Truth or Lies

by JA Johnston

  “I’m finished.”

  “Okay. Everyone is just excited for us, but I will handle them and reign them all in. I can’t help with the tired part, something tells me, this is just the beginning for us both in that department.” He smirks. “Now, how badly are you swollen?” He furrows his brows in concern.

  “Not that bad, I can get my wedding band on, but not my engagement ring. My shoes start to bother me after lunch, so I try to prop my feet up in my office, but that is uncomfortable.” I shake my head. “I’m just not comfortable.”

  “Well, I’m not the one carrying our children, but I can assume it’s not a vacation. I know you’re not sleeping well at night because it keeps me awake.” He places a finger against my lips, “Don’t interrupt. I know you try to keep quiet, but I am your husband and I will be uncomfortable with you.” He chides.

  I roll my eyes. “I’m sorry.” I peck his lips, “Will you forgive me for my childish outburst?”

  “I forgive you, but I think you may need to go say something to Dan and Adam.” He suggests.

  We walk back into the conference room when all of a sudden, this woman whom I’ve never seen before walks over to Lucas and wraps her arms around his neck and places a kiss on his lips. Not a quick kiss, but a deep passionate kiss. Once, she disengages her lips off of my husband she looks into his eyes, “Hi sexy! Did you miss me?”

  What the fuck? Who the hell is this? I don’t even want to know. Lucas thought I was already in a bad mood, well now I’m just pissed. P-I-S-S-E-D-! I’m not sure when Lucas let go of my hand, but I’m glad it’s free. “Excuse me.” I say sweetly, “But take your damn hands off of my husband.”

  She turns and looks at me. Eyes me up and down with a smirk on her face. I eye her as well, she’s a beautiful brunette, pretty blue eyes, dressed in fitted clothes, nails perfectly manicured with red polish. That smirk is still there, that’s it.

  I make a fist and with all the strength I can muster up, I aim at her face. At that smirk. My knuckles crack upon impact of her jaw, pain travels up through my hand to my arm. She stumbles backward but doesn’t fall. “You BITCH!” She yells and lunges at me.

  Lucas’ stands between us, facing me, wrapping his arms around my stomach, around our children. I see Adam and Dan, out of the corner of my eye, rush over to the woman. “Lisa, stop.” I hear Adam yell at her, but I can’t see.

  “She hit me! You saw! You all saw! She attacked me!”

  “You threw yourself at her husband.” Dan states rather dryly. “You’re lucky she didn’t get another punch in.”

  I’m shaking. My whole body is shaking. I can feel the blood rushing through my veins. I can hear my heartbeat drumming in my ears. My hand is pulsing with pain; my muscles are tense. My brows furrow in pain as I feel the beginning of a headache. My vision is blurring.

  “Amelia.” Lucas is holding me, looking into my eyes. He seems so far away, so far away. He’s getting blurrier as the room is getting smaller.

  I can hear my name being called over and over again. I wonder who it is? Anger. I hear it when my name is said. Anger. Anger is flowing through me. Anger at who attacked me.

  I wake up in Lucas’ office. On the couch, on my side, my head in his lap. A blanket is covering me. He’s running his fingers through my hair. It’s quiet, I don’t see or hear anyone. I feel only my husband. My husband who protected me from being attacked.

  Attacked by a woman who threw herself at him and kissed him. I remember when he looked at me, red lipstick stained his lips. Her fingers painted the same color of red. I can feel the beat of my heart speeding up. Who was she? Why did he let her kiss him?

  “Amelia? Please calm down.” Lucas’ voice is pleading and full of concern.

  “Who is she?” I ask coarsely. I can feel the heat and anger pulsating in my neck. The fire that flowed through my veins is beginning to reignite.

  “We need to get to the hospital before I tell you that.” He’s rubbing my back now. “Julie has high blood pressure, so she has a cuff in her desk. We took your blood pressure when you passed out. I had to call the doctor, your blood pressure was one hundred sixty over one hundred ten. So please, can we get up and go.”

  I can hear Lucas fighting back tears. My blood pressure is not good at all and I do realize this. Okay, I can get up. My babies are more important than that red nailed bitch.

