Trust I Seek

by Laura Gates

  Despite trying to be as involved as she could be in the event, Evie felt a massive hole in her life. Still, she knew her kids needed her, and Jude seemed extremely dedicated to making their relationship work. He was even okay with waiting on the intimacy part of their relationship until Evie felt ready.

  Evie wore a red sleeveless sheath dress with an asymmetrical neckline with black pumps to the Christmas party. Her hair was pulled back elegantly. She wore a band around her stomach to ensure suspicions wouldn't arise since it began to pooch a little. Jude wore a dark grey suit, a red tie that matched Evie's dress, and black loafers. Evie stood around a tall round table, talking to a few of the wives of the other brokers, sipping on sparkling cider. She glanced over at Jude occasionally. He spoke to a lot of his colleagues. Now and then, an attractive woman would approach him flirting. Instead, he looked up at Evie and smiled. She blushed. His flirting days were over hopefully. The glances looked very similar to the way Beau looked at her. That twinged a little.

  Evie missed Beau so much, but after watching him pin down a crazed, blonde on the ground, she didn't want to put herself in that situation again. That flashback suddenly made her have another flashback to when she walked into Jude's office, carrying Harper and holding Levi's hand. Jude and Carmen were having sex in his office chair. How long is this going to last, she thought to herself, when is this nightmare going to end? Why am I here with the guy who cheated on me? More insecurities and doubts filled her head as her nausea began to surface.

  "Excuse me," Evie said to the other wives as she excused herself to go to the restroom. Evie knew she was going to vomit, but she tried acting calm even though the urge was strong. When Evie walked inside the bathroom, she ran to a stall, closed it, and leaned over the toilet. Evie was very thankful her hair was pulled back. When she finished, she grabbed some toilet paper and wiped her face. Evie came out of the stall, washed her hands, and checked to make sure her makeup was still in place. She knew she had to get over Beau, but she didn't know where to start.

  At that moment, another woman walked into the bathroom with long wavy blond hair and blue eyes. She looked like a supermodel wearing a bright pink sheath dress with a sweetheart neckline with thick shoulder straps. She stumbled a little, so Evie assumed she was a bit tipsy. She looked a little familiar, but she figured she was just another wife of a broker.

  "Oh, sorry, Miss Long. I didn't see you there," the woman said as she almost stumbled into Evie, slurring her speech. "It's all good," Evie said, trying to be polite. As the woman fluffed her hair, Evie suddenly got this weird feeling about the woman. How does she know who I am? I've only been here for a month, Evie thought, I've had to reintroduce myself to at least ten people tonight, and this woman knows me. Evie knew she had seen the blond before, but not in this setting.

  "Do I know you? Where are you from?" Evie asked the woman. The woman laughed. "I'm the fake reporter from Nebraska," she said, slurring her speech. "Excuse me?" Evie asked. Suddenly, Evie's memory came back to her. The woman Beau had pinned down on the floor was standing next to Evie at her fiance's Christmas party.

  Evie felt the urge to punch the girl in her perfect nose that probably had plastic surgery a few years ago. "Well, then. What brought you here?" Evie asked, trying to stay calm. "Your fiance found me on Tinder and met up with me. We boned for an entire weekend…" The woman continued to explain in gruesome detail that after she and Jude hooked up, he hired her at his office as well as paid her to ruin his ex-wife's relationship with rockstar, Beau Halstead. "Oops, I was supposed to keep quiet," the woman said, laughing.

  Evie's blood boiled, and she knew who she wanted to punch instead. She soon grabbed the woman's arm and dragged her out of the bathroom. She began marching right up to Jude and his fellow colleagues. Jude saw the look of fire in Evie's eyes as well as the woman she was dragging behind her. His demeanor went rigid because he remembered Beau's words. Jude saw that rage Beau mentioned.

