Falling for Him 4 (Rachel and Peter in Love) (9 page)

Her father sighed, but then nodded, “Well, if you need anything or change your mind, I’ll be in my office. When do you plan on going to see Peter?”

Lara looked at her father and shook her head, “Don’t interfere in this dad. And, I thought I’d go see him first thing tomorrow morning. I need to think about a few more things before I’m ready to do this.”

“I’ll have my driver stick around…”

“No. I’ve already decided I’m going to take a taxi. I don’t want anything to prevent me from carrying this out once I start. If I drive myself, or have a driver take me, it will be too easy to chicken out. No, I’ll take a taxi and when I’m ready to come home, I’ll either call the driver, or another taxi.”

***

Mr. Bishop left the dining room, having gained a new respect for his daughter, and secretly thrilled at the way she was intending to handle things. After she had her say with Peter, he would need to speak to the man and do some damage control of his own.

While reached for his cell phone again to call his lawyer, he already thought about ways to make sure, Peter wouldn’t sue Lara. Getting grown up and all, he wasn’t willing to let her get harmed.

He remembered that the man almost lost his company, because he had pulled all his work from them. They’d been almost like friends before that, but he wasn’t sure how much remorse Peter held against himself.  No, he’d let Lara have her say, and then he had several new projects in the works and would give Peter and Steve a shot at them. That would be a good start to have a good relationship again.

Present day, back i
n Peter’s apartment…

Lara sat on the small couch in Peter’s living room, waiting for Rachel to return with Peter. Hearing a noise in the hallway, she saw Rachel returning, without Peter and she inwardly cringed.
She hoped he wouldn’t refuse to see her!

Rachel entered the room, looking at Lara with dislike, “Peter’s finishing up his shower. He’ll be out in a minute.”

Lara gave her an insecure smile, "Actually I wanted to talk to you too. I have done some really bad things."

Her
hope that Rachel would say something to help her out wasn’t fulfilled. That woman but she wasn't willing to let her off the hook that easily. Not yet. "Yes, you have. Go ahead and speak."

Lara looked at her and began talking,
"I don't know what came over me. I was so much in love with Peter, or thought I was. You have to understand, it was the first time a guy had ever liked me. Not my father's money, but me. He didn’t care at all about how much money my father made, or how much influence he had in business. Peter was successful on his own merit and didn’t need me to advance his career. That was a first for me. He didn't want me as a trophy, or an ornament on his arm. He liked me for myself."

Before Rachel could reply, or Lara continue,
Peter walked into the room, his hair still damp from his recent shower. He looked from Rachel to Lara and then leveled disbelieving eyes on the person seated in the room. “Lara what are you doing here?"

Distrust in showing in his face, he
glanced at Rachel, who seemed clearly uneasy with Lara’s presence.

Lara answered
, silently praying for a chance to do what she’d come here to do. “I came to apologize. Please hear me out
."

She
put on her most sincere face and patiently waited, while Peter shared a quick glance with Rachel. When no objection came from her side, he nodded his head and sat down in the oversized chair by the window, pulling Rachel down to sit in his lap.

Lara noticed that the
only other seating in the room was next to her, and neither of them wanted to sit there. She cringed, but could understand why.

She tried a
smile to hide her nervousness, but she was afraid it didn’t come out as she intended. Rachel gave her a furious look.

She’s
suspicious! Well, there’s no reason!  F
or the first time since Peter had broken up with her, Lara didn’t feel the least bit jealous that Rachel was so cozy with him. In fact, they looked cute together! She didn’t tell them this, not seeing as how it would help what she’d come here to do. But she took a mental note, glad that she at last, wasn’t having that horrible green-eyed monster nagging at her anymore.

“Peter, when we first started dating, you made me feel so special. For the first time in my life, my father’s money was irrelevant. It didn’t seem to matter to you,
you loved me for myself.

The longer we dated, the more I let myself believe that you were ‘the one’ and that we would always be together. I started getting worried that I wasn’t enough to keep you. I got really clingy, but I couldn’t see that the more I tried to hold onto you, the more you retracted from me.”

Peter nodded sadly, “I remember.”

“I know now you felt trapped by me. But, I couldn’t risk you waking up one day and realizing that I wasn’t worthy of your attention or love. Those fears and insecurities drove me to become even
clingier.

The more distant you became, the more fearful I got. I couldn’t see it back then, but you weren’t ready for marriage and all the stuff that came with it. Neither was I. I see that know, but back then, I let my fears dictate my actions.”

Peter looked at her with incredulous eyes and simply said, "Please continue."

Lara
nodded at him, getting more secure by the minute, "I knew things weren’t going the right direction, but I couldn't change it. It was like this invisible force was driving me to hold onto you however I could. When you turned away from me, I purposely started flirting with other men, just to get your attention. I thought if I could make you jealous enough, you’d realize the error of your ways and come back to me. But the more I did that, the more you drew away from me."

Peter jumped up
, displacing Rachel from his lap and grabbing her arm just before she fell to the floor, "What did you expect?" He gave Rachel a rueful smile of apology before turning toward Lara again.

Rachel put her hand on Peter's
shoulder and said in a calming tone, “Peter.”

Lara continued
, ignoring his outburst, "…and then you broke up with me." While saying this, she almost broke into tears. The emotions she’d been going through came rushing back and she struggled to deal with them on a rational and real basis, as David had taught her.

"It was the first time in my life that I didn't get what I want
ed, and I didn't like it one bit. When I heard that you were dating someone else, I saw red. I wanted to hurt Rachel and drive her away. I threatened her, and I tried to set her hair on fire.”

