Man Seeks Woman 2, Man Seeks Wife

by Stephanie Franklin

  “Victoria.” Sebastian’s voice sounded from behind me. I looked over my shoulder at him as I idly flicked through the trouser and jeans hanging up on the shiny metal bar. I raised a brow for him to carry on. “Don’t walk out like this. If we can’t have conversations even difficult ones, what does that say about us?”

  “I’m not walking out, Sebastian. I’ve got nothing here for work tomorrow and I need a couple of extra bits anyway.”

  “You’ve got plenty of clothing here for work. Most of it is better than the stuff you have at your flat.”

  My teeth gritted together at his insult but I breathed through it. “It’s not mine though.” I argued.

  “Fuck, Victoria, don’t be pedantic, it doesn’t suit you. You know exactly what I mean.”

  I took a deep breath and blew it out. “Honestly, Sebastian, I’m going home and I’m fine.”

  Sebastian pulled me into his arms, wrapping them around me snugly. I pressed my hands to his chest as he stared down at me, his nose inches away from my own. “Tell me you’re okay. Tell me to my face you’re okay.”

  I was far from okay. I was pissed but not. I was angry but yet I wasn’t. Hell, I didn’t really know how to feel but I knew I didn’t feel happy.

  Looking directly into his eyes and even smiling a little, I told him, “I’m okay, I’m fine. I’m just...okay. Don’t worry about anything, Sebastian. I’m going to my place to grab some of my stuff, do some cleaning up and empty the bins, shit like that, and then I’ll come back here...to you.”

  I was a great big fat liar.

  “You’ll come home, you mean.” He didn’t ask. It was more a fact, an order of sorts.

  Not home. This wasn’t my home and I didn’t know if it ever would be. Even if he asked me to move in with him, I wasn’t entirely sure I could do it.

  “I’ll come back here, to you.” That was the best I could do without lying even more.

  Those blue eyes of his narrowed and stared into my own hazel ones for a long time. I held my ground and refused to move around or fidget until he nodded slowly. Sebastian’s hands came up and held my face in his palms and kissed me hard, thrusting his tongue into my mouth. Our teeth clinked together and I think there may have even been a little bit of blood leak from my bottom lip

  “You will come home to me.” Then he turned and left.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Oh the joys.

  Instead of going home like I’d told Sebastian, I drove to Jen’s. I pulled into her driveway next to Rick’s Jeep and Jen’s Audi and cut the engine. Leaning forward in my seat, I looked up at her windows searching for any sign of life.

  There was movement in one of the top bedroom windows so I wasn’t going to be invading on anything private.

  With a sigh, I grabbed my bag and got out of the car, slamming the door behind me. I stopped at the front of the car and flicked the fob listening to the doors lock and lights flash.

  The gravel crunched under my feet as I walked towards the house. All the colourful, bushy plants that normally crowded the path up to the house were gone to be replaced by reindeer statues. I felt my nose wrinkle at the sight of them and the Christmas bulbs plastered along the edge of the roof. Jen was a real celebrator of Christmas and it bugged the shit out of me. It was the only real true time of the year or ever that we had an argument and fell out over it. Of course, the moment Christmas was over, we were best friends again. Because Jen was a Christmas bunny and I wasn’t, she tried converting every year but I wasn’t having any of it. Christmas was not meant for people like me, end of.

  Just as I got to the front door, it opened and there stood Rick. He was dressed in a light pink t-shirt that went well with his blonde hair. He looked as handsome as he normally did but a little ruffled too, not his usual slick self.

  “Hey, stranger,” He pulled me into his arms and wrapped them around me, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

  I buried my nose in his chest and inhaled for a long time. His homey smell settled something deep inside me. It was hard to think that for a long time Rick and Jen were my only friends and family. Now, I had Sebastian but that was a whole different story.

  “How have you been? I haven’t seen you.”

  I shrugged and scratched the side of my face. “Yeah, sorry about that, I’ve been busy but I’m good, how about you?”