  As Evie got closer, she let go of the woman, moved her old wedding ring to her right ring finger, grabbed the woman again, and proceeded towards Jude. Evie punched Jude right in the eye, making sure he felt every ounce of the ring he gave her 10 years ago. She kneed him in the groin and drove her heel into his foot.

  Jude collapsed onto the floor in pain. Everyone witnessed this event, and all of their faces looked mortified for Jude. "You hired this whore to sabotage my relationship with Beau!?" Evie shouted at Jude. Everyone's glance went from Evie to Jude. "You're fired, Rachel," Jude said in pain to the woman. The woman, Rachel, just laughed and drank another cocktail. "Don't make her the fall woman! You sent her to sabatoge my relationship with Beau!" Evie shouted. "It was the only way to convince you that Beau was not the man for you or the right father for my children," Jude said, still in pain. Evie grimaced at him.

  "You just couldn't let me be happy, could you? You just proved to everyone here that you are a giant, narcissistic ass wipe," Evie said. She took off the wedding ring, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it. The setting shattered on the ground, and the diamond laid next to Jude. A few women started racing for the diamond.

  "Screw you, Jude," Evie said, flipping Jude off in true metalhead fashion. Everyone was appalled with Evie's behavior, but she didn't care. "Are you going back to him? I love you more than that bastard does. I loved you enough to pull this off," Jude yelled. Evie said nothing as she walked to the coat check and out of the building.

  Evie called an Uber to come pick her up. She planned to pack her clothes and the kids' clothes. Everything else would stay in Jude's house. After she called in an Uber, she quickly called Luke.

  "Hello?" he said, sounding very perplexed.

  "I want my job back," she said.

  Even though Evie couldn't see it, she knew Luke was ecstatic that she called. "Absolutely. When can you start?" he asked.

  "Immediately. I am catching the red-eye with Levi and Harper tonight," she said.

  "All right. We will see you back tomorrow. Should I tell…?"

  "No, that's fine. I will surprise him," Evie said.

  "Evs, you know he was set up, right?" Luke asked.

  "Yes, I do. Jude and the little tart in Beau's dressing room confirmed it all," she said.

  "Wait, what?!" Luke asked.

  "I'll explain later. I need to book flights," she said.

  “Wait! Hold off on buying tickets until you get home.”

  “Why?”

  “Do you trust me?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Just do it. I’ll see ya later!" Luke said.

  "Bye, Luke," Evie concluded, wondering what that was all about.

  Little did Evie know there was a surprise waiting for her at Jude's house, which Luke was a part of. Beau caught an earlier flight to convince Evie to come back. He wasn't sure what he was doing, but the only thing Beau knew was that he loved Evie and had to get her out of Jude's poisonous trap.

  He sat down on the sectional in the living room that looked a lot like Evie's couch. Beau assumed Jude went and repurchased the couch to cope with Evie being gone. Beau had parked the car down the street, paid the babysitter, and took over watching the kids.

  At first, the babysitter questioned whether or not to call the police until Levi and Harper ran to Beau and hugged him so tightly. "I missed you, Daddy," Harper said. "I missed you, too, Princess," he said. "I missed you, Dad," Levi said. "Bub," Beau said, knowing that pet name meant more to Levi than anything, "you have no idea. I'm never letting you guys leave me again," Beau said with tears in his eyes. When the babysitter saw the reaction, she decided it was okay to leave.

  "Where's your mom?" Beau asked the kids. "She went to a party with my other daddy, but he's not my daddy," Harper said. Beau was super impressed with how well the sassy almost three-and-a-half year old was talking. "All right, shall we pack your clothes and blankets?" Beau asked. "Yes," both kids said.

  Beau, Levi, and Harper packed clothes and some favorite toys. The kids were sound asleep in their be
ds, waiting for their mother to come home. Beau sat down on the couch, thinking about what he would say to Evie, and what would happen if she said no. His heart broke at the thought, but he wasn't sure if she could forgive him, although he did nothing wrong. While he sat on the couch, he received a text from Luke saying:

  Evie found out. She's coming back. Are you at her

  house?

