by M. A. Lee
I pulled out my phone and began taking pictures as I texted Isaac.
Me: Check out these pictures. Tiffany isn’t pregnant and she has a boyfriend!
Isaac: Damn, baby you are good. What are we going to do with the pictures?
Me: We wait. We use them as leverage and get her to stop the blackmailing.
Isaac: Good idea.
Me: By the way, Jagger just walked into the bar too.
Isaac: Yeah, he told me he would go and watch out for you girls.
Me: That’s really nice of him. Tiffany recognized him though. Her face dropped when she saw him.
Isaac: Damn, let me know what happens.
Me: Ok
Tiffany’s eyes scanned the bar as paranoia sank in. I sat back, watching and waiting for her to see me. I wasn’t sure if she knew who I was, but she had to have done her research on Isaac and I was a huge part of his life.
As she nervously looked at each and every person in the small space, her eyes finally settled on mine and recognition sank in. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open as we made eye contact. I refused to back down. This girl needed to see me. She needed to know that she was not going to get away with hurting my man or my friends.
I sat up straighter and smiled at Tiffany. Melanie watched the train wreck before her with curious and frightened eyes. Jagger noticing us too, kept a sly grin on his face. Satisfaction was guaranteed with this run-in.
Throwing down a towel she had just been wiping the bar down with, Tiffany strutted over to the table where I was sitting.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tiffany asked as she stared at me with her evil eyes.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I said in my most annoying and surprised tone.
“Yeah, we are just sitting here enjoying our Saturday night,” Melanie chimed in.
That’s why I love this girl. She is my ride or die chick for life!
Leaning over the table, Tiffany placed both hands in front of me. “Don’t think I don’t know what you are up to. I see your other little friend over there too. What do you want?” Tiffany asked again, this time her voice cracked with fear.
I don’t know who this girl thinks she is, but she is messing with the wrong fiancé.
Pushing my chair back, I stood, towering over Tiffany. “Listen here,” I began as I kept my voice calm and steady. “I know that you are playing some sick and twisted game with my fiancé, Isaac. Now, I’ve been sitting here watching you and I have pictures of you kissing that guy over there,” I said as I pointed to the man still stationed at the bar, “and, I have pictures of your flat little stomach. You are not pregnant and you didn’t sleep with Isaac,” I finished as I snapped my fingers in front of her face.
“You can’t prove any of that,” Tiffany said, still trying to keep the idea that she ruined my life with Isaac. Her smirk grew wider as she opened her mouth to speak again. Realizing I needed more than just pictures, I quickly turned on the recorder app on my phone and kept it hidden under my arm. I was going to catch this crazy bitch once and for all.
“Sure, you are right. I am not pregnant, especially not from your wimpy boyfriend. He was the only guy in the bar that night other than his loser friends, who didn’t even look at me. Even when I tried to get him to kiss me, he refused. I mean the poor guy was so drunk he couldn’t see straight, but he had enough wits about him to turn me down,” she paused and scowled. “Anyway, all I had to do was drive back to my apartment and lay him in my bed. The next morning when he woke up, he totally freaked out. I mean screaming and yelling like a wild man. I told him we had sex but it was a one night stand. He said he didn’t remember sleeping with me and even called me a liar, but he ran out of the apartment so fast, I barely had time to see him close the door.”
I sat there, trying to keep the smile off my face as she confirmed what I should be known all along- Isaac didn’t cheat on me.
As she continued, she became braver with her words. “All I had to do was a wait a few weeks. Long enough for me to claim I missed a period and then I got his number from one of Jagger’s hook-ups. When I called to tell Isaac I was pregnant, I thought the guy was going to have a stroke or something. He really flipped out. Again. Well, I told him I wanted money to keep quiet or I would start telling people what happened between us. I did my research, I knew he had that shop and a house. Plus, I knew he worked with some bad guys once too.”
Tiffany stopped talking and looked back to access my reaction. I was sure she was bracing herself for me to attack her, but I did the opposite. Smiling, I made sure my recorder was still recording when I pulled my phone up and flashed it for her to see.
“Maybe you are right. People may not believe all of it, but I will publish these pictures of you and that guy on social media. I will go to every newspaper and social media outlet and demand to see a sonogram of your baby and a lie detector test confirming you are telling the truth. And, now that I have you recorded admitting you are not pregnant and didn’t have sex with Isaac and that you are framing him for money, your game is over. You might think you can blackmail us, but you are so wrong.”
Tiffany stood with her mouth wide open as she took me in. Emotions flashed across her face. Fear. Anger. Regret. Her face began to soften as she realized she couldn’t blackmail us any longer. She was caught and it was her own cocky stupidity that gave her up. Her plan to get money from us and ruin Isaac’s name wasn’t going to work. As I watched her face transform from one of an evil liar to the defeated girl, I could see her settle down.
She fell into a chair beside me and began to cry. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed.
Melanie and I looked at each other helplessly. Of all of the ways I thought this night would end, this wasn’t what I had imagined. Jagger made his way to the table too, seeing that something was wrong.
