by M. A. Lee
“I know you are, and you have every right to be upset with me. What I did was wrong and stupid. But, please believe me. I only did it because I thought I could help us build a life. I didn’t realize Marco was a psychopath,” Isaac stated.
“I understand, but apologizing won’t change what happened,” I spoke through my tears.
Without warning, Isaac rushed across the room and pulled me into his arms. My body slammed against his chest and while I tried to fight his embrace at first, I wasn’t strong enough to do it for long. I felt my body relax into him as I inhaled his sweet aroma. I felt like I was home again and his arms could protect me from anything. Only, Isaac was who I needed protection from.
I cried into his chest as he held me. I cried for the anger I felt. I cried for the damage he had caused to our relationship. I cried because I couldn’t resist him.
Knowing all of this, Isaac just stood and held me. He didn’t try to offer any consoling words. He just held me and allowed all of my emotions to flood out of me.
Finally, I lifted my head and looked at Isaac. “What do we do now?” I asked as my voice cracked and broken from the tears and hurt.
Sighing, Isaac squeezed me tight as though he were afraid I would somehow slip away from him. “We talk. We work this out. I love you more than life itself, Lauren. I will do anything and everything you want to get you to forgive me. I called the police and told them what Marco was doing. I explained the blackmail and how I wasn’t aware of what he was doing with the illegal cars until it was too late. I admitted my faults and they granted me probation since I alerted them to Marco’s activity. Apparently, they have been looking for a ring of car thefts for some time now,” Isaac finished talking and kissed the top of my head.
“Lauren, I am broken inside. It’s all over now. Please, forgive me and come home. I need you.”
I couldn’t stand to hear him beg me anymore. “Isaac, I am still mad at you, but I love you too. I need you to promise me this will never happen again.”
“I swear,” Isaac said.
He leaned down, carefully as though he wasn’t sure if I would strike him or not. His lips hovered above mine and as I moved closer I could feel his warm breath against my cheek. Our lips finally met and I couldn’t hold back any longer.
It was like electricity flowing through me as Isaac’s tongue invaded my mouth. My hands went to his hair and I pulled him closer to me like he was my lifeline. Isaac let out a moan as he deepened our kiss. It had felt like forever since we had touched and now that we were embracing, I never wanted it to end.
“Um, I’m going to give you two some privacy,” Cole interrupted us as he picked up his truck keys and made his way to the front door.
I smiled at him and thanked him for what he had done by bringing Isaac back to me. While we couldn’t forget what had happened, and we had a long road ahead of us of repairing our relationship, I knew that our love could bring us back together.
Scooping me up in his arms, Isaac carried me toward the guest room. As I wrapped my arms around his neck, I allowed him to take me to the bed where we spent the next few hours making up for lost time.
16
ISAAC
“Are you serious?” Jagger yelled into the phone.
“Yes, she is back home,” I said as I smiled to myself.
After Cole met with me at the bar, Lauren agreed to talk to me and come on. She had given me a stipulation of one month to get my shit together. I probably didn’t even deserve that much, but I would take anything Lauren would give to me.
“That’s great man. Honestly, I thought Lauren would leave your ass. But since she didn’t, you better work hard to keep her,” Jagger said.
My eyes grew wide and I was glad that Jagger couldn’t see my reaction. I had never heard him talk about a relationship positively before. Maybe he was growing up and changing after all.
“Tell me about it. She could do so much better than me. I really don’t deserve her, but I will do everything in my power to keep her and make her happy so she never regrets forgiving me.”
“Sounds good,” Jagger said. “Hey, what happened the other night at Wild Things? When I left with those two chicks, I couldn’t find you,” Jagger stated.
“Yeah man, I started drinking and after I talked with Cole, I think I blacked out. I was really trashed,” I said.
My stomach began to churn as I thought about that night at Wild Things. Cole and I talked for an hour and then he left to be with Melanie and tell Lauren what I said. A lot of that night is still really blurry to me. I drank too much. I drank so much, I couldn’t drive home and some chick from the bar offered to drive me home. I didn’t want her to, but I was so hammered, I couldn’t even walk or see straight.
When I woke up the next morning... I can’t even think about that right now. I need to just block that night out of my head and remember I got Lauren back.
“Ok. Well, I’m glad things worked out for you and Lauren. Want to hear about my night hooking up with two hot chicks?” Jagger asked.
“Not really,” I laughed, knowing good and well he was going to tell me anyway.
And that he did. For the next fifteen minutes, Jagger told me all of the torrid and vivid details of his hookup. While I didn’t want to imagine Jagger in any situation that included him without clothes, it was great that my friends were finally talking to me again and I had my girl back.
18
Lauren
In the month to follow, Isaac had stayed true to his word. He made sure each and every day to show me how much he loved me and to earn my trust back. He sent me flowers at work daily, called me every hour on the hour, and even gave me his access to his bank account information. While I felt like my checking his bank account was some type of personal intrusion, just the act alone told me I could trust him.
With Marco in jail and everything with us back to normal, my world seemed like it was finally back to normal. We had even started planning for our wedding again and I was back to wearing my engagement ring.
