Color Me Grey

by Michelle Janine Robinson

  “Oh God, Bridget! I miss you so much. I don’t think I can live without you!”

  “David, stop it! What are you talking about? I’m married to Stephen. You can’t do this. What about Gwen?”

  “What about her! She means nothing to me! It’s always been you that I want! Always!”

  “David, stop it!”

  Bridget’s struggles and her words were all in vain. David was bigger, stronger and he was overcome with desire for her. He turned her around, pulling at her dress, ripping open the buttons. The sight of her naked before him was more than he could stand. He lifted her body in his arms like a rag doll, sucking at her breasts, licking her nipples. Bridget was powerless to stop him. He gripped her body tightly to him and entered her. So enraptured with being inside of her, Bridget’s protests fell on deaf ears. When he was done, he held Bridget’s motionless body to him. Neither of them said a word, before she finally crumpled to the floor in a heap and just lay there. Looking at the scene before him from a distance, and with a clearer head, David could not believe what he had done. He attempted to console Bridget but each time he reached for her, she cried out or whimpered. He decided it was best to keep his distance. Instead, he mentioned that they should probably get going as Stephen and Gwen would be waiting for them. That was the first time she spoke.

  “Oh my God! What am I going to tell Stephen?”

  “I’ll take you home,” was all he could say.

  While Bridget tried her best to put her dress back on, despite the buttons that had been ripped away, David handed her his suit jacket. He called a company car and rode with her first to her apartment to make sure that she got inside safely. He had the driver stop at a liquor store, so he could have an explainable decoy, then he had the driver drop him home. When he walked in, Gwen was sitting in the kitchen, pissed as hell. Stephen, thanks to the Scotch, the heavy food, and his long hours of work throughout the week, was asleep in David’s office. He woke up looking for Bridget, surprised to see she hadn’t returned.

  “Where is Bridget, didn’t she come back yet?” he asked.

  “She called. She got sick coming out of the office and decided to get in a cab and go straight home. I told her not to worry about the disc. We’ll deal with the brief on Monday. Why don’t you go home to your wife?”

  “Is she okay?” Stephen asked.

  “I’m sure she’s fine,” David lied. “But she’s probably waiting for you.”

  Gwen looked from David to Stephen and for a moment she considered saying something to Stephen. After all, what did she have to lose. She clearly didn’t have a chance with David. She was no fool; she knew exactly what had gone on tonight. Instead, she sat in silence. She truly felt sorry for Stephen. He seemed like a nice guy; a nice guy that was going to get his heart broken.

  David watched Gwen’s eyes, well tuned in to what she was thinking and prepared to stop her from opening her mouth if need be. As soon as Stephen had left and the door was closed, David spoke.

  “You know what, Gwendolyn, you and I both know this is going nowhere. Don’t you think it’s best to just end it right here and now and not drag this out endlessly, until we both hate each other? Because, I gotta tell you, I think I’m close to being there.”

  “You have the nerve to turn this around on me and act like you’re angry at me. Then again, I guess you are angry. You’re angry at anyone that’s not her. You know what, David, fuck you! You’re nothing, less than nothing, and you use that firm and your wealth as a means to qualify yourself. You’re a small, sad little man and that attractive exterior you have now will soon be gone. I mean, do you really think your looks are gonna last forever? You’re going to end up old, sad and alone. I just hope I get to see it so I can tell you I told you so.”

  “Don’t worry, you won’t be. You’ll be somewhere, sucking somebody’s dick to ‘qualify’ yourself, honey.”

  “Don’t kid yourself into believing she could ever love you. She loves that nice young, successful husband she’s got.”

  And, with that, she stormed out of David’s apartment, but not before tossing a vase to the floor and breaking it.

  Despite his best efforts, David couldn’t sleep all night. He considered calling both Bridget and Gwen and thought better of both. Instead, he did something he seldom did anymore—he got up early and went into the office on a weekend.

  “Did someone call for a temp?” Jade asked sarcastically.

  David was startled to find Jade standing in the doorway to his office.

  “How the fuck did you get in here?”

  “I have my ways.”

  “Jade, I’m really not in the mood for your shit today. Get the fuck out of my office and don’t come back. Your hold on me is gone, so go find some other mark. What you’ve never been able to understand is none of this has ever been about me and my embarrassment. I don’t embarrass that easily. I would have taken my lumps and, in a year or so, everyone would have forgotten all about my indiscretions. I only allowed you to manipulate me for fear of what exposure would do to my mother; now she’s dead, so do your worst. Someone like you could never understand this, but my mother sacrificed her entire life for me; staying married to my father far longer than she should have, a man who treated her like shit. And in the end, I couldn’t even live up to her expectations for me. I ended up following in my father’s footsteps and making the same mistakes he made. My father never respected women and I have demonstrated the same character he possessed. I loved someone very much once and I left her to those same streets you seem to love so much. When Bridget came along, I think I became so consumed with having a second chance that I just repeated all my old habits. And now I’ve ruined my chances with her as well.”

  “Let me ask you a question, Jade...Have you ever been in love?”

  Jade stared at David as though he had truly lost his mind.

