MAYBE BABY

by ANDREA SMITH

  With that, I went on inside leaving Mark to deal with the drama. I had nothing to explain to Jenna. He was back in a few minutes, shaking head, disgusted.

  “Tylar, I am really sorry for her outburst out there. I explained to her once again that she and I are not in a relationship. She is hell bent on thinking we were, and that you came between us.”

  “Did you lead her on in any way Mark?”

  I didn’t want to delve into his personal stuff, but I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of Jenna’s wrath without knowing why she felt so strongly about Mark.

  “Well, we slept together . . . once,” he said.

  “You know Mark, I’m no expert by any means on the dynamics of the male-female psyche, but you have to know by now that females do tend to read something into the sexual act, right?”

  Was that really me saying that? Maybe I should ask Mark as to whether he had a pre-coital discussion with Jenna prior to doing the dirty deed to make sure that his bases were covered. How could I possibly lecture Mark on something like this when I had signed up and agreed to be someone’s fuck buddy, no strings attached?

  My mind argued that it was different. The exclusivity part made it more than simply sport-fucking, but I wasn’t that sure anymore. I certainly knew that I was not in a position to defend or give advice on this matter either.

  “I’ll talk to her again, one-on-one,” he said.

  “Good, I think that is the right thing to do.”

  We got busy with our practice. The morning flew virtually flew by. We broke for lunch, reviewing videos of the morning's progress. I stayed to review the videos one more time. We were to meet back in the area at 1:30.

  At 1:30 the sky was extremely dark; the sound of thunder was not that far off in the distance.

  “What do you think?” I asked.

  “I think that by the time you get Derringer over to the stables, the sky will be ready to cut loose,” Mark answered. We agreed to call it a day and meet back in the morning. I was preparing to mount Derringer when I noticed that Trey had come into the arena. So he was back. He looked as gorgeous as ever in his dark blue Armani suit, with white dress shirt. His tie was a blend of dark blue and grey. For a moment my heart fluttered, thinking that he was here to see me, to tell me that he’d missed me, and that everything had just been a big misunderstanding. I realized then that he was not here to see me. He called Mark over to talk with him.

  I looked beyond Trey, up past the open gate to the arena. Charlotte was standing there. She was dressed in a peach colored shift, with white sandal heels, and a white floppy summer hat. She was waiting for Trey to finish up with whatever business he had with Mark; apparently they had plans. I stood frozen, not wanting to walk past Trey; and certainly not wanting to let Charlotte get the best of me. I wondered if she had ever known about Trey and me. Past tense now I thought. Did it even matter?

  Whatever business Trey had with Mark did not take long. Trey turned without giving me so much as a glance, and walked back up to the gate, to Charlotte who was patiently waiting for her man. She smiled as he approached; she reached out and brushed a speck of lint off his lapel. Trey closed the gate behind him, imprinting the image of the two of them on my mind for eternity. I hadn’t noticed Mark approach me.

  “Hey, it was great working with you Tylar,” he said.

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  “It appears my services are no longer required here. I’ve been relieved of my duties, effective immediately. I was just informed by the top man himself.”

  “No, what-why?” I stumbled to make sense of this.

  “I was given no detailed explanation, but if I had to guess, I would say he heard about our kiss last week.”

  “How?”

  “How do you think?”

  “Jenna?” I said.

  “Bingo,” Mark replied, sardonically. “I gotta get packed up. Take care, Tylar.”

  This could not be happening. I was in shock on a couple of fronts. This was not fair to Mark at all. I felt like I needed to do something. I needed to talk to Trey but that was impossible with the company he was keeping at the moment. I would try later. He was a man of reason after all.

  I got Derringer back over to the stables just as the skies cut loose. Mark had been right. I couldn’t stop thinking about Mark. All he had been was a friend to me. Jenna was a bitch. I would deal with Jenna right now. I needed to lash out at someone. She was the most deserving of it. Then I remembered she wouldn’t be off of work yet. That’s fine; I would lie in wait for her.

