Coming Home (21 page)

Her attempt to intimidate me didn’t work. I leaned a little
closer to her. “Sorry to inform you that you’ll have to find someone else. I’m
the only one he’s seeing for those types of emergencies these days.”

She stood up fast. “You?” She laughed. “Nice try.” She turned
back to Gladys. “Just do your job and call him to tell him I’m down here.”

Gladys looked back to me. Everyone knew we were a couple, and I
guess that’s why she called me instead of Matt or Vicki. I needed to try to
find some way to convince this woman to leave without making a scene. I also
wanted to see what she really wanted with Ryan. No way was she only here for
sex as she was insinuating.

“Can we just talk over there?” I pointed to a quiet corner so I could
have a more direct conversation that wouldn’t be spread throughout the office.
I was surprised when she followed me. “I know we don’t know each other, but I
can’t believe you’re here for sex. You wouldn’t do that and risk his job.
What’s really going on?”

“I have something to return to him.”

“I’ll give it to him.”

“No. I want to see him.”

I sighed and just looked at her. I was getting sick of this woman
and her games. “I’m not going to get him out of a meeting just so you can
return something. If you give me your name, I’ll have him call you later to get
it.”

“You really expect me to believe that you’re dating him and that
you’re going to let him call me?” She laughed again. “You must be new into the relationship.
You’d never allow that to happen if you knew how talented he is. I’d never let
him out of my sight.”

“I guess I’m just more confident than you are.” I stared at her
with more confidence than I felt and saw her falter a little.

She regained her composure and got in my face again. “You’re
telling me you’ve . . . played ball and you’re willing to take a chance and
lose it all because you won’t get him down here for two minutes.” She put her
head to the side. “Or maybe you’re afraid to have him come down here now.
You’ll really see how little you mean to him.”

I’m not usually crass or graphic, and I didn’t want to stoop to
her level, but I saw that was the only way to get rid of the woman. I could
pretend I was confident and that Ryan loved me enough to not get lost in her
long legs or big breasts and come back to me. Once she was gone and I was alone
in my office, I’d let myself freak out.

I got even closer to her before speaking. “Oh, we play ball, as
you say it, every night. I know exactly how he gets the bases loaded and then
hits the homerun. I know exactly how perfect his slide into home plate really
is. I have all the confidence in the world that he will choose me over you.” I
back up a little. “I’m still not risking his job by pulling him out of a
meeting, but we can both wait here, and I can tell Gladys to leave him a
message to come down when he’s finished.”

The surprised look on her face was worth the fear of actually
having to go through with the threat I just made. She looked around once and
seemed to be deciding what to do next. She pulled her purse up and took out his
favorite tie. I must have had quite a look of surprise myself because she
started smiling.

“Here.” She thrust it at me. “Give him this and tell him thanks
again. It was fun, but next time I get to use the tie on him.”

I stood there staring at the tie I’d seen him wear a hundred
times and used to love myself. Now I hated it, and the tie was burning my hands
just holding it. I composed myself enough to walk back over to Gladys. She had
a look of sympathy that told me she saw the whole thing.

“Gladys, when does Ryan’s meeting end?” I couldn’t seem to look
at her.

“It ended fifteen minutes ago.”

I finally looked up at her, knowing she helped me by not calling
Ryan. “Thanks.”

I put the tie in my pocket and went directly to Ryan’s office. I
told myself all the way there that I wouldn’t cry. I would not break down and
give in to the stupid jealousy I was feeling. I wasn’t all that confident to
begin with, but to have her take his tie out only proved he was with her at
some point. I swiped one tear away and pulled myself together before I got to
his office.

“Hey, beautiful.” He got up and hugged me. I clung to him a
little tighter than I should. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I backed away and he looked at me, puzzled. “You had a
visitor downstairs.”

“Oh? No one called me.”

“I know. Gladys decided it would be best to call me instead of
you.” I just looked at him, trying to get some read if he could really cheat on
me. Then again, would it be cheating? We’ve said we love each other, but
haven’t actually said we would be exclusive. I assumed love meant exclusive,
but what do I know?

“We’ll that’s weird. Who was it?”

