Be My Baby

by ANDREA SMITH

  I peeped up over the window sill. Trey had his back to me thankfully as he was at the bar getting their drinks. Trey was in his business clothes; Amber was in a red Chanel suit that was short and tight. Her hair and make-up were impeccable; her nail color matched the color of her suit perfectly. She had on 4" heels that accentuated her muscular legs.

  Trey handed her a glass of wine; he had a bottle of beer.

  They were now turned facing each other. The window I was at was not in their line of vision.

  "Cheers, counselor," she said, tapping her glass of wine against his bottle of beer.

  "Cheers," he replied smiling.

  They each took a drink and I noticed that Amber did not take her eyes off of him. Trey set his bottle of beer down on the coffee table and started organizing the files stacked on the table. She continued to sip her wine watching him.

  "Do you want to use my laptop instead of yours since it's already out?" he asked.

  "Sure thing. I'm a better keyboard jockey than you anyway," she replied with a smile.

  "I won't argue that counselor," Trey said as he scooted over to allow room for her to sit next to him on the sofa.

  "You'll need to log in under my password. It's ---"

  "I know what it is, Trey," she replied rolling her eyes, "You might as well not even have one."

  "Hey, I've got too many other important things to remember besides all these damn passwords," he mumbled.

  She looked over at him, smiling.

  "It's awfully quiet in here today," she commented as her long fingers pressed the keys on his laptop to log in.

  "Where is that little angel, Preston?"

  "Oh, she's spending time with my parents in Bristol."

  "That's nice," she remarked. "Did Tylar go with her?"

  "No, Tylar has been pretty busy with the horses. Her car's not out front so she may have had to go into town for something. She's been doing the shopping since Jean is visiting her daughter in Atlanta for a few days."

  "There," she said sweetly, "I'm all logged in and have the depo files accessed. Which one do you want me to pull up?"

  "Let's start with Smith," he replied, digging through one of the file folders stacked on the coffee table.

  "Which one?" she laughed.

  "Oh, that's right. We have about ten of them. How about Ohio Smith?"

  "You've got it, babe," she said, typing away. "There we go."

  "Read me back the testimony on page five relative to the questioning about the integrity concerns submitted."

  It looked as if Amber was scanning down the screen searching for it.

  "I can't find it," she replied, biting her lower lip. "Do I have the right file opened?"

  Trey scooted closer looking at the screen and then back at his notes. I watched as Amber leaned over toward him, her low cut blouse underneath her opened jacket gave Trey a full few of her pushed-up breasts.

  I continued to watch my husband with his gorgeous female law partner that had clearly made her intentions known to me on an earlier occasion.

  I felt like a voyeur; it was wrong to spy on my husband when he had clearly given me no indication that he wasn't to be trusted. I started to turn away to go around and make my entrance when a sudden movement caught my eye.

  It was Amber. She had suddenly turned her face to Trey's; she leaned into him and found his lips with her own. I stood there like a frozen statue. I watched as Trey pulled back from her and stood up. He was clearly taken aback. He raked one hand through his thick, burnished hair, shoving his other hand into the pocket of his trousers. He paced back to where she was now standing by the couch.

  "Amber," he said, almost apologetically, "This can't happen."

  "Why Trey?" she asked her voice soft and melodious. "We both want it and you know that."

  "I don't know anything of the sort. I'm married. You know that. Have I done anything to lead you to believe that I wanted anything more from you aside from a professional friendship?"

  "Trey - I am so sorry. I totally misread your vibes. I'm usually pretty good at picking up on someone's vibes. I feel like a total idiot."

  She stood up from the couch and quickly grabbed her briefcase. Tears started flowing from her perfectly made up chocolate brown eyes. Her brows were furrowed into a frown as if she was angry with herself.

  "Amber - wait. You don't have to leave. We can forget this happened and continue working on the case."

  She collapsed onto the couch, her hands covering her face as she began to weep softly.

