Chapter 7
“I will be out in a few minutes.” Lynn was standing there looking at this dress and feeling like she was a bottle of Pepto Bismol. It was this ugly salmon color, but it was a known fact that the bride was supposed to outshine her maid of honor. With a few strategic alterations, she could easily change things for the better. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me and it’s only been 48 hours. I’ve gotten several text messages from him and it’s obvious that he wants to see me again. I shouldn’t have done what I did, but I can’t take back what’s already been done. I look at myself and I already know that I’m pregnant. I guess I should have known better than to get involved with the one man that could make my body into his own personal wonderland.
“I know that it’s not very flattering, but I think that we can make it work. You’ve always been pretty good with a needle and thread, Lynn. We can work on it together until it’s something that you can wear in public.” Mandy was standing there impatiently, but it was the argument that she had with her intended that was still ringing in her ears. She was close to calling off the engagement. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to get married, but now she was having doubts that this man was the one for her. He had a wandering eye, but so far she had seen nothing to indicate that he was doing anything behind her back. That was until this morning and his phone rang. There was this attachment from an unknown caller. When she opened it, she found very revealing photos of a bodacious raven haired beauty.
“I just need a minute and I’m sure that we can work our magic on this.” It was made by a well known designer, but the actual dress didn’t really do a woman’s curves justice. “I don’t want to believe that I’m with child again. I’m watching the stick and the positive sign is making my heart stop ice cold. There’s no way that I can tell him. I’m going to have to keep it my little secret for as long as possible. His future is not with me and I can’t pull him down into my world. I’m just going to have to grin and bear it and hope that I don’t become too transparent.” She put her two hands on the vanity and looked at her fingers shaking. She was nervous to face him again. She had no designs on doing anything like that even one more time. She wanted to, but it would only be making more trouble than it was worth.
Lynn finally composed herself long enough to walk out to find Mandy weeping with her hands over her eyes. She had no idea what was going on, but she had to be there for her friend. They may have not stayed in touch the way that they would have liked to, but they were still friends. There was something between them and coming back to each other after all this time had rekindled the friendship all over again. “I don’t know what to say and I’ve never been comfortable in these situations. The only thing that I can do is let her speak her mind and not pressure her into revealing anything. What she needs right now is somebody that will listen and I plan to be here for her. If she tried to push me a way, then she will find out just what kind of pit bull I really am.”
“I can’t believe that he would do this to me. He promised that he would be faithful, but how am I supposed to believe that. Everything that I’ve seen is to the contrary. Maybe it is something innocent, but I can’t take that on face value. I need to know the truth and you’ve always been good at making people tell you their deepest darkest secrets. Do you suppose that you could use that gift one more time with my soon to be husband. He’s downstairs watching the game with a couple of friends in the basement.” Mandy didn’t want to put her into that position, but she was literally at her breaking point. She needed some kind of confirmation and the only way that seemed plausible was to throw her friend into the deep end.
Lynn had her by the hand and knelt down to see there was something weighing heavily on her mind. “You need to know that if I do this there’s no going back. You haven’t been very receptive to what I had to say in the past and why should now be any different. I’ve always proven myself, but there have been times that you just wouldn’t listen. Are you sure that you’re not going to kill the messenger.” “I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news, but she’s basically setting me lose to find out the truth on her behalf. I’m not very subtle. I can make a man spill his guts, but that doesn’t translate into my own personal life. It would be so easy if I could be unbiased and see the signs, but that’s not how this works.”
Mandy was reconsidering her request. She had seen how easily Lynn could work her considerable charms. There was something about her and even now she was a little apprehensive about throwing Lynn at her husband to be. Would she even believe what Lynn had to say? She’d already seen enough to last a lifetime and those photos were not exactly subtle by any means. They gave new meaning to dirty pictures. These were very explicit and there was no length that this woman wouldn’t go to get her hooks into Kenneth.
“I catch myself sometimes looking in the mirror and I’m not sure who I’m looking at any more. I need this confirmation to know that what I’m doing is right for me. I can’t get caught up into the trap of material things. That will only hurt us in the long run. I want you to keep your phone on and let me be a fly on the wall to your conversation with him. I don’t see how he will drop his guard, but I’ve learned never to underestimate you. There’s no pressure and even if you were to say no to my request, I would not hold it against you.” Mandy was terrified of learning the truth, but she didn’t want to wear blinders anymore. The wedding was no more than a couple of days away and the rehearsal dinner in the next couple of hours was going to bring a lot of their friends and family together for the first time.
