Shocked to see the two of them like this. Going at it like wild animals! The world outside ground to a screeching halt. I stared at them in astonishment. Really, Mark? You picked Bella. Of all our friends, you choose her, the girl you insisted more than once had less sex appeal than a park bench on a Monday afternoon.
Less than five minutes ago, I had walked in through the front door of our apartment, a big cake precariously balanced on the palm of my left hand, so I could reach for my keys. A big-ass smile was plastered all over my face because I was really pleased with myself.
I had to travel all the way across town to a specialist bakery to find the perfect cake for the surprise birthday party I was throwing for Mark that evening, but I just knew he would adore the red velvet and butter cream treat I chose. True, as a rule he didn’t eat junk food. I should know, it’d been months since we ordered in pizza and just kicked back to enjoy ourselves, but surely, even he would allow himself to have a slice, or maybe even two of this delicious dream of a concoction.
My plan was to drop the cake off before heading out to pick up the booze I’d ordered. My intention was to have it free-flowing all evening long. Usually, with alcohol in his system, Mark loosened up, and hopefully we could have some fun times later in the night. Not that I was saying we never had sex anymore without the help of lots of alcohol, or that he wasn’t fun. It was not really his fault he’d been so uptight. He had a very stressful job. If I had a job like his I would be murder to deal with too. His boss was a real psychopath.
I had just got the door open when I heard the noise. It sounded like a grunt. What a pig or a wild boar would make.
I froze on the spot. What the hell would a pig or wild boar be doing in my apartment? My head whirled around as my ears zeroed in on the location of the sound. It took me a good few seconds to figure out where it was coming from. I located the place where the sounds had come from just as my eyes fell onto a trail of clothes on the floor, one that led a messy path to the bedroom.
An idiot could have figured out the scene, but at that moment, my pride simply refused to believe it. It couldn’t be. I mean, this scenario was just so cliché. Something you saw in movies, for God’s sake.
I put the cake down carefully on the table as I’d put a lot of effort into getting it. Then I followed the clothes.
A scarf: Hmm…
A tie: Okay. But still not conclusive. Not really.
A shirt I purchased for him a couple of Christmases ago: Well, it was summer and it was hot. Very hot. Even I was in a tank top.
A pair of slutty leopard print thongs with white slime on the crotch string: Ugh…Oh God!
The penny finally dropped, but to be honest I felt surprisingly calm in the face of what was happening. Maybe because none of it seemed real. I wasn’t meant to be back here, and some part of me felt as if I wasn’t. Like I was drifting in and watching someone else sneaking around our apartment. The sounds got louder even as the carpet muted my footsteps.
I arrived at our bedroom door and stopped in my tracks.
Chapter Two
Mia
He was behind Bella, fucking her roughly, hands grabbing her skinny hips. His back was to me, but in the dressing table mirror, I could see his face. It looked so red and contorted it was hard to tell whether it was pleasure or pain he was experiencing. Neither could see me and oblivious to my presence they carried on groaning, grunting, and emitting guttural cries of encouragement to each other. You know, stuff like, faster, harder, yeah baby, so good, etc.
I knew I should shout, or draw attention to myself and let them know I had caught them in the act. Here was my fiancé, balls-deep in one of our friends, in the middle of the day, in the middle of the apartment that I paid half for. It should have made me incredulous, but in fact, it made perfect sense. Now that I really looked back on it, it seemed so obvious.
Bella, who always said, I should ditch Mark, because he was such a dork. Mark who always said, Bella was so sexless, if she were a man she would have been a eunuch. Eunuch, my ass. She was wriggling her sweat-soaked body like a damn snake in an effort to get more of him inside her. Granted, there wasn’t that much to get inside, but even so. What a slut! I tilted my head slightly and looked at his dick. Thank God, for small mercies. He was wearing a condom.
I stood there for what seemed like a lifetime, blankly watching them go at it and thinking of my next move. I thought about saying something. Well, okay, screaming something, but it seemed undignified. I would have to yell louder than them. No, I wouldn’t do that. I should let them get on with it. I was better off without them.
I turned and headed back out to the front door. I could still see them in the act, an image that was going to be burned onto my brain for the rest of my life, but that was okay. I could live with it. I’d seen worse on TV, on Animal Planet.
As I was passing through the living room I glanced at the cake on the table, and felt the sudden urge to slam my hand down on it, to send the frosting and the perfectly-defined layers squishing messily out all over the table, but I restrained myself. No, I had put a lot of effort into getting it and I wasn’t wasting it. I picked up the cake and went back to the bedroom.
They were still going at it.
Unbelievable! Pigs!
I walked right up to Mark. The bastard never broke the stride of his thrusts or noticed me. With all my strength, I smashed the dream cake over his head.
His reaction was freaking priceless. He was so startled, he fell forward with a girlish scream. Right on top of Bella, the slut, trapping her underneath him. Her thin limbs flailed around like those of a giant insect.
I looked down at my handiwork with satisfaction.