  I push myself up into a sitting position. “Just sit here a second, I’ve got a wheelchair for you.” Lucas stands and wheels it over.

  “I don’t need a wheelchair. I can walk.” I sound pissy.

  “I’m sure you can, but I’m thinking about you and our children right now. A car is downstairs waiting.” I take his outstretched hand reluctantly. I am trying so hard to not let my emotions overwhelm me again, but my mind is racing in all directions at the moment.

  Dan and Alex are just outside the office. The others in the office look up with concern as Lucas wheels me out. No one talks as we make our way towards and down the elevator. I watch Lucas as he helps me into the car. He looks scared. Extremely scared.

  The ride to the hospital is about 15 minutes. Lucas is holding my hand, stroking the top with his thumb. My hand aches. My knuckles and fingers tingling. I look at my hand, it’s red and slightly swollen.

  We pull up to the emergency room doors. As we enter, we are quickly brought to the back. Not long after I’ve changed into a gown, a blood pressure cuff is placed on my arm.

  As the machine roars its ugly sound and squeezes my arm, we watch the lines on the monitor turn to numbers, counting down.

  Doctor Pfaffenbach enters the room just as the number is revealed. One hundred forty-five over one hundred. “That number is still high, but from what I’m told, it’s come down.” He says in a dry tone.

  The doctor makes no small talk as he takes out his stethoscope and listens to my heart before he moves to the babies. “Any contractions? Tightening?” He asks.

  “No.” I say calmly.

  He takes notice of my hand. “What did you do to your hand?”

  “I punched someone.” I say with no emotion. What does that have to do with anything?

  Doctor Pfaffenbach looks at me wide eyed. “You punched someone?” He looks from me to Lucas. Lucas just shakes his head yes. He hasn’t talked to me since we left the office. “I don’t need to know the particulars but obviously whatever caused you to punch this person could not have been that bad. It may have seemed like it. Your pregnancy hormones are heightening your emotions. You need to remember that and not give into extreme emotions.” He sighs, “It’s not good for you or the babies.”

  “Are they,” Lucas pauses “Amelia and the babies, okay?” I hear a low quiver in his voice.

  “I’m keeping her here for another hour or so and we’ll see how her blood pressure is. I don’t see a concern right now. I do believe it’s her emotions getting the better of her.” He turns and looks at Lucas, “I’ll let you stay, but she must remain calm. Probably a day or two at home, stress-free.” He walks towards the door. “I’ll be back to check on you.”

  “Lucas,” I begin as he moves towards the bed.

  He just looks at me and shakes his head no. “We’ll talk at home, not here.” He pulls the chair close the bed and entwines his hand with mine. His other hand lays just below my belly. “I need you, Amelia. I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you.” His voice cracks with emotion. “We’ll talk at home, right now, just rest and calm down. Don’t think about anything. If you have to think about something, think about our children, Courtney and Lucas.” He lays his forehead against the bed, beside my stomach.

  I just lay there and stare at the top of his head. Listening to the sounds of the hospital. The beeps of the monitors attached to me. My husband’s breathing, watching the rise and fall of his back as he breathes. The roaring mechanical sound of the cuff comes to life and squeezes my bicep.

  It’s around eight in the evening when we arrive home. Lucas walks me upstairs and
helps me to bed before he heads back downstairs to bring us something to eat. While he’s downstairs I check my phone. I have a text message from Dan and Alex. One phone call from Grams.

  Oh, Grams! I quickly hit the call button and she answers immediately. “AMELIA!” she shouts.

  “I’m sorry if I scared you, Grams.” My voice is choked with emotion.

  “Are you okay? The babies?”

  “I’m fine, we’re fine.”

  “What happened?”

  “I’m not entirely sure, so I would rather not talk about it until Lucas and I discuss it.”

  “You don’t know? What do you have to discuss?”

  “I’m not sure Grams, but I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know. I just wanted to let you know that I’m home and I’m fine, we’re fine.” What would happen to Grams if something happened to me? We’re all each other has. “I love you, Grams.”