“Why?” I asked as I watched her breakdown in front of me.
Looking up at me, Tiffany’s black mascara was running down her face. She looked awful and I almost felt sorry for her. Almost.
“I didn’t know what to do,” she began in a broken voice. “I work at this bar a few days a week but it doesn’t really pay the bills. A few months back, my boyfriend Jack, was working for a man named Marco. They had a...” she paused almost as if she was afraid to say the rest.
Only, she didn’t need to say anything else. The mention of Marco’s name sparked understanding in me.
“Jack was hired to pick up cars for Marco at a shop. He was making good money too. But, Marco was arrested and Jack was out of a job. We have bills to pay and neither of us has a high school diploma, so getting work is almost impossible. Jack heard that Isaac had turned in Marco. We thought that if I got him drunk and made him believe he had slept with me, then we could get some money out of him. It’s clear his business is doing well and he made good money working for Marco too. I know what I did was wrong, but I was helpless,” she finished as her shoulders sagged and she let her head fall forward.
I could feel my body fighting an internal battle. I was angry with myself for feeling any sympathy or compassion for this woman who had tried to wreck my life. I was also very much irate with her for the fact that she thought her plan would even work.
“Tiffany, I understand your fears, but this is all wrong. Isaac is a wonderful man who doesn’t deserve to be blackmailed or have his name tarnished for your benefit. You need to stop this now. It’s gone too far,” I added.
Tiffany nodded her head. “What do I do?” she asked.
“You admit to Isaac that this was all a lie and explain to him what you just told me. I think he will understand. There was a time not so long ago he was also desperate and lost,” I said.
“Thank you. I know you must hate me,” Tiffany said with a half-smile.
“I’m not your biggest fan, but I don’t hate you. I just want you to stop hurting us,” I stated.
We talked for a few minutes longer and then Tiffany went back to work at the bar. Jagger, Melanie and I
left the bar with the smiles on our faces.
23
ISAAC
My girl is fucking awesome.
Not only did Lauren believe me when I told her I didn’t cheat her, but she also had my back.
I didn’t deserve this magnificent woman, but damn, I would keep her love forever.
Lauren was a bad ass. She is sexy as hell. Smart and sophisticated. Brave. Honest, Sassy and sweet, and finally she is the most loyal person I know.
When Melanie’s life crumbled in, Lauren was there by her side through it all.
I will spend the rest of my life making sure Lauren understands how amazing she truly is. With every breath I take, with every beat of my heart, I will prove my love and loyalty to Lauren.
24
Lauren
After explaining to Isaac what had happened at the bar, he was both angered and relieved. I still had my pictures of Tiffany and Jack and when I showed them to Isaac, he recognized Jack immediately.
“Hey, I know this guy,” Isaac said as he took my phone and placed it close to his face.
“I know, he worked for Marco too,” I added.
“Wow, so they did all of this to get back at me for getting Marco arrested?” Isaac asked as he looked bewildered.
“It’s all over now though,” Cole said as he patted Isaac on the back and gave me a reassuring smile.
Melanie just gazed at Cole like he had just fixed all the world’s problems. I almost laughed as I watched her look at him so lovingly.
“I won’t believe that everything is fine until Tiffany goes away and we don’t hear from her for a while. The guy from the paper will be at the shop Monday morning to interview me and once the article is published, we will know whether Tiffany is gone for good or not,” Isaac stated.
Nodding our heads, we all agreed.
“Yes,” I confirmed. “We will just have to be patient and hope that she doesn’t break her promise to leave us alone. I mean, if you really think about it. You can understand where they are coming from,” I stated.
All the heads in the room turned to face me. Pure shock registered on each one of their faces.
“Did you just defend the woman who tried to ruin your relationship and scam Isaac out of money?” Melanie asked in a disbelieving tone.
“I’m not defending her,” I began. “Tiffany and her boyfriend Jack were on hard times. I think all of here can agree that we have each found ourselves in a difficult situation,” I said.
Cole, Melanie, Jagger, and Isaac all nodded in agreement. None of us have had a perfect life. Each and every one of us was tarnished with hurt, betrayal, and mistakes. It was from our mistakes that we rose to the challenge and made ourselves and our lives better. It was from some of our biggest mistakes that we had found one another. I couldn’t deny someone else, even someone as loathsome as Tiffany, the same understanding as I had given to my friends and myself.
“Sure, each one of us has struggled, but we didn’t intentionally try to hurt anyone. We found a way to fix our problems,” Cole jumped in and said.
“Wait, I get what Lauren is trying to say,” Isaac said as he came to my defense.
“What Tiffany and Jack did was deplorable, but they felt like they didn’t have a choice. I can forgive her, but I never want to see either of them again. I think we should all agree right here in this moment to forget this travesty ever happened. Let’s just consider it a bump in our journey together,” Isaac said as he kept his eyes focused on me.
Everyone considered his words and in that moment, we made a silent pact to never speak of Tiffany of the events that had transpired, ever again.
“Hey, before we start pretending like this never happened, I do want to say something,” Jagger said as he jumped into the conversation.