The cake didn’t just break into a few pieces, there was cake and cream everywhere. On their naked bodies, the bed, the carpet. The mess was incredible. Both were still reeling with shock and had no idea what had hit them when I turned around smartly and walked out of the bedroom. I could hear him swearing and her shouting as I marched out of the apartment. I didn’t even bother to close the front door.
A smile cracked out over my face. To my surprise, it turned into a mad little giggle. I guess, because:
They looked absolutely ridiculous.
There would be consequences, but for now, I was glad I broke up their sex session in such a spectacular fashion.
Mark had just handed me my Get Out Of Jail Free card.
Still giggling to myself, I made my way back to my car. I had almost reached my car when the bedroom window of our apartment was thrown open and Mark called out to me. At first, he sounded quite desperate as he begged me to come back up and talk to him. Then to my disbelief and fury, he had the nerve to shout down that it was not what I thought it was. It was all a big misunderstanding.
Un-freaking-believable. I couldn’t help feeling a bit curious about how he planned to spin the fact that I had seen his dick inside her. But was I going back up there and let him lie to my face? No chance. No way. I didn’t want to see either of them ever again.
Quite frankly, Bella was more than welcome to him. Let her put up with his prissy ways. Instead of feeling hurt, like I knew I should, I experienced only a sense of relief. It was weird, but I felt as though a weight I’d been carrying since the day he popped the question had been lifted at last. Gratitude to the universe for showing me the truth bloomed, like fragrant petals, inside my heart. Sunshine beamed down at me.
I gazed up at bright blue sky and felt good.
I didn’t have to feel bad about walking away from such a ‘great catch’ or defend my decision to anyone. There wasn’t a thing anyone could say. Not a damn thing. Anyway, there wasn’t a person alive who could have argued that I should stick by him. Not even my mother would be able to act as if this was my fault for being too fussy, or choosy.
I had escaped him—that fucker, the man who came so close to being my husband. I realized now it would have been a fate worse than death. The only real quality I appreciated and valued in him was hi
s loyalty and he had just flushed that down a toilet called Bella.
A flash of burning fury sped through my body as I thought of all the trouble I had taken to set up his party.
Bastard.
Asshole.
Piece of shit.
I climbed into the driver’s seat. Yes, he was a jerk, yes, I wasted a year of my life, but hey, I was free now! I was finally FREE! For the first time in years, I felt completely and utterly liberated. I clamped my hands over the wheel, and turned my head to look in his direction. He was still hanging out of the window covered in his cake and begging me to come back. My anger disappeared and a bubble of laughter burst out of my mouth.
He stopped begging and stared at me with open-mouthed astonishment.
Yeah, put that in your pipe and smoke it.
I pulled out of the parking lot as I left him, her, and our life together behind. This was it for me. I drove around for a little while, not quite sure where precisely I was going, but without meaning to, I found myself heading toward the outskirts of the city.
Julie’s wedding. Back in Cold Creek.
I was supposed to be leaving tomorrow after work with Mark, but slight change of plans. That’s where I was headed now on my own. Only a couple of hours away, back home, and far removed from this entire mess and everything that came with it.
All I had in the back was my purse, one packed bag for the trip, and a dry-cleaning token, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was: I was free again to restart my life and this time, I wasn’t settling for second best.
Never again!
Chapter Three
Mia
I remembered the first time we met. Two years ago, when I’d been dragged along by my friend, Irene to some top-level fundraiser. Even though she’d warned me it would be boring, and I’d only gone out of solidarity, I’d been seriously regretting my decision. So, when some halfway cute finance bro started hitting on me, I decided I might as well just go along with it for fun.
I expected it to be a very short romance. My reaction to finding him inside our friend is proof if I ever needed it… that I was never really into him. What happened was my mother basically slammed the accelerator on our relationship when she found out about his family and his job. I just went along with it because I had nothing better in my life. All my friends had boyfriends and husbands, so to be honest, it seemed more worthwhile cooking for two than one. Plus, I liked the idea of having someone to take me to parties and bring me home afterward. The sex was never all that. He seemed to be having way more fun with Bella. Which, I had to admit hurt far more than his deception.
Hmmm….was it me? Was I no good at sex?
When he proposed, I remember hesitating for a split second. The part of me which I did my best to clamp down on, reared its head. It howled at me to stop and think about what I was getting myself into. Then, I saw the ring glinting in its box, his face full of anticipation, the whole restaurant holding its breath as everyone waited for my reply.
A million thoughts raced through my head.
He really shouldn’t have asked me in such a public place. It limited my responses. An answer like ‘maybe in the future’ would have been fine in our living room, bit it was out of the question in front of that hopeful audience. Obviously, if I said no, I would be back at square one. No boyfriend. I could hear my mother saying, “I can’t believe you let a good man like that go. What on earth are you waiting for? A prince on a white horse?”
To spare them all the embarrassment, I agreed.
People came up to congratulate us and I started to think I had made the right decision. Not everybody can fall head over heels with someone. Some people, people like me, had to compromise and settle for less. Well, not less exactly. Mark was definitely a catch, but he was also the practical choice. Yes, I gave up on fantasy and made the right choice.
