Even Rhythm (Offbeat #2)

by S. Moose

  I see Bayleigh frown and I look at her. We have a silent conversation and I think she knows what I’m going to say.

  “He’s not coming over here, Tyler.” Serena’s head pops up and both girls are staring at me. “Are you serious?”

  “Him and Brian are going to be in town and want to get together. I thought it would be a good idea to have a dinner party here at the house. I didn’t know he was cheating on her.”

  “Ugh,” Bayleigh groans and Serena remains quiet. “Well this is going to be barrels of fun. I seriously can’t wait to see Slut Anna.”

  The room grows quiet and I take it as my queue to leave. Going into my office I pull out my phone and send Chad a text message.

  Me: What the fuck is your deal?

  Chad: You heard huh?

  Me: Damn right I did. She’s here at my house and Bay’s talking to her . . . You do know what you’re getting into right?

  Chad: It literally just happened. I don’t know what I was thinking

  Me: So now you’re together? A picture doesn’t lie

  Chad; Yeah we are . . . I like her a lot

  Me: You’re fucked up. You dissed Serena and now you’re with Anna . . . The girl who tried to fuck things up for me?

  Chad: It’s not like that man. She’s sorry and wants to make amends

  Me: Whatever. Fuck . . . just don’t bring drama into my house

  Chad: Okay I won’t. I’ll talk to her

  I don’t respond back and work a little more before saying bye to Serena and going to bed with Bayleigh.

  “So you’re really going to have them over?”

  “Yeah and I’m sorry. We should have talked first.”

  “It’s fine. I’ll have Mandy, Damon and Seth over. It’ll be great.” She smirks and slides under the covers. I’m not sure if I should be scared or not.

  The night of the party everything has been decorated and thanks to Wegmans we have the food catered. I look at my wife in a cream color dress with her hair done nicely and her makeup perfectly on. I know what she’s doing. Shaking my head I look around and see Mandy finishing up with Serena. All three girls are dressed beautifully and all I can do is sit back and pray no one gets into a fight.

  Bringing in the last of the food trays, I see Anna walking towards me with a smile on her face. I look around, hoping to find someone near me, but they’re in the living room talking to our guests.

  “Hey!” She waves and smiles. “Wow, nice house. I love the decorations.” She leans over to kiss my cheek and touches my arm.

  “Thanks. Bayleigh has fun decorating and putting her own touches to the house.”

  “Ah, so where is she? Will she be joining us today?”

  “Of course,” I tell her. “Why wouldn’t she?” Anna rolls her eyes and it pisses me off to no end. “Why are you here again?”

  “Because,” she spins around. “I’m with Chad and he wants me here by his side.”

  “Whatever, Anna,” I huff. “If you can stay on your best behavior tonight that would be great.”

  “Or,” she slithers over to me, rubbing her hand down my chest. “We can repeat that night in your office. You know my pussy over your hard cock, riding you, feeling you want me more. Come on. Chad’s just okay. I need you, Tyler.”

  Hating myself for letting her come this close to me, I haul myself away and head towards the living room. Being near her is trouble, and I don’t want trouble. She’s my biggest regret and the reason I couldn’t see clearly.

  “You look so hot,” she tells me with desire steaming from her eyes. “So hot.” Pushing me against the counter, knocking me off balance, she presses her lips on mine and shoves her tongue in my mouth. I’m doing everything I can to push her off. Fuck, I want to kill her.

  “Am I interrupting?” Pushing Anna off me I see Bayleigh, Mandy and Serena standing in front of me. Chad comes by and sees what’s happening.

  Serena comes over and pushes Anna to the corner. “You stupid idiot, can you stop being a slut and opening your legs and lips? The only reason you’re here is because you’re so fucking easy. Get a fucking clue, asshole. They’re pregnant,” Serena screams and points at us. “When are you going to get a clue?”

  I walk over to Bayleigh and lean down to kiss her. She stops me and gives me a funny look.

