LAUREN

 

 

The weekend almost gave me a sense of closure. Sure, Tyler looked sexy as hell and I often found myself daydreaming of the times we had spent together, but overall, it reminded me that I couldn’t be with him if he didn’t trust me. And from his reaction to Gabe helping me when I was frozen with fear, it was clear that he didn’t.

After the night spent in tents, Billie exploded at Hillis and demanded he take us home immediately. His insistence of completing the weekend was no match for Billie’s determination and by Sunday afternoon, I found myself unceremoniously dumped at my front door, my duty to attend the Thornton therapy weekend complete and definitely not a success. No doubt Billie would somehow make it my fault.

For the next week, Sadie and I studiously worked on our presentation for Haven’s Rest until we were sure it was perfect. Well, as perfect as we could get it. We had completed other jobs and campaigns for small businesses, but to get the contract for Haven’s Rest would catapult us into the big leagues. We had fun setting up the room, scattering it with clothes and props to make it look as though a group had just left for a night on the town.

We made the presentation in front of a collection of stony-faced suits who hardly ever smiled. Sadie did most of the talking, but her cheerful disposition did little to warm the hearts of the executives. With little more than a handshake, they dismissed us and we left feeling rather deflated. We were sure we had come up with an interesting concept. It was original and would grab people’s attention, but after receiving virtually no feedback, we had picked up takeaway food on the way home and now sat on the couch, watching old episodes of the cooking show I used to be obsessed with. I think that both Sadie and I were hoping that by watching it, some of the contestants’ skills might rub off on us. They didn’t.

“Do you regret quitting your job with Tyler?” I asked, popping a stale piece of popcorn into my mouth. We had watched a movie the night before and, after devouring our takeout, the leftover popcorn was the only food left in the house. We desperately needed to go to the store, but neither of us could be bothered.

Sadie, eyes glued to her phone, sighed and looked over at me. “Nope,” she replied simply. “It’s our first presentation, Lauren. We can’t expect everything to turn up roses the first time.”

“How did you end up working for him, anyway?”

“I thought we weren’t talking about Tyler?”

There was an unspoken rule between Sadie and me. I knew she still spoke to Tyler often, but she never mentioned him to me unless I brought him up.

“We’re talking about you, not Tyler.”

Sadie grinned. “Fine, if that’s the way you want to frame it.”

I rolled my eyes and picked a stubborn piece of popcorn from my teeth.

“Well, as you know, we met at university. Tyler was this really determined guy, always had a serious scowl on his face, always with his head in a book, or in a laptop. I met him through a friend of a friend, you know how it goes. Well, anyway, he became like this pet project I simply had to corrupt. I mean who went to university to actually study? Apparently no one had informed Tyler that his university years were supposed to be the time he ran amok.”

Smudge sauntered into the room and climbed onto Sadie’s knee, turning around in a circle five times before curling into a ball on her lap. She waited until he was settled before pushing him off.

“That cat is such an arsehole.” Sadie poked out her tongue in the cat’s direction as he sat and stared daggers at her, ears firmly planted against his head. “Anyway, back to my story.” She adjusted her position on the couch, lying across it rather than sitting on it and crossed her ankles. “You could say I wasn’t as well suited for studying as Tyler was and I switched from major to major. In the end, I graduated with a degree in Art history, of which I’ve done nothing with and can barely remember. Instead, I decided to travel. I kept in contact with Tyler and when I came back home, moneyless and jobless, he was looking for an assistant and asked me to fill in temporarily until he found someone. Six years later, I was still there.” She shrugged. “That’s how I ended up working for Tyler.” Reaching onto the floor, Sadie guided a handful of popcorn from her bowl into her mouth, stuffing it fully until she could barely close it.

“Do you miss it?”

Sadie shook her head, holding her hand over her mouth to stop the popcorn escaping. “Not really. I guess I miss all the functions I used to attend on his behalf. That was fun for a while. Especially when you came along. Before you, Tyler begrudgingly went to almost everything he was invited to as he considered it ‘his duty’.” Sadie coughed, choking on a stray kernel. “He hated them. I used to have to listen to him moan about all these people I was dying to meet, so when you came along and the requests for me to attend in his place increased, I was pretty happy. Then I realised that it was always the same people talking about the same old shit and the shine wore off rather quickly.”

“Did you ever meet his mother?”

“Tyler’s?” she asked.

I nodded, keeping my eyes stuck on the television because I didn’t want to see the smirk that I knew would be covering her face.

“I thought this wasn’t about Tyler?”

“It’s just one little question.”

The truth was, I was beginning to feel a little Tyler starved. The weekend away had helped give me closure, confirmed that I made the right decision regarding our relationship, but that didn’t mean I was completely over Tyler Thornton. He had gone from being my whole world to a distant part of it. There were days when I wanted to pounce on Sadie and demand she tell me every little piece of Tyler related gossip she could muster. My pride never let me though.

“Only the once. At Clark’s funeral. She wasn’t what I thought she’d be. From the way Tyler spoke about her, I expected this wasted druggy-type, but she wasn’t anything like that. She was well presented, well groomed, but I didn’t really get the chance to speak to her. Tyler was majorly pissed she was even there.” Sadie picked at her teeth. “Did he tell you he’s going to visit her?”

“When would he have had the chance?” I shot back, a little more sharply than I intended.

Sadie held up her hands as though I had attacked. “Whoa, calm down. It was just a question. Besides, he told me that he told you on that stupid weekend he was going to go and visit her. He’s on his way now. I think he wanted you to offer to go with him.”

“I can’t go with Tyler to meet his mother. I can barely be around him.”

Sadie wiggled her eyebrows. “Because you want to do bad things to him?’

I scowled. “Sadie.”

