Chapter Ten
BETHANY
I sat in my bed that night, reflecting on how much fun I’d had on my date with Gavin and Vinny. I still couldn’t believe how destiny seemed to position Vinny right between us the way he did. I was a little nervous about meeting Gavin’s son, even though I knew how good I was with children. There was just an extra bit of anxiety flowing through my blood, hoping that I wouldn’t find a way to screw things up.
When I saw Vinny on the other side of the door, it felt like a load of bricks were lifted from my shoulders. I always wondered who his parents were because out of all the children at the school, he was by far the most well-behaved. He seemed so much older than the rest of them. I started to think if our children would grow up with the same mannerisms, but I quickly ended those thoughts. Stop it, Bethany. Children already? You’ve barely known this guy for two weeks. Calm down.
I glanced at the book on my nightstand. The desire I had to read those love stories had slowly begun to fade away ever since I met Gavin. I knew that I was probably jumping the gun, but I couldn’t help it. I wanted to be in love, and so far, everything seemed like my love would be from Gavin. My phone rang in the middle of my thoughts. “Bethany! How was the date with Gavin and his son?”
“It was AMAZING!”
“Listen. I know that I said we would talk about it tomorrow, but I can’t help it. It is almost 8 pm, so I am coming over there right now. Besides that, my husband is getting on my last nerve, so I need to get away.”
I laughed. “Alright, come on by. You know my home is always open to you.”
She showed up almost twenty minutes later. She used her key to let herself in, then hurried to my bedroom and flopped onto my mattress as if out of breath. “Dear Lord, I’ve never been so tired in my life! This baby is kicking my ass!”
I looked at her stomach. Her baby bump was still the same size. “You don’t even look pregnant. I swear you aren’t going to gain any weight during this pregnancy, and before you know it, you will be back down to the skinny girl you were before you got pregnant.”
“Shit. I hope so. I don’t want to imagine what I will look like in a couple more months.” She popped her head up, “And that reminds me. We need to go the store tonight. Belville’s closes at 10 pm, and I saw some cute maternity clothes there that I wanted to grab.”
“Okay, sounds good.”
“But, before that, tell me about the date, step-mom.”
I laughed, then told her that I already knew his son because he was enrolled at the same school that I worked for. She was just as surprised as I was, and she felt like things were starting to look like they were meant to be for us. “Yeah, it kind of feels that way, you know?”
“Yeah. But, like I said, I still want you to take it slow. Get to know him a little more before you start talking about anything else. I’m sure that if something is wrong with him, it’ll come out. If not, you may have lucked up and found yourself a winner.” Her eyes popped open, “Wait a minute, how long has it been since I signed you up on that website?”
I laughed. “Um, it’s been more than a week.”
“Fuck! Damn it! There is thirty fuckin’ dollars down the drain. You guys met on what? The second day?”
“Yeah. First or second.”
“Shit. Well, I’ve paid for another month already, so you may as well keep the profile up just in case you and Gavin don’t work out. Um,” she hesitated, “have you heard anything from your ex?”
I sighed. “No. Nothing. I hope it stays that way. April, you know those were some of the worse years of my life and I never, EVER, want to go back to those days. God. I felt like I was going to do die. Drugs. Stripping. Abuse. I don’t know how I made it out alive.”
“Yeah, I know. But, with you going out a little more with Gavin, you are increasing your chances of being spotted–”
“Gee, thanks for reminding me.”
“No, I am just saying that so you can keep your eyes peeled. Possibly let Gavin know about your past. Did you tell him about your ex?”
“No, not yet. I mean, I will eventually, but I don’t want him to know those details yet. I figured it would be best to keep that quiet for now. I don’t want his impression of me to change right away.”
I thought back to my days of being a stripper. I worked at a few clubs in Richmond, VA. I bounced around wherever the money went. Some nights, I could see over a thousand dollars, and other nights, I would barely crack five hundred. That is when I met my ex-boyfriend. He came off as a nice, sweet guy who just wanted to get to know me, but it only took about a month for his possessive nature to show.
After a couple years of putting up with his abuse, I snuck away from him in the middle of the night. With tears in my eyes, I got on a bus and left, not knowing where I was going to land. When I got to Roanoke, I stayed in a hotel for the first month until I was able to find a job at Morris Elementary. I found favor with Principal Jones, but I had to lie on my application just to get the interview.