He had been sitting quietly during the conversations until now.
“I just want to say that Lauren was great tonight. She kept her cool, even when I thought she was going to bitch slap, Tiffany. I mean, I was preparing myself to break up a hot girl fight,” Jagger said with a smile.
We all laughed at this. Jagger was right, I did keep my cool.
Cole and Melanie stayed late past midnight as we all gathered information and made sure we all understood that this drama was finally over. Jagger left sometime after them as he had a girl texting him about a late night booty-call. Someday, he will find an amazing girl who will make him settle down, until then he will just have to play the pretty boy.
As I went to bed early in the morning with Isaac’s arms holding me tight, I couldn’t help but feel safe for the first time in what felt like forever. Only a short time ago I feared that Isaac, the love of my life, had broken the promises he had made to me by cheating on me and lying to me. Instead, I learned that one mistake he made in trying to better our future, had brought more trouble than we had both ever expected.
We fought against all the odds and complications placed in front of us. Most women would have left their fiancé after hearing everything Tiffany had said. In one sorrowful moment of despair, I almost did just that. Instead, though, I believed in Isaac and the promises he had made to me. In my heart and soul, I knew he wouldn’t break us. He wouldn’t break me. He wouldn’t break his promises.
25
Lauren
“Hurry up you are going to make us late,” Melanie yelled as I ran down the hallway of mine and Isaac’s house.
“I am coming, stop rushing me,” I teased back.
Melanie stood with her hands on her hips in her deep plum colored bridesmaids dress.
I had been three months since everything had happened with Tiffany. We still weren’t speaking of the incident and thankfully, Tiffany left us alone for good.
After the article published in the paper about Isaac, he gained more clients at the tattoo shop. While he didn’t know how to do the tattoos himself, his management skills kept the shop open and thriving. His love for me and his faithfulness to his friends were what really brought the article to life.
Now, as I stand in front of Melanie in my beautiful wedding dress, the same one I tried on the day I found out Isaac had been participating in illegal activities, I have to just brush those moments away. That feels like another lifetime ago.
“For someone who has been planning their dream wedding since they were five years old, you are surprisingly slow on your own wedding day,” Melanie snapped as she gathered the short train on my dress.
Leaning back, I smiled at her. “And this is why you are my best friend,” I laughed. “You always did keep me in check,” I kidded.
Laughing too, Melanie smiled. “I am so happy for you and Isaac,” she said.
I noticed her eyes filling with tears and I couldn’t help but reach over and grab her hand. “Are you ok?”
Waving her hands, Melanie smiled through her tears. “Yes, I am fine. I just...” she had to pause to gather her words. “Lauren, you have been incredible to me over the years. You stuck with me when no one else did. I have always known that you would find someone who would love you and see just how incredible you truly are.”
Now it was my turn to cry. “Mel, you are going to make my mascara run,” I laughed as I batted at my eyes.
“Come on, enough of the crying. We need to get you married,” Mel said as she wrapped her arm through mine and led me out of the bridal suite at the Keeneland reception hall.
My wedding plans had all been turned into a reality as Melanie, my mom, and myself began quickly finishing the plans after Isaac and I got back together.
Now, it’s my turn to live my dream.
With Melanie in front of me and Kat in front of her, I placed my hand in my dad’s hands and offered everyone one big smile before the large, barn doors slid open and my wedding began.
26
Lauren
I could hear the harp playing a soft melody as Melanie and Kat slowly walked down the wedding aisle. I could see the white Christmas lights hanging from every boulder and archway in the large room. Silver
table linens covered round tables at the back of the room where the reception would be held shortly after the ceremony. A small stage stood in front, where Isaac would be waiting for me. A large arch covered the stage with purple flowers hanging from the top.
The venue was a large barn that had been converted into a reception and ceremony hall at the Keeneland race tracks. It was the perfect combination of country charm and chic style; just like me.
Finally, it was my turn to walk. As I took the first step with my dad by my side, I noticed all of my family, friends, and coworkers standing and admiring me as I walked past them. Once I was fully into the room, my eyes locked on Isaac.
He looked dashing in a black tux with a plum-colored tie. His blond hair was swept back and his blue eyes were filled with tears. Cole, Jagger, and Smalls all stood next to him and smiled and nodded my way as I briefly looked at them.
I wanted to see only Isaac as I walked down the aisle way to him. I wanted to memorize the look on his face. The way his body reacted when he saw me. I never wanted to forget this moment.
As the bridal march ended, everyone sat down and I stood facing Isaac. Everything that happened next was like magic.
The preacher began his lines and Isaac and I stood facing one another, our hands joined as we stared deep into each other’s eyes.
“I love you,” Isaac mouthed as we waited for our turns to recite our vows.
We each promised to love, cherish, and honor one another for the rest of our lives. We exchanged rings and I cried as I took in the black diamond wedding band Isaac had found for me. By the end of the ceremony, there wasn’t a dry eye in the venue.
When Isaac was finally granted permission to kiss the bride, he dipped me in a heart-stopping embrace and kissed me like he had never kissed me before.