  “I don’t want to catch anything, so go rinse your mouth with bleach before those lips come near me.” She glares at me and then at Anna. Smiling her devious smile, she walks over to Anna and I’m prepared for an all-out war between the two.

  “Anna?”

  “Yeah?”

  “This is our house. It’s STD free. If I wasn’t pregnant trust me sweetheart, you wouldn’t be standing, so I suggest you get your infested body away from my things and husband before I personally take a knife and stab you several times without blinking or even a care in the world.” She leans in and whispers, “Pregnant women tend to be seen as unstable and usually don’t see jail time, so try me sweetheart.”

  Anna retreats to the deck and internally I’m cheering for my bad ass girl. I don’t know where she got her attitude from and I’m not complaining. Bayleigh needs to stand up for herself and for us.

  I wish she didn’t have to see that and I hate myself for letting things get carried away in California. I shouldn’t have been blind.

  The dinner goes smoothly, without any more issues. Bayleigh stays by my side most of the time and everyone seems to be enjoying themselves.

  Bayleigh

  SEEING HER LIPS on Tyler’s nearly killed me. I’m not sure where my confidence in standing up for myself came from. With this pregnancy and everything going on, I feel stronger and I know Tyler’s worth everything. I’m not going to do anything to jeopardize our relationship and I want to show him I love him and I’ll fight whoever or whatever.

  Love isn’t a fight, but it’s something worth fighting for, and I will fight for my family. My mother always said to kill them with kindness. I didn’t yell or scream. In the nicest way possible I told Anna I’d kill her so that was kind of me to say.

  Luckily, I have Mandy and Serena here with me or else I would be in jail right now. Seeing Anna in our home is doing things to me and I hate feeling like this. I’m protecting what’s mine and she needs to stay away.

  “It’s fine,” Serena whispers to me. Since the day of our talk she’s been there for me and I can’t thank her enough. At first I hated her, and now I consider her a great friend-she’s someone who understands Tyler and gets me too. It’s hard to find that quality in a friend. She doesn’t take sides, and tells me things that Tyler did in California. Hearing him in pain hurts me too. I did this to him. I damaged him, and going forward, I’ll make it better.

  “Seeing her here is irritating me. Why is she even here? If I could kick her out I would in a heartbeat.”

  “Trust me I get it.” Serena adds. “When I look at her all I see is red. I can’t believe she has the balls to be here knowing what she did to me. And don’t get me started on Chad. He won’t talk to me or look at me. I want to hear his side of the story, but really I don’t. If he cheated on me and I take him back what does that make me.”

  “I get it,” I tell her. “She’s the devil and I know Mandy won’t hold back so we’ll stand here looking pretty and being classy. Being the bigger person will be better.”

  “I hate being the bigger person.”

  I laugh and we head over to the living room to check on the food and see how everyone’s doing. Mandy’s with Damon and Seth, while Tyler’s coming into view. Looking at him is making everything better. Until I see Anna again.

  Anger doesn’t hit me. Sadness overwhelms me. Here I am deciding to risk my life to have our baby and I’m sure Anna is one hundred percent capable of having a healthy pregnancy. The idea of leaving Tyler, and him moving on isn’t sitting well with me. I know it’s selfish to want him to be alone if I’m gone. It makes me so mad thinking how unfair life can be and has been to me. When will it be my time to fin
ally be happy for a long period of time?

  Like forever.

  If something does happen to me, deep down I want Tyler to find someone who’ll love him and our baby. I want him to find happiness and be okay.

  And I swear if it’s Anna, I’m going to haunt them for the rest of their lives. I’ll make an accident happen.

  Mandy makes her way over to me with a glass of lemon water. “Doing okay sweetie?”

  I take the glass from her and slowly take sips. “Trying not to think about it.”

  “Don’t be too hard on him. You know he loves you and Gillian. Tyler wouldn’t do anything to hurt you. Especially since you two just got back together. He doesn’t have that kind of heart.”

  “I know. Do you think I was too hard?”