Cole, Isaac, Jagger, and Smalls had even made up and we were all back to hanging out again like nothing had ever happened.
“What are you thinking about?” Melanie asked as she waved her hand in front of my face.
I was stationed at the cash register at the boutique and was so lost in my thoughts I hadn’t even seen her come in.
I shook my head to try and regain my focus. Smiling, I glanced around to make sure no one else saw my daydreaming. That wouldn’t look good for my recommendation for management.
“You forgot I was coming in today, didn’t you?” Melanie asked as she giggled.
She was also aware that Isaac had been spending a lot of time lately getting back into the swing of things and that meant extra time in the bedroom.
Lying, I smiled back at her. “No, I didn’t forget. I was just thinking,” I admitted.
“Sure, you were just thinking about Isaac,” she said as she playfully nudged my arm.
“Kinda,” I blushed. “That doesn’t matter. We need to get you some new work clothes,” I said as I clapped my hands together and walked around the counter.
Melanie had come to me a week ago and said her boss was giving her an incredible promotion to head editor at the publishing company where she worked. This had been her dream forever. There was a time when I thought she was going to give up on her dreams. Melanie’s dream had been to move to California and work in a publishing house there. However, after meeting and falling in love with Cole, that dream changed. Thankfully, she had an amazing employer who saw her talents and gave her the dream job she wanted and more.
Now, it was my time to make sure she looked her part.
Following me through the store like a lost puppy, Melanie watched as I pulled several tops and skirts and dress pants off the racks and began piling them into a dressing room for her. I had always had a touch for style, I had studied fashion magazines as a little girl and knew that when I grew up, I wanted my hobby of shopping
and looking sexy to become my career.
Shoving Melanie inside the dressing room, I began playing dress up like she was my own personal doll. We spent two hours fitting her in pencil skirts with silky tops, dress pants with a sexy button-down tops, and dresses that hugged her curves perfectly but were long enough in length to be appropriate for the workplace. When we were finished, Melanie had a completely new wardrobe and a sexy little lingerie piece I was sure Cole would enjoy seeing later.
“Thank you again for playing dress up with me,” Mel teased as she grabbed her shopping bags and made her way toward the exit.
‘No problem. You know I love dressing you up,” I smiled back.
“What are your plans tonight?” Mel asked as she shifted the large bags in her hands.
“I’m going to pick up some dinner and take it home for Isaac. He has been cooking for me each night and I want to do something nice for him now.”
“Great. Cole and I are going to go see a movie. If you and Isaac want to come, just let me know,” Melanie offered.
“Thanks, I will call you,” I said as we hugged and then Melanie left.
My shift was almost over and I helped close down the register before I locked up and made my way home.
“Lauren, can I talk to you before you go?” my boss Andrea asked as she grabbed her purse.
“Sure,” I smiled.
“Well, I reviewed your application and of course with your degree and years of experience in retail, you are more than qualified for the position of manager when I leave. However, your dedication to this store even through hard times,” she paused and smiled. “I want to offer you the management position. I leave next week and I know I will only have to train you on scheduling the shifts and keeping up with the account ledgers, but you have helped with that before so I am not concerned in the least.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She was offering me the position. This was a dream come true!
“Thank you so much,” I exclaimed as I jumped up and down.
Trying to compose myself, I smoothed down my black pencil skirt and checked my floral top as I tried to act professionally. “I’m sorry, this is just really great news.”
“Well, I couldn’t think of anyone better for the job,” she said.
We talked for a few more minutes and then we both left together. I was floating on cloud nine as I drifted to my car. Today was turning out to be a great day. I found a coupon for the Italian restaurant that Isaac loved and grabbed us two dinners of Chicken Fettuccini. I even stopped to pick up some wine so we could celebrate my promotion, and I didn’t hit one red light on the drive home. Only, that should have been my first sign that something wasn’t right.
19
Lauren
I ran through the front door with the bags of takeout food on one arm and a bottle of wine in the other. “Isaac, I have amazing news!” I shouted as I kicked the door shut behind me.
My nirvana quickly faded as I took in Isaac’s face as he stood in the kitchen, his phone pressed up to his ear. Something was wrong.
He was nodding his head and kept saying he understood.
I stood in place until his eyes finally fixed on me. A look of panic and something else I couldn’t understand floated across his face.
I waited until he ended the call and then I took a step further into the room.
“I got the promotion today. I also picked up dinner and wine,” I said as I placed my items on the kitchen counter.
“I’m so sorry,” Isaac said as he shook his head. “I am so proud of you for getting that promotion, but I just received a call and I have to tell you something,” he said.
Before I could comprehend what he was saying, Cole and Melanie walked through the front door. They both looked at me with questioning looks.
“What’s going on?” Cole asked as he surveyed the scene.
Melanie just looked at me with sadness radiating from her eyes.
“I don’t know,” I said with a sigh.
“I need everyone to sit down,” Isaac began as he motioned for all to go to the living room.
We followed his instructions and sat down. With nervous glances, we all watched as Isaac paced the floor in front of us.