There was a knock at the door and Sadie stuck her thumb to her forehead. “Bags not.”

I sighed and lifted myself from the couch, stepping around Smudge who had firmly planted himself in front of Sadie and was engaging in a one-sided staring competition.

“If it’s Gabe, don’t let him in!” Sadie shouted.

I pulled open the door to find Peta standing on the step, arms laden with bags. “Good,” she said without greeting. “You’re here.”

“And so are you,” I replied as she barged past. “Why are you here?”

“It’s good to see you too, Ren,” she called over her shoulder. “Lounge down this way, I take it?”

I followed as she walked in and dumped her bags on the floor. Sadie shook her head in surprise. “Hello?” she said, looking over at me with a confused expression.

“Sadie, Peta, Peta, Sadie,” was my brief introduction. It struck me as strange that the two had never met before. Peta was my oldest and closest friend, and Sadie was fast becoming included in my small circle of friends as one I truly trusted.

The two women eyed each other suspiciously and nodded in greeting. They both knew of the other, but it was the first time they had met. I felt oddly nervous, scared that they wouldn’t like each other.

Peta sighed loudly and pulled out a stool from the kitchen counter, sitting down heavily. “I figured I should come and visit you since you haven’t come to see me in years.”

I laughed and pulled out the stool next to her. “It hasn’t been years.”

“Years,” she repeated, emphasising the word with a pointed glare.

“Any particular reason for this visit? Kids good? Hubby good? Work good?”

Tears welled in Peta’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” I said, leaning close and pulling her into my arms. She broke down completely then, and Sadie got up from the couch, declaring she needed to make a trip to the store.

“I’m pregnant,” Peta wailed.

“What?” I pulled back and held her firmly by the shoulders. “When? How? Was it planned?”

Peta pulled a tissue out of her pocket and dabbed her eyes, leaving smudges of mascara. “Well, I don’t actually know if I’m pregnant yet. I’m late. My boobs are tender, I’m crying at the drop of a hat and I’ve got this nauseated feeling in my gut. I don’t know if it’s morning sickness or just worry.”

“So not planned then?”

She shook her head. “I haven’t even told Shrek. I want to do the test first. I just didn’t want to do it with him, this time, you know? All the others were planned. Well, apart from Henry, but the other two were. And now this has happened and I don’t want to be alone when I find out, but I also don’t want someone there watching and judging my reaction. I really just don’t know how I feel. I don’t know if I’m going to burst into tears if it’s positive or burst into tears if it’s not.”

I got off the stool and walked over to my bag, grabbing the keys from the pocket. “Come on,” I said, dangling them in front of Peta. “There’s only one way to find out.”

Peta picked up her own bag from the ground and turned it over. Three boxes of tests fell to the floor. “Way ahead of you.”

“I’m not coming in while you pee on it.”

Peta laughed and hugged me tightly. “Thanks,” she said.

“For what?”

“For being you. I’ve missed you so much, Ren. I don’t like you living in the city. I think you should give up this illustrious career in marketing and photography and come back and make coffee with me.”

“Believe me, after the reaction we had to our presentation today, it’s very tempting.” I tugged on her hand, leading her in the direction of the bathroom. I waited, leaning on the other side of the door until she came out again, eyes a little clearer and a white tester held in her hand. “Three minutes. Why didn’t I buy the one minute one?”

We flopped back onto the couch. The voices of the cooking contestants filled the space with distracting chatter as we waited.

“I’m sorry to put this on you,” Peta said, her hand clutched tightly around the test so she couldn’t peek.

“Sorry?” I replied. “I’m pleased you came. I know I’ve been a sucky friend lately.”

“No more than I have,” Peta replied. “But I'm sorry because, well, you know.”

“This is about you, not me, Peta. So don’t you dare apologise for that. You know how I hate it when people try to protect me from anything to do with pregnancy.”

“I know, it’s just—” her voice cut off in a strangled sob. “I’m not sure if I can do this. I’m not sure if I can go through it all over again. I mean, I love my babies, I really do, but four? I never wanted four.”

“How do you think Shrek would take it?”

“I’d say he’d be thrilled. But even though he’s the one that looks after the kids the most, he’s not the one that has to grow them inside him for nine months.”

I glanced at my cell phone, noting the numbers on the clock. “It’s time.”

Peta’s knuckles were as white as the tester they were wrapped around. “I’m not sure I can do this.”

“You know the test doesn’t make you pregnant, it only confirms if you already are.”

“Okay, smart alec. I’m just not sure if I want to—” Before she finished her sentence she ripped her fingers away and left the test exposed in her hand, covering her eyes with the other. “You look. I can’t.”

I peered down at the little clear window. “What does a blue cross mean?”

Peta’s eyes flew open, her hand dropped to her throat, and she let out a sigh of relief. “Oh my goodness, you scared me!”

“No cross.” I grinned and patted her knee. “You’re not pregnant.”

“That was mean.” Peta looked at the other two tests she had completed at the same time. None of them showed as positive. Her body slumped as relief overwhelmed her and tears sprung to her eyes again. “Why am I so bloody emotional then?”

I just shrugged.

“I feel so stupid,” Peta said, flopping back on the couch. “I got myself all worked up, yelled at Shrek that I needed a break and drove all this way for nothing.”

“I’m nothing?”

“Don’t make this about you.” She grinned, a little of the normal Peta rearing her head. “What now?” she asked, looking around the room as if noticing it for the first time. “Your house is shitty.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “It is. Drink?”

Peta’s eyes lit up. “What are you offering?”

Wandering into the kitchen I pulled open all the cupboards trying to find a bottle of wine. In the end, I admitted defeat and called Sadie, instructing her to come home loaded with wine as soon as possible.