Where I Need to Be

by Kimberly Knight

  During the hour car ride in Los Angeles traffic, we caught my parents up on the last few months since Brandon and I had been together. We didn't tell them about the baby. I didn't want to give them a reason to not like him and this was not Brandon's fault. I would tell my parents when the time was right, but the first meeting was not it.

  We finally arrived, parking on the street in front of my childhood home. I had always loved the one story house which was currently painted a light blue with white trim. Brandon and I put our luggage in my room where we would both sleep in the same bed. My parents were not naïve. They knew I wasn't a virgin and had to assume Brandon and I were sleeping together, even though they would never discuss it with me. My room was still decorated pretty much as I had left it when I went to college, just like Ryan's parents left hers.

  The summer after college when I came home, I took down all my teen heartthrob posters and put up a few framed black and white photographs of Europe that I had bought at Target. There was one of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, one of Big Ben in London, and one of a vineyard in Tuscany.

  That night I helped my mom brine the turkey and make pumpkin and pecan pies while Brandon and my dad got to know each other. I had no doubt they would get along. In a lot of ways, they were alike. My dad was always our protector and I knew deep down that Brandon would not let anything hurt me.

  "So, Brandon seems really nice," my mom said as she rolled out the pie dough.

  "You have no idea."

  "He is the first guy you’ve brought home you know."

  "I know and it was his idea, too."

  "Really? Sounds like the opposite of Travis."

  "What do you mean?"

  "Come on, Spencer. You were with him for a long time. What was it... two years? I know you didn't come alone all those times because you didn't want us to meet him."

  "You did?"

  "Well look at your sister. She’s only been with Chris for a year, but we’ve already seen him a few times."

  "They live in Thousand Oaks, which is much closer than San Francisco," I laughed.

  "I know but still, I was just hoping I would meet him prior to your wedding and not at the wedding," she said sarcastically.

  "Ha! Wedding. I don't think TravAss will ever marry anyone but himself."

  "TravAss?"

  "Oh," I giggled. "Ryan came up with that nickname and I kind of adopted it."

  "I like it," my mom said as she winked at me.

  *~*~*

  My sister and her boyfriend Chris came over for Thanksgiving dinner around noon. At one o'clock Brandon, my dad and Chris were getting ready to watch the Dallas Cowboys game while we girls remained in the kitchen getting all of the food ready. Well this was another cliché.

  "Brandon is hot, sis!" my older sister, Stephanie said.

  "I know and he is all mine so back off," I said as I pretended to threaten her with the knife I was holding.

  Stephanie and I were really close growing up. Since we were only two years apart, we tended to crush on the same boys and fought like crazy. Since she had gone to UCLA after high school and I had moved to Santa Cruz two years later, we had drifted apart. Of course, we kept in touch, but thankfully we had each found our own guys.

  Chris came into the kitchen looking for snacks and beer while we continued to prepare our feast. I walked towards the living room and overheard my dad and Brandon talking.

  "Yes, sir, I do love your daughter."

  "I worry about her being up there in San Francisco."

  "Sir, you don't need to worry. I won't let anything happen to her."

  "Please call me Kevin and I think trust you. I never met that Travis guy, but from what I heard, he could give two shits about Spencer."

  "I have met him and I will never treat Spencer the way he treated her. You have my word."

  "You seem like a really nice guy, but if something happens to my baby girl...let's just say I have friends."

  I heard them both laugh.

  "Kevin, I love your daughter very much and hopefully one day we will all be family."

  "You want to marry my daughter? It's my understanding you have only been dating a few months."

  "I do want to marry her, but I know it is too soon. But I don't see my future without her in it. She is like my rock. She is smart, funny, the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, a good dancer..."

  "Brandon, you don't need to get all girly on me. I get it. But you have been warned. Now let's go see why it's taking Chris so long with those beers."

  I hurried down the hall I was standing near and into the bathroom so they wouldn't see me. I was fighting back tears after hearing what Brandon told my dad. I couldn't believe it. After all these years a guy... a great guy wanted a future with me.

  The rest of the evening went well. Everyone was in a food coma after all the food we ate. Brandon’s Cowboys ended up losing by seven points and he was crushed. We played poker and just like all the other times, Brandon won my money. He also won everyone else’s money and I made a mental note to practice on my lunch breaks or something.

  We stayed until Sunday afternoon. My parents really seemed to like Brandon. I think at one point I overheard my dad calling him “son”, which made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

  *~*~*

  The next few days flew by. On Tuesday, Brandon mentioned that he and Jason had to fly to Seattle again on Thursday and wouldn’t be back until the evening on Friday. They were going to sign all the papers to buy the new gym, so we made plans with Jason and Becca to go out Friday night for a celebratory dinner.

  Wednesday after Brandon’s poker night, he came over and we stayed at my place so I could do laundry. I had a ton of it. Brandon had cleared a space in his closet for me, but he didn’t understand that I had a hard enough time deciding what to wear with all my clothes being in the same place.

  We actually had our first fight because of it. It wasn’t a heated fight, just a disagreement. We ended up compromising with me going shopping this coming weekend for more clothes since apparently I needed to fill two closets now. I stopped arguing. I was a girl after all and loved shopping. Now my boyfriend was demanding I have more clothes. I didn’t even know that scenario existed.

