Sliding (The Stone Series) (47 page)

I look at Mac, he’s looking like he might explode or punch a hole in the
airplane, either way it doesn’t look pretty. Mac flags the flight attendant
over and asks for a glass of water, a paper towel and a scotch on the rocks. I
sit in silence afraid to agitate him further. Mac sits silently; I don’t speak
either, until the flight attendant reappears. She has the items Mac has
requested and when she leaves he downs his drink in one gulp. He puts the paper
towel into the water then wipes my lips with it, rubbing it just a little too
hard.

“Never again, understand? Never! No one else’s lips touch yours again but
mine” he commands as he pulls me to his lips and kisses me hard making my lips
hurt just a pinch.

It’s like taking off a band-aid, I have to finish this with one fast pull
so I continue, “Tate apologized for everything. He said he was sorry for not
being the man I deserved.”

Mac interrupts, “Damn right he’s not”

“He said he was sorry for all the girls, Asia, and everything he did to
disappoint me. He said he wanted me to be happy and said I deserved better than
him.”

 
“I agree, did you tell him you
were happy and with a man who is going to treat you like you deserve to be
treated?”

 
“Okay, are you about done? This is
finally the part I think you’re going to like, now shut up and listen like a
good little boy” I playfully order and finish my story by telling Mac that Tate
said he’d sign the papers and give me anything I wanted. Mac actually
applauded.

Brooklynn and I quickly settle into
our new urban lives. Her brother Michael and his life partner, Jeremy live
close by. We try our best to see them often even though Michael stills works
for Tate and has always been his biggest fan we hit it off immediately.
 
Michael runs the New York office of Taylor
Studios while Tate continues to run the California office. We take Andrew, Brook’s
nephew to the park and museums on the weekends, giving Michael and Jeremy time
to breathe and allowing us some much needed practice time with a child. We go
to the movies or out to dinner with Michael and Jeremy. Brook spends her days
working in her studio with Heidi and the group of dancers they’ve assembled for
this new workshop. Brook feels it will be ready long before she had originally
thought which is great because she is due in only five months. She went to the
doctor’s as soon as we arrived in the city and discovered that she was further
along than we thought. We also learned that she was carrying a little baby
girl. I can’t believe I’m going to be a daddy and have a little girl that’s my
own.

Brook and I are already looking
into a Connecticut home for us. We love the city but we want to raise our
daughter in the suburbs.
 
Our New York
apartment is a lease with an option to buy and we are considering buying it so
we’d always have a place to stay in the city, giving us the best of both
worlds.

Brook’s workshop is ready to open
ahead of time and she’s a nervous wreck the night of the opening. I try my best
to calm her down but it’s no use. I sit in the front row of the theater and I
notice Tate as soon as he enters. I know it is going to push Brook over the
cliff if she sees him, especially with the busty redhead on his arm. Tate is in
for the surprise of his life, not only with the content of this workshop but
also when he sees Brook. She’s kept her tiny figure throughout her body. You
can hardly tell she’s pregnant until she turns sideways, then there’s no
question. Brook and Tate’s divorce won’t be finalized for another month and she
didn’t want to tell him until after that. Brook and Tate managed to work out a
working relationship, she will continue to work at Taylor Studios as long as
Tate remains in California and they don’t have to work together on a daily
basis. Tate told her he would not be at this workshop tonight but like
everything else he’s told her it was a lie.

The theater is packed and I am nervous, it’s not a feeling I’m used to
having at my performances. It’s the story of this workshop that’s making me
nervous, I know that even though Tate will not be here tonight he’ll know what
I’ve done within minutes of its finish. It will probably be the end of our
working relationship and it will make our divorce get a little uglier. Even
though I may be having second thought I know that he deserves all he gets.
 
While I’m having that thought and sneaking a
peek out of the curtain I spot him. Tate is sitting not very far from Mac with
a redhead who looks like she’ll tip over if he lets her go, her boobs couldn’t
be bigger or pushed up higher if she tried. In the back of my mind I knew he’d
pull this, I was actually waiting for it.