  “If you’re ever lucky enough to fall in love, take my advice, don’t blow it. Some people never find love even once in their lives; and I was lucky enough to find it twice and blew it both times. So, Jade, whatever it is you have in mind, go on and shout it from the rooftops—my sexual indiscretions, the insider trading, my artful accounting with my clients. Because, quite frankly, I don’t give a shit; I’ve lost everything I’ve ever wanted.”

  David noticed the look of surprise on Jade’s face.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “Didn’t it occur to you that while you were watching me, that I might be watching you as well? I know all the dirty little secrets you’ve learned about me. And, quite frankly, I don’t care.”

  It was the first time David had ever seen Jade speechless. But that only lasted a moment.

  “David, I do believe there is still something, or should I say someone you do care about. Haven’t you ever wondered how your naïve, sweet-tempered Lady Love ended up my life-long friend; or how she ended up selling her goodies in the Bronx warehouse district?”

  David wasn’t anxious to play any more of Jade’s games, but his fascination with Bridget won out.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re a lawyer. Tell me, what’s the statute of limitations on murder?”

  “So, that’s it. You’ve been blackmailing her, too. What do you have on her? What murder?”

  Despite his concern about the hold Jade had on Bridget, he was somehow relieved. It all made sense now. It just made him love her all the more. It meant everything he believed in his heart to be true about Bridget indeed was. She truly was the beautiful, courageous, honest human being he perceived her to be; which meant by translation, he was, in fact, the monster. He had justified what he had done to her by telling himself that she was nothing more than some hooker he had picked up off the street; that she somehow didn’t rate being treated like a decent human being; that she had to have some sort of ulterior motive for all of her actions. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

  “Jade, I can’t talk to you now. I’ll call you. We’ll work something out. But, I can�
��t do this now.”

  Jade was careful not to push too hard. No use in pushing the cash cow too far over the edge.

  “Yeah, we’ll talk. But keep in mind I want in. I want a job here; at your firm—something with a title maybe. Maybe even your assistant—something that lends credibility, but not too far-fetched. I want to go legit.”

  David was too smart a man to fall for that. He knew Jade’s kind. She was up to something. But, he needed time to think it all through.

  “I said I’ll call you.”

  Jade sauntered out of David’s office with a wave of her hand, quite pleased with her latest accomplishment.

  “Just make sure you don’t wait too long to call. I’m not a patient woman.”

  For at least a week Jade called, sent emails and generally harassed David, until he realized he had no other choice but to hire her in some capacity or another. He decided the place she would do the least damage would be as a general clerk. It would be her responsibility to copy documents, perform a minimal degree of one-handed typing of forms on a typewriter, and act as a general interoffice runner between floors. She hated it. But, it afforded her the opportunity to get her foot in the door.

  Greg was beyond shocked when he first saw her in and around the office. He hadn’t helped to get her the job and she hadn’t mentioned applying for one, but he had to admit, he was excited to know she was there. Besides the customary calls she made to him for information regarding the firm, Jade had slowly limited her contact with him, until it was virtually non-existent. While she was on her orientation tour, the manager brought her over to the accounting department. Jade looked through him as if he weren’t even there. Instead of choosing to question her lack of recognition, Greg chose to believe that she didn’t want anyone

  to know that they knew each other; for fear that it would affect both of their positions.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  AND BABIES MAKE...FOUR?

  Lately, Bridget had found it even more difficult to concentrate than usual. If her raging pregnancy-induced hormones were not enough, she had been walking around with a secret too overwhelming to keep to herself, but too earth-shattering to share. After all, who on earth could she tell? As if the guilt of keeping yet another secret from Stephen were not enough, not being able to truly share with her husband in the excitement of her pregnancy was almost more than she could bear; especially since learning from her doctor that she was carrying twins. Stephen was ecstatic while she managed to play the part of the delighted wife and mother-to-be.

  She thought of talking to Brianna. Through the years she and Brianna had come to be good friends. But, Brianna had gotten married and picked up with her husband and moved to Georgia. She was so happy and so far away. The last thing Bridget wanted to do was contact Brianna with more of her drama. Especially, since she had warned her about David. For years Brianna had advised Bridget to recognize that David was not only in love with her, but in fact, that love might be bordering on obsession. But Bridget hadn’t listened. She had gone on believing that Brianna’s comments were merely the ravings of a woman obsessed with sex. Despite their friendship and Bridget’s desire to be as good a friend to Brianna as she had been to her, she had to admit that she, too, judged Brianna as much as everyone else in the office.

  Now, in hindsight, she realized it was quite ironic. She had spent the first few years of her adult life as a prostitute while Brianna had grown up with a preacher for a father and a nurse for a mother. She had grown up in a close family with brothers and sisters who loved her and parents who took good care of her. She had gone to Christian schools, but somehow Bridget judged Brianna for her number of sexual partners. Instead of allowing Brianna the same respect she wanted for herself, she had done what many people do. She had tried to label Brianna with one of the many labels society as a whole had deemed appropriate. Bridget had decided that Brianna was promiscuous. But what she had learned, was that promiscuity was in the eye of the beholder and that typically people only labeled someone promiscuous because they were probably having more sex than they were having. And, if she labeled Brianna promiscuous, wouldn’t those same labels apply to her as well?