  “Oh, I love you, my precious girl. Get some rest and we’ll talk tomorrow. I love you.” I hear her sigh, “Please rest and talk with Lucas.”

  “I will. Goodnight Grams.”

  “Goodnight.”

  Lucas is standing beside the bed with a tray that holds two grilled cheese sandwiches, fruit, and water. He sits on the bed beside me as we eat, in silence. The silent treatment is killing me. We have never been like this and I don’t like it. I begin to choke as my emotions begin to overtake me. Tears well up in my eyes.

  Lucas quickly takes the tray away and wraps me in his arms. “Please don’t. I’m right here. I’ve got you.”

  “Who,” I choke back a sob. “Who is she?”

  He doesn’t respond straight away, but he knows to whom I am referring to. “Adam’s aunt.”

  Adams’s aunt. I’m letting this sink into my brain, trying to figure her relationship with Lucas, when he tells me. “Before I met you, I was in a relationship with her.” He runs his one hand down his face. “I’m not sure if I would call it a relationship. It was just sex.”

  My ear is against his heart and I can hear it pounding. His breathing has become heavier. Sex? Sex with Adam’s aunt. I’m not even sure how to respond. “How old is she?”

  “I’m not sure, fifty or so.”

  Fifty. “When?”

  “I was nineteen. I had gone out of town with Uncle Alex. Lisa, Adam’s aunt, was in the same city we were for a conference. I hung out with her at times when I was not able to be in meetings with them.” He pauses. “After a couple of days, one thing lead to another.”

  “Why?”

  “I was nineteen. Not very experienced in the sex department and she made it,” he paused again, “exciting, intriguing. I learned a lot from her.”

  “For how long were the two of you” I clear my throat. Do I want to know? “together?”

  “One year.” He tightens his hold on me. “I was not in love with her. We were not exclusive either, I dated, I’m sure she did as well. But she was moving overseas, so it ended. I was not upset about it.” He sighs, “Then, I saw you.” His voice rises, “And I was so damn glad she was gone because I knew the moment I laid my eyes on you, that I wanted to know you. Everything about you.”

  “Was I…” what am I going to ask, I couldn’t possibly, “a rebound? Things just ended with her and you set your eyes on me.”

  “No.” He sits up, turns and holds me by my shoulders. “God no. You are no rebound. You’re my everything. It took almost a year before I was even able to get close enough to introduce myself to you.” He leans down so we’re nose to nose. “That moment I finally caught your eye, I knew. I knew I had found the woman that I love. The woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.”

  “She kissed you. She threw her arms around you and called you sexy. Her hands were wrapped around your neck, those red nails clawing at your neck.” I stare at him with my tear-filled eyes, “your lips were stained red from her lipstick.” Tears begin to break free and slide down my cheek, “you didn’t stop her.”

  “Amelia, please listen. Please don’t cry. I did not kiss her, she may have kissed me, but I did not kiss her. I pulled her hands away from me and stepped back. But by that time, you were already staring at her like you were going to kill her.”

  “All I saw was red. All I heard was bitch.” It’s coming back to me, “The only other person to call me that was David. David Sawyer. The night he attacked me at the diner.” I say in a shaky voice.

  “We had all gone out that night after the football game. Dan, Mitch, Rose, David and myself. I got up to use the restroom, when I went to return to the table, he grabbed me in the hallway and pulled me outback.” The evening was slightly warm; summer was ending and autumn beginning. “I never felt comfortable around him, so I made sure to never be alone with him. Not sure why he chose that night. Especially since there was a group of us. Thankfully, Dan and his dad taught Sam and myself how to defend ourselves.” I take a deep breath, “I didn’t know how much longer I was going to be able to hold him off.”

  “Dan came and the others. I know, you’ve told me, Dan has told me.”

  “He kept calling me a bitch, over and over again.” I look into his eyes, “She called me a bitch Lucas. She was wrapped around you.” Not sure where I am going with this, “I love you and I wasn’t in a good mood, to begin with. She just set me off. I wanted to hurt her, for how she was hurting me. I felt like she was trying to take you away. That you wanted her and not me.”

