Chapter 16
A startled Brittany hops out of bed as both her alarm and phone goes off at the same time. The unexpected jump from sleep to conscious has her momentarily stunned as she scrambles to silence the pesky little things.
“Hey Alex” she answers her phone while silencing her alarm, “Welcome back.”
“How is my favorite sister doing?”
“Well your only sister is doing fine. I have missed you so much.”
“Aw that’s sweet, especially considering I wasn’t gone that long.”
“But I hadn’t seen you for like two weeks before you left. So I miss you.”
“Ok, let’s change that. I want to buy you lunch to make up for me being scarce?”
“What I get free lunch? Great, I am there!”
“So the usual place at one.”
“Yep, that’s good. See you later.”
After some more twisting and turning in bed she was ready to start her day. On her way to work she makes dinner plans with her mom who has been trying to see her for weeks. The history and relationship between the two is pretty normal, she the doting daughter that often seeks approval but isn’t afraid to disappoint, and her mom the loving kind whose close handedness with her showing of affection could be mistaken as callous if not critical. As soon as she completes the call she feels as if she should cancel, however avoiding mommy would eventually have to come to an end so it might as well be this evening. At work not much is being accomplished. With her pregnancy and pending abortion on her mind, her productivity is at an all time low. Her focus isn’t within the walls of her office, and added to this, she now has the burden of having to explain to an unreasonable mother why things are the way they are. It is fair to say that even though she yearns for maternal advice, if not full support, she is dreading this evening’s dinner.
Just before leaving for lunch her secretary’s voice blares through the intercom, “Brittany, Phillip is on line three what do you want me to do with his call?”
“Get rid of him however you feel is best.”
A moment later Connie again disturbs Brittany’s occupational nonchalance, “He says it’s really important that he speaks with you and insists that if I don’t put his call through he will only continue calling until I do.”
“OK, then let him”, says Brittany with a splash of mischief adorning her smile, “Actually Connie, no wait! What line is he on?”
“Line three.”
Brittany inhales, and in one quick move swings around to the phone, picks it up and depressing the button for line three she decisively says, “Listen to me and listen very well Mr. Betruger, please don’t call me anymore. I honestly want nothing to do with you.”
Without giving him a chance to speak she hangs up. Then in comes Connie holding a vase with beautifully arranged flowers. At the sight of this Brittany is immediately inflamed, to Connie she says, “If those are from Phillip you can keep them or throw them out.”
“Actually these are from Valde”, Connie excitedly answers.
“Are they really? Sometimes Val can be such a sweetheart.”
After reading the note accompanied flowers Connie agrees on how wonderful Valde is and opines, “You two should get back together”.
“I am sorry but I think that ship has sailed, besides we are such better friends. I think what we now have would only be tainted by sex.”
“Well don’t have sex with him then, just get back together. You know that he is the one.”
“You have been saying that since your first day here. You say it with such certainty, what are you a moonlighting psychic?”
“No I just see the look in your eyes at the very mention of his name. In fact you both seem to come alive when with each other. The chemistry between you two is so thick I could try to cut through it with a chainsaw and barely get a slice in.”
“You are too funny.”
“No it’s true.” Connie soberly says, “Call me a hopeless romantic but you two trying to downplay it is pointless. Why spend or waste time trying to find the right person when you two have already found each other?”
“That might be but right now I don’t know. Why are you in here putting these thoughts in my head? Don’t you have any real work to do?”
“Look boss-lady, you and I both know those thoughts have always been in your head. Anyways, I am off to lunch, do you want to come with?”
“As much as I would love to continue your dissecting my love life, I unfortunately must decline. I am meeting Alex for lunch today.”
“Alex, my other favorite hottie,” swoons Connie, “that brother of yours is so sexy, I can tell that under those gray Brooks’ Brothers suits is one naughty bad boy waiting to be unleashed or be in a leash, either ways it would be hot. The way he makes me get just thinking about him, I would have no problem wearing the leash and believe me that ‘s not something I would do for just anybody.”
“Whoa, that’s my brother, he might be hot to you but for me that little fantasy of yours is a little too much information.”
“I am just saying that not only do you get flowers from Mr. Pretty-Hot-And-Tempting-In-Armani, but you are also related to the delectable Mr. Brooks’ Brothers over there. You are one lucky girl”
“Wait a minute, if we are going to talk about being lucky, didn’t a certain someone in this office, not me, almost hook up with Mr. Brooks’ Brothers at last Christmas party.”
“Yeah, I must admit that I did, thank you for bringing him, I must say that was one great office gift.”
“You are too scandalous.”
“Come on Brittany you know very well that besides being your trusted confidante, that’s the reason you keep me around. Tell me, what would you do without your office side-kick? Wait don’t answer that, well I am off to lunch.”
“Enjoy.”