  Thinking back to the silent treatment I gave him worries me. I stayed by his side and made nice with his friends. I didn’t want to make the dinner weird.

  “No,” Mandy says. “I think what you did is fine. Tyler needs to be put in his place sometimes. He’s way too nice and you both need each other for balance. Talking is important. I know you two had a really good relationship before, but things are different now. You can’t bottle in how you feel and you need to let him know what bothers you.”

  I listen to Mandy’s words and trust her advice. I look at Damon and smile. He loves my best friend with his whole heart and she loves him too. They’re both meant for each other, even though they started off in an odd way. I’m not one to judge and I would never. As long as they love each other and make each other happy, that’s what matters.

  The party ends around eleven and I’m exhausted. Not wanting to bother Tyler and Damon, I straighten things out in the kitchen and living room, making sure it’s pretty clean and make a mental note to do more cleaning in the morning.

  Checking in on the guys, I hear them talking in the office and make my way upstairs to start a nice bath. Pouring lavender into the tub I get out of my dress and step into the tub. The water feels nice and instantly I feel a little more relaxed. Grabbing an anxiety release essential oil, I take a small amount and put some on my neck and below my ear lobe.

  Taking a deep breath, I close my eyes and think about what’s going to happen next. Everything is going fine and I feel great. I’m not experiencing more pain and I’m not as sick as before. I have the normal morning sickness and feeling tired. Taking baths or resting does it for me.

  I miss going to work and contributing to our family. I know Doctor Wells wants me to take it easy and there’s no way Tyler’s going to let me work.

  Sometimes I miss the independence and doing what I feel is right. I push aside my stubbornness because there’s no way I can admit to Tyler that he’s right. I shouldn’t work right now. Hopefully soon I can.

  Tyler

  LEAVING HER HOME today is killing me. My phone goes off at seven in the morning with an emergency meeting I can’t get out of.

  When I’m dressed and about to kiss her goodbye, she wakes up and looks at me.

  “Baby I’m sorry, I have to go into the office. Will you be okay?”

  “Yeah,” she answers, and brings me down to her lips. “I promise me and Baby Scott are going to be just fine, honey. Go to work and when you come home, we’ll be here waiting okay?”

  “Okay. Please text me if you feel any pain or anything. I’ll have Serena or someone come check on you okay?”

  “Sure, that sounds like a good idea. Go! I’m going to go back to sleep.” Kissing her forehead, I head out of the house.

  It’s harder than I think when I get in the car and start it. Looking at the house, fighting the internal battle inside me, and figuring out what’s more important, I know I have to provide for my family, but leaving her isn’t an option. Just as I’m about to turn off my car, my phone vibrates.

  Bay: My husband please go! I am fine!

  Me: I worry about you

  Bay: I know you do. I love you for that, but I promise I am okay. Have a great day at work and we will see you soon

  Reading the words we will see you soon puts my heart on high. It lifts me up and I believe she’s going to be okay. Everything will be okay.

  Driving to work, I remember last night and watching her sleep. It was two in the morning when I woke up, lifting the strands of her hair out of her face and loving the peaceful look on it. She was protectively holding her stomach and it made me choke a little. I leaned down, close to her stomach, and talked to Baby Scott.

  “Hi Gillian. It’s Daddy. I wanted to say hi and let you know how much I love you. I know you probably can’t hear me right now, but I hope to see you soon. Right now things are hard. Can you do me a favor? I need you to fight and be strong. I need you and Mommy to be here with me because I don’t think I can go on if anything happens to either of you.” Touching her stomach, I lean closer and press my lips to her skin, hoping Baby Scott can feel my kiss. “No matter what I’m here and when you’re in my arms, that’s where you’ll stay. I can’t wait to meet you, so be good in there okay?”

  Meeting after meeting my thoughts go to Bayleigh. For someone who knows how to control the room and handles his business, thinking about Bayleigh makes me weak. Pulling out my phone I type out a text message to her.

  Me: I miss you . . . How are you feeling?