  Beau texted:

  Yes. I'm waiting for her now on the couch.

  Luke sent a thumbs-up emoji. Beau put his phone back in his pocket, feeling excited and relieved. Beau looked out the window and saw Evie climbing out of a car with an Uber sticker. She was dressed in a trench coat, a beautiful red pencil dress with her hair pulled back in a bun. He never thought he would see Corporate Wife Evie. However, he thought she was beautiful no matter what she wore or didn't wear. He laughed at the last part of his thought.

  Evie walked into Jude's house and began saying, "Lucy, you can go. I'm… home." Evie saw Beau sitting on the couch. Her heart stopped as she froze. He slowly stood and began walking towards her. When they stood two feet away from each other, Beau and Evie looked at each other before she leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist. Beau wrapped his arms around her shoulders, resting his left hand on the crown of her head. Tears began flowing down her face. Beau's eyes were a little watery as well.

  "I'm so sorry about everything," he finally whispered.

  "I'm sorry I left," Evie cried.

  They kissed, pulling themselves closer to the other. "We need to get back to San Francisco," Evie said while still kissing Beau. "We have time. Our flight doesn't leave for four hours," he said, kissing her in between words. Ah, Luke, Evie thought to herself. Beau took off Evie's trench coat, feeling for the zipper on her dress. After finding the zipper, Beau unzipped her dress and folded it down, not caring about the band wrapped around her waist. Evie removed his coat and shirt. Beau lifted Evie up, wrapping her legs around him, and carried her to the kitchen counter as Evie pulled off his belt, and Beau pulled Evie closer and closer to him.

  *******************

  They laid down on the living room floor covered with a plush throw. Evie's hair was down out of the bun, and their clothes were all over the room. Beau rubbed Evie's bare back as she laid beside him, resting her head on his bare chest. She listened to his steady heartbeat and smiled, inhaling his scent.

  "Beau?"

  "Yeah?"

  "I have some news. Like big news," Evie said.

  Beau looked at her perplexed. Evie propped herself up higher to where she could see his face. "I'm pregnant, and you're the father," she said slowly. Beau looked flabbergasted at first but then softened to utter joy.

  "Are you sure it's mine?" he asked.

  "Positive. Jude and I were never intimate. Plus, I'm due in July, which if we do the math..."

  Beau was filled with joy. "That's… that's wonderful! I'm just so sorry all of this led you back here."

  "In a way, I am glad all this happened. I got to sucker-punch Jude, flip him off in front of his company, and make love to you in his house after I found out he sabotaged our relationship."

  Beau laughed. "I rubbed off on you, and it’s made you even hotter. How did you find out?"

  "Miss Slutty Reporter was at the party tonight telling me all about it, and Jude confirmed it as well."

  "Wow, that's quite the night for you." Beau felt very proud of Evie going full metalhead on her ex-husband.

  They both smiled at each other and kissed again. Beau looked at his watch. "We have about two hours before our flight leaves," he said.

  "Okay. I will get dressed and pack my stuff. Will you go help the kids…"

  "Their stuff is packed and in the rental car. We just need to put them inside," Beau said.

  Evie smiled. "I love you more, and more every day, Beau William Halstead," she said.

  "And I love you," Beau said, reaching for his pants and pulling a little box out from the pocket. Evie's eyes widened. "Genevieve Willa West Long, will you marry me?" Beau asked, opening the box to reveal the most beautiful double claw-set oval opal halo ring with tiny diamonds forming around a rose gold band. Evie's heart raced. "Yes," she said. They kissed again, and he slipped the ring on her finger.

  After two minutes, they both got up. Beau put his jeans, tee-shirt, and jacket back on. Evie put her bra and underwear back on before she went upstairs to the master suite into the walk-in closet. Evie put on jeggings, a Death Toll tee shirt she kept hidden from Jude, a sweatshirt she kept of Beau's, and her favorite maroon hat with the wide-brim. Evie put her tall beige boots on.

