“As much fun as we’re having, I’m already going to be super sore tomorrow, is it okay if we call it quits for tonight?” I looked at Brandon pleadingly and gave him my most winning smile. Laughing, he nodded and reached out for my hand to help me to the edge of the rink.
“No problem. Now we can go home and I can make you sore in a more pleasant way.”
I couldn’t stop the flood of warm and fuzzy feelings I was experiencing on this perfect night together. I felt like my arms were going to be black and blue from all the pinching I’d been doing to myself lately, checking to see if this was all a dream.
“Maybe this can be our first Christmas card together,” I said as I sat down on the bench to remove my ice skates. The sooner I had my feet back on solid ground again, the better.
Brandon grabbed the picture from me and pretended to scrutinize it closely. “I don’t know. I think this sweater makes me look fat.”
I laughed out loud and rolled my eyes at him. “If you aren’t ready for that, yet, you can just say so.”
He leaned over to kiss me lightly on the lips and gently tapped my nose with the picture. “I was just teasing, Babe. Let’s do it.”
CHAPTER TWO
Ryan: Did you buy a dress for NYE?
Me: Shit, no!
Ryan: Do you want to go before or after you get back from TX?
Me: Let’s go after. Dealing with DA stuff.
Ryan: Ew, no fun. I miss you!
Me: I know, I miss you too! We need a girls' night before I leave for TX.
Ryan: Wednesday? Max is working late all week. B still playing poker?
Me: Yeah. MoMo's?
Ryan: Consider it done!
*~*~*
“Babe, have you seen my keys?” Brandon asked as he came back into the bathroom.
“Um... no?”
“Shit, I can't find my keys,” he said, turning on his heels.
“Where was the last place you saw them?”
“I don't know but if I can't find them, you will be late for work.”
I stopped straightening my hair and searched the house for Brandon's keys. Brandon usually drove me to work every morning now, a pleasant routine I thoroughly enjoyed. I still rode the bus from work to the gym to meet Brandon for our nightly workouts and then we drove home together.
“Found them!” I shouted.
“Where were they?” Brandon walked back into the bedroom.
“In the jeans you wore yesterday,” I said, tossing his keys to him and dropping his jeans back into the dirty laundry basket.
If it wasn't his keys, it was his wallet. If it wasn't his wallet, it was his sunglasses. If it wasn't his sunglasses, it was his cell phone. This is what I had come to learn by living with Brandon for just a few weeks. I swear all men should have a man bag or the current term for them, a “murse” (i.e. a man purse).
“What would I do without you?”
“Walk to work?” I said as I stuck out my tongue at him.
*~*~*
“Hey, Ari, have you seen Brandon?” I asked as I arrived at the gym for our weekly massage appointment. Usually Brandon would meet me at the door and then we would walk to the spa together. Today, when I got to the gym, he wasn't waiting for me. I thought that maybe he had gone ahead to the spa to wait for me, but I didn't see him.
“I'm sorry, Ms. Marshall. I haven't seen him come by. Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve actually seen him come in at all today.”
“We are still scheduled for six, right?”
“Yes, in the couple's room as usual,” she said as she looked down at her computer, appearing to double check the schedule.
“Okay, thanks, Ari. If he shows up, please have him call me.”
I turned to leave, thinking I would check Brandon's office first. There were only a handful of places he could be. I had actually only been up to his office a few times since he always met me at the front door of the gym. This just wasn't like him. I started walking up the stairs to where Brandon and Jason both had their offices. There was an employee lounge and locker rooms upstairs as well.
Just as I reached the top of the stairs, I saw Brandon sitting in his office with the blinds open. He wasn't alone though, which made me pause. I really should stop coming to my boyfriend's office unannounced. I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach as I watched them through his window.