  Bay: Good. Just got back from the gym . . . Mandy and I went swimming and I feel really relaxed

  Me: The pool is heated you know

  Bay: Yeah, but I walked on the treadmill and did some more things. It feels good

  I smile at her text and laugh that she’s so adamant about getting out of the house. I know being cooped up inside drives her crazy.

  Me: Why don’t I take you to see a movie? You pick

  Bay: It’s a date Mr. Scott

  Me: I look forward to it Mrs. Scott

  I put away my phone and get back to the reports I’m working on. There’s a phone conference in a few minutes and I feel good knowing she’s okay.

  I rush home after work and find a ready Bayleigh. I laugh thinking about her being so excited for a movie night out. Pulling her in my arms I shower her with kisses.

  “Hi,” she smiles.

  “Hi. Are you ready?”

  “Yes!”

  We get to the movie theater and I buy us tickets to see The Longest Ride. I love seeing how happy she is knowing I’ll have to sit through another Nicholas Sparks movie.

  “Happy?”

  “Very.” She wraps her arm around my waist and we walk to our seats.

  The movie starts and I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s staring at the big screen, her hand in mine, and the incredible ease of being with her still surprises me. When she turns her head and smiles at me it leaves me breathless. There’s something about the way she looks at me. It’s like no one has looked at me like that before. She sees me for who I am and who I want to be. In California it wasn’t a secret women wanted me. It’s not about being cocky or having a big ego. Women had no shame. They’d stare at me and lick their lips, sticking their chests out, and sometimes their clothes somehow shrank throughout the day. With Bayleigh, it’s genuine and it’s the way it should be. All I need is her and our daughter and my future is full.

  Bayleigh

  THE DOORBELL RINGS and I head over to find Serena on the other side with a few bags.

  “Come in,” I smile and we walk to the kitchen. “Thank you for doing this for me. Mandy should be over in a little.”

  “Yeah, no problem. How are you feeling?”

  I tell her about what’s going on. I trust Serena and know she’ll understand me. Guiding her to the living room, I get comfortable on the couch and take a deep breath.

  “Serena, I’m so sorry we weren’t close and didn’t get a chance to really know each other.”

  She laughs, “But we are now girl, so no worries. The way Tyler talks about you is so romantic. He loves you so much.” Holding back the tears, I smile and nod. “I know you’re going to be okay.”

  �
�And if I’m not,” I pause, finding the right words to say. “If I’m not okay, I need you to please be by his side. He won’t be strong enough. I need you to watch him, love him and be there. He’s going to be so lost.”

  Serena covers her mouth and shakes her head. “No. Don’t say that, Bayleigh. I’ve been reading about your condition and since your doctor knows what’s going on and you have a plan then everything will be fine, you can beat it. I mean my goodness, look at you. You’re healthy and strong. Please don’t give up.”

  “I’m not giving up,” I explain. “No, it’s the opposite. I’m making sure that Tyler and our baby won’t be alone. I have faith, but life surprises us. Can’t you see where I’m coming from?”

  “No!” I turn around and see Mandy standing behind me. It takes all of me not to break down and cry. I didn’t want my best friend hearing this. This conversation keeps getting pushed back. Mandy won’t listen to me or accept this. Maybe I am being dramatic, but I need to know everyone will be okay if I don’t survive.

  “Mandy.”

  “Murphy, don’t you fucking dare do this!” she screams and comes rushing over to me, hugging me tightly and crying in my arms. “Sweetie, you are going to be fine. Everything is going to be okay. You promised you wouldn’t go anywhere.”

  “And I’m not. These are what-ifs and something I need to do. Serena,” I turn to look at her. “Please be there.”

  “Of course, but I agree with Mandy. You aren’t going anywhere.”

  I look at my best friend and new friend. Growing up I had many friends, but after the rape, I lost my friends because no one knew what to say to me. As time passed, I realized that it doesn’t matter how many friends you have. Quality over quantity will always win. My best friend. My true friend is Mandy. She’s been there for me through everything and I know I can count on her.