Brittany then makes her way downtown to meet with Alex. Their lunch is a great escape from her thoughts. Catching up with her brother is like an elixir for her soul and even after his grand revelation she still believes that everything will work out well for them all. After listening to Alex and Joanna’s story and weighing its potential effect on everyone involved, Brittany is now more resolved than ever about what she now must do with her own secret. She won’t propagate her own version of Alex’s dilemma by having this child. Feeling resolute she returns to her office focused and industrious. The question of can she maintain this attitude of positivism at dinner with her mom enters her thoughts.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” Brittany asks her mother after informing her that she is pregnant. “Didn’t you hear what I just said?”
“Yes, it’s just the shock of becoming a grandma.” Fumbling within her hand-bag she alights with a monogrammed handkerchief which Brittany instantly recognizes to be one of her father’s. Sniveling and wiping her nose her mom asks, “So is Phillip ecstatic about becoming a dad?”
“Mom I hear you say you’re shocked by the news, however I don’t hear you saying that you are happy at the news or that you are happy for me.”
“Well of course I am happy my dear, I am overjoyed.”
“I didn’t tell you and dad but I meant to,” fighting back tears Brittany fails to finish.
“You meant to tell us what dear?”
“Phillip and I are no more.”
“What happened? Will this be Phillip’s child?” her mother asks quite concerned, “Do we even know the father?”
“What do you mean do we even know the father? Of course it‘s Phillip. What kind of girl do you think I am?”
“Oh thank heavens. He is such a good fit for you.”
“Mom I see you weren’t listening, Phillip and I are broken up.”
“Well with a baby on the way you two can resolve any insignificant tiff that exists.”
“Mommy this insignificant tiff is irreparable”, Brittany scolds.
“There is nothing so big that can’t be worked out if not overlooked”, insists her mother, “There is a baby t
hat you two have to now consider.”
Frustrated Brittany screams, “Mommy!”
“Don’t Mommy me; here is a valuable lesson for you to learn about being in an adult relationship. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices for the greater good and the strength of the relationship. That ‘s the secret of your father and mine long and happy marriage.”
“Yeah I am quite aware of how happy you too really are together,” scoffs an irritated Brittany.
“Am I detecting some sarcasm in your tone dear?”
“No Mommy, no sarcasm at all. You two are my parents and I admire and appreciate the longevity of your union. Still don’t sit there in front of me being all sanctimonious, I know that you have looked the other way while daddy did his dirt over the years, but then you did have his money to keep you pre-occupied. I am quite sure each time I caught you crying because of him they weren’t tears of joy.”
“Aren’t you a bundle of negativity on a glorious evening? How dare you say such mean things? I am not going to defend the lengths that I went through to keep our marriage together. I did what I did to keep our family together. When you love a man such as your father is, there are, just some things that you just have to put up with. It is expected of you. Forgive me if I kept our marriage together for the sake of you kids.”
“You know what mom I don’t want to fight with you. I will say this one thing, if being in a long and happy marriage means I have to turn a blind eye to the things that hurt me the most, then I am afraid that either I will never marry or I am destined to be a repeated divorcee.”
“Your father is a brilliant, incredible, and fascinating man. He has been a loving father and a wonderful partner. So please don’t sit there and judge him and by no means judge me. When I was your age, I was already married and expecting Alex. Your father has never done anything foolishly to shame this family. He has earnestly said time and time again that nothing is more important to him than us. I tell you this not so much to defend him but to somehow shatter that cynicism you seem to have festering within you. This is the real world my child, not that I don’t believe in true love and forever being swept off your feet, however love and relationships are what you make of them. Nothing is achieved without hard work.”
“That‘s just it mom, if it‘s meant to be it shouldn’t have to be such hard work.”
“Brittany, my dear child, please don’t you dare utter another word. You will not be-little my marriage or make light of the sacrifices that I have endured for you. I could have ran-off with the man who eventually would prove to be the man of my dreams while you were only a toddler. My life would not have been filled with as much useless luxuries, however I know that I would have been perpetually swept off my feet, I chose to remain for my children and with the knowledge that fundamentally your father is a wonderful man.”
Both women withdraw back into her respective chair, Brittany looking away from the table and her mom demurely fixing her napkin in her lap. “How is your soup?” her mother asks trying to diffuse the now stifling tension at the table.
It’s quite good. How is your salad?” Brittany reciprocates the act of civility.
“It’s fine.”
“Mom, I know you and dad love Phillip, but before you continue to blame me for the breakup I think you should know that he was secretly married.”
“That son of a bitch, how dare he?”
“Yes and secondly he doesn’t want me to have this baby.”
“I am so sorry I didn’t know.”
“Its fine, I am fine. I am not about to bring this unwanted child into the world anyway. So I will be fine.”
“What can I do to help?”
“I don’t know mom, I guess I just need your support. Knowing that you are here for me makes the world of difference.”
Her mom nods, “I do have the name of a doctor who we can trust will handle this discreetly. Phillip, that wretched bastard I will make sure that he pays for what he has done to you. I can only imagine how hurt and abandoned you are feeling. He sure had us fooled. Don’t worry as always I am here for you. You surely didn’t expect me not to be.”