Brandon was leaning back in his chair with his arms crossed over his chest as a tan blonde with long hair wearing a hot pink tank top and tight black yoga pants leaned over the front of his desk. Why did it always seem that when I showed up at my boyfriend's office, I was doomed to walk in on him cheating? When I had walked in on TravAss banging his secretary on his desk, I thought my world was falling apart. Was I that unlucky to have the same thing happen to me once again?
I stood there frozen in my tracks for a moment, just watching. I didn't know what to do. Maybe she was just a client and they were talking about gym stuff. I mean, it didn't look like any flirting was going on––and then the blonde flipped her hair over her shoulder and leaned her chest closer to his face. From any female perspective, she was blatantly flirting.
My body instantly tensed up. How was Brandon going to react? Yes, women have eyed him and were constantly giving him flirtatious looks. Some even had the nerve to flirt with him in front of me when we went out together, but I had never seen them flirt from afar when I wasn’t at his side. I felt my heart rate spike and my palms became sweaty. Feeling warm, I glanced down at my chest to see that it had turned a bright red.
Then Brandon glanced at his watch and looked out the window straight to where I was standing. This was it––the moment of truth. Was he going to act like a deer caught in headlights and start scrambling and making excuses to cover his tracks? I reminded myself that he hadn’t touched her, which gave me hope this was all just a big misunderstanding in my head.
When our eyes met, a smile broke on his face. Relief flooded through me. It made me smile instantly in return. As the blonde turned her head to see where he was looking, I realized who it was: Mrs. Robinson. Wow, this cougar wouldn’t give up, would she? Brandon motioned for me to come in and I quickly started walking forward to his office to stake my claim.
Through the blinds, I saw Brandon stand up from behind his desk and walk towards the door. He opened it just as I reached his office, stretched out his arm and took my right hand, lacing our fingers tightly together.
“Teresa, you remember my girlfriend, Spencer?”
“Yes... yes, Spencer, how nice to see you again,” she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.
“Nice to see you again as well,” I said in the sweetest voice possible as I smiled at her with narrowed eyes. “Sorry for interrupting, but we have our six o'clock...” I said as I turned to Brandon.
“Right. You’ll have to excuse me, Teresa, but Spencer and I have an important appointment to get to,” Brandon said firmly while stepping out the door with me in tow.
“Okay, just let me know if you change your mind,” she said as she reached out and rubbed Brandon's arm when she started to walk past him. What was it with this lady? She had a very bad habit of constantly touching my boyfriend.
“I won’t,” Brandon said firmly.
“Well, the offer still stands if things change,” she said as she finally turned around to walk down the hall.
“Again, Teresa, they won’t. You have a nice day.”
Mrs. Robinson walked down the hall with a little swish in her hips. Really lady? You're like ninety. Okay, not that old, but for the love of God, find someone else to prowl on.
“What does she want this time?” I asked as Brandon turned off the lights in his office and locked the door.
“She is having a New Year's Eve party at her house to which she invited me and some of my staff – mostly guys.”
“Of course,” I murmured.
“What?”
“Oh... nothing.”
“Anyway, I told her that we we
re going to be in Seattle for the gym opening and we wouldn’t make it.”
“We?”
“Of course, we. I wouldn’t go without you, Babe,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
“Good,” I said as I smiled. “But I wouldn’t want to go anyway because I don’t share.”
“Trust me, you have nothing to worry about.”
“I wouldn’t want to have to kick Grandma’s ass,” I said jokingly.
“Come on, silly girl,” he said as he steered me towards the spa. I swear I heard him whisper “grandma” under his breath as he chuckled and shook his head.
*~*~*
“Cheers, ladies,” I toasted to Ryan and Becca.
I talked Becca into coming out with me and Ryan to MoMo's Wednesday night while Brandon and Jason were playing their weekly poker game. She and Jason had put baby makin' on hold until after the New Year. Both our men had been very busy these past few weeks in preparation for the grand opening of the Seattle gym.
“I can’t wait to see the new gym and party with all my friends,” I said, continuing the toast.