  Something passed over his eyes but he smiled and it was gone. “Excited about the baby and nervous all the same,”

  “Where’s Jen?” I asked as I pulled away from him and closed the door after me. The smell of freshly baked sausage rolls made my stomach growl a little.

  “She’s upstairs in the bath. You want some coffee?”

  I nodded as I followed him through to the kitchen. I was right, there were two plates full of freshly baked sausage rolls just sitting there waiting to be had. I grabbed a small one and stuffed it into my mouth as I slipped up onto a bar stool.

  “What’s up?” Rick asked as he put the kettle on.

  “Nothing, I just thought I’d come round. Got nothing better to do, you see.”

  There was something about sitting at home by myself that didn’t really appeal to me. I knew if I did go home, I’d think and probably end up thinking too much.

  Rick snorted and got the cups ready. “I’d rather have you here than Julie. She’s been a nightmare.”

  My eyebrows shot to the top of my head. Rick didn’t usually speak out of place about people; he was too polite for that. Julie—Jenna’s Mum must really be pushing the boat out—verbally and annoyingly— lately.

  “I can scare her away if it’d make you feel better.” I offered. Nicking another sausage roll, I watched him move around the pumpkin coloured kitchen. The place was filled with stuff cluttering the counters but it wasn’t untidy. In one of the corners there were boxes of nursery items that needed to be put together still.

  “That’d be the day. She’d have more luck scaring you away.”

  Hmmm, that was probably true. All Julie really had to do was invite me for dinner in her big posh family home and I was already making excuses not to go.

  Rick handed me a cup of coffee and a cup of hot chocolate. “Can you take that up to Jen for me?”

  My mouth opened to ask why he wasn’t coming up with me but he walked off leaving me in the kitchen. Something was seriously wrong here or maybe it was me reading into things that weren’t entirely there.

  “Thanks Rick.” I called, climbing the stairs. Walking along the carpeted passage, I stopped at their bedroom and slipped my shoes off outside the door, kicking them to the side. “Hello.” I hollered as I opened the door with my elbow, nearly spilling the hot drinks over my hands and the floor.

  “In here.” Jen’s voice came out muffled.

  The moment I stepped inside the room, the smell of jasmine hit me and made my nose tingle. Setting the cups on the side and dumping my bag on the big bed, I rubbed at my nose as I walked through to the peach coloured en-suite. Jen was there lying in the shell shaped bath with bubbles all the way up to her chin.

  “Oh it’s you.” She said. Her tone wasn’t nasty but it wasn’t exactly nice either.

  “Nice to see you too, so what have I done?” I asked as I closed the toilet lid and perched myself down on top of it slowly. The bathroom looked so dainty and porcelain, I was afraid I’d break something.

  Jen’s dark eyes flashed. Her hand that had been under the water splashed upward and knocked bubbles and heavily scented jasmine water over the edge. “What haven’t you done!” she shouted, her eyes blazing at me. “You haven’t called me or come to see me. Do you know what it’s like to be in this house by myself day after day or even oh my God?” She gritted out. “Having my Mother fussing around me foretelling her tales of wisdom about birth and everything to do with it?”

  Okay, I wasn’t even touching that.

  I bit my bottom lip to stop the laugh that wanted to escape but I couldn’t stop it. It burst through and made me bend over with the
strength of it. Tears appeared at my eyes when Jen flicked water and bubbles at me to shut me up but when that didn’t work; she threw her sponge at me which hit me with a great big wet plop.

  When I calmed down, I crawled off the toilet seat and along the floor so I was resting on my knees beside the tub. The water soaked into the material of my trousers but I wasn’t too fussed about that. I reached into the bath and picked up a handful of bubbles and blew them, watching them sail through the air like mini clouds.

  “What’s the matter?” Jen asked quietly.

  I shrugged and let out a long breath. “I don’t know.”

  “That’s such a typical Victoria answer.” She rolled her eyes. “Is it Sebastian?”

  “When is it not Sebastian?” I muttered and played with more bubbles. “On the way over here, I was sat in traffic along the high street and I was thinking what my life would have been like if I’d not met Sebastian. I was trying to imagine not seeing the ad ‘Man Seeks Woman’ that day in the paper.”

