Sleeping Roses

by RaShelle Workman

  She noticed he seemed a little worse for wear. His thick hair was ruffled and his shirt rumpled. It occurred to her he hadn’t been able to sleep in his bed last night. By the looks of him, she wondered if he’d slept at all. Finally, she answered, “Yes, I’m starving.”

  He seemed to have noticed her appraisal of him because he began combing his hair with one hand and trying to tuck in his shirt with the other. "Great. What would you like? I have eggs, bagels, and cantaloupe.”

  She smiled. “All of it. It all sounds good.” She paused, feeling awkward. “But, first, do you mind if I use your bathroom? I’d like to shower and other things, if you don’t mind.”

  “Of course. Sure, not at all,” he said, obviously understanding her plight. “In fact, let me get you something to change into.” He scooted past her, going through the bedroom door and opening a drawer in his dresser. He pulled out a shirt, a pair of sweat pants and a pair of socks. Laying them gingerly on the bed, he said, “You can put these on if you’d like. I’m sure they’ll be way to big, but they are clean.”

  Smiling coyly at him, she asked, “Would you, by chance, have anything for underneath these clothes as well?”

  He stared at her, bewildered. She guessed he worked to figure out what she meant.

  Clarifying, she said, “Underwear?”

  “Oh, right.” He pulled open another drawer, handing her a pair of boxer shorts. “Hopefully these will work.”

  She grinned. “Thank you. Now if you’ll excuse me,” she said, gently pushing him toward the door.

  “Right. Okay, yes. I’ll start breakfast.”

  She closed the door, laughing quietly. She enjoyed seeing him flustered. Payback, she thought, remembering the day she’d helped Phillip in the theater. Although I think I still got the shorter end of the stick. She showered quickly. Dressing was a bit more difficult. Everything was too big, even with the growing bump on her belly. Finally, though, she worked it out, and as she put on his socks, the aroma of cooking bacon struck her nose.

  Yummy, she thought hungrily.

  When she entered the kitchen, Phillip took one look at her and started laughing.

  “I told you they wouldn’t fit. You look like you’re drowning.”

  “Almost, but I worked it out. See?” she laughed back.

  “Come over and sit down. I hope you like your eggs scrambled.” He placed a plate full of eggs, bacon, bagels and cantaloupe on the counter in front of her.

  She sat on a stool and pulled the plate to her. She ate two big bites before realizing he wasn’t eating. “Aren’t you going to eat?” she asked, trying to swallow her food.

  “I’ve already eaten. Go ahead.”

  “I will.” She took a bite of toast, then some cantaloupe. “This is delicious,” she said, smiling at him.

  “I’m glad you like it. I’ve always thought breakfast should be eaten at night. It tastes better.”

  She nodded in agreement, her mouth too full to say anything.

  After breakfast, they decided to watch Top Gun. The movie was one of her favorites. About half way through it, though, they started talking. She enjoyed being with him; although it puzzled her she felt comfortable and excited at the same time. It was a concept she was still trying to understand, even though she wasn’t complaining.

  “Sophie, where did you go?”

  “I was just thinking again,” she uttered.

  “Oh, thinking, huh?” he questioned, leaning in, kissing her.

  She hesitated, but only a moment. This is Phillip, not David. Need quivered low in her belly. And ignoring all the reasons she shouldn’t kiss him, she responded eagerly. Swinging her leg over his lap, she sat, sliding into him. He groaned and pulled her closer, his hands going under the sweatshirt. She let his tongue tease its way into her mouth, grabbing his hair. He moved his lips to her neck. She bit her lip, letting out a moan.

  “Sophie,” he murmured between kisses.

  Their eyes found each other’s. She read the question in his eyes: “Did she want to continue?”

  And she did, more than anything, but . . . She leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. Shyly, she climbed off.

  He seemed reluctant to let her go. “Sophie, I think we need to talk.”

  “As opposed to what we’ve been doing,” she purred lightly.

  “What I mean is, and I think you know this, but we need to talk about us,” he returned seriously.

