Almost Broken (5 page)

“When Lisa told me, I was like screw that. You need a paternity test. But it’s pretty obvious she’s yours. Like a little girl version of you…it’s kind of creepy actually,” he jokes. I think.

“So DID, that’s pretty messed up man,” he says with a sigh.

“You think,” I say, taking another piece of gum from him.

“Really, all the signs were there.” He stands up and stretches. “Like pieces to a puzzle but no box to guide you.”

“Really, Dr. Grunnel,” I say, rolling my eyes at his supposed psychiatric expertise.

“DID isn’t all that uncommon a concern when you come back home from combat,” he says in a serious tone.

“Along with all the other glorious perks,” he says, his tone returning to normal.

“The thing I don’t understand is, from what I’ve researched, the cause is usually a traumatic event. So I can understand why soldiers are high-risk, but nothing’s happened to me to cause this. It’s like this guy came out of nowhere,” I say, standing now too.

“Or. Maybe you don’t remember,” Aidan says solemnly. The thought has crossed my mind. I don’t know if I’d want to remember something so traumatic it’d cause my personality to break.

“If something happened, this Cal guy knows. He knows a hell of a lot more than I do,” I say, noticing the anger in my own voice.

“That’s what he has on you. He knows everything you don’t,” Aidan says. I think back to my earlier conversation with Dex and his pseudo-insinuations of the damage Cal can do to my life.

“I need to know what he knows,” I say almost to myself.

“If I knew why he existed, and am able to deal with it, I wouldn’t need him.” I say adamantly, and Aidan puts both his hands up.

“Let’s not go that far, I’m not a psychiatrist or anything, but my understanding is ‘alters have a purpose or use’ if there was no need for him he wouldn’t exist,” Aidan shrugs.

“I don’t
need
this guy.”

“Well somewhere in there,’ he points to my head, “begs to differ,” he says, and I swat his hand away.

“Soo…the kids mom,” he says, leaning on the railing with a sneaky smile on his face. This is what he brought me out here for.

“This is why you aren’t staying for dinner.”

“Your mom made my favorite thing in the entire word. I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in months. I’m staying for dinner, just come to terms with that now.” He laughs.

“One to ten, where’s she scoring?” he says, standing in front of me. I push him, and he pushes me back.

“Come on!” he laughs, and I put him in a headlock, and in less than a minute, we’re wrestling on the porch.

“She’s either a one or a ten. You’re putting up too much of a fight,” he says, out of breath.

“Wow, we’re back to being 12 huh?” I hear Lisa say, amused.

“One or ten,” Aidan says again, gripping my neck tighter. I manage to elbow him in the stomach, and he lets me go.

“Your mom says cut it out,” Lisa says before rolling her eyes.

“Whose white Audi is that outside?” he asks, and I sigh.

“It has to be Caylen’s mom’s,” Lisa adds matter-of-factly.

“If she is a one, who cares with a car like that,” he says as we head back into the house.

“Ms. Red, Chris says I can’t stay for dinner,” he says with a whine that reminds me of when we were kids.

“Of course, you can stay. Chris, why wouldn’t Aidan be able to stay for dinner? I made his favorite,” my mom says, frowning at me.

“I just…you know this is Lauren’s first dinner with us. Aidan can be a lot to handle,” I say, trying to give my mom the hint.

“But Lisa gets to stay!” Aidan says defensively.

“That’s because I’m not an ass,” Lisa quips.

“Yeah, you’re an animal of an entirely different species,” he says.

“Jerk-off!” Lisa pushes him.

“My mom is right here!” I say, shooting them a glare to shut them both up.

“Sorry Ms. Red,” Aidan says.

“Me too. He brings out the worst in me,” Lisa says guiltily.

“I think Lauren would want to get to know the people important in your life.” My mom smiles at me, and I sigh.

“Aidan, please try to be on your best behavior,” my mom says, patting him before attending back to her pot. We all head into the living room and sit down.

“Seriously Aidan. Don’t be a jerk. She’s been through a lot,” I say seriously.

“She’s driving an Audi. I doubt she’s been through all that much.” Aidan chuckles.

“I’m not joking,” I say, shooting him a warning.

“Can we just watch the game?” He waves me off, turning up the volume on the TV. I slouch back into the sofa and turn my attention to the game on the television. My team’s down by 18 points.

