Page 99 of Succeeding Love

His eyes tightened. He took a step inside, so the door swung shut behind him.

“Nick, this is the women’s room!”

“Fay,” he slurred, and I realized right then that he was drunk. I had never seen Nick drunk like this before. He was getting closer, and I could smell the alcohol seeping out of him.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I felt the cold porcelain of the stand-alone sink as I backed up as far as I could.

“Fay,” his lip quivered as he stopped right in front of me. “My Fay.”

He tried to grab at me, putting his hands on my shoulders like he was trying to hug me, but I pushed him off and he mis-stepped, falling to the ground. I was about to run out of there when a noise startled me. A broken sob, choking him before a series of groans left his twisted lips.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Fay. I should never have left you. I n-never should have-”

As his words became incoherent, his groans and cries got louder. He looked pathetic, and not the least bit threatening.

The door opened again, and this time it was actually a woman. She wasn’t someone I recognized, and I could only hope she didn’t realize who Nick was when she gasped while catching sight of him.

“I’m terribly sorry,” I told her. “I think the stories of the kids got to him. Could you give me just a moment, and I’ll get him out of here?”

The woman looked less offended, and murmured, “Of… of course. Do you need some help?”

“Do I ever,” I groaned, but shook my head, bending over to lift my drunk and disorderly ex-husband off the ground.

“Oh, my,” she clenched her chest as Nick leaned against me and let out a strangled cry. He was trying to say he was sorry, still between sobs, but all he could get out were the ‘s’ sounds.

“I’m sorry. We have kids. I think that’s why it affected him so,” I said again as we passed by her at the door.

“Understandable. Poor dear.” She wrinkled her nose, probably catching a whiff of Nick’s boozey scent. It was hard to miss.

He kept grabbing my shoulders, crying against my hair as we walked out to the open area right outside the conservatory. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle him much further, but also knew getting his bosses to deal with his drunken behavior was not the best idea. He is still my children’s father, and I would like for him to remain employed.

“Wait right here,” I said, guiding him to a bench right out of view of the event hall.

“D-don’t leave me, Fay,” he sniveled, trying to hold on to my hand.

“I’ll be right back. Let me get my bag,” I told him, prying my hand from his.

He had my kids this weekend. How the heck was he supposed to be a father while he was this messed up? The more I thought about it as I walked back into the event room, the more irritated I got.

Vin took one look at my face, then shot up out of his seat. I was glad we were off to the side and the room was dim, so not as many people noticed. He was kind of hard to miss under normal circumstances.

“I ran into a bit of an issue in the bathroom,” I whispered to him. “Can you help me?”

He looked excited for a second, but then something on my face must have shown that thesomethingI needed help with would not be what he was thinking.

With a firm nod, he followed me out of the room, grabbing my hand along the way. I am sure he could feel my tension and probably sensed my bad mood. When we were out of the event room, I walked him over to the bench I had left Nick on, and he let out a frustrated groan of his own.

“What the fuck? Why is he here?”

I sighed, wondering where to start. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know why he followed me into the bathroom but-”

“He did what?” Vin’s face went stiff, making a shiver travel through me. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that yet.

I backtracked and started stammering about my words, “I mean, I was done. Just washing my hands. Maybe he thought it was the men’s. It is dark in here, and he is drunk...”

Right then, the lady from earlier came out of the women’s restroom. She stopped to look over at Nick with a pitiful look. “Poor dear. I hope your husband feels better soon. He looked so broken hugging you like that. Take care of those kiddos,” she said kindly before walking back to the event room.

“Hugging you?” Vin lifted his brows angrily. “That fucker followed you into the bathroom and was hugging you? What else did he do?”

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