  “What about us,” she asked softly, not really wanting to go there with him right now.

  “Sophie,” he started, turning his head sideways, looking into her eyes, “You don’t seem like the kind of person who’d kiss someone without meaning it, and I could be wrong, but our kiss seemed full of meaning to me. Am I wrong?”

  She shook her head no, momentarily lacking the power she needed to open her mouth and speak. How can I tell him I have feelings for him, when I’m in such a mess with my life right now, she pondered soberly. She lifted her eyes to meet his and was struck by the love she saw in them. She was paralyzed by her feelings.

  “Sophie, I’m falling in love with . . .”

  She kissed him, wanting desperately for him to finish the sentence, but feeling equally unprepared for it as well.

  Not yet, she thought. Not yet.

  #

  Sophie took a taxi from Phillips house to the nearest Mall. She knew teaching in Phillip’s sweats was out of the question, and she knew she wasn’t supposed to go home yet. Quickly finding a casual pantsuit, she paid for it, then checked herself into a hotel for the night.

  Morning hadn’t come soon enough. She’d had a lot of strange dreams, all having to do with her mom and dad, except one. Strangely, it the one she remembered most, she’d dreamt about her baby. She assumed it was her baby, anyway. Her mom held the baby on her hip and spoke softly. She wasn’t able to understand what her mom said, but knew she spoke about the baby because she kept looking from it, to her, and back at the baby. She wished she understood.

  “Too odd for me to figure out right now,” she uttered, a little irritated. She wasn’t sure why she was irritated, either. Pushing the dream aside, she quickly hurried to get ready for school.

  #

  “Hello,” Sophie said, knocking on Rina’s already opened door.

  “Hi, yourself,” Rina replied, looking up from some paperwork. “How have you been?” Sophie asked, trying to sound casual.

  “Apparently, not as good as you. You look like you’re about to burst. What’s going on?”

  Sophie told her about the red roses on her desk at school, the hundreds of red roses she found on her porch later that same day and about how Phillip had come to help her.

  When she seemed done, Rina questioned, “And this has made you giddy because . . .”

  “No, it doesn’t make me giddy at all. Silly,” she retorted, knowing she acted evasive and childish, but enjoyed the tortured look on Rina’s face. “I’m happy because I spent some time with Phillip this weekend. At his house. In his clothes.”

  “How did that go?”

  “It was nice.”

  “Sophie, for goodness sake. Spill. What happened?”

  She tried to contain a laugh. Rina looked ready to come unglued. Demurely, she answered, “He made me breakfast, we talked and . . .”

  “And?” Rina interjected.

  “Oh, all right, we kissed,” Sophie exclaimed, knowing she probably looked and sounded more immature than most of the students in the high school.

  “You kissed? I’m guessing it was good?”

  “Seriously, Rina, it was more than good. It was the most amazing experience I’ve ever had.”

  “Wow. Okay? Rina inquired slowly. She didn’t seem excited.

  “It was great. Aren’t you happy for me? I thought you would be.”

  “Oh, I’m happy for you, honey. I’m also concerned about you.”

  Sophie stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

  “Look, dear, obviously this is good ne
ws. Great news, in fact, but at the same time, it seems trivial compared with the fact that your husband doesn’t seem to want to let you go. He seems to be getting more demented by the minute, and I think you need to focus on stopping David.”

  “Trust me, I’m focused on David. He’s almost all I can think about. But this weekend, I enjoyed myself. I was happy,” she stated, feeling deflated. Without meaning to, Rina had encouraged the waves of reality to come crashing down on her momentary happiness.

  “I know, honey, and I want you to be happy. You deserve it.”

  “But,” she prompted, knowing Rina wasn’t done.

  “No buts. I’m just wondering if you’ve told Phillip you’re pregnant.”

  She was about to respond when she heard, "You’re pregnant?”

  Phillip walked around to face Sophie and continued, “Is it true? Are you pregnant?”