  Bridget must have picked up the phone three or four times before she finally decided she hadn’t the nerve to tell Brianna what had happened. Instead, she decided to try and take a nap. Sleeping at night had become so fitful for her lately. She was fully aware of the fact that now that she was pregnant, she needed her sleep.

  “No, Stephen, what have you done? No, you couldn’t have. Oh my God! David, David, wake up. Oh God! Please don’t be dead. Please, please, don’t be dead! Stephen, what have you done?”

  She awakened drenched in her own sweat. The dreams had increased in severity over the months and were more vivid than any she had ever experienced. Often Bridget woke up believing the dreams were real, her bed soaked; remnants of her either running from or after someone. Usually she could only remember portions of the dream. The most she could remember from this dream was that David had been killed, possibly by Stephen; and that somewhere in the distance, a phone was ringing, quite loudly. Bridget knew that dreams were nothing more than manifestations of events and encounters that took place while a person was awake. So, there was no secret why many of Bridget’s dreams ended with David’s death.

  “Brrrring, brrrring.” It took Bridget a moment to figure out it was actually the phone and she wasn’t dreaming. She got out of bed, stood up and answered the phone.

  “Hello?”

  There was clearly someone on the other end of the line. She could hear whoever it was breathing, yet they hadn’t answered her.

  “Hello,” she said again.

  That’s when she heard his voice. The voice she hadn’t heard for several months now. The voice of the person that had haunted her dreams night after night, ever since the last time she had seen him.

  “Hello Bridget. It’s me, David.”

  Suddenly it was as though she had been sucked into a dark hole. The room started to spin quickly and she fell, hitting her head against the bedside table.

  “Bridget, Bridget! Are you there?”

  David heard the loud thud on the other end of the line and knew that Bridget was at least six or seven months pregnant, maybe even more. He raced over to her apartment and convinced the building superintendent to open the front door. She was lying on the floor, the phone dangling from the bedside table, and her head was bleeding. Concerned that an ambulance or the police would take far too long, David picked Bridget up in his arms and took her downstairs to the street level where the super got him a cab.

  “New York Presbyterian Hospital,” he instructed the cab driver. “Quickly.”

  David took out his cell phone and dialed Stephen.

  “There’s been an accident. I’m on my way to the hospital with Bridget. She’s unconscious. Meet me at New York Presbyterian. Yeah. It’s on Seventieth and York Avenue. And Stephen, hurry.”

  “She’s at about thirty-three weeks gestation, with a possible concussion. Her former employer brought her in. He’s in the waiting room.”

  “I’m Dr. Aryanni. Do you have any idea what happened to Mrs. Martin?”

  “I don’t know. I telephoned her, she picked up the phone and then I heard this loud noise. When she didn’t answer, I rushed over to her house. I knew she was pregnant and I thought something might have been wrong.”

  “It seems as though she may have fallen and hit her head. It doesn’t appear to be too serious, probably just a mild concussion. We’re attaching a fetal heart monitor to keep a watch on the babies. Luckily, you got to her quickly. I understand her husband is on the way.”

  “Yes, I called him. He should be here soon.”

  David couldn’t help but feel guilty about the entire incident. Maybe if he hadn’t called Bridget in the first place, this would never have happened. But, he had to know. He had to ask her directly whether or not there was any chance that she might be pregnant with his babies and not Stephen’s.
It was selfish of him. But, he could think of nothing else, ever since he had heard Stephen talking to one of the secretaries about Bridget’s due date. He had counted back from there and could only come up with one conclusion.

  Stephen entered the lobby wild eyed and full of questions.

  “What were you doing at the house?” Stephen asked.

  “I wasn’t...I mean... I hadn’t...not yet. I called the house. There was an address I was looking for and I knew Bridget would know where to find it,” David lied. “One minute we were talking and the next minute, I heard this loud sound and she was gone...off the phone.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “I’m sure she’s fine, Stephen. The doctor thinks she might have tripped and fallen and hit her head on something. She might have a mild concussion from the fall, but otherwise they think she’s fine. They’re monitoring the babies’ heartbeats though, as a precaution.”

  “She kept telling me how tired she was and I wouldn’t listen. Maybe if I had, she wouldn’t be here now.”

  “Stephen, it was probably just a freak accident. She probably tripped on something and fell.”

  The doctor joined Stephen and David in the waiting area.

  “Mr. Martin?”

  “Yes, I’m Stephen Martin. Can I see my wife?”

  “Bridget is fine, but she does have a mild concussion. It appears as though she may have fallen and hit her head. About a half hour ago Bridget began having contractions. We want to avert her pre-term labor, so we have given her something to delay delivery for a few days. She is only roughly at thirty-three weeks; a tricky time. Bridget is healthy and neither of the babies appear to be in any distress or immediate danger. We are going to do an amnio today to determine the maturity of the baby’s lungs and then we will most likely proceed with administering corticosteroids, which will aid in the advancement of the babies’ lungs.”

  “Could Bridget or the babies die?” Stephen asked.