Not only were the four of us going to Seattle for the grand opening of the Seattle gym and to party on New Year's Eve, but Ryan and Max were going, too.
“This is going to be epic!” Ryan squealed.
The hotel we were staying at that weekend in Seattle was hosting a huge New Year’s Eve party on the top floor, overlooking the city. Ryan, Becca and I had just come from Nordstrom where we each picked out our dresses for NYE.
Becca found a royal blue dress that draped in a strap over her left shoulder and down to just above her knees. The strap was coated with sapphire beads that were sure to sparkle on the dance floor. Ryan chose a black dress with a buoyant skirt, sheer stripes running across the bottom of it. When she turned around, the dress came down in a V, stopping in the middle of her back. I was able to find a grey tulle fit-and-flare dress with dazzling gold sequins showering the strapless bodice and an ethereal skirt tied with a gleaming satin ribbon.
“So, what's going on with bat-shit crazy Christy?” Becca asked before she popped a piece of calamari into her mouth.
“When I last spoke with the DA, he told me that she had admitted to having an accomplice.”
Christy had been serving time in the local county jail for almost a month. I had met with the DA to go over the facts of what happened on that horrific day. The District Attorney told me that Christy admitted to trying to kill me and was seeking an insanity plea. He also said that she had been planning to kill me from the day she faked the ultrasound.
He wouldn't give me the person's name, but said she had admitted to an accomplice and they were investigating. Her attorney was trying to settle out of court and have her sent to a psychiatric hospital instead of letting a jury determine her fate. I knew she was crazy, but I wouldn't say she needed to be in a psych ward. She needed to pay for what she put both me and Brandon through, but especially me.
“Wow, who is it?” Becca asked.
“He wouldn't tell me,” I said, taking a sip of my Cosmopolitan.
“Did they arrest someone else?” Ryan chimed in.
“Not that I know of. Like I said, he wouldn't tell me who it is. I didn't see another person while everything was going down. I mean, yeah, she told me she ‘brought help’ but everything happened so fast and I didn't see anyone else.”
“I'm so sorry, Spencer. If I had known she was crazy, I would have said something,” Becca said. “She was always nice to me. I didn't really care for her and she was totally wrong for Brandon, but I really didn't think she would try to kill anyone.”
“I know, Brandon has apologized over and over,” I said, eating some of the calamari. “No one knew how crazy she was. Thank God she wasn't really pregnant,” I said, chuckling in an attempt to make light of the subject.
“Oh my God, can you imagine if she was? That poor baby would have been so messed up,” Ryan said and then took a sip of her Cosmopolitan.
“Brandon has a good head on his shoulders and his parents are really good people,” Becca said. “I have known them for almost as long as I have known Brandon and they would have made sure that baby was raised right.”
“Well, thank God, we don't have to deal with that.”
Since the day Christy had tried to kill me, I had thanked God for not only being alive, but also for the fact that she had actually been faking her pregnancy. I honestly think that in the end, Christy would have won and caused us to break up. Even though I love Brandon with all my heart, having to deal with her constantly because of the baby would have probably driven a wedge in our relationship.
I just wanted to put this all behind us and move on. Brandon and I were headed to his family's house in Texas for Christmas and then off to Seattle for New Year's Eve. Ryan and Max were getting married next year and I knew deep down that everything was going to turn out the way it was supposed to.
CHAPTER THREE
White lights sparkled on the Christmas tree in the lobby of the BKJB offices as we arrived for my company's first annual holiday party. I wore the strapless ivory lace dress that I found at Macy's a few weeks prior and Brandon was dressed in dark jeans and a black striped button down shirt. This particular look of his reminded me of Vegas and every time I saw him in that shirt, I thought about our first dance. I really loved when he wore that black shirt.
I spotted a few of my closest work friends huddled around the bar. Brandon and I made our way over so that I could introduce him to my “other” family.
