to. Not now.

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DAVID READ AVERY'S REPLY over ten times since her message came. Amidst all the chaos in LA, the last thing he wanted to do was sit down with his parents. Not that he didn't care about them. But he only had one mission flying back to Boston. To make Avery accept his plea for that last chance.

To everyone, he might be the sickest and most disgusting asshole of all assholes. But ever since he laid his eyes on Avery, he knew she was the one. He could never imagine his life without her. But the intelligent and reasonable man, the David everyone looked up to, fucked up once. Just once, but it was a one-time big-time.

"Why did you do it, dude? Didn't you learn from me?" Art's disbelief had echoed in his ears since that night in LA. Art had almost broken his jaw, but David didn't feel the pain nor got upset with Art for hitting him. He'd deserved it. If only they knew his agony, the sleepless nights, and the guilt that claimed every cell of his body.

Why did he do it? He had been asking himself this question for months now. The night that started as an accidental encounter between him and his newfound colleagues at a conference in LA began it all.

"Attorney David Thomas! Who'd have thought that the elusive David Thomas is now engaged?" exclaimed a paralegal he met at another conference a few years back.

"This is a perfect time and place for you to enjoy your remaining bachelor days, David," a new colleague shouted against the loud sounds inside the bar.

"Welcome to the club! I bet you haven't experienced the greatest challenge for an engaged man. But, remember, what happens in LA stays in LA!" said the most senior colleague in the group.

It was the last night after the conference. He didn't listen to his inner voice when the group invited him for that night out. Before he left Boston for that once-a-year conference, his senior partner reminded him: "David, don't ever make the mistake of joining the 'Big Five' on their nights out. Nothing good will come out of it."

But he didn't listen. He'd believed they'd caught him in the wrong place and time. He was supposed to fly back to Boston that same night, but the weather caused his flight to be rescheduled for the next day. So when he went for a drink in the bar, he didn't expect the 'Big Five to be there. Finally, after multiple shots of tequila and relentless prodding from the group, he caved in.

Each one of them, with a woman attendee from the same event, got a room in the same hotel where they'd stayed for the conference. David barely remembered how they'd returned to the hotel from the bar. He just realized what happened that night when he woke up in a bed beside a brunette he couldn't remember meeting.

He immediately gathered his clothes scattered on the floor. There was nothing he wanted to do but get out of that hotel room. Without saying a word, he rushed out of the bathroom, ran to the hotel exit, and took the first cab to the airport. When he reached their apartment in Boston, he first bathed and picked up Avery from the firm.

That was the first time he couldn't look Avery in the eye. Whenever she looked at him, he felt she could see beyond him. At that moment, he promised never to let the same thing happen again. David loved Avery with all his heart. He wanted a future with her. But, unfortunately, what happened in LA would stay in LA. It was a nightmare he intended to keep to himself until he died. So he thought.