Do you see my bags at the door and the one I’m holding? Do you not get it?!

I immediately sit up and look behind me. No one’s there. I look over at Lisa, who’s lying down on the opposite couch.

“What?” I ask. She looks over at me confused.

“What?” she asks.

“Didn’t you just say something?” She shakes her head

Okay I know she said something.

Someone did.

Maybe I didn’t hear anything.

I settle back down in my seat, keeping my eye on her. Lisa has a lot of talents, but ventriloquism isn’t one of them. I need to get some more sleep.

I’m leaving, Cal. Fuck you and your texts!

What the hell was that?! I look back over at Lisa whose attention’s on her phone. I look behind me, and no one’s there. Now I know it wasn’t her, and I know whose voice it was.

It’s Laurens’.

“Dude, you okay?” Aidan asks me with a raised eyebrow.

“You didn’t hear that?” I hesitate.

“Hear what?” Aidan asks, sitting up. He didn’t hear it. Which means only I heard it. How is that possible? It was as if it was right in front of me. I get up from the couch, make my way to the hall and up the stairs, and a moment later, everything blurs around me. I’m somewhere else, and I see me.

I’m holding Lauren. She’s fighting me as I carry her up a set of stairs. As fast as I see it, it’s gone, or did I even see it at all?

Of course I saw it. It was happening to me!

“Are you okay, son?” My mom is at the top of the steps, looking at me suspiciously.

“Yeah, I thought I heard Lauren call me,” I mutter. It’s the closest thing to the truth I could come up with. She comes down and pats my shoulder.

“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” She chuckles before making her way past me. I laugh nervously. Not a ghost, but it seems like someone’s definitely trying to scare me.

It’s easy to scare a pussy.

T
he smell of pasta wakes me up from my sleep. I inhale the scent of the pillow I curled up with. It smells like fabric softener and a hint of something else. Whatever it is smells fantastic. Chris’s bed has the perfect balance of firmness and softness. I’m not sure how long I’ve been asleep but my stomach’s growling. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep in someone else’s house, but that theory turned out to be very wrong.

I sit up in bed, the sun’s no longer lighting the room. I pull out my phone. It’s 5:15. I head to the bathroom Chris showed me earlier. My ponytail is a mess now. I take the holder off, run my hand through my hair, and splash some water in my face, trying to get rid of the
just woke up look.

I head to the stairs and hear
Bubble Guppies
, one of Caylen’s favorite shows on the Scotts’ surround system. She’s already toddler-ized the Scott’s house.

Caylen’s sitting in the middle of the floor on a big pink blanket eating graham crackers. Mr. Scott is asleep on a brown couch that matches the comfy brown chair I sat in earlier, and across from him is the girl that was in the picture earlier, but her long locks have been replaced by an asymmetrical bob. She sits up from her previously stretched out position when she sees me.

“Hi!” she says cheerfully, sitting.

“Hi.” I kneel down next to Caylen and kiss her on the cheek.

“You must be Lauren.” I stand to shake her hand, but she pulls me into a hug instead.

“Lisa, right?” I say as she releases me.

“Yeah. I hope my reputation doesn’t proceed me!” she says with a nudge.

“Uhm. I was looking at pictures in Chris’s room and you were in some. Nothing bad!” I assure her with a laugh.

“Good.” She folds her arms across her chest. I see her taking me in. After all, I’m the woman who married her best friend’s alter ego...or something like that.

“Your daughter is so adorable,” she says, looking at Caylen.

“Thank you.”

We stand around awkwardly for a few seconds.

“Chris and Aidan went to grab something from the store.” She runs her hand through her hair, and I notice a tattoo right above her wrist. It’s a word written in cursive.

“Fate.” She points to it, noticing my scrutiny. She then shows me the opposite side of her wrist is the word
Hope.

“If you believe in fate, you better hope she doesn’t screw you over.” She laughs.

“Fate must not like me very much,” I mumble, and she laughs.

“Fate doesn’t like most people.” She giggles.

“If I were you, I don’t know how I’d deal with all this. I mean, I’d be literally pulling my hair out, his hair out, anyone in the general vicinity,” she says, and I smile tightly. “But you’re definitely doing the mature thing. Me, I’ve been told I’m not very mature. That’s why I work with kids.” she jokes.

“Oh. What do you do?” I ask, glad to be able to have the spotlight off of me.