“She wouldn’t tell me her name.”

He swallowed. That wasn’t a good sign. “She? What did she look
like?”

“All legs and breasts.”

Ryan grinned. “You’ll have to be a little more specific than that.
I’m a guy. All women are legs and breasts to me.”

“Would you get serious? Have you spent time with any other women
recently?”

“Are you jealous?” Ryan came up and tried to hug me, but I pushed
him away. “You are jealous.” He started rubbing his hands together. “I like
it.”

“What if my gorgeous ex came in here to return my clothing?”

“I’d wonder why he was wearing it.” Ryan looked at me when I
didn’t laugh at his stupid joke and finally got serious. He grabbed me and
wouldn’t let me push him away this time. “Hey. There’s no one else, Rebecca. I
swear. I’m not seeing anyone but you.”

I pulled his tie out of my pocket. He looked at it and looked at
me. “Why did she have your tie?”

“I don’t even know who she is. Legs and boobs isn’t a great
description. Work, home, and time with the boys. That’s all I do. You know
that.” Ryan tilted my head to make me look at him. “I’ll check with Charlie in
security and have him run the tape for me. I’ll see who it was and tell you
exactly who she is and why she had my tie.”

“I want to be exclusive. I don’t want to date anyone else.”

Stacy came in before Ryan could respond. “Damn, I was going to
ask you out tomorrow.” She smiled. “I hate to break up the love nest here, but
you and I are supposed to be going over layouts now.”

“Sorry. I forgot.”

Stacy looked at the tie in Ryan’s hand and smiled wider. “Oh,
don’t mind me. I’ll just sit over here and watch.”

I rolled my eyes and turned back to Ryan. “I’ll see you tonight,
and we can finish our conversation then.” I started to leave and he tugged on
my hand. “What?”

Ryan bent down to whisper in my ear. “I’ve already been
exclusive. Whoever she is, she is nobody.” Even though we weren’t supposed to,
he kissed me in front of Stacy.

~*~

Stacy and I worked for over an hour and finally got the
layouts right. Ever since Ryan and I announced our relationship to everyone,
Stacy had been a little distant with me. I probably should have told her before
everyone else. I just couldn’t risk it getting to the entire office before I
was ready.

“As usual, we are awesome! No way Matt can complain about any of
this.” Stacy started picking up the work we did.

“Stacy?” I waited for her to look at me before continuing. “I’m
sorry I didn’t tell you about Ryan and me sooner. I just didn’t want to hear I
told you so if it didn’t work out.”

“I’m a little bummed you didn’t tell me. I kind of thought we
were closer than that.”

“We are close. It’s just, well . . .” What could I say? I had no
defense to that. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” She waved her hand as if she was over it. “I still
can’t believe out of all the girls he had his pick from . . .” She waved her
hand in my direction.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Stacy pinned me with a look that told me I knew exactly what she
meant. “Look, Rebecca, I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but there have been
a lot of other women who have thrown themselves at him, and he was never
tempted even once. We were all starting to wonder if he even liked girls.”

“I think that’s the worst thing you’ve ever said to me, and,
believe me, you’ve said some shitty things.” I started picking up my things.
“Not every guy wants you.”

“I’m just trying to be honest.”

“No, you’re trying to be a bitch, and you’re being a class-A
bitch right now. I’ll get this to Matt and you can go to hell.” I probably
should have taken a few minutes to compose myself before responding, but after
fighting with the adjuster on the phone, the leggy bimbo in the lobby and, then
someone who was supposed to be my friend, I’d had enough.

“Rebecca,” Stacy looked completely taken aback by my reaction.

“What, Stacy? Do you want to point out every reason why I’m not
good enough for Ryan? Give it your best shot because I’ve already had a run in
with a bigger bimbo than you today.”

“Kylie from the mailroom? What did she say to you?”

I thought for a second that Stacy was changing subjects on me.
“What?” I started shaking my head when I realized what she meant. “No, Kylie
wasn’t the bimbo I talked to.”

“Well, who’s a bigger bimbo than Kylie?”

