AJ walked towards Anthony and the girl as they were getting into his car.
‘Wait a minute,’ he thought to himself and slowed down. "If I confront Anthony, I’m gonna hit him and I probably won’t stop. Then he’ll have something to go back and tell Dawn, as if she doesn’t hate me enough already right now. Plus that would make me no better than him".
He thought for a minute.
"But I want him to know that I saw him".
Just as Anthony’s car started up and he started to back out of the parking space, AJ walked in front of the car. Anthony stopped and stared at him, stunned. AJ just waved at him and smiled. Anthony stepped on the gas, flew out of the parking spot and sped away. AJ walked back to his car with a smirk on his face. He got in his car and picked up his cell phone.
"I have to tell Dawn," he said to himself. "And I have to tell her before Anthony says anything to her and twists the story around. I just hope she’ll talk to me".
He dialed Dawn’s number.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Hey, it’s AJ, PLEASE don’t hang up on me".
"Well, if it isn’t Mr. Attitude,” she threw at him.
"I know, I’m sorry, there’s just been a lot on my mind lately,” he responded.
"Yeah, you mentioned that,” she replied. "But that’s no reason to take it out on me".
"I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. I don’t know what else to say,” he responded quietly.
"You can start by explaining what you meant by the you "can’t work with me" comment," Dawn said, obviously upset.
"Listen, I will explain everything if you meet me in 10 minutes at the park by my house,” AJ pleaded.
"What the hell is going on AJ? You’re freaking me out".
"Just meet me at the park, you’ll understand later,” he tried to convince her.
"I can’t, Anthony will be home in a little while,” she argued.
"THAT’S what we need to talk about. Just be there, PLEASE".
Dawn sighed. "Okay, but only for a little while”.
They hung up and AJ raced to the park as fast as he could. When he got there, Dawn wasn’t there yet.
"Damn it," he yelled. "I hope Anthony didn’t catch her on her way out the door".
Just as he said that Dawn pulled up. He noticed she was driving a new car, a brand new Mercedes at that.
"Nice ride, when did you get it?" he asked as he approached her.
"Oh, Anthony bought it for me. He picked it up today. That’s why he left early,” she replied.
AJ gritted his teeth.
"That’s not the only reason he left early,” he spit out.
"What’s that supposed to mean?" Dawn asked argumentatively.
"Come on, let’s go for a walk,” he said and grabbed her hand. She pulled away from him.
"AJ, I don’t want to walk, I want to know what the hell is going on with you!! If you don’t tell me right now, I’m leaving!"
He ran his hands over his face.
"I don’t know how to tell you this, so I’m just gonna come right out with it," he paused. "I saw Anthony with another girl today".
"So?" Dawn said. “He knows a lot of girls. Mostly from work”.
"I saw them kiss", he cut in. "And they were holding hands," he said softly.
He looked at Dawn, she just stood there looking at him, she looked like she was about to cry. She couldn’t say anything, she was in shock.
"Why are you doing this to me?" She finally blurted out. "Why do you hate Anthony so much??" She turned and started to walk back to her car.
"Wait!" AJ yelled after her.
He was shocked that she thought he was making it up. He finally caught up with her, grabbed her hand and spun her around.
"You really and truly think I’m making this up?" He asked in disbelief.
"You’ve hated Anthony since high school!," She yelled at him as she turned and started to walk away again.
"That’s because he beats the hell out of you!" He yelled back. "And you let him!!"
Dawn stopped in her tracks and walked back to where he was standing.
"Let me tell you something," she said coldly as she pointed at him. "Anthony loves me and I love him. He takes care of me".
"When? Before or AFTER he gives you a black eye?" He shot back at her.
All of a sudden, she slapped him across the face, she had tears streaming down her face. "Fuck you AJ! Leave me alone and stay the hell out of my life!"
With that she got in her car and sped away.
AJ just sat down in the grass and put his face in his hands.
"God, what have I done?”

Chapter 11
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