  “Okay.” my best friend said slowly. “It was actually me that saw the ad and got you to phone up but that’s semantics. Where is this going, Vic?”

  I groaned and went to rub my hands down my face but I realised they were soaking wet. “I don’t know, I honestly don’t know, Jen.”

  Jen’s brows pulled together in confusion. “You are back together, right?”

  “Yup,”

  “So what’s the problem?”

  I didn’t know what the problem was or even if there was one. Maybe it was just me being silly and safe or maybe there were real problems and I was only seeing the minor set of them rather than the big picture. I just didn’t know.

  “Nothing,” I waved my hand in the water and searched for her tummy. I didn’t have to search long before I found the big lump and rubbed my hand over the top of it. “Anyway, how’s the baby doing?”

  “Nah-uh, you don’t get to change the subject. Are you two back together properly or are you still doing that feeling sorry thing for yourself and him being an arse thing?”

  “Yes, we’re back together.”

  “Oh the joys,” She gushed and rolled her eyes again. If she kept that up, she’d develop a tick.

  “I know, right?”

  “Please tell me you’ve got some serious shafting?”

  “Of course,” I answered incredulously with a little snort thrown in. “Have you seen Sebastian? How could I have not gotten some?”

  Sebastian was gorgeous and damn him, he could play my body as well as a skilled musician could play an instrument, if not better.

  “Good.” My best friend nodded. “That makes one of us at least. You can give me all the details so I don’t feel like a nun all of a sudden.”

  I sat back on my heels, letting my arms rest on the side of the tub. “Hang on, what?”

  Jen blew out a long breath, her head lolling back and forth along the rim of the bath. Her hair that had been stuck in a bun on top of her head tumbled down slowly. “I’m not getting any.”

  As far as I knew, Jen and Rick had a healthy sex life. Well that was when Rick actually stopped working. Jen never complained about something like that before. “And you’re not getting any now, why?”

  “Exactly,” Jen threw up a hand, throwing water all over me in the process. “Rick won’t sleep with me. Hell, he won’t even go down on me for fuck’s sake. It’s like I’ve got a disease rather than pregnancy. Doesn’t he realise that he’s the one that put the baby there in the first place and now, he won’t go anywhere near me. I’m this great big fat cow and he won’t touch me.”

  “Oh shit.” Was all I could think of to say, after all, what can you actually say to a pregnant horny hormonal woman that wasn’t getting any ‘Freaky Deaky’?

  Jen’s eyes filled with tears suddenly and her chin trembled. This wasn’t my best friend. My best friend was normally the strong one out of both of us. She was the one that had her head screwed on straight; always saw the way out of a bad situation. I was the damaged one, the troubled one, the one that didn’t see a straight line; everything was wonky in my eyes but not Jen’s.

  “Hey, hey, hey,” I sat up and brushed my fingers under her eyes, catching her tears. “What’s the matter?”

  “I’m so tired, Victoria. I just want my body back. I want Rick to touch me like he used to. I want him to hold me and tell me everything’s going to be okay.”

  Softly I asked, “He doesn’t do that?”

  She shook her head and sniffed. “No, not anymore,”

  My head tilted to the side as I brushed more tears from her face. “Maybe he’s just as scared as you?” I guessed. I didn’t know shit about pregnancy and didn’t want to if this is what it did to you.

  “Then why doesn’t he talk to me?” she sniffed again before she fell into a fit of more tears.

  I bit my lip and looked to the door wondering whether I should go and get Rick but decided against it. Instead, I reached for the flannel and quickly lathered it up with the purple coloured soap. More Jasmine filled the air tickling my nose again. I turned my head to the side and rubbed the tip of my nose on my upper arm.

  Slathering Jen’s shoulders with the jasmine soap, I let her cry it out until she just hiccupped. “Feel better?” I asked once she calmed down.

  “Yeah, thanks. I think I needed that.”

  “Anytime,” I smiled. “Now, get up so I can wash the rest of you.”