  Brandon had already moved some of his clothes into my closet and a drawer in my dresser. He was lucky as he had a much simpler wardrobe. For work he just dressed in jeans and his Club 24 polo shirts, and on the weekends he would wear jeans and a t-shirt. He only really dressed up if we were going out somewhere that required it.

  Thursday morning Brandon drove me to work and then headed off to meet up with Jason before they left for Seattle. It wasn’t even lunch time and I was already missing him. Just knowing that I would not see him was killing me. I couldn’t even imagine if it was for more than one night. I started to scare myself at how attached I had become to him in such a short amount of time.

  Thursdays were usually our days to get massages at the gym. Brandon made me keep my appointment, and after work I headed to the gym to get my massage. Everyone at the gym greeted me by name and was very genuine. I hoped it wasn’t only because I was the boss’ girlfriend.

  After my massage I changed in the locker room and headed out the front doors to catch the bus home. Without looking I ran right into someone. As I stepped back to apologize, I realized it was Trevor from Vegas again.

  “Oh, excuse me,” I said as I looked up to his face.

  “It’s always a pleasure running into you, Courtney.”

  “Oh, um… hi Trevor.” Fuck.

  “Back in San Francisco?”

  There are only a certain amount of times that you can lie before it catches up to you. And I was just about done with this particular game. I wasn’t going to tell him my real name or that I had lived in San Francisco the whole time, but I figured I should at least confirm that I did live here now.

  “Actually, I just moved to San Francisco,” I replied answering his question.

  “Did you get transferred fo
r your job or something?”

  “Yep, sure did.”

  “That’s ironic. I just moved to San Francisco.” Shit.

  “Oh really? Why?”

  “Let’s just say there is nothing left for me in Washington.”

  “Oh okay, well, it was nice seeing you again but I really need to catch the bus.”

  “Why don’t I give you a ride home? Maybe we can grab dinner and a drink first?”

  Now what was I going to do? My luck he would follow the bus until he saw me get off just so he knew where I lived.

  “You know actually tonight is not a good night. I really need to head home; I have a lot of unpacking to do still from my move.”

  “I can still give you a ride home.”

  “You know, Trevor, I need to be honest with you. I have a boyfriend so I don’t think that will be a good idea. I really need to go. Take care,” I said while I ran off to catch the bus that was pulling up to the corner.

  I sat in the back of the bus and watched out the right side window as Trevor got into his car. He didn’t go into the gym which made me wonder why he was even there. The bus started down the street and I looked out the back window and noticed Trevor didn’t follow. Relief washed over me.

  I finally made it home and told Ryan what had happened. She called Max and repeated everything to him and he came over to stay the night with us instead of Ryan going over to Max’s. I didn’t mean for Ryan to change her plans, but I didn’t want to take the chance if Trevor had indeed followed me home.

  I decided to call Brandon to tell him the whole story. I told him about how Ryan and I met Trevor in Vegas, how he had bumped into me at MoMo’s once and then how I ran into him at our gym today. Brandon was concerned and told me that if anything like that ever happened again, to turn back around and go into the gym and talk to whomever is at the front desk or go up to his office and call him.

  We talked a bit more and he told me how his day went in Seattle -- how he and Jason met with the bank and started the procedure to buy the gym. Ben, Brandon's contractor, had met up with them in Seattle to discuss the remodel that was going to take place and how soon the gym could open. They were shooting for the first day of the New Year. It should be a huge success with everyone and their New Year’s Resolutions.

  Friday morning Brandon and Jason were going to finalize everything and then head home. I couldn’t wait to see him. Brandon made me feel safe and all I wanted was to be in his arms.

  After we hung up, Ryan, Max and I watched TV and planned more of their wedding. Ryan told Max which tuxedos he and his groomsmen needed to rent and we talked about having the bachelor and bachelorette parties in Vegas in April.

  That night I tossed and turned in bed. I was definitely not used to sleeping alone anymore. I woke Friday morning exhausted. I grabbed my cell phone as I was heading out the door to catch the bus for work. I noticed that Christy had sent me a text during the middle of the night. Of course she did.

  Christy: Are you ready?

  What the fuck did that mean? I stuck to my guns and I didn’t reply to her messages. I didn’t want to stoop to her level and be petty. Honestly, if she kept this up, I was just going to change my number.

  At lunch, my boss took me out for a special treat to celebrate our December newsletter which featured her article about Brandon’s gym:

  December 1, 2012

  By Skye McAdams

  Club 24 is an up and coming chain of gyms that recently opened their latest location in the San Francisco area on September 1st of this year. It is owned and operated by Mr. Brandon Montgomery and Mr. Jason Taylor; both native Texans. Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Taylor opened their first location in Austin in 2005. After the success of their Austin location, these savvy businessmen opened a Houston location in 2007.

  Mr. Montgomery and Mr. Taylor continued their success by making their way to the West Coast, first opening another branch in Denver in 2009 and then more recently in San Francisco a year ago. It is my understanding that on January 1, 2013, they will open their newest branch in Seattle.