  “Amelia, no one is taking me away from you. Ever!” He kisses my forehead. “I don’t know why Lisa was there. I don’t know why she kissed me. I haven’t seen her in years. Haven’t thought of her in years.” He rubs our noses together. “After you passed out, Adam took her out of the conference room.” He sighs. “I haven’t talked to him, but he texted and asked about you.”

  “I passed out?”

  “God, you scared me. The look on your face. Your eyes, I saw anger, then they were empty and you collapsed in my arms. The entire floor seemed to be outside that conference room door wanting to know what all the commotion was about.”

  I truly do not understand how I’ve let my emotions take such a strong hold of me today. It’s been like this for weeks. I know I’m tired, I’m getting bigger, “Do you still find me attractive?” Lucas hasn’t touched me for two weeks. “We haven’t had sex or made love in a while.”

  “Is that why you’ve been in a mood?” He shakes his head. “You’ve been tired and falling asleep as soon as your head hits the pillow. Believe me, I want you. I want all of you. You’re so damn beautiful.” He says as his eyes trail down my body, then back up as his eyes linger on my breasts. “There’s so much of you I want to explore, I want to taste all your changes.”

  “Taste?” I ask with humor. He said taste.

  “Your breasts have gotten huge.” He bites his lips, “I want to see them, feel them, taste them.” He says hungrily as his hand cups my breast. I moan and lean my chest up into his hand. I want him and I want him to taste me, devour me. I put my hand behind his neck and pull him for a kiss.

  Oh, this day is going to end better than it began.

  Seventeen years, five months

  I AM UNPACKING. Yes, unpacking my things. I’ve moved in with Adam. After opening up and sharing my past with him, he asked me to move in. I hesitated, but as he pointed out, I was already living there. I spent every night with him, my apartment just held furniture and some clothes.

  My lease had already expired, so it did make sense. Now, we are trying to fit my things in with his. We compromised on what to keep or get rid of. Adam had a lot nicer things, but he said my things made it more “lived in”.

  Adam and I have gone shopping for more storage items since we’ve combined our belongings. But in reality, we went shopping for a bigger condo or apartment. “Why are we moving? I just moved in with you.” I state. I really don’t want to pack again.

  “The condo is fine, but not a lot of room if we want to have people over.” He says looking at me. “That is, do you w
ant to have people over? To entertain?”

  I look up and smile into those beautiful hazel eyes, “Yes. I want to invite people over. To entertain. Maybe Thanksgiving or a Christmas party?”

  “We’re going to my parents for Thanksgiving.” He reminds me. “But Christmas sounds like a plan. So, we really should get someplace bigger for a tree and people to move around in.” He smiles.

  “Okay.”

  But after almost a whole day, we did not find anything that was appealing. A couple of days later, Adam strolls into my office. “Can I interest you in lunch?” he asks.

  I was focused on the financial report, “Yes, that sound great. Let me just finish this and we can go.” Once I save and close the report on the computer, I’m standing and Adam is holding my coat open for me. I smile as I walk towards him and kiss him, “Thank you”.

  We’re talking as he drives so I haven’t been paying attention to where we’re going until I notice that we are in a neighborhood. “Umm, Adam, these are houses, not restaurants.” I laugh lightly.

  “I know.” He says with a grin and pulls into a driveway.

  We are sitting in front of a craftsman style house. It looks like new construction. “Are we visiting someone?” I ask cautiously, I wish he had said something about that.

  He gets out of the car and opens my door once he reaches my side. He is wearing a big smile. “Come on.” He takes my hand as we proceed up the walkway. I admire the woodwork and huge front porch that has overstuffed cushioned wicker furniture placed looking out the front yard.

  I turn and look at the view. It’s a peaceful street, big yard and lots of trees. I wonder who lives here. Adam is pulling me through the front door. “You didn’t knock or ring the bell Adam. You can’t just do that.” I say harshly.

  There’s no furniture as I look at the home before me. It’s an open floor plan, you can see from the front door all the way to the kitchen and back porch. There’s a dining room to my left, a living area in front of me that has a coffered ceiling and huge doors on the outside wall that open to a covered deck. An entrance to a hallway on my right, and a huge kitchen to the left of the living area.