  I went back to my cottage to wait for the bitch to walk by on her way back to her cottage. She was generally back by 4:30 every afternoon. It was just past 2:00 so I had a couple of hours. I turned the television on and lay down on the couch. I dozed off, waking up when a crack of thunder hit loudly in the sky over the cottage.

  I looked at the clock. Damn, it was after 5:30. The darkened sky made it look a lot later than that. I turned a lamp on and went into the kitchenette to get something to eat. I grabbed a bunch of seedless grapes that I had bought at the store and some cheese cubes.

  After I finished I decided to change out of my dressage clothing. I took a quick shower, blow-drying my hair then pulling it up into a ponytail. I put on a pair of

  jean shorts and a white cotton tee shirt. It was still storming outside. I peered out of my bedroom window to get a view of Jenna's cottage. There were no lights on yet.

  About thirty minutes later, the rain died down to a drizzle. I put my flip-flops on, grabbed my keys, locking up my cottage as I headed on over to Jenna’s. There was still no light visible, but I pounded on her door anyway. I waited for a few seconds, and then pounded again. There was no answer.

  I left her porch, continuing on down the path towards the stables. I walked through the stables, checking Derringer who was sleeping, and exited out the other side. I walked up the gravel drive to where the pavement started. I couldn’t tell if Trey was home or not. Did I have balls enough to go to the front door and ring the bell? Hell yes I did.

  I marched up the concrete steps to the massive front porch and rang the bell. A few moments later, Thatcher opened the door looking a bit uncomfortable in seeing me standing there.

  “Hi Thatcher,” I greeted the manservant warmly, “Is Trey available?”

  Thatcher was extremely uncomfortable at this point, shifting his weight between his legs. I heard footsteps coming up behind Thatcher on the tiled floor.

  “That’s okay, Thatcher, I have this,” Trey said, now in plain view.

  Thatcher looked grateful to be relieved of having to deal with this uncomfortable situation, and took leave.

  “Thatcher, please see if Charlotte needs a refill.”

  “Yes, sir,” he answered disappearing into the dining room.

  “May I help you, Ms. Preston?”

  “Cut the crap, Trey,” I said pointedly. “Why in the hell did you fire Mark?”

  Trey stepped out onto the porch where I was standing, closing the door behind him. Oh, maybe this was going to get good I thought.

  “I made a business decision, Ms. Preston. I don’t recall needing your approval or the approval of any of the other hired help around here in order to do that.”

  “I see,” I replied, coolly. “So what does that mean for me? Are you going to fire me as well?”

  “Of course not. Your duties will be reassigned once again. I believe Jenna requires some help over at the plantation house. I think your services could be put to good use over there. You can report to Jenna tomorrow. She can show you the ropes, and get you the proper period costume.”

  Oh hell no, I thought. He had no intention of firing me. He much preferred making me so miserable that I would quit.

  “By the way, Ms. Preston,” he said, eyeing my tight jean shorts, “I wouldn’t recommend your wearing those ‘Daisy Dukes’ to work. It kind of kills the whole culture we try to sell here at Sinclair’s Le Vie Belle Plantation. Now, if you’ll excuse
me, I have company waiting.”

  He turned and retreated back into the house to Charlotte. I made my own hasty retreat back up the path to the cottages. I went up to my porch, opening the screen door. There was a piece of paper that had been put between the two doors. It was folded in half. I opened the door and quickly got into the cottage, shutting and locking the door behind me. I slowly opened the folded piece of paper.

  It was a copy of a digital picture that had been taken and then printed off of a computer. The picture was of Mark and I kissing on my porch, the porch light in the background left no doubt as to whom it was and what they were doing. Unfortunately, the picture didn’t depict the part where I pushed Mark back and said that I couldn’t do this. Something was written underneath the picture:

  I’m sure your boyfriend enjoyed this picture. Once a whore, always a whore!

  That was it. I'd had enough of Jenna's shit. I'd had enough of Trey's shit. I grabbed my purse, checking my wallet to see how much cash I had. I counted $127 in cash. My bank account had over $1400 in it. That would have to last me for awhile. I packed my suitcase with as much as it

  could hold. I grabbed my cell and called Denise, thankful when she answered.