Lara paused, trying to deal with the past emotions without letting them dictate her future. When Peter started to speak, she shook her head and stopped him,
"There's more. Please, I need to finish this and tell you all of it."

Pete and Rachel looked incredulous, what else could there be? L
ara took a deep breath, and then in a rush, finished it, "I was the hit-and-run driver."

Rachel jumped up from her seat
on Peter’s lap, pointing her finger at Lara, “I knew it! You are vile!"

Lara
broke into tears of remorse, knowing that Rachel’s character assessment had been true at one point.

This isn’t happening!
How could she!
Peter stood between Rachel and Lara, a desperate look upon his face as he tried to assimilate what he’d just been told. But what was even worse was the situation he found himself thrown into now: To his left Rachel shouting exasperated, calling Lara every vile and hateful name she could think of. On the other side Lara sobbing noisily not able to stop.

He was so uncomfortable being in the middle of two upset women, for a moment all he wanted to do was retreat to the bedroom and hide.

Realizing that wouldn’t solve anything, he dealt with Rachel first. “Rachel, honey you need to calm down. Please, your tears are killing me here. Shush, please calm down.” She stopped shouting and cursing, but instead started sobbing uncontrollably.

He knew that Rachel had suffered a lot from Lara’s actions, and had carefully constructed walls around her during the last several months. Lara’s name was never mentioned and both of them had tried to avoid that topic altogether. Now a
ll the tears, sorrow, and pain the woman had caused came bursting forth in a rushing tide of emotion that wouldn’t be stopped.

Peter
tried again, with a pleading tone in his voice; he needed at least one of the women to stop crying so they could sort this mess out.

After a
while, Rachel finally managed to gain control of her tears. Peter rocked her in his arms like a baby and dried her tears, all the while whispering mollifying words into her ear. He helped her sit down, handed her several extra tissues before looking to where Lara was still sobbing on the couch.

Peter
was helpless; comforting sobbing women wasn’t one of his core abilities. Furthermore he didn't dare to comfort Lara out of fear that Rachel would start getting angry again.

He looked at her
, pleading for her understanding and acceptance. When she nodded with a sigh, he went over to Lara and patted her shoulders. He murmured words of comfort, hoping she would gain control of herself soon. It was an awkward situation. Finally, she stopped crying and he handed her some tissues from the box Rachel held out.

Peter returned to Rachel’s side, sitting on the arm of the chair while Lara continued her story. She told them how she had seen her chance to get Peter back, and how she had purposely lied about them still being eng
aged, taking advantage of his temporary memory loss.

She told them about other lies she had told, and circumstances she had orchestrated to keep Peter w
ith her. How the guilt over her actions had slowly been eating her up, and how she’d come to the realization that she was a horrible person. A person who shouldn’t be allowed to live.

She even told them a little
about her stint in rehab and David, and how she refusal to come clean about the accident had damaged her relationship with him in the final weeks before her discharge.

When she finally ran out of words, she looked at them both, “I know it’s a lot to ask for, and I don’t expect it to happen today, but I hope that sometime in the future you can find it in your hearts to forgive me. I really am sorry about everything.”

Peter looked at the broken woman sitting across from him. He’d never expected it, but she seemed to have completely changed. He just hoped, this wasn’t another of her charades. 
Is this another stunt she’s pulling? Or is it true?
Even though he believed her – wanted to believe her – he didn’t trust his own intuition. After all, she’d deceived him so many times.

He
needed help to form his decision and threw a glance at Rachel. After all, she’d shown a great deal more knowledge of human nature than him.  He stared at her, silently communicating his doubts with her in only the way two people in love could. When she smiled at him and then looked to Lara, he realized that while she wasn’t ready to forgive right now, she’d noticed the sincerity in Lara and wouldn’t mind him forgiving her.

Peter
had never wished misfortune to anyone, not even her. He wanted to see her whole and happy and if his forgiveness granted her the ability to move forward in her life, he would gladly give it to her. Still it was a lot to take in! After all, he’d been ill for months after the accident.

After a silent fight with himself, he moved on to say:
“Lara, you’ve told us a lot today, and I know how hard that must have been for you. I for my part want you to know how much I appreciate you coming here and telling us what really happened. I forgive you and I hope that sometime soon, you can forgive yourself and find the happiness you deserve. ”

***

Rachel listened to Peter’s words, realizing that he really was a prince in hiding. He was also a very wise man, and while he was willing to forgive Lara right now, she needed a few more days to process everything.

Rachel was still thinking about that, not having seen Lara leave and head down the street. Peter had called a taxi for her, but she had insisted on walking to the edge of the street to wait for it, stating she needed a few minutes to herself and would welcome the exercise.

“Rachel, honey?” Peter asked, pulling her from the chair before sitting himself back down, pulling her back onto his lap.

“Is she gone?” Rachel asked, coming back to the present and noticing that Lara was no longer sitting on the couch.

“Yeah, she had me call her a taxi and then she walked down to the corner to meet it.”

“Really?” Rachel asked in awe. That action alone was so unlike Lara it was hard to believe. “She’s really changed, hasn’t she?”

Peter nodded his head, wrapping his arms around Rachel and hugging her close, “She has. I don’t think she’ll bother us anymore.”

Rachel was silent for a moment, enjoying having Peter’s arms around her, but not sure if she was ready to trust Lara’s apparent transformation, “I guess time will tell.”