Lynn had marveled at the estate and walked around in something of a trancelike fog. She was sure that Mandy had thought she was taken aback by the opulence of the home that Bailey had bought for his family. This place had seven bedrooms and five bathrooms, not to mention a game room and a six car garage. Unbeknownst to Mandy, her shock and dismay was only enhanced by her surroundings. She was dealing with a whole lot more than some green streak of jealousy down her back. “I’ve lost so much time with Bailey. Our afternoon delight had only reminded me of what I left behind. I’ve never been one to confront my demons. I should have told him that I didn’t want him to go back, but I just didn’t have the right words. I was hoping that he would tell me that he wouldn’t leave without me, but that was not how everything played out.
“Please do this for me, Lynn and I will never ask for anything else from you in your lifetime. I know this is going above and beyond the call of duty of my maid of honor.” They hugged and Mandy felt like she was coming back home.. Somehow, she had convinced Kenneth to leave the cushy comfort of his New York condominium in the sky.
“I’ll do this under protest and on the condition that this won’t ruin our friendship. I’m either going to make you smile or destroy your reason for living. I can’t predict how this is going to go and what you told me of those photos doesn’t exactly instill me with any kind of confidence.” “Not only do I have to worry about yet another unplanned pregnancy, but I also have to throw a monkey wrench into my best friend’s wedding.” Lynn patted Mandy’s hand and then got up and walked down the stairs with a dark and gloomy cloud over her head.
She wasn’t even watching where she was going and she bumped into what felt like a brick wall. She stumbled backward and grabbed onto the first thing that she could find to prevent herself from falling. It was almost a desperate need in the back of her mind. She was thinking of the safety of the child. It was still early, but she was older now and there were more risks when it came to having a child.
Bailey reached out to her and wrapped his hands around her waist. He had noticed that she had grabbed onto the side of the door. She had turned white like that of a ghost. “I didn’t think that I would find you here. When my sister said that she needed to fit the bridesmaids and her maid of honor with their dresses, I assumed that it was going to be in some kind of boutique in the city. I hope this doesn’t make anything more awkward between us. You’ve made your feelings abundantly clear by not answering any of my texts.” Bailey had come here at the bequest of the bride intended. He felt there was something wrong about Kenneth, but maybe he was only projecting his own thoughts about what happened between himself and Lynn.
“I really don’t have time to talk about this.” Lynn moved underneath his arm, smelling his cologne and almost ready to succumb to the man. She mistakenly thought that the other day would finally close that chapter, but it had only opened a sequel to what they had together. She’d already been hurt enough in the past and going down that road again was only asking to repeat old mistakes. “I knew that it was a mistake to go to his hotel room, but I don’t think that I regret one moment of it. The only thing that I hate is this wall between us. There’s no way that I could possibly be friends with him and wish him well in his future endeavors.” Lynn walked downstairs and found the boys play acting.
Kenneth spied the concern on Lynn’s face and was immediately worried that something had happened. He excused himself from an obvious men’s gathering of testosterone. He cornered Lynn in a nearby room. It had a ping-pong table and a couple of old life sized Atari games. “You obviously have something on your mind. If this concerns my wedding, then I deserve to know.”
“I don’t want to cause problems where there isn’t any, but I have to ask you about your intentions. Is there any dark secrets keeping you from making a long lasting commitment to my friend? Do you have any skeletons in your closet or unnecessary baggage that needs to be checked? I can see in your eyes that you have something you need to tell me. There’s no better time than right now.” Lynn raised her hand and put it reassuringly on his shoulder. At first, she thought that she was losing her edge, but then his eyes cast down and his shoulders relaxed just a little bit too much. “This is it and I just hope Mandy is ready for this. I know the signs and these questions made him feel guilty about something. It’s just a matter of drawing it out of him.”
“I know that I love her, but I don’t know if I can contend with one woman for the rest of my life. I’m probably just having cold feet, but an ex girlfriend has been sniffing around lately. I couldn’t help myself and I thought that the ball and chain around my ankle was going to trap me for the rest of my life.” Kenneth really didn’t understand why he was saying any of this, but it fell right to get it off his chest. “I’m sure that others have gone through the same thing, but this girl really knows how to push my buttons. I found myself having dinner with her and old memories began to surface. I think she knew that I was at my weakest point and decided to go for broke.”
“What exactly did you do? Was it as simple as a kiss or did it get out of hand?” “I don’t really want to know the answer, but this is something that my sister from another mother needed to know before walking down the aisle. I don’t want her to get caught in something that is not going to last. It would kill her and I would have to be there to pick up the pieces.”
“I really don’t know how to say this, except to just say it. I lost myself for one moment, as she went down on me underneath the table. I tried to stop her, but she’s not an easy woman to deny. That was three weeks ago and I’m ashamed to say that I’ve been with her at least five more times. The first two were the same with her giving me a blow job for old time sake, but then things escalated.” Mandy came in and slapped him across the face, so hard that he actually felt that he deserved it. He had nothing to say and knew from the stinging sensation that she had heard every single word. This had been a web of deceit and it had come back to haunt him.