“What I am about to tell you is going to sound crazy, but you have to believe me. I know I have messed up and none of you should ever trust me or believe anything I say again, but this time, I am telling the truth,” Isaac was blabbering and speaking way too fast.
He wasn’t making any sense and I could see Cole growing anxious with anticipation.
“Just spit it out,” I yelled as I grew frustrated.
Sighing, Isaac stopped pacing and looked at all three of us waiting and hanging on his every word. “The night that Cole came to meet with me I had too many drinks. Jagger invited a group of girls to come hang out with us. You all know Jagger, he is single and loves to hook up with as many women as he can. I swear, one day he will meet the right girl and those one night stands won’t matter anymore,” he veered off thinking.
“Enough Isaac,” I screamed. I stood up and threw my hands up in the air. “Just tell us what is going on. I am about to lose my mind!”
Grabbing my hand, Melanie pulled me back down to the couch. “Lauren, calm down,” she whispered.
“Isaac, we have heard enough. Tell us what is going on or I am taking Melanie and we are leaving,” Cole stated through gritted teeth.
Blowing out a long breath, Isaac began to shake. “There was this girl. Her name was Tiffany. She was hitting on me and kept asking me to go back to her place. I didn’t touch her, I swear. Each time she hit on me, I would tell her no. I even talked about you Lauren. I told her how much I loved you and how I was trying to win you back. I guess I had way too many drinks because when I stood up to leave, I couldn’t walk straight. I searched for Jagger, but he had already left with two girls. Tiffany offered to take me home. I told her I wasn’t going to hook up with her and she said she understood. She helped me to her car and I guess I passed out. When I woke the next morning, I was in her bed. I swear, I don’t remember having sex with her but she just called and told me she is pregnant and...it’s mine,” Isaac finished and a cry escaped his lips.
I believed our love could withstand anything. Maybe I was wrong.
My body began to shake as sweat lined my forehead. I felt a huge ball in my stomach drop as panic and unease settled in. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Isaac and I were back to having our perfect life. How could he sleep with her? How could she be pregnant? This couldn’t be true. It had to be a nightmare. Wake up! Wake up!
“Lauren, please say something,” Isaac cried as he fell to his knees before me.
“Wait. Did you say her name was Tiffany?” Cole asked as he stood.
“You know her?” Isaac asked as he turned his head away from me for just a second.
“I know of her yeah. Man, that girl is trouble. Even Jagger wouldn’t mess with her. She is known for trying to hook up with guys to use them to get what she wants. Money. Sex. Drugs. Blackmail. You name it and she has done it. I don’t remember seeing her there when I was with you all,” Cole finished.
“Jagger didn’t invite the girls until after you left. He said there was no way you would let him bring girls with you there,” Isaac finished.
Cole smiled and I saw relief wash over Melanie.
However, I was still having a panic attack and slowly dying on the inside.
“She is setting me up,” Isaac said in a harsh tone. “You all have to believe me. I wouldn’t sleep with her. Not when I thought I had a chance of making things right with Lauren,” he said as he took my hands in his. “Do you believe me?”
I looked at Isaac. I studied his eyes and searched deep into his soul for the truth. I couldn’t understand how this man could break my heart twice, but somehow he did. I also couldn’t understand how after everything he had done, I somehow believed he was telling me the truth.
I was not some dumb girl who
believed everything a man told her. I was hot as hell and had an education, loving family and friends, and a great job. I didn’t need a man to validate my life or make me feel better about myself. That just wasn’t who I was or what I was about.
But, in that moment I knew in my heart and soul and everything I believed in that Isaac was telling me the truth. His voice was full of hurt. This girl, this Tiffany, was blackmailing Isaac. Only, we needed to find out why.
“Isaac, I do believe you,” I said as I looked deep into his eyes. “But, we are going to get to the bottom of this together.”
Allowing his head to fall into my lap, Isaac began to sigh. “You have no reason to believe me, but you do. I love you, Lauren,” he said.
“If you think she is blackmailing you or lying about this, then maybe you should call her and ask her what she wants,” Melanie stated.
The three of us all turned our attention toward Melanie who now stood with her hands on her hips. If I didn’t know any better, I would think that Melanie didn’t believe Isaac. I guess I couldn’t blame her really. It hadn’t been too long ago when Melanie had discovered her fiancé Brody was cheating on her. His unfaithfulness devastated her and almost forbid her from loving again. If anyone wouldn’t believe Isaac, it would be Melanie.
“Maybe that’s not a bad idea,” I chimed in.
Even though I believed Isaac, it wouldn’t hurt to hear him call Tiffany.
Nodding his head, Isaac agreed. “Ok. I will call her back. You all can listen. I will put the phone on speaker. I swear to you all, I have nothing to hide.”
Isaac pulled out his phone and hit redial. After a few rings, a woman’s voice answered and I wanted to vomit from the sound.
“Hello,” Tiffany answered.
“It’s Isaac,” he replied.
“Oh. What do you want?” Tiffany snapped.
Damn, for someone who is pregnant, she sure sounds unhappy to hear from the baby daddy. I mean, alleged baby daddy.
“Look, I don’t know what game you are trying to play with me, but I refuse to let you use me,” Isaac said calmly.