  “Denise, don’t say my name please if Ray is close by. This is Tylar.”

  “I know who it is darlin'- why the suspense?”

  “Is Ray there right now?”

  “No, he won’t be back for another hour, hour and a half, why?”

  “Denise, I need you to do me a big favor. It has to be just between you and me though. Do you promise?”

  “What is it, Tylar, tell me what you need.”

  `~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

  I glanced at the clock on the microwave. Fifteen minutes had passed since I had talked to Denise. She should be pulling into the drive any minute now so I shoved my cell phone and charger into my purse, and locked my cottage door behind me. I would have to collect the rest of my things later. Maybe Denise would do it for me. Just as I turned to walk down the steps of my porch, I spotted Jenna coming down the path.

  “Well, well, what have we here? Have you found someone new to shack up with?” she chided, nodding towards my suitcase. I set my suitcase down, calmly and approached her.

  “You are the biggest and most hateful bitch I have ever had the misfortune to come in contact with,” I hissed at her.

  I must have presented somewhat of an intimidating front because she backed up a couple of steps. I whipped the folded paper that had been left between my doors out of my purse and handed it to her.

  “I believe this is yours, you skank.” I spat.

  Her eyes got big and she opened the paper.

  “Nice picture,” she commented. “It doesn’t belong to me, though.”

  "Yeah, right. I suppose you are not the one who took it and then made copies, leaving one on my door?"

  I didn’t mention anything about Trey getting a copy. I wanted to see what she had to say about it.

  “I did no such thing,” she said.

  “Jenna, I saw you in your cottage the evening that Mark walked me back to mine. I saw you peeking out from your window through the mini-blinds. That window right there in your bedroom, you can see my front porch from it.”

  “That’s right Nancy Drew, I can and I did. I saw him kiss you, I also saw you break the kiss off. But I didn’t take a picture of it.”

  I didn’t know whether to believe her or not. She was close enough, had opportunity, and certainly had a motive for wanting revenge no matter how twisted it was.

  “Look at the picture again,” she demanded.

  I looked at it. There was no way that Jenna could have taken this picture. The picture was taken from a distance away, but the distance was not off to the side of my cottage; the distance was directly in front of my cottage, over beyond the path and bushes beyond. Someone had taken that picture hiding in the bushes. It couldn’t have been Jenna. I realized that now.

  “There you go Sherlock,” she said. “Now if you don’t mind, I’ve nothing more to say to you.”

  I watched as she went up the path then into her cottage. I hadn’t considered that it could have been anyone other than Jenna. Now this was getting real creepy.

  I grabbed my suitcase, scurrying down the darkened path toward the stables. I quickly said goodbye and kissed Derringer. I had no time for tears right now. Those would have to come later.

  Denise had her VW parked close to the stables. I through my suitcase into the back seat and got in.

  “Thanks, Denise. I owe you big time.”

  “Please don’t make me regret doing this, Tylar.”

  “It’s what I have to do, Denise. Trust me. I need to get away from him.”

  “Where are you going to go darlin'?”

  "I'm not sure, Denise. I'll figure it out when I get to the bus station. I don't want to make you any more of an accomplice than necessary though I really think Trey could

  not care less. He’s back with Charlotte.”

  “Who?”

  “Charlotte, the woman he was with the night he saved me in the pool?”

  “Honey, he is just trying to make you jealous. He doesn’t care anything about her. Hell, she got on his nerves the fifteen minutes I saw her at the hospital that one day. He finally got her to leave. She’s a pain in the ass to him.”

  “Evidently, not as big of a pain in the ass as me then, I guess.”

  “I really think that you’re over-reacting, Ty.”

  “Denise, he fired Mark for no reason at all; he has cast me out to the plantation, working with Jenna. He wants me to quit. I am obliging him. He wins, I lose. I can live with that.”

  “What about the rest of your stuff?”