The lights flick and the dancers are in their place but I can’t go out on
the stage and introduce the workshop. I can’t let Tate see me pregnant for the
first time on stage. I tell Heidi to stall and then to get Tate for me. I know
Mac is going to be on his heels when he sees Tate following Heidi backstage.

I am sitting with my arms folded over my stomach when Heidi comes
backstage with Tate, Mac as I knew he would be is not more than three steps
behind them but Tate doesn’t take notice. Tate leans in and kisses me hello,
asks how I am. I tell him that I’m surprised to see him and ask him to sit
down.

“There’s something I need to tell you before the workshop begins, two
things actually. Um, the first is that this workshop tells the story of our
relationship. I started it when I made you that playlist I sent you. I
choreographed most of it then, I’ve added some songs and tweaked some routines
but for the most part this was done when I was at a much different place than I
am right now, then we are right now.”

Tate looks at me with sad eyes but a smile. “I figured it would be baby.
Why do you think I’m here tonight? I didn’t want to hear about it from someone
else; I had to see it for my own eyes. I deserve everything you’re about to
throw at me and then some.”

“You might not think that after I tell you the next thing.”

I pause for a long time, unable to bring the words to my mouth. I never
find the words, instead I move my hands and stand up, facing him sideways so he
has a clear shot at my growing belly.

Tate’s eyes almost pop out of his head before he asks, “What the fuck,
Brooklynn? How the fuck are you pregnant?”

That’s when I hear his voice and Tate turns noticing Mac for the first
time.

“Taylor” Mac says in greeting.

“Oh, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You mother fucker.”

Tate lunges at Mac who steps out of the way with ease then grabs Tate in
a head lock and tells him to settle the fuck down before he upsets me. He slams
Tate back into his seat and tells him to stay there and shut up and listen to
me. I tell Tate the whole story about Mac and I and by the time I’m done Tate
and I are both in tears. He’s holding my hands in his, Mac tried to step forward
when he reached for them but I put my hand up and he froze. When I’m done
talking Tate stands and kisses my forehead.

“I’m happy for you, baby. It’s what you’ve always wanted. I just wish I
could have been the one you had it all with but I guess I had my fair chance
didn’t I?”

Tate approaches Mac and extends his hand.

“You are a lucky man, Mac, don’t fuck it up. Take it from me, I did and I
hate myself for it every day. She’s the best thing you’ll ever know. Losing her
is the worst thing that has ever happened to me. Be good to her or I’ll come
find you.”

Mac nods and shakes Tate’s hand.

“I still love you, I always will, baby. Good luck tonight. Everything you
touch has always turned to gold and tonight will be no different. The media
will eat up the story and I’ll admit to it all being true. I brought some of
the evidence with me to add to the media hype. Redhead, big boobs, young.”

He kisses my cheek again and turns to leave but then he stops and turns
back.
 
“I’ll make sure my lawyer gets the
paperwork done on time, I’m sure you’ll want to be divorced before the baby
comes. Maybe even remarried?” Tate looks at Mac and raises his eyebrows not
waiting for an answer.

The workshop is a huge hit and as Tate and I both knew the media eats it
up. It’s all they can talk about for weeks.
 
I have more offers coming in for work then I know what to do with.
Taylor Studios is on top as always.
 

My divorce was finalized a month after the workshop and Tate agreed that
we can continue to work together. The music portion and proceeds will be his,
the creative portion and proceeds mine. Tate decided to purchase a home in
California and we sold our Connecticut home. With the proceeds from that sale
Mac and I bought our own home in Connecticut.

Mac proposed when I was ten centimeters dilated and about to have our
baby girl, Toni. She is a perfect little angel. She’s already daddy’s little
girl but when she’s cranky the only thing that calms her down is the CD of
music that Tate sent her.