  What makes Club 24 unique is the atmosphere. Not only do they have state of the art exercise equipment, but each treadmill, elliptical, stair climber and exercise bike provides its own 12” personal TV for your viewing pleasure.

  Club 24 offers several free classes: Kickboxing, Yoga, Kenpo, Zumba, Cycling and Aerobics. You can also find weekly beach volleyball games being played in the custom outdoor beach volleyball court.

  If you are looking to learn new moves or find out how to get beach body ready, you can hire one of their accomplished personal trainers for as many sessions as you need at a reasonable price.

  After you work up a good sweat you can cool down by jumping in the lavish indoor lap pool or soak your achy muscles in one of the three hot tubs near the pool. If you're looking to sweat out more toxins in your body, you can relax in one of the two saunas.

  Club 24 also offers a full service spa, complete with a barber shop for the gentlemen and a salon for the ladies. You can also tan for free in one of the UV free custom airbrush booths or in one of the "instant" tanning beds. It is called the "instant" bed because it has been known to instantly get heads turning after use. The tan will show up hours faster and last days longer than other tanning beds. With this complete 360 degree tan you will not only look sexy but feel sexy too. WARNING: May cause lots of compliments and flirtatious looks after use!

  After spending most of your day working on your fitness and relaxing those muscles, check out the cafe complete with a juice bar and coffee shop.

  Make Club 24 your second home. I know I am!

  *~*~*

  Shortly after I returned from lunch, I remembered that I left my only nice dress at Brandon's condo. It was the same dress that I wore to Becca’s show and Ryan's engagement party. I giggled to myself thinking this was exactly why I needed to go clothes shopping this weekend. I wasn't going to tell Brandon he was right and I did need enough clothes to fill two closets.

  After work I took the bus to Brandon's and texted him that he should pick me up there instead of at my house:

  Me: Hey Baby, I'm almost to your place. I left my dress there so you need to pick me up at your condo. Miss you.

  Brandon: I miss you too. Just landed, we should be there in about 45 minutes and then we will go to pick up Becca. Be safe and lock the door!

  Trevor slipped from my mind the whole day. I didn't think to look around and see if he was following me. I locked the door once I was in Brandon's condo and ran up the stairs to take a quick shower. Forty-five minutes wasn't very long so I needed to hurry.

  When I got out of the shower, I heard the front door close. That was fast. I quickly put on my jeans and t-shirt so I could peek out and tell Brandon I wasn't ready yet. I knew Jason was with him and I didn't want him to see me in my robe.

  Just as I came out of the bedroom to run down the stairs, I saw the person walking up them. It wasn't Brandon.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed at Christy when I saw that it was her and not Brandon walking up the stairs.

  “I came to talk to you.”

  “How did you even get in here?” My hair was dripping down the back of my black t-shirt and onto the floor.

  “I have a key,” she said with a smirk.

  Christy was standing at the top of the staircase only a few feet from me as I stood in the doorframe of Brandon’s bedroom.

  “Why do you have a key?”

  “I had one made while I was with Brandon.”

  “Oh… so he doesn’t know?” I asked with attitude in my voice and crossed my arms over my chest.

  “No, and you know what, Spencer, I am not here to make small talk with you,” she snapped.

  “Well why the fuck are you here then?” I could feel my blood start to boil.

  “I’m done with you standing in the way of Brandon and I being together…”

  “Me standing in the way? He doesn�
�t want to be with you, Christy!” I shouted as I cut her off and dropped my arms to my sides in protest.

  “Before you came into the picture we were happy. We were going to get married!” she yelled back.

  “Oh really? Did he propose to you?” I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest again.

  “Well… no.”

  Christy was standing there like we were friends having a normal conversation and not moving any further than the top of the stairs. This bitch was batshit crazy and really starting to piss me off.

  “Then how are you so sure you were going to get married?”

  “I just had a gut feeling that he would have proposed soon if you hadn’t entered the picture and spoiled everything!”

  “That was your gut telling you that you were going to get dumped,” I said as I giggled a little.

  “Fuck you, bitch! This ends now. It’s time to get you out of the picture.” Her face had turned bright red as she yelled at me.

  “And how are you planning on doing that?” My blood was on fire and my hands were shaking with anger as I dropped them to my sides again.

  “I’m going to kill you!”

  “You’re wha..” Christy started to reach behind her back and I saw the light from the window above the stairs reflecting on something shiny. Before I could fully catch a glimpse of what she was pulling out from behind her back, she lunged towards me with her right hand out. The shiny object was a knife.

  I jerked my right shoulder back and barely avoided the knife that was headed straight for my chest. Christy almost fell when her knife missed me. I quickly backed up towards the stairs and Christy lunged at my again. I continued to rotate in a circle as she almost fell again.

  “Christy, calm the fuck down – you’re acting like a crazy person! You didn’t think this through!”

  “The hell I didn’t! I have been planning this for weeks,” she said with an evil laugh.

  Christy and I were rotating in a circle like a school yard fight. My fight or flight instinct had kicked in and I chose fight. I watched the knife in her hand, waiting for her next lunge.