“I’m a preschool teacher,” she says with a smile. I’m a little surprised. She’s dressed in low rise jeans with a midriff sweater, a red streak down her asymmetrical bob and a small piercing in her nose. She looks more like a rock star bartender than a teacher, but Caylen is pulling on her pants and lifting her arms for her to pick her up, so kids must love her.

“Hi beautiful,” she says, picking Caylen up.

“I’m jealous,” I kid.

“Kids love me.” She shrugs.

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Mrs. Scott calls from the kitchen. The previously sleep-ridden Mr. Scott rises.

“Excuse me ladies,” he says, brushing past us with a wide, almost charming, smile. The first I’ve seen from him since I met him.

“I can take her,” I tell Lisa. She waves me off.

“We’re fine,” she says with a wink before following Mr. Scott into the dining room. I go to grab my purse when I hear the door open.

“Straight ahead.” A tall guy holds the door open as Chris comes in holding a big white box. Once he’s made it inside and sets it down, I see it’s a high chair.

“You went and bought a high chair?” I laugh.

“She’s the guest of honor. She should have her own seat,” he says.

“You’re Lauren?” the blonde guy asks me with a chuckle in his voice. The way he says it I’m not sure if I want to answer the question.

“That would be me,” I say hesitantly. He looks back at Christopher and chuckles.

“Twelve,” he says his eyes roving over my body.

“I’m sorry?” I ask, confused.

“Excuse his numerical outburst. An aftereffect of his post-traumatic stress thing from combat,” Chris says tightly, and I’m not sure if he’s joking or not.

“He’s joking,” the blond guy says, seeing that I’m not smiling at all.

“Christopher can be so rude,” he jokes and extends me his hand.

“I’m Aidan. I thought I was Chris’s best friend.” I look over at Chris questioningly and see that he’s staring pretty hard at Aidan.

“Nice to meet you,” I reply. He’s Chris’ height and build but he has a buzz-cut, though his hair’s long enough to show the blonde color. He has ocean blue eyes and his smile reveals perfect teeth. They sure know how to grow them in Michigan.

“Welcome home!” I say, realizing Chris told me earlier that he was out on tour.

“The best welcome I’ve had all day,” he says, our hand shake still lingering. Is this dude really flirting with me right in front of my husband?

Well, I’m not exactly sure how I should refer to Chris. I let go of his hand, but he’s continues to smile at me his eyes directly on mine. I cross my arms around myself.

Is this guy for real?

“Can you take this in the dining room?” Chris says, shoving the highchair box into Aidan’s chest.

“Sure buddy,” Aidan says tightly and makes his way into the dining room.

“Don’t mind him. He can act like an idiot around a beautiful woman,” Chris says.

A smile a mile wide spreads across my face. Chris looks down at his feet embarrassed maybe, having realized the compliment.

He thinks I’m beautiful.

Chris
thinks I am beautiful.

That manages to get me through the rest of the night. It causes me not to mind so much that his best friend, Aidan, stares at me like I’m wearing a bra and thong right at the table and that Mr. Scott is ignoring my presence entirely. Mrs. Scott is trying to keep the dinner conversation pleasant and uncontroversial which has been hard since Lisa seems to love talking about politics, religion and every awkward thing in between. I manage to stay out of the fray, pretending to keep myself busy with Caylen. The food is mouthwateringly delicious. Mrs. Scott makes cooking seem as easy as breathing. The pasta was to die for, and I’m biting into what’s left my chocolate cake. The boys have drifted off into a debate about the upcoming football season. Lisa starts to look bored. It’s nice seeing him with them. Carefree, light, and not like a dark cloud’s following him. It’s good to see him so ‘Chris-like’, not guarding his behavior, afraid of saying the wrong thing. Seeing him like this reminds me more of Cal when we first met. Mrs. Scott is starting to clear the table and Lisa turns her attention to me.

“So Lauren, how did you and Cal meet?” Annnd the room becomes silent. Except for Caylen, hitting her plate with her spoon. My eyes find Chris’s, and they’re a little wide. He’s biting the corner of his lip.

I thought Lisa liked me but she obviously hates me, having brought up such an awkward topic, one that Chris and I have been tiptoeing around so carefully. She’s just thrown it in the middle of the table for everyone to see.

“Really, Lisa?” Chris says tightly.