It’s funny how one decision, something as small as answering a phone or
letting it ring can change the course of your life and so many others. That
morning so long ago when I stood looking at myself in the mirror hearing the
phone ring I remember thinking to myself that it was the parallel tracking of
two possible destinies, essentially the what-if scenario staring me right in
the face. I knew I was entering into the center of two significantly different
trajectories but I couldn’t have known what they were. I still don’t. I guess
they were a life with Tate or a life with Mac but is that all it really boils
down to?

That day I figured everyone had those little moments in time when they
question which decision is right and which is wrong, both can change your life
forever, leading you down different avenues.
 
How do we ever know if we have made the right decision? Times like the
one that stared me in the face that are impossible to go back and change.

Epilogue

Brooklynn Taylor wakes up dazed and confused. Her mouth is dry, her head
is throbbing and she feels like she’s been asleep for a year. As she scans the
room she realizes she must be in a hospital bed. She’s hooked up to a heart
monitor and various other machines. Her first thought is of her husband, Tate. Where
is he, it’s not like him not to be here if she’s been hurt. Was she in a car
accident? Are other people hurt? Where is everyone? What disturbs her the most
is that she’s alone. But she hears the familiar songs of her life. She thinks Tate
must have made her a playlist to listen to. She closes her eyes to try to make
some sense out of the situation and strange memories start to flood her senses.

That’s when the door opens and a man wearing a tight fitted black t-shirt
and gray dress pants walks in. He has some kind of microphone piece on his
shoulder and a gun at his hip. Brook looks at him confused for a moment. She
feels like Dorothy when she woke up after her trip over the rainbow. It takes
her a while but she recognizes him as Mac, an ex-Marine who owns the security
team Dominick, their head of security works for. Mac is well over six feet tall
with quite a set of muscles on him. She remembers thinking about setting him up
with Tate’s cousin, Drea, talking to him about her and telling him it would be
their little secret because she knew Drea’s brother, Damian who flip if he knew
what she was up to.

Brook blushes when an image of running her hand down Mac’s abdominal
muscles and into his pants comes to mind. “Where the fuck did that come from?”
she wonders. Mac has brown eyes and when he looks at Brook they make her feel
like he has seen into her soul. His Marine close cut brown hair and piercing
blue eyes once again assault Brook with a bewildering image, this time of
rubbing his head and lacing her fingers on it while they make love on a beach.
He has cocoa colored skin and plump lips that bring yet another image to mind,
those lips kissing and sucking parts of her body, private parts.
 
It’s as if she knows him from another life
and the confusion forces a sigh out of her mouth.

When Mac hears her moan and realizes she’s awake he rushes to her side. “Brook,
you’re awake. Don’t worry I’ll call Tate and the doctors. You’ve been asleep for
a long time but you’re safe, everything is going to be okay” Mac soothingly
says as he presses the call button to obtain the nurse and punches a number
into his cell phone.

“Tate, she’s awake. Yes, I’ll tell her. Don’t rush, be safe. See you in a
few.”

Mac hangs up and smiles kindly at Brook. He tells her that her husband is
on his way and won’t be long. He also says that her best friend is at the
cafeteria getting a coffee and should be back any minute.

“I…I don’t remember. What happened? Why am I here? How long have I been
here?” Brook asks.

“You were in the shower getting ready to leave for California. Tate and Bobby
left a month before to meet with an important new client. You were flying out
to meet Tate the morning you had the accident. You had stayed on the east coast
because you had to finish up a project first here. Dominick was with Tate and
Bobby so I had stayed here with you. On the day of your flight you were running
late and sent me to get your dress at the cleaners that you forgot about and
wanted to wear on the trip. I took longer than expected, there was an accident on
the Post Road and I got held up. When I got back I called your cell a few times
and when you didn’t answer I called the home line. Again when there was no
answer I got concerned. I came into the house and when you didn’t come out of
your room when I called you I knocked but you didn’t answer. I finally kicked
down the door and went in to check on you. I found you on the bathroom floor. I
assumed that you must have fell and hit your head. You were bleeding and unconscious
for a while before I found you. I called 911 and started CPR. When the paramedics
arrived to take you to the hospital I called Tate and he rushed back here from
California as fast as he could.”