  Jen snorted and held out of her hand. I stood up and held onto both of her hands and pulled her to standing position. Damn, she was huge. “I’m huge.” She cried, snatching her hands back and hiding her face.

  “No.” I shook my head and bit my lip when she stared at me through the gaps of her fingers. “Okay.” I conceded. “You are. You’re as big as a house and are splitting at the seams.”

  “You!” She slapped at me but I quickly stepped out of the way. “How do I look really?” she posed with her hands on her expanded hips and thrust her extremely big boobs out in front of her.

  “You nearly knocked me out with those tits but overall, you look lovely. Your bump is huge and out there but you’ve only got a little stretch mark here and there.”

  “I know” Jen sighed and rubbed her tummy. “I’ve been rubbing cocoa butter in every night but it doesn’t stop them only helps them when they do come.”

  I waved a hand and turned her around so I could wash her back. “I’ve got stretch marks and I haven’t even had kids.”

  It was true too. When I started my period when I was twelve, I had a growth spurt that made my boobs pop out and become the largest amongst the girls in my class therefore; I got stretch marks along the sides and underneath them. It was the same with my thighs. Along the front of them, stretch marks appeared but now you could barely see anything.

  “You’ll probably get more of them when you have babies.”

  My hand stilled on the back of her legs. “Uh...I’m not having kids, Jen. You better than anyone knows that.”

  “How long are you going to let your parents dictate what you do in life?”

  “Parents is not a word I would associate with the people who made me.” They didn’t deserve that much respect.

  I could imagine the eye roll my friend was giving me. “What about Sebastian? What about him wanting children?”

  My shoulders lifted in a shrug. “I think he wants children somewhere down the line but he won’t get them from me. People like me are not made to be a parent.”

  “The shit that comes out of your mouth stinks to high heaven.”

  I dropped the flannel into the water with a plop and bent over to fish it back out of the water and wash it out. “It’s not shit, it’s the truth. What have I got to offer a kid?”

  Jen turned around but I turned her back. I wasn’t finished washing her back. No, the truth was, I couldn’t look at my friends big belly whilst talking about kids. There was just something weird about it.

  “You’ve got plenty to offer a child. You do
know you’re going to be my babies Godparent or at least one of them don’t you?”

  The flannel I’d just fished out dropped back into the water. “What?”

  “Oh yeah,” She nodded frantically looking over her shoulder at me. Her eyes were wide with honesty and determination as she pressed her hands against the wall to steady herself. “Rick and I decided that a long time ago.”

  My mouth opened and closed several times before I could form any words. “But...that’s...”

  Jen interrupted me with an unladylike snort. “It’s nothing and everything. Now shut up and finish washing me, I’m beginning to look like a prune.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “You can’t beat a good beer.”

  “Sebastian!” the pap shouted from our left. His voice was deep and gravelly and seemed to travel over the other paps that were screaming at Sebastian to turn this way and that way.

  I blinked against the bright lights flashing in my eyes. The hand that was wrapped around the back of Sebastian grabbed onto him tightly, gripping the material of his blazer in my fist. I was in effect holding on for dear life. The lights coming at me were blinding and left me with dancing spotlights instead of clear, coloured vision.

  Sebastian turned for the camera, pressing his side into mine. His hand that was tucked around my waist, tightened as he leaned in further, his clean and smooth as a baby’s bottom face whispered against my cheek then his lips pressed against my cheekbone. The smell of his scent invaded my nose and made me sigh.

  The cameras went even wilder if that was possible. Screams and shouts from the paps filled my ears and was starting to give me a headache.

  “Sebastian, who’s the blonde?” one shouted.

  “Are you still a bachelor, Sebastian?” another one shouted.

  “Hey Sebastian’s lady,” A squeaky voiced pap called out. He waved and jumped up and down from my left, his arms waved around as if he were on fire. “What’s your name?”

  My mouth opened to tell him that it was none of his God damned business when Sebastian’s hand squeezed my waist again and he raised a hand for silence. One by one, the paps quieted and waited for whatever Sebastian was going to say. Their faces were eager, their eyes wide and alert. It appeared that all of them were looking for some important scoop and hoping to get it.