I should have calmed down before I spoke. I didn’t want to tell
Stacy about the woman that came to see Ryan. Stacy would have probably made me
feel even worse about it and tell me I’d lose Ryan to this tramp. “It’s nothing,
Stacy. Don’t worry about it.” I left the office before she could respond.

~*~

I still felt a little funny walking into Vicki and Matt’s
home without knocking. They’d given me a key to come and go as I wanted, but it
was still a little unnerving. If I had my own apartment, I probably would have
taken a long bath and just relaxed all night. Well, maybe not, but I would have
at least really thought about it. Since I wasn’t in my own home, that’s all I
wanted to do.

I heard the television in the room to the right and headed in to
see who else was home. Ashley was sitting there with another girl I hadn’t met
yet. I could tell they were the same age, but that’s where the similarities
ended. The girl next to her was definitely into girly things and could apply
her makeup better than I could. Her long chestnut hair looked silky and smooth.
I wasn’t sure what products she used, but I could never get my hair to turn out
like that.

No matter how great she looked on the outside, I could see the
sadness in her eyes. Her whole body screamed sadness. She was going through the
motions with Ashley, but I could see myself in how she acted. I often felt the
weight of the world at that age, too.

They were engrossed in the latest music video of Dawson Lewis. He
was the latest boy wonder who probably already made more money than I’d ever
dream of making in my entire life. The girl with Ashley finally saw me standing
in the doorway and elbowed Ashley.

Ashley smiled wide when she saw me. “Rebecca!” She moved over closer
to the other girl and patted the sofa. The other girl just rolled her eyes and went
back to watching the video with a frown.

“Hi, ladies.” I motioned towards Ashley’s friend, hoping Ashley
would introduce us.

“Oh, right. You two haven’t met yet.” She turned to the still-frowning
girl. “This is Heather. Heather this is Rebecca.”

So this was Heather—Ashley’s best friend since kindergarten. “Hi,
Heather.”

“Hey.” She still didn’t look at me.

Maybe it just wasn’t my day. Maybe it was National Hate-on-Rebecca
Day and no one told me. I knew Ashley wanted me to join them, but clearly
Heather did not. The way I snapped at Stacy earlier told me it was better to
just leave Ashley and her friend to the television.

I started to back out of the room. “I’m just going to go upstairs
and change into some jeans. It was nice meeting you, Heather.”

“Yeah.” She still didn’t look at me.

I went upstairs and lay down on the bed before changing. I should
have been changing so I could see what needed to be done downstairs. They told
me I didn’t need to pitch in and that I was a guest, but it was the least I could
do if they weren’t going to let me give them any money for food or rent. I’d
drawn the line at Vicki doing my laundry. I really could take care of that
myself. I didn’t need my boss folding my underwear.

I’d had a hard day and told myself I was only going to lie down
for just five more minutes. I was still wondering what happened with Charlie in
security. Ryan never did get back to me. I thought about sending him a text to
see what he found out, but I was too tired to get the phone out of my purse,
and he was supposed to be here for dinner tonight anyway. I rolled over and
closed my eyes, trying to shut the world out and was out within minutes.

I don’t like wearing dresses. I can’t play in the dirt or climb
trees when I wear a dress. Mommy says we’ll be leaving soon, but I just want to
get pants on now so I can play outside as soon as I get home. I’m sure I can
find something in all these clothes. I don’t like the shoes with buckles,
either. I can’t get those off as easy as my other shoes, and if I can’t get the
shoes off, I can’t get the pants on.

“Do you need some help with that?” A nice-looking lady bends
down to help me take my shoes off. “I have some sneakers that might fit you in
the car. Would you like to go get those instead of putting these back on?”

I look around for mommy, and she’s still talking about the
pictures I just had to smile for ’cause it’s my fourth birthday. I don’t like
smiling or the things the other lady put in my face to try to get me to smile.
I look back up to the nice-looking lady and nod my head that I want the other
shoes. She takes my hand and I walk out with her. “Do you have pants, too?”

“Yes. You don’t like girly things, do you?”

“I just like pants better.”

We get to her van, and she opens the door for me to get in. I
see bags of clothes and shoes on the floor of the van and get in to look at
what she has. I can’t wait to play outside.