“I don’t understand what happened though. Did I pass out? Fall?” Brook
asks but Mac tells her she’ll have to wait to speak with the doctors. He
doesn’t want to divulge too much, she’s still looking so fragile so he changes
the subject onto one he knows she’ll enjoy.

“You’ll be happy to know that when Damian and Drea came to visit you I
struck up a conversation with her and you were right, she’s great. We’ve seen
each other a few times since your accident and I’ve spent hours here telling
you all about our dates. Did you hear me talking to you? I shared some pretty
juicy details” Mac says with a smile spread across his face.

“Does Damian know?” Brook asks.

“God, no. He’d flip. We’re keeping our relationship just between the
three of us.”

“What do you mean the three of us?”

“Drea and I have been spending time together in here with you. I hope we
didn’t bother you. She’s kind of hard to keep your hands off of if you know
what I mean?”

“That might explain some of what I’m remembering” Brook admits.

“Why, what are you remembering?”

“Nothing, it doesn’t matter. Where’s Tate? I need to talk to him; I’m
confused by all of this.”

The door to Brook’s room opens again and in walks her best friend, Asia
carrying a coffee that she drops when she sees her oldest and dearest friend
finally awake after all this time. Her red hair is tied up in a messy ponytail
and her face is a mess of red rimmed eyes, dark circles and blotches but she’s
still as beautiful as ever. She notices Brook awake and alert in her bed and
tears begin to stream down her face. Asia rushes to Brook and wraps her arms
around her. Brook inhales her familiar scent and another flashback hits. She
remembers dreaming of Asia and Tate together, having sex then a feeling of deep
remorse fills her mind and she remembers that she dreamt that Asia was killed
in her home with her husband, Ted. Brook gasps at the memory and Asia looks at
her quizzically. Brook reluctantly tells her about her dream, Asia laughs and
lets her know that Ted is safe and sane and they’re not having money problems.

“I can’t imagine Ted getting involved with the mob. Where would he even meet
them? At his tennis club?”

Brook and Asia laugh together hugging each other on the hospital bed.

“I told you a few stories of mine while you were asleep. It sounds like
you may be remembering them” Mac admits.

Brook tells Asia she dreamt that she liked kinky sex and was having an
affair with Tate. She tells her that she dreamt she was killed by a drug lord.
Asia has a good laugh over the dream and assures Brook that she and Tate have
never been together.

“It was probably your mind doing something weird like turning things all
around after hearing Mac’s Marine stories. Or maybe, I don’t know? Remember how
we used to laugh about me being with Tate and you with Bobby? What was that
song that we used to sing that made us think of that?”

“Secret Lovers. I heard it in my dream or at least I thought I did. Maybe
it was playing here. Did Tate make me a playlist?”

“It’s been playing nonstop for weeks, honey. He probably remembered us
singing it and included it. The songs were meant to bring you back to him.
They’re all the ones from the time you guys met till now that meant something
to you. He is the best husband Brook. You are so lucky to have him and to have
had him forever. Tate is a mess. Bobby has him at your house now to clean up. We
had to force him to leave just for an hour. He hasn’t showered or eaten in
days. It was the first time he left since getting here. Damian sent his private
plane to rush him here when he got the call about you. He was here within hours
and was on his cell with one of us the whole time he was on the plane.”

The door opens again and a medical team comes in and makes Mac and Asia
leave before Brook can understand anymore of what she’s been remembering. Asia
promises to come back in as soon as she’s allowed and Mac says he’ll bring Drea
by as long as Brook promises to keep their secret.

Brook is poked and prodded for what seems like forever. She tells them
about her miscarriage but they assure her the babies are fine and that she’s
never had a miscarriage. All she wants to do is close her eyes and think for a
minute. She can’t seem to wrap her head around everything. Things are so
confusing right now. She can’t understand why she has all these different
things in her head. Everyone she looks at brings back a different what? Memory?
Dream? She can’t be sure.