I knew that if they found out what I did in the past, I may lose my job, and if I told Gavin anything right now, I wasn’t sure if I could trust him to keep it quiet. Things could easily get out, especially since his son went to my school. I didn’t want to chance it. Not right now, at least. If things went bad between me and Gavin, he could literally ruin my life by exposing what I used to do before I moved to Roanoke. It wasn’t worth the chance. Not yet.
“Yeah, that may be a good idea,” April said. “Well, let’s get up and go to the store. You’re driving because um, because I just don’t feel like it.”
I laughed, grabbed my keys and headed out to the store with her. While we were in the car, Gavin texted me a few times. “Oh my goodness, is that him again?” April looked at her phone, “My god damned husband hasn’t texted me once since I left. Ugh. He makes me so fucking sick sometimes, Bethany.”
I looked at her as she glared out the window with an angry glare on her face. “Maybe the baby has your hormones out of whack.”
She sent the menacing glance in my direction, “Or maybe my husband doesn’t love me anymore.”
I stifled my laugh when she said that. I knew her husband loved her with all of his heart, so that wasn’t the case. This pregnancy just had her more emotional than she’d ever been before, so I understood why she was feeling that way. “No, he loves you, and you know he does. You said he pissed you off? What did he do?”
“He fucking left the god damned toilet seat up, and I almost fell in the fucking water. That shit is so inconsiderate!”
I laughed. “April, didn’t you look first?”
“Oh, now you’re taking his side?”
“No, I–”
“You know what? Just forget it. Yes, I could’ve turned around, but when I have to piss, I have to piss! Damn it!”
I kept my mouth shut for the rest of the ride as she vented about all the things her husband did to piss her off during the last week. April was lucky to be in her position. She was with a successful man who loved and respected her, and she didn’t have to go to work. All she did was stay at home and cook, and even though I could see how that would get boring from time to time, in a way, I still envied what she had.
Her life was like one of the love stories I read at night, and I never told her that, but that’s how it felt to me. It was just past nine when we got to the store. She went inside before me and went straight to the maternity section, scanning through the dresses until she found the ones that she wanted. “Yes, this is it right here.” She held it up to her body in front of the mirror. “What do you think, Bethany?”
“That is really cute. You are going to look so gorgeous in that, April.”
“You think so?” she asked, glancing into the mirror. “Because I think I will look fat in it. My stomach is small now, but in a few months, I will be as big as a house. Hell, I probably won’t even want to leave the house when that happens.”
“That is what maternity dresses are for. Everyone knows you will be bigger because of your pregnancy, so the dress is not only supposed to enhance that fact, but make you look cute in the process. Get it. As a matter of fact,” I grabbed three more dresses that I thought she would look cute in, “get these, too.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I think I will. Shit. I am going to spend all of Mark’s money for leaving that toilet seat up.” She looked at me, “Do you want something?”
I shook my head no, and with that, she went to the dressing rooms to try a few of the items on. As I sat in the seat just outside the room, Gavin texted me again. “Hey. So, when do you want to hang out again? Just us two this time around.”
“It’s up to you. I am pretty free most weekends, so just give me a day and I’m sure I can swing it.”
“Alright, that sounds good. What are you up to now?”
“Just out with a friend shopping. Well, she is shopping, I guess I am just here for moral support.”
“I see. Well, if you feel like it, call me when you get home. I don’t want to interrupt.”
Just then, April came out of the dressing room. “How do I look?” she asked, modeling her flowery dress.
“That looks good, April. I mean, it’s not a maternity dress, and you won’t be able to fit it in another month or so, but it still looks good.”
“I’m buying it. I love it.”
“Alright,” I said, smiling.
After she finished, she took the clothes to the cashier so she could ring up the purchase. We headed outside and got into the car. As soon as I turned the engine, I froze. “Bethany? Bethany, what’s wrong?”
I knew that car from anywhere. My ex-boyfriend drove a white Escalade with 22-inch rims and heavily tinted windows. The truck rolled by us as a numbing feeling shot through my limbs. I couldn’t move. I didn’t want to believe it was him. “Nothing,” I said, starting my engine. “Nothing. We just need to leave. Right now.” I backed out of my spot, then sped out of the parking lot. Just when things seemed like they were getting better, I was brought right back down to reality.