  "Don't you see?" she asked, "I have made a total fool out of myself in front of someone that I so admire and respect. I can't face you again, Trey. I am such an idiot."

  Her sobs got louder as she hung her head in apparent shame.

  Trey was in front of her in a second; he took her hands and lifted her up from the couch.

  "Listen," he said softly, "You aren't an idiot and I am totally flattered. You are a beautiful and talented lawyer, Amber. I've enjoyed working on this case with you. I don't for a minute want you to feel ashamed, okay? If the situation were different -"

  She looked up at him with her tear stained eyes and sniffled. She nodded innocently still watching him with those big brown eyes. My stomach lurched; I knew that she wasn't finished with him yet.

  "Do you really mean it, Trey?"

  "I do," he said softly.

  Their eyes met and held. I watched as Trey cupped her face between his hands. She studied his face as he wiped the tears from her cheeks with his thumb. The same way that he had wiped my tears many times before.

  Oh God. I knew what was coming next. He lowered his face to her tear stained cheeks and gently kissed one and then the other; he kissed the tip of her perfect turned up nose. He smiled looking down at her still. She laced her arms around his neck as his mouth lowered to hers.

  I watched as he wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her close to him; their tongues found each playfully and passionately. This kiss continued to last for what seemed like forever. Her hands lowered to his ass, gripping it and pressing him in against her. I heard her moan his name.

  I wanted to move but I was frozen to this spot. What had happened between Trey and I that he would fall victim to this manipulative bitch? Beautiful women had always paid attention to Trey; he had seemed impassive towards it. This was different. Trey had clicked with Amber from the start. Perhaps he had clicked with her in a way that he never could with me. He liked that she was his intellectual equal; he liked her spirit and her love of law. He liked that they shared the same passion for it.

  I watched as Trey finally pulled himself from her. My eyes studied him; I saw that he had grown hard for her.

  "I can’t do this," he rasped, wiping her lipstick from his mouth.

  "Make love to me, Trey," she said softly. "I want you. Come to my place. No one will ever have to know."

  He looked torn and indecisive; it was a look I was not familiar with in Trey. He put his hand on the back of his neck rubbing it as if contemplating his next move; he turned away from her taking several steps back.

  That is when he saw me at the window. Our eyes locked momentarily; I saw the look of panic that crossed his face; God only knows what he saw in my eyes.

  I was suddenly able to move again. My legs were making up for lost time as I turned from the window and raced across the yard. I got to the pasture and continued running toward the horse barn. The wind was at my back as if to help me to get the hell away from what I had just witnessed. Everything was blurry and I realized that my eyes had filled up with tears. I needed to get away from the pain. That was all I could think about at the moment.

  I threw open the door to the horse barn screaming for Marcus. He finally came out of the tack room with a look of alarm on his handsome face.

  "What is it, Tylar? What the hell is wrong?"

  "Take me away from here Marcus, please?" I sobbed. I buried my face into his chest. "Please take me to Gina's now."

  "Tel
l me what happened," he insisted.

  "There isn't time," I shrieked, "I need out of here now please!"

  He grabbed his jacket from the hook and pulled the keys from the pocket of his jeans. We headed out behind the barn where his truck was parked. He opened the door for me as I climbed in.

  As we pulled down the long graveled drive to the road I saw Amber's BMW pulling out. Trey was outside crossing the pasture that I had just raced across.

  "There's Trey," Marcus said, looking over at me. "Do you want me to drop you here?"

  "Keep driving," I stated firmly.

  "Tylar," he said, "I don't want to face his wrath. You know how he is about me being too friendly with you."

  "Marcus, I just caught Trey with another woman. Trust me; you have no reason to worry. Please take me to Gina's. I'm just as much your employer as Trey."

  "You got it," he said as his truck blew past Trey. Neither of us glanced over.