When she saw Mac the images that came to mind were all erotic but when
she saw Asia she was filled with relief, an overwhelming feeling of dread and
anger had come over her at the sound of her name, like something terrible had
happened to her. But when she saw her standing there in her hospital room she
was relieved and happy to see her.

The doctors who entered
her room explain to Brook that she had
a life-threatening
condition, a serious complication of preeclampsia brought on by high blood
pressure. Brook’s blood pressure must have risen to a very high level causing
her to pass out. She suffered a head injury when she fell and hit the side of
her vanity before crashing on the floor. And in her case, her blood pressure got
so high that it reduced the amount of oxygen delivered to her brain. She was
lucky to be alive and out of the coma she’s been in for weeks. It’s amazing the
babies survived but they are healthy and safe.

The doctor’s inform her that she delivered twins, a boy
and a girl, shortly after she arrived and they are fine. The names Zach and Zoe
come to mind and she smiles. One of the doctors leaves to ask a nurse to bring
the babies into Brook’s room. This day keeps getting more and more confusing.

The medical team opens the door to leave and Brook looks up to sees him
standing there in the doorway crying. It’s Tate and he looks like a dream come
true.
 
Tate is wearing a black t-shirt
and worn jeans. He looks exactly like he did when they first met at that dance
at the start of high school only hotter if that’s possible. He has strong
muscular forearms and his black t-shirt is stretched tight across his sizeable
chest. His black silky hair is long and his face has two day old stubble on it
that gives him his trademark bad boy sexiness. He is a sight for sore eyes. He
looks shocked, like he can’t walk.

Brook blinks her eyes. Tate thinks she’s trying to focus on him after
being asleep for so long but it’s because so many conflicting images are
flashing in front of her eyes and she can’t process where they’re coming from.
She sees Tate young and sexy in his high school football uniform, then in his
UNC basketball uniform, then he’s with Asia and they look like they’re
whispering about something funny. The next image that comes to mind is Tate on
a beach with her having a massage but it’s followed by an image of him with a
young girl popping gum in her mouth then a large breasted redhead. What does it
all mean? And then Tate is finally walking towards her and his lips are on hers.
They feel soft and moist and like…home.

Brook hangs her head and Tate takes his index finger and uses it to lift
her chin so she’s forced the look at him. She’s still so confused.

“Don’t ever fucking do that to me again, do you hear me? I can’t lose
you. I was scared out of my fucking mind. And our babies need their mommy” he
pleads.

“Ah, Tate so you’re happy about the babies? I didn’t remember I was
pregnant. Were you always happy about them, you seem happy” Brooklynn
reluctantly asks her husband.

“Of course I’m thrilled about the babies. I would have liked to have
started with just one but we’ll manage. I think you’ll feel better about it
now. You had an awful time pregnant. You didn’t feel well, you were light
headed and sick to your stomach all the time. You stopped eating and I thought
you were relapsing into your eating habits.”

“I had all these weird dreams when I was unconscious. They’re all
starting to come back to me. I think that playlist that was playing may have
prompted them. Did you make that for me? I think Asia just told me that you did
but I can’t remember.”

“The doctors said that your memory will be foggy for a while, it’s
normal, it’ll all come back to you just give it time” Tate calms his wife with
his words.

“I made you a playlist of the songs from our past then I added some from
the artists you’ve choreographed for and then some current songs that I could
picture you loving and including in a workshop. I was hoping it would help to
bring you back to me, and I guess I was right, it worked.”

“It brought back lots of real memories but raised lots of questions too. I
think I dreamt that you were cheating on me, always, from the beginning with
every girl that you saw and then with…oh my God, Asia.”

A gasp escapes Brook after the words are out of her mouth and tears start
to race down her cheeks while she covers her mouth with her hand. Tate pulls
her into his arms and buries his face in her neck inhaling her smell. He takes
her face in his hands and before kissing her long and passionately he
truthfully tells her that she’s the love of his life and the only woman he’s
ever been with.