  She nodded, the look on his face breaking her heart. She wondered if Rina had known he was there, but hoped she didn’t. To Phillip, she said quietly, “Yes, it’s true, I’m pregnant.” Why didn’t I tell him, she wondered. She felt the pieces of her heart falling sharply into the pit of her stomach, because right before her eyes, his face changed from shock to betrayal. She reached out and put a hand on his arm, “I should’ve told you, Phillip.”

  He gave her an empty smile as he shoved the bouquet of lilies he held into her arms, “Congratulations.” Then purposely, he stepped around her and left the office.

  As she turned to watch him go, Rina said faintly, “Damn it. I’m sorry, hon.”

  Sophie looked down at the flowers. “They’re beautiful,” she declared sadly, willing herself not to cry. She realized, though, two things were certain. She had to make him understand, and she needed him to know she loved him too.

  #

  With classes done for the day, Sophie went looking for Phillip. She wanted to apologize one more time. Feeling awful all day, she didn’t want to leave things the way they were. Once she arrived at his classroom door, she fumbled with the doorknob, opening it slightly. Poking her head in, she looked around to see if he was there. Sure enough, he was there and he wasn’t alone.

  She quickly pulled her head back and started walking to her car. The image seared on her brain was Phillip and another woman in each other's arm.

  A warm embrace, she thought despondently. He is as corrupt as David!

  At her car, Sophie got in, slamming the door shut. She turned the engine on and stopped. She wasn’t sure what to do next. Phillip had asked her to come over to his house again tonight.

  “After what I just saw, Phillip is out of the question!”

  Self-pity came on, and she wanted to wallow in it. Why? She asked herself over and over. Why do these things happen to me? There was only one place she wanted to go right now. She wanted to go home.

  Dialing her cell phone, she called Detective Oborn.

  When she answered, Sophie said, “Hello detective, this is Sophie Berkeley.”

  “Hi Sophie. I was about to call you. What’s up?”

  Calmly, she asked, “I wondered if I can go home?”

  “Absolutely. We’ve done all we need to at your house. You can go back anytime.”

  “I guess you didn’t find anything.”

  “Nothing we didn’t expect to find. We are hoping whoever ordered all of those flowers left a paper trail. We’re still working on it. When we find out, we’ll let you know.”

  “I appreciate everything you’ve done to help me. Thanks," Sophie said, feeling her need to wallow increasing.

  “You’re welcome. For now, though, we’re going to have an officer stationed outside your house, to keep you safe.”

  “Again, thank you,” she returned, sensing Detective Oborn was frustrated and feeling the same way. She needed them to find David soon. Hanging up, she drove away, heading toward the only place that had felt like home since the death of her parents.

  #

  After spending most of the night wallowing, she came to one conclusion. What she saw must have been a mistake. The intimacy she and Phillip had shared was too real, too genuine. She knew he loved her and those feelings don’t disappear overnight, she thought, deciding to give it another shot.

  “I’ve got to fight for him and my love for him. It was a dream, I know it.” She concluded, getting dressed for school. I’ll apologize and hope he’ll tell me about the beautiful woman he hugged, she thought.

  Following her classes, she went once again to find him. She checked his classroom, the teacher’s lounge and the Theater and unable to find him, assumed he’d gone home early today.

  I guess I’ll try again tomorrow, she thought questioning herself and her motives.

  “Hello, stranger,” Rina said, smiling.

  “Rina, how are you?” She asked, preoccupied with what she should do next. Then she asked Rina, “Have you seen Phillip?”

  “I saw him today, but not recently. I was just about to ask you the same question. I have some paperwork for him. Did you check the Theater?”

  “I did, but it was locked,” she answered, wondering if she would ever get to tell him she loved him, too.

  “Oh, well he usually keeps the front doors locked when they aren’t rehearsing. Did you check the side door? It’s the one he keeps open when he’s in there alone.”

  Her face brightened a flicker of hope apparent on her face. "Great, I’ll try the side door then.”

  “Good. Would you mind giving him this paperwork while you're at it? I’ve got a lot to do right now.” She smiled, but noticed Rina was preoccupied as well.