  Marcus walked into the apartment building with me to make sure that Gina was home. I had let my Blackberry die in my purse. I didn't use it nearly as often as I had before we had moved to the country. My father generally called on the landline as did Gina since our cell reception wasn't the best out in the country where our house was located.

  The doorman buzzed Gina and Tristan's apartment. She was home and I went up. I thanked Marcus and told him not to worry about any repercussions from Trey. I told him to tell Trey I threatened him with his job.

  "Yeah right," he laughed, "He knows we're too tight for that. You calm down okay, Ty?"

  "I will be okay Marcus. Thanks for being a friend."

  I took the elevator up to our old apartment; it was bittersweet that that apartment Trey and I had once inhabited together had much better memories than our large, cold house in the country.

  Gina had the door open and was holding Reese in her arms when I came in. She immediately knew that something was seriously wrong.

  "What is it, Ty? You look like shit."

  "Thanks Gina; I knew I could depend on you."

  "What the fuck girlfriend! I haven't even seen you in more than a month? Not since you buried Marley."

  "Stop!" I shouted. "Don't go there!"

  I had startled Reese. He started crying leaning against Gina rooting for her breast.

  "It's okay, baby," she crooned to him, unbuttoning her shirt so that he could gain access. He latched on immediately, sucking loudly as he nursed.

  "Can I use your phone please?"

  "You came all the way into Atlanta to use my phone?"

  "My Blackberry died, Gina, can I please use yours?"

  "Go right ahead; are you going to tell me what the hell is going on?"

  "I will. I need to make this call first."

  Gina walked into the living room having handed me her Blackberry. I phoned my dad's cell number. I breathed a sigh of relief when he answered.

  "Dad, its Tylar. I'm calling from Gina's phone."

  The tears started flowing along with my hysteria. I didn't know where to begin with him. We had no history together but for now I needed a dad. I needed him.

  "Tylar, are you alright?"

  "No Daddy," I sobbed, "I'm not alright. I need to come home."

  Gina listened to everything I shared with my father on that phone call. I could see her tense up when she heard what I had observed Trey doing with Amber. She was nursing Reese trying to stay calm but I knew that she was ready to go off.

  After I got off the phone with my father Gina got up and took Reese to the nursery. The same nursery that had been Preston's when we lived here. How happy we had been here I thought. She returned in a few minutes after putting him down for a nap.

  "Ty," she said, her voice cracking with emotion. "Will you please sit down and talk to me?"

  I went over to the couch where she had gestured me to be seated. I sat down next to her. She turned and looked at me as if she hadn't seen me in years instead of weeks. She took my hands into hers and swallowed nervously.

  "I am so sorry for what you have gone through these past several weeks," she said to me softly. "I know that maybe I have been too tied up with Tristan and Reese to be there for you. I'm sorry," she said, starting to cry.

  "Gina - there is no need for you to apologize or to be upset," I told her. "This is my problem. I'm handling it."

  "No Ty - I don't think that you are. Look at you," she choked, tears running down her cheeks.

  "Well excuse me," I said annoyed, "But I've spent the better part of the day with horses and working in the barn, not to mention sprinting across the pasture after I discovered my husband kissing his junior partner in my house. I'm fucking sorry, Gina that I didn't take the time to fix my hair and reapply my make-up before making my visit here."

  "God damn it, Tylar! That is not what I'm talking about and you fucking know it! You are skin and bones. My God! Your eyes take up half of your face with the dark circles going on underneath them. You lost a child, girlfriend. That has to hurt."

  "How could I have lost a child that I never really had, Gina? It was more like a miscarriage. It happens."

  "You know better than that, Tylar. It was not a miscarriage and you damn well know it. That baby died in your womb. It wasn't your fault, but you need to face the facts here. Something terrible and entirely without reason happened to your baby. Tell me that you didn't love Preston before she was born? Before she could have even survived if she had been born early?"

