Chapter 17

Amanda

I had managed to pull myself out of my funk long enough to shower, do my hair, and look somewhat presentable for the day. I was with Lindsey at her wedding gown fitting so she could make sure everything was perfect before she took it home. While she was in the dressing room, I sat there in the chairs staring off into space, thinking about the courthouse wedding I almost had with Nathan. It was going to be so perfect, and I was planning on wearing some cute, vintage suit like Carrie from Sex and the City. I had searched online and found a couple options I loved, but now, it was pointless. I was stuck in that wasteland of heartbreak, carrying a secret that was kicking my ass both physically and mentally.

My attention was drawn back to the room as I heard the shuffle of layers of tulle coming from the back. Lindsey walked out looking like that perfect bride you see in all the magazines. Her face was bright with excitement as she climbed up on the pedestal and stared at herself in the mirror. She had just gotten the dress back after the alterations, and it fit her like a glove. A very expensive, fifteen-thousand-dollar glove. She turned and looked at me, smiling big.

“What do you think?”

“You are beautiful,” I said with a smile. “The alterations are perfect, and you were definitely right about taking that bow off the back. It made your ass look big.”

“I know, right?” She laughed. “I’m so glad that everything is falling into place so perfectly. I was really worried that my dress wouldn’t come out right.”

I stared at the layers of tulle coming out of the bottom of the form-fitting gown. My head started to feel light, and I could feel all the blood draining from my face. My stomach started to churn as if someone pressed a button.

“Amanda? Are you okay?”

I looked up at Lindsey with confusion before jumping up out of my chair and racing across the room to the bathroom. I threw open the door and fell to my knees, reaching the toilet just in the nick of time. I hurled, not giving two shits that the door was open or that Lindsey could see me. When I was done, I sat back on my heels and wiped my mouth with toilet paper. I breathed heavily, feeling the tears from my watery eyes rolling down my cheeks. Apparently, the medicine wasn’t as foolproof as I had hoped.

“I’m sorry, could you give us a moment?” Lindsey walked to the door of the bathroom and bent down in her huge dress. “Are you still sick, sweetie? You could have just told me, and I would have come on my own. It’s really no big deal.”

“God,” I said, sighing. “I don’t have the flu. The truth is, I’m pregnant. I just didn’t want to tell you right now because you have so much going on.”

“Oh my God,” she said. “You should have told me right away! Have you called Nathan?”

“Yeah,” I said, feeling the emotions starting to roll in again. “But he refuses to answer my calls or texts. He has no idea that I’m pregnant. He probably would just tell me I was trying to corner him with a baby, anyway. He has all of these crazy notions about me, and I just don’t understand. He thinks I was looking up the information on the clinic so that I could steal his money to follow my dreams. Then he threw this obviously fake document at me, and for some reason, he thinks I’m fucking married.”

“That is ridiculous,” Lindsey said, shaking her head. “You have never been married. Where in the world would he get some kind of crazy idea like that? I mean, it should be easy to prove wrong, right?”

“You would think so, but no matter what I said, he just refused to accept any of it,” I said, standing up.

Lindsey couldn’t believe the details of everything. I had kept those back, knowing it would upset her when I told her we broke up. She thought it was just as insane as I did. She took my hand and walked me back out into the main area.

“I just don’t understand how he could believe that you are married,” Lindsey said, shaking her head and looking up as the door opened.

I groaned, staring at Sarah prancing in the door. She had heard the last part of the conversation, and a weird smirk moved across her face. She walked over and kissed Lindsey on the cheek, turning and looking at me.

“You’re married?” Sarah asked.

“No, I’m not married,” I scoffed. “Not that it’s any of your business.”

I turned and walked toward the window, trying to ignore her. I knew that I told myself that I would play nice for Lindsey’s sake, but at that moment, I didn’t have any restraint left in my body. I was exhausted from everything going on, and the last person I wanted to converse with about my issues was Sarah, who found too much pleasure in my pain as it was.

“That’s funny,” she said snidely.

“Knock it off, Sarah,” Lindsey said as she stepped out of her gown. “I don’t know what about that is funny.”

“Are you serious?” she asked, smiling. “Someone thinks Amanda is married? That is a little humorous, don’t you think? I mean, if you really take a moment and consider how easy that could be proved wrong. Men can be so pig-headed sometimes, but if you want to make them believe something, you jab them where it hurts the most.”

“What are you talking about?” Lindsey asked, glancing over at me. “I don’t know where you are getting any of this.”