  “Of course. I’ll catch up with you later.” Determinedly, she headed in the direction of the Theater once again. When she arrived at the side door and tugged, she was happy to discover it was unlocked, opening easily. As soon as she stepped inside, her heart started pounding. She was twitchy, nervous, knowing what she was about to do, tell Phillip she loved him, apologize once again for not telling him she was pregnant and try to explain why she’d done it. Although she'd rather be anywhere but here, she knew their relationship depended on her following through.

  She realized she was back on stage. She had no idea where she was going, having never been behind a stage before. It seemed like she'd entered a maze of heavy curtains, abounding in props, lot of ropes and lights. She needed help and was about to call out when she heard voices. She followed the sound, knowing one of the voices was Phillips.

  As she rounded a curtain, her feet froze in place when once again she saw Phillip with the beautiful woman he hugged yesterday.

  Long black hair flowing down the woman’s back, accentuated by the white, linen shirt she wore. The woman also had on a white miniskirt, showing off her long, beautiful legs. She was tall and curvy.

  Fury and jealousy engulfed her as she stepped back behind the curtain, trying to listen to their conversation. She knew if she got caught, she’d look like an idiot, but right now she didn’t care. She had to know what he said to her.

  “It’s to bad you’re going through such a rough time Cynthia, but what more do you want me to do? You divorced me, remember?”

  “I know,” Cynthia replied sniffling. “But I’ve made a mistake. I thought he loved me. He told me he did. Now he’s disconnected his phone and I have no way of getting in touch with him.”

  “I’m sorry,” he returned kindly. “This actually sounds kind of familiar, if you remember correctly.”

  “Oh, right, bring that up again,” she said acidly.

  Immediately, her voice softened, “Please help me, Phillip. I’m having his baby and he doesn’t care. I’m alone and I need you.”

  “You need someone, Cynthia, but it isn’t me. Not anymore,” he retorted firmly.

  Sophie was flabbergasted. Two women, and two babies in two days. No wonder he was upset and hurt when he found out about me, she thought. She also understood it was probably because she’d kept the pregnancy from him as well. She knew she should have told him right at the beginning. />
  “Please, Phillip,” Cynthia whined. “What do I do?”

  In a somewhat beaten voice, Phillip responded, “Fine, I’ll help you in any way I can, but know this. We aren’t together anymore. There’s someone--”

  She cut him off bitterly, “The other woman. Sophie, isn’t that her name? You’ve known her what, three or four months? She’s only on the rebound.”

  Sophie hardly believed the nerve of this woman.

  Phillip had told her what Cynthia did; yet here she was, apparently thinking he was supposed to drop everything and come back to her.

  I can’t believe this. I should kick her ass, she thought, fanning herself. She knew the heat in her face rose as her anger increased.

  Cynthia was still talking. “You’ve known me for years. We were married, and besides, I still love you Phillip. I want you back.”

  It took every ounce of restraint she had to stay behind the curtain. Sophie couldn’t remember ever having such mighty emotions of jealousy, hostility, infuriation, and rage.

  “You know you want me, too, right baby?” Cynthia asked.

  I can’t listen to anymore of this, she thought, repulsed.

  Not to mention, she was saddened by what she thought was a good point. They had been married and, at the moment, Sophie knew she was trouble.

  She started walking back the way she thought she came in, but somehow got turned around, ending up on the stage, about twelve feet from Phillip and Cynthia. Making matters worse, when she looked over, ready to give an embarrassed wave, she was shocked to see they were kissing. She tried to grab hold of the nearest curtain, feeling suddenly lightheaded, but missed and fell over, making a loud noise.

  “Sophie,” Phillip called, looking guilty.

  She couldn’t face him, or her. Quickly, she got up and started running. Immediately lost, Sophie turned left, then right and finally found a door. She stopped for a moment before she opened it, catching her breath. The sound of rapid footsteps confirmed he followed her, and was close by. He called after her. She heard Cynthia call for Phillip.

  I’m a foolish idiot, she thought disgustedly, pulling open the door and walking through it.