Taken aback and equally pleased by her mother’s turnaround and compassion Brittany smiles and says, “I love you mom.”
Chapter 17
“Hi Joanna”
“Hello Alex.”
“How are my two favorite girls doing?”
“Calista misses her daddy?”
“Tell her that daddy misses her. What about you, don’t you miss me too?”
She waits then replies, “I miss you too daddy, terribly so.”
This is Alex’ first call since he left Australia.
“Alex! I miss you.” She starts sobbing.
“Are you ok, Joanna are you crying?”
“No I am not,” the sound of her sniffling increases, “No I am not crying, it’s just that us being together three days ago reminded me of how much I had missed you.”
“I miss you too.”
“Alex since you left I can’t stop thinking about you and what you said. I don’t know if I want to move back to New York, but I do know that I want to be with you.”
“Joanna, what are you saying?”
“That’s just it Alex, I don’t know what I’m saying. I am really quite confused.”
“About us?”
“About everything!”
“Well you don’t have to be you need only trust how you feel and we will take it from there.”
“Alex when I left New York I knew I was pregnant but I still wanted to leave you and everyone else behind. I really wanted to have my baby and I had no idea how you or anyone else would have handled it. When this position opened up here I believed it was kismet so I told my dad I wanted it. Thank god he wasn’t opposed to nepotism as he allowed my transfer. Up until last week when I was visiting New York I was very happy.”
“And now?”
“And now, not so much. My life isn’t as complete as I thought it was. I love Calista she is the joy of my world. Still, being with you reminded me of a void that I have been denying. Sorry for sounding like an emotional cornball.”
“No don’t worry, you’re not. I wish you hadn’t left me. When you left New York without letting me know where you were heading I fell into a depression of sorts. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Your family was tightlipped about where you had relocated to and I just couldn’t handle you not being here.”
“I am sorry that I had to put you through that.”
“It’s ok because we now have a chance to get back on the path destiny meant for us.”
“And what path is that?”
“It’s like you said there is a place in my heart that is unfilled. You know, I need something more and being with you and Calista was the first time in a long time that I felt complete. Pardon me for sounding like such a girlie man right now.”
“It’s ok, I am feeling really close to you right now,” sighing she continues, “what’s really cool is we are achieving this heightened sense of closeness without the bongs and thick smokes that used to fill your apartment. Do you remember those days?”
“Yeah I do,” he smiles, “I remember them like they were yesterday.”
“I am thinking and I may be wrong, but why can’t I now have it all? Why can’t I be with the man I love who just happens to be the father of my child? Why would anyone deny me this happiness? Why would I deny myself this happiness? Aren’t we the basis of a real family here, why shouldn’t we be together? Shoot me if I am getting ahead of myself, but I do believe that you want the same. If this is the case I believe we should go for it.”
“I am very happy to hear you speak this way.” Alex responds, “This is exactly how I feel. I want to be with you, I want us to be a family. I have never wanted anything as much until now. You and Calista have added real meaning to my life, and I don’t want to lose this. I don’t want to lose you.” To his right, on the coffee table, next to his chair is a half filled glass of water
. He reaches for it and takes a sip. “Speaking of yesterday, last night I met with Valde.”
“You told him?”
Alex takes another sip and then somberly says, “I told him.”
She asks anxiously, “How did he take it? From your tone I am guessing he didn’t take it well. What did he say?”
“He didn’t say anything and hasn’t spoken to me since.”
“That’s bad. I know Val, when things are really affecting him he doesn’t say anything instead he just let it eat away at him on the inside.”
“Yeah I know. At times he can be like one big festering sore.”
“Don’t be mean, how did you expect him to react after finding out you stole his girlfriend then impregnated her.”
“I wasn’t being mean, I was actually just kidding.” He then adds, “I don’t think of our getting together as my having stolen you away, it makes me seem a bit sinister as if I had been plotting against my best friend. I think of our getting together as being serendipity, inevitable, meant-to-be and all the other cutesy romantic terms that I can’t think of right now.”
“You are so sweet”, she gushes. “However, we have to make this right. We have to get his forgiveness. I should call him and talk to him.”
“Why? What good will you calling him do?”
“I just want him to know that I didn’t mean to hurt him,” she says with remorse resonating from her words, “I know that I have really caused him great pain and he didn’t deserve it. His biggest flaw was simply not being more expressive and open with me, besides that he was never mean and did love me.”
“Don’t blame yourself you did nothing wrong,” he says reassuringly, “We didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Alex I know you are trying to make me feel better but I would hardly call cheating on him with you us not doing anything wrong. I honestly don’t believe that we can control who we fall in love with, but there is a proper and decent way about how I should have dealt with Valde and I didn’t. There is nothing that you can say that can make me feel otherwise.”
“You are right. I am sorry I didn’t mean to, as you said I was only trying to convince you to not be so hard on yourself. You are a good person, you care about people, you care about Valde and so do I. I am just worried that he might not be able to find the capacity within himself to forgive you right now. I was only trying to protect you, afraid that it may be a hurtful phone call for both you and him.”
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