“Oh, it’s simple,” Sarah said as I turned around to face her. “I stole one guy from you, and it wasn’t hard to do. He was dying to get away, and now, I’ve gotten the second one to break up with you.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, anger starting to take over my body. “You don’t even know Nathan.”

“I may not know Nathan, but his best friend John is a pushover for a blonde with big tits.” She giggled. “It all came together so perfectly when you started to date his best friend. It was like the universe sent this little package all tied up perfectly for me.”

“Sarah, what did you do?” Lindsey stepped down in her slip and walked toward her sister.

“I have this guy that with a little convincing—you know what I mean—I got to create me a fake marriage document.” she laughed. “Jake Johnson was playing in the background when I fucked him, so I made the groom’s name Jake Johnston. Cute, isn’t it? Then, I just simply hand-delivered it to John, putting on my most concerned face and explaining to him what I found. The idiot took the bait right away.”

My mouth flew open, and I froze, unable to speak or move. The anger coursing through me turned to rage, and tears began to fall down my cheeks. I stared over at Sarah, who was standing there, laughing to herself, still going on about how easy it was to completely sabotage my entire life. She was the reason Nathan wouldn’t talk to me. She was the reason I was facing a life as a single mother. She was the reason my child would never know its father. I couldn’t even believe that someone could be that evil in their intentions.

“What did I ever do to you?” I screamed at her. “I don’t deserve this.”

“You are a smug bitch who stole my sister away from me,” she said. “You don’t deserve a man like Nathan because you are nothing but a disgusting bitch.”

“Sarah,” Lindsey gasped, walking up to her and grabbing her by the shoulders. “How could you do something like this? You weren’t raised to be this way. I can’t believe you. Amanda is an amazing woman with a big heart, and you have gone out of your way to ruin her life.”

“This is the problem,” Sarah said. “You always take her side. You don’t deserve the life you have, either, but I won’t touch you. I do have some sort of morals. Just know you are disgusting as she is.”

I stood there staring at Lindsey, looking her sister in the face. Before I could even speak, she had balled her fist up, reached back, and punched Sarah right in the face. I covered my mouth and looked over as the ladies in the front gasped.

“You are no longer welcome at my wedding,” Lindsey said. “Now get out, you bitch.”

“Ladies,” the sales clerk yelled. “You are all going to have to leave.”

“Of course,” Lindsey said, straightening up. “My apologies. Let me get dressed, and I’ll pay you for the gown.”

Sarah watched Lindsey storm off to the back to get dressed as the other women scurried around, collecting her dress and staring at us. When Lindsey had disappeared around the corner, Sarah wiped the blood from the edge of her lip and looked over at me angrily. I crossed my arms over my chest and held my ground firmly.

“You are going to pay for this,” she said angrily before storming out.

Lindsey came back and took my hand, pulling me, stunned, over to the counter. She paid for her dress and alterations, adding twenty percent for the disturbance she had caused. She took the dress and pulled me out of the store. I couldn’t even say a word. I was just too stunned to speak.

We waited on the side of the street until her driver pulled up, taking the dress and helping us both into the car. As soon as the doors shut, I burst into tears, not knowing what else to do. Lindsey grabbed the box of tissues and passed them to me, letting out a deep breath and shaking her head.

“I’m so sorry for this, Amanda,” she said. “You don’t deserve any of this.”

“I’m so sorry for ruining your wedding,” I said, sobbing. “You had to kick your own sister out of it.”

“Don’t you apologize for that,” she said, scooting over next to me. “That is her fault. She is the one who got herself kicked out of the wedding.”

“You punched her in the face,” I cried.

“Yes, I did,” she said proudly. “And it felt damn good.”

“Really?” I sniffled and looked up at her. “It was pretty bad ass, and I’m jealous that I didn’t get to do it.”

I giggled slightly, taking in a deep breath and leaning my head back against the seat. Lindsey laughed too and sat there until the car fell silent again. Everything that Nathan had said to me now made so much sense. If he hadn’t gotten that fake marriage document, it wouldn’t have looked strange at all that I was researching my clinic. Nothing would have looked out of the ordinary if it weren’t for Sarah and her big mouth. Of all the people in the world for John to be screwing, he had to pick the craziest bitch in LA.

“I’m going to fix this,” Lindsey said. “We know the truth now. We know why he would think all of these things. I am going to talk to him and explain what happened.”

“I don’t know if he will listen at this point,” I said.

“He will have to listen to me,” she said proudly. “I will not let my best friend’s life, and the life of her child, be completely ruined because of some evil bitch. Trust me. It will all get taken care of.”

I really hoped that she was right.