Then, before I knew it, I found myself lost in planning for the big society wedding that my mother wanted. But at night, alone, when he was out of town, I would doubt the man I was getting married to. Then, I’d find myself searching for ways out, but have you ever tried to cut off a marriage when things were already in motion?
I was scared shitless about the money, time, and effort everyone had wasted on my behalf. I just couldn’t be the bitch who let everyone down. I could already envision the sadness on my dad’s face along with the disappointment and censure on my mom’s. So I would get out of bed, gulp down a very large glass of wine, and tell myself I was one of the lucky ones. I had a good man. A man who loved me. A man who wanted to marry me and take care of me. He’d even begun to build a house for us. I’d be an ungrateful fool if I ever gave him up.
I would fall asleep telling myself over and over again, that I’d made the right decision.
But now, that the good man had cheated on me…with one of my friends, well, ex-friends, I had a get out of jail card. And I intended to use it.
I drove and drove, my brain racing, memories flooding my head, until I realized my stomach was growling. There was a diner up the road and I decided to pull over. I’d always loved the idea of stopping for waffles and maybe a milkshake at crappy roadside diners to break up the trip, but whenever I took Mark back to my hometown, he would always insist that we wait until we were at my parents’ place before we ate.
Guess what? He wasn’t here to stop me.
I could do whatever the hell I wanted!
I pulled the car over, looked at myself in the mirror, and tried to connect with my reflection. I reminded myself that I was her, this woman who had just dumped her fiancé, and cut town without so much as a glance back. I grinned and winked at her. She grinned and winked back at me. I was on a roll. I reached for my phone.
I took a while drafting the text, wanting to wring as much of my vitriol out on to him as I could. I hovered my fingers over the keys, thinking about all the ways I could tear him a new one. I wanted his stomach to drop out of his ass when he got this text, as it sunk into him just how little he had hurt me, and that required the perfect balance of anger, superiority, and a bye-bitch-titude. I spent a while crafting the perfect message, then I sat back and read it one more time before I hit send.
Hey Dick Head,
Since I just walked in on you fucking Bella, I just wanted to let you know the wedding’s off. Hope you had a good time. Apartment’s all yours. Rent is paid until the end of the month so I’ll come around and pick up my stuff before then. Oh, also I planned a surprise birthday party for you tonight. Booze has been ordered from Hall and Greek, but hasn’t been paid for yet. Please pick it up before 5pm and get back to the apartment before 8pm. Tip: might be a good idea to act surprised because your boss will be there too. Good luck with explaining to all our friends why I’m not there.
I hit send and leaned back. Closing my eyes, I let the air escape from my lungs slowly. Wow, but it felt good to hit him with that. There it was… code red, my whole life blown up over the course of one message. There was no way I could go back now, and I was fine with that.
Fuck him.
Fuck Bella.
Fuck me for ever thinking I should have stuck it out with him.
A knock on my window jerked me out of my internal world. I opened my eyes and a man was asking me if I was all right. I pulled the biggest grin my face would stretch to and gave him the thumbs up sign.
He smiled back, nodded and walked away.
Right. Time to start over. First things first. I blocked Mark’s number. Then I got out of the car and stretched. The bright sun beamed down on me as I walked to the diner. I felt strangely light and free. Inside, I ordered waffles and a milkshake; then got a piece of pie to finish up.
If Mark had been here, he would have been pulling faces about me gaining weight, about not wanting a fat bride to walk down the aisle, but he could blow me. I was eating all the damn pie I wanted, because I wasn’t going to be a fat bride. I wasn’t going to be any kind of bride.
I thought back to the dresses, to all the outfits I ha
d tried on in the hopes that I would find something that didn’t feel completely wrong for me. Now, looking back it was so obvious that the problem was the man, not the dress. Nothing felt right because he wasn’t right. But now he was gone, and I had a feeling everything was going to make a lot more sense.
I still had a few questions, of course. How long had it been going on? How many times had Bella looked me in the eye and laughed uproariously at my jokes as if it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard in her whole life while she was fucking my fiancé behind my back?
But right now, I felt happy just letting those niggling issues go unanswered and concentrated on how I would handle the backlash; the questions from my family about what had happened. I was going to be blunt as hell and hope that got the point across. “Sorry that I wasted your time and money, but I’m not going to marry the man I caught in bed with one of our friends.”
Damn, my mother would go crazy when she found out.
I finished up my food and got back in the car. It was such a beautiful day, I put the convertible top down and turned on the radio. Bruce Springsteen’s raspy voice filled the air. Born in the USA was one of my old favorites so I turned the volume up to the maximum. It’d been a long time since I’d done this. I bounced in my seat while singing along with Springsteen as I hit the highway. Life was for living and that was exactly what I intended to do.
Some people might have been nervous, heading to one of their most competitive friend’s wedding straight after they called off their own, but I felt no such worries. It felt like something had been set on fire within me. A cleansing flame, one that burned out everything which had been bringing me down all this time. I focused on the wind blowing through my hair and let the rays of the sun filter through the trees either side of me and warm my skin, as a smile spread across my face once more. Yes, this was good. Great. Perfect, just—
The Magic Cupcake Page 21