  "Stop it Gina; stop it right now. I will not listen to this. It happened. It's over and done with and right now I don't want to think about it. If you are truly my friend you will get off of the subject and do it now. Do you understand?"

  She looked at me and her expression was a mix of fear and pity. I was not comfortable with either.

  "Have it your way, Ty. Eventually you will have to deal with it and the longer it takes the worse it is going to be."

  "Can I use your charger for my Blackberry?" I asked changing the subject. "My dad is going to be phoning me back."

  "Sure," she said getting up off of the couch to get her charger.

  I plugged it into the wall and immediately I got some beeps that I had text messages. I looked at the screen. They were from Trey.

  "We need to talk. Where are you?"

  That was followed by another one six minutes later.

  "Tylar I love you - please talk to me."

  Finally the last one had been sent about three minutes ago.

  "Please talk to me baby. I want to explain."

  Yeah right. What was there to explain? Trey had gone through a tough six-and-a-half months with me. Between the nausea and my tiredness and lack of sexual interest he had suffered the effects. I now knew how he rolled. That was that.

  "When will Tristan be home?" I suddenly thought to ask.

  "He is closing tonight, so it will be late. Why?"

  "You can't tell him that I was here. He will tell Trey."

  "Ty, don’t you think that Trey probably knows where you've gone? I'm surprised he hasn't called or shown up here by now."

  As if on cue her Blackberry chimed.

  "Holy shit. Speak of the devil."

  "Gina," I hissed, "You can't let him know that I am here. Even if you say that I'm not here he will hear the hostility in your voice. Please - do this for me?"

  She rolled her eyes as she answered his call.

  "Hey Trey," she greeted congenially, "What's up?"

  "What?"

  "Whoa - wait a minute; slow down Trey I'm not making heads or tails of what you're saying."

  (Gina was good. That was why she was my BFF.)

  "No Trey, I haven't seen her. I hate to admit this but I actually haven't seen her since Marley's graveside service. What the hell is going on?"

  I watched as Gina let him bury himself.

  "What are you saying? Why did she leave upset?"

  “What kind of a misunderstanding?”

  She paused and looked over at me rolling her eyes.
<
br />   “No, that’s okay – if you don’t feel like going into the details now I understand. If she calls or comes by I will let her know that you’re desperate to speak with her.”

  Gina ended the call and turned to me.

  “Trey is desperate to speak with you,” she said flatly. “There. I did what I said I would do. Would you like a glass of wine?”

  Thanks Gina,” I said relaxing back against the cushions on the sofa. “That sounds great.”

  I drank three glasses of wine enjoying the relaxing, numbing feeling that was sinking in. I stretched out on the sofa and drifted off to sleep while Gina went to make dinner for us. I wasn’t really hungry but she insisted I needed to eat and get some meat back on my bones.

  Gina roused me from my nap a little while later. My dad was on the phone. He had made all of my flight arrangements for tomorrow afternoon. He said he would be at the airport to pick me up. He asked me to try and calm down.

  (Fat chance!)

  I assured him that I would.

  Gina had made pasta salad so we sat down and ate in silence. I poured myself another glass of wine as I wolfed down the food. It was amazingly good. Gina had developed some domesticity along the way it appeared.

  “Ty – you need to let Trey know where you are and where you’re going. It’s the right thing to do. Plus, what are you going to do about Preston? It’s one thing to desert him; but you don’t want it to look like you deserted your daughter you know, well just in case –"

  “In case what, Gina?”

  “Well to be honest – in case you decide to divorce him. That’s all I’m saying. I mean you don’t want him using Preston as a weapon against you, right?”

  “I can’t think about any of that right now, Gina. My head is spinning. I will call him though. You’re right about that. I’ll let him know that I just got here and am spending the night. It is okay if I stay here tonight?”

  “Absolutely, Ty. You don’t even need to ask that question.”

  “I don’t have my clothes or anything though.”

  “Do you want me to ask Trey to bring some to you?”