  “I was gonna ask you if you would pack it up for me? Once I get settled, I will send money to you so that you can ship it to me. Would you do that, please?”

  “Of course, darlin'. You know that I will.”

  We had reached the Greyhound Bus station. Denise got out and grabbed my suitcase from the back seat, handing it over to me. I set it down and gave her a big hug.

  “Thanks again, Denise. I will be in touch.”

  “Take care, Ty.”

  She watched me as I went into the terminal. I checked the various outbound destinations on the computer screens inside. I was glad that Denise had not come inside with me. It was better if she didn’t know my destination. I went over to the ticket window.

  “Yes, may I help you?” the ticket agent asked.

  “Yes, one ticket for Atlanta, please.”

  “That will be $57.”

  I handed him three twenty dollar bills. He returned my change.

  "That will be Bus 451 departing from Gate D in about forty-five minutes."

  "Thanks," I said.

  I went over to a bench near Gate D. I looked at my ticket. It looked like with all the stops and one transfer, I would arrive in Atlanta around 10:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. I fished for my cell phone in my purse. I pressed my contact list, pulling up Gina’s number, and hitting the call button.

  “Hey girlfriend, I thought I was supposed to call you next?” she greeted me.

  “Gina, I will be in Atlanta at the bus station around ten tomorrow morning. Can you pick me up then?”

  “Absolutely,” she answered. “What happened?”

  “I’ll tell you all about it once I get there, okay? Can I stay with you for a little while, just until I figure out what I’m going to do?”

  “Absolutely,” she repeated. “We’ll figure it all out together, okay?”

  “Okay, Gina,” I answered, my voice cracking. “I will see you soon.”

  “Hang in there, babe. Ian and I are both hear for you, got that?”

  “Thanks,” I sniffled.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  I had been at Gina’s for four full days when my cell phone rang. It was Denise.

  “Denise, hi,” I greeted.

  “Tylar, I’m in a real mess, gi
rl.”

  “Denise, what’s wrong?”

  “What’s wrong? Let me tell you what’s wrong. Trey is a raging maniac since you left. Ray knows that I’m keeping something from him, and you know me, I don’t like keeping things from Ray.”

  “Well, would it make you feel better to let Ray know that you simply gave me a ride to the bus station, and you don’t know where I am, which is the truth?”

  “At this point, Tylar, I’m sure he will chew my ass for not coming clean with him sooner about my involvement. Why don’t you come on back honey? I’m betting Trey wants to make up.”

  “Denise, it’s not like we had a big fight or anything. We just want different things. I don’t like being controlled by him. He apparently has issues of his own. Besides Denise, Trey knows my cell phone number. He’s not called it even once.”

  “That’s because he thinks you ran off with Mark.”

  “What! Why in the world would he think that?”

  “Because you didn’t take your car with you. He figured you went with Mark.”

  Oh God, knowing Trey he probably had a bounty hunter on the trail of Mark right now. Trey was not the type to think he had been bested by someone like Mark. I needed to do something if only to make sure that he didn’t have someone looking for Mark.

  “Denise, do you know where Trey is now?”

  “He left for Atlanta last night late. He will be in his offices there today and half-day on Saturday, then he’s back here.”

  “Okay listen, I will take care of this, alright? Don’t worry about it. You are off the hook. I will handle it.”

  “Be safe, darlin’. Call me and let me know what happens, okay?”

  “I will,” I promised.

  Gina walked into the room just as I was getting off of the phone with Denise.

  “What’s up?” she asked. I smiled at her.

  “Show time,” I answered, filling her in on the details.

  An hour and fifteen minutes later, Gina was driving in downtown Atlanta traffic. I had borrowed a black pencil skirt that was tight in all the right places, a grey silk blouse that had the top two buttons undone, hose and three inch black pumps. Gina lent me a black clutch to set the very sexy, but very business-like outfit in place. I had applied make-up; Gina did my eye makeup for me as only she could. My hair was flat-ironed straight, now below my shoulders. I checked my lipstick in my compact mirror. Perfect.