Bel was a little Honduran firecracker and a huge flirt. She was never shy about approaching a man. With her dark brown hair, gorgeous brown eyes and dedication to sports, guys couldn’t resist her.
Bel and Carroll almost always hung out together after work and on Saturday nights, you could usually find them hitting bars and clubs together and just having a good time. Carroll had blonde hair and blue eyes and her luscious lips always attracted men. It seemed that every time I went out with them, I would catch her making out with a guy. She also had that New York accent that tended to get her a lot of attention from the Cali boys.
“Hey guys, Merry Christmas. You all look fantastic!”
“Merry Christmas to you as well, Spencer,” Sue said warmly. “And who’s this with you?” She reached out to shake Brandon’s hand and gave it a friendly squeeze.
Sue was originally from Australia. She moved to San Francisco a few years ago, but still had an accent. I was still trying to get used to hearing it. She was the funny one in our group, quick with the witty comebacks and always making us laugh.
“This is my boyfriend, Brandon,” I said, unable to keep myself from beaming proudly as Brandon nodded and shook each one’s hand, giving them one of his famous panty-dropping smiles. The ladies were all sizing him up and more than likely undressing him with their eyes. I think I even saw Bel drool a little. “Brandon, this is Bel, Amanda, Sue, and Carroll,” I said as I made the necessary introductions.
“Ladies, it's a pleasure.”
“It's nice to finally meet you, Brandon. Spencer has told us so much about you,” Amanda said.
Amanda was one of the sweetest people I'd ever met. During my TravAss ordeal, she brought me coffee each morning just to cheer me up. She was the main reason I had been able to continue going in to work instead of staying home “sick”, feeding my face with mint chocolate chip ice cream all day while watching court TV. Of course, after work, I had still gone home and fed my face with ice cream.
“All good things, I hope,” Brandon said teasingly as he secretly pinched my butt and smiled.
“They wouldn't tell you even if I said bad things,” I said, laughing. “Excuse us. We'll be back in a bit –– need to grab a drink real quick.” Turning away from the group of ladies, I tugged Brandon towards the bar.
We stepped up to the complimentary open bar and ordered a glass of the Chardonnay for me and a bottle of Bud Light for Brandon. I realized as I scanned the lobby of our of
fice that even though we started as a small company, we were growing every day. Our website had taken off and we had to hire multiple people just to update our Facebook page and Twitter account on a daily basis.
Bel and Carroll oversaw the Twitter account and Amanda and Sue worked on keeping the Facebook page up-to-date. Since I was dating a personal trainer and owner of a gym, my boss had given me new responsibilities that I was to start in the new year. Skye was now letting me write my own articles each month about new workout routines. During the workweek, I would give the Facebook and Twitter departments a new move to post daily and then at the end of the month, I would write an article that combined each move for our online newsletter.
Skye had given me free range to write about whatever I wanted. If I wanted to talk swimming, I could. If I wanted to talk kickboxing, I could do that, too. Brandon was excited to help me and at the gym each night, we would go over what I would talk about the next day.
With our drinks in hand, we made our way back to my friends. “Are you working tomorrow, Bel?” I asked as we approached.
“Yep, want to do lunch?”
“Sounds good.”
Sue was flying home to Australia for the holidays, Amanda was going back to Utah and Carroll was headed to New York. The office was sure to be deserted and have a few hungover people.
Brandon and I weren't flying to Houston until Saturday and I was actually looking forward to the trip. For Brandon’s Christmas present, I bought us tickets to the Dallas Cowboys game on Sunday. I coordinated it with Aimee for her and Robert to come along with Blake and a date.
We sat at an open table and continued to mingle with my friends as we enjoyed some of the delicious appetizers that were provided. I enjoyed having Brandon at my side as he laughed, teased and joked with everyone, putting all of my friends at ease. If they weren’t already head over heels for him, I knew they would be by the end of the evening.
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