  She grabbed the largest duffle bag she could find and shoved all of her clothes, shoes, and accessories inside. Evie left the red dress and black pumps she wore that night laying on the living room floor. She then went to the bathroom and shoved all of her cosmetics she would need inside.

  Beau walked outside and pulled the rental car into the driveway. He went back inside, grabbed Levi, walked back to the car, and put him inside. Once Levi was buckled, Beau got out of the car, went back upstairs inside the house to grab Harper, but stopped when he saw Evie carrying her. Beau then grabbed all the bags, blankets, and pillows. He followed Evie outside to the car and put everything in the trunk. He climbed back into the driver's side and waited for Evie to finish buckling Harper up. As Beau pulled out of the driveway, Evie watched as Jude's house grew smaller and smaller, feeling liberated.

  Once they got on the plane, Evie and Beau cuddled on a first-class seat, Beau talked to Evie's stomach and slept. The kids slept in their own individual seats. Once the plane landed, they grabbed their luggage and walked through the terminal to Beau's car. He still had all the car seats installed in his Range Rover. It was 3:00 AM in San Francisco, so when they got back to Beau's house, they all went back to sleep. He had kept all of their rooms the same.

  Everyone finally woke up at about 10:00 AM. Beau made a late breakfast while Evie helped the kids get ready for the day. "Guys, we have something big to tell you," Beau said after everyone sat down at the dining room table. Levi and Harper looked up from their plates. "I asked your mother to marry me, and she said yes," Beau concluded. The kids cheered and gave Beau and their mother a hug. "So, you will really be my dad?" Levi asked. "Yes," Beau said, remembering conversations he had with Evie about adopting the kids. They ran to where Beau was sitting and hugged him. Evie watched, smiled, and heldback tears. She would tell them about the baby later.

  Evie spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon calling her family and friends as Beau went to the studio to rehearse and informed the band of the events that transpired. Everyone was thrilled to hear the news, but some had concerns considering all that had happened to Evie.

  “I thought you were engaged to…” Jennifer began asking her sister.

  “Jude fooled us all,” Evie said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Why else would I move back here?”

  “Fair point. It’s just you’ve been through so much already, and we’re just worried about you.”

  “You will always worry about me because I’m your baby sister, but I promise. The issues have been resolved,” Evie reassured. Jennifer couldn’t remember the last time she heard this much resilience from her sister.

  Evie and the kids stayed home to play outside as well as rest, considering she was always fighting nausea. Evie began looking ahead in the calendar to see when the best time to set a date for the wedding would be. She thought about waiting a year after the baby was born to get married. She wanted to discuss everything with Beau to make sure he was okay with planning a wedding in 18 months.

  After playing outside for three hours, Evie put Harper down for a nap, and put a movie on for Levi. She re-enrolled him in school for the next day. Evie planned to stay home for the duration of the tour to help Levi with school, providing consistency in her children's lives, taking care of herself during her pregnancy. Still, she planned to stay on top of tour updates, sc
heduling with the band as well as attending the concerts in the Bay area. Levi eventually fell asleep watching TV, and Evie carried him upstairs to his room. She made her way to the master, where she laid down on the bed and dozed off.

  Beau walked in through the garage door to discover his house a little too quiet, which was unusual even before all Hell broke loose. Still, Beau remembered everyone was trying to catch up on sleep. He quietly went upstairs to check on everyone.

  Sure enough, the kids were sound asleep in their rooms. Peace and calm entered Beau as he closed each door and walked towards his room. Looking through the door, Beau saw Evie lying down on her left side, sound asleep. Quietly, he walked in, took off his shoes, and snuggled up next to her, wrapping his right arm around her making sure to rub her stomach with his baby inside. Beau dozed off for a minute as well. Never had he been so happy.