The Beginning of Us (167 page)

If you are looking to learn new moves or find out how to get beach body ready, you can hire one of their accomplished personal trainers for as many sessions as you need at a reasonable price. 

After you work up a good sweat, you can cool down by jumping in the lavish indoor lap pool or soak your achy muscles in one of the three hot tubs near the pool. If you're looking to sweat out more toxins in your body, you can relax in one of the two saunas.  

Club 24 also offers a full service spa, complete with a barber shop for the gentlemen and a salon for the ladies. You can also tan, for free, in one of the UV free custom airbrush booths or in one of the “instant” tanning beds. It is called the “instant” bed because it has been known to instantly get heads turning after use. The tan will show up hours faster and last days longer than other tanning beds. With this complete 360 degree tan, you will not only look sexy but feel sexy too. 
WARNING: May cause lots of compliments and flirtatious looks after use!

After spending most of your day working on your fitness and relaxing those muscles, check out the cafe complete with a juice bar and coffee shop.

Make Club 24 your second home. I know I am!

*~*~*

Shortly after I returned from lunch, I remembered that I left my only nice dress at Brandon's condo. The same dress that I wore to Becca’s show and Ryan's engagement party. I giggled to myself thinking this was exactly why I needed to go clothes shopping this weekend. I wasn't going to tell Brandon he was right and I did need enough clothes to fill two closets.

After work, I took the bus to Brandon's and texted him that he should pick me up there instead of at my house: 

Me: 
Hey Baby, I'm almost to your place. I left my dress there so you need to pick me up at your condo. Miss you.

Brandon: 
I miss you too. Just landed, we should be there in about 45 minutes and then we will go to pick up Becca. Be safe and lock the door!

Trevor slipped from my mind the whole day. I didn't think to look around and see if he was following me. I locked the door once I was in Brandon's condo and ran up the stairs to take a quick shower. Forty-five minutes wasn't very long so I needed to hurry.

When I got out of the shower, I heard the front door close. That was fast. I quickly put on my jeans and t-shirt so I could peek out and tell Brandon I wasn't ready yet. I knew Jason was with him and I didn't want him to see me in my robe.

Just as I came out of the bedroom to run down the stairs, I saw the person walking up them. It wasn't Brandon.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

“What the hell are you doing here?” I hissed at Christy when I saw that it was her and not Brandon walking up the stairs.

“I came to 
talk
 to you.” 

“How did you even get in here?” My hair was dripping down the back of my black t-shirt and onto the floor. 

“I have a key,” she said with a smirk.

Christy was standing at the top of the staircase only a few feet from me as I stood in the doorframe of Brandon’s bedroom.

“Why do you have a key?”

“I had one made while I was with Brandon.”

“Oh…so he doesn’t know?” I asked with attitude in my voice and crossed my arms over my chest.

“No, and you know what, Spencer, I’m not here to make small talk with you,” she snapped.

“Well, why the 
fuck
 are you here then?” I could feel my blood start to boil.

“I’m done with you standing in the way of Brandon and I being together…”

“Me standing in the way? He doesn’t want to be with you, Christy!” I shouted as I cut her off and dropped my arms to my sides in protest.

“Before you came into the picture we were happy. We were going to get married!” she yelled back.

“Oh really? Did he propose to you?” I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest again.

“Well…no.” 

Christy was standing there as if we were friends having a normal conversation and not moving any further than the top of the stairs. This bitch was batshit crazy and really starting to piss me off.

“Then how are you so sure you were going to get married?” 

 “I just had a gut feeling that he would have proposed soon if you hadn’t entered the picture and spoiled everything!”

“That was your gut telling you that you were going to get dumped,” I said as I giggled a little.

“Fuck you, bitch! This ends now. It’s time to get you out of the picture.” Her face had turned bright red as she yelled at me.

“And how are you planning on doing that?” My blood was on fire and my hands were shaking with anger as I dropped them to my sides again.

“I’m going to kill you!” 

“You’re wha…” Christy started to reach behind her back and I saw the light from the window above the stairs reflecting on something shiny. Before I could fully catch a glimpse of what she was pulling out from behind her back, she lunged towards me with her right hand out. The shiny object was a knife.

I jerked my right shoulder back and barely avoided the knife heading straight for my chest. Christy almost fell when her knife missed me. I quickly backed up towards the stairs and Christy lunged at me again. I continued to rotate in a circle as she almost fell again.

“Christy, calm the fuck down–you’re acting like a crazy person! You didn’t think this through!”

“The hell I didn’t! I’ve been planning this for weeks,” she said with an evil laugh.

Christy and I were rotating in a circle like a school yard fight. My fight or flight instinct had kicked in and I chose fight. I watched the knife in her hand, waiting for her next lunge.

“So your plan is to kill me and you think that Brandon won’t hate you for the rest of his life?”

“Brandon won’t find out.”

“How is that? We are in his fucking condo!”

“I brought 
help
 and items to dispose of your body.”

It took me a few seconds to process what she had said. We continued to spin slowly. Was this going to be it? Was I going to die? Would I never see Brandon again?

“What about all the blood? How are you going to clean it up before he gets here?” I asked, trying to buy some more time while I tried to think my way out of this crazy situation.

“Like I said, I have help.” She lunged at me again. My back was at the top of the stairs. I bent my legs as I twisted again to the right. Christy missed me again, but this time she fell down the stairs.

I stood at the top of the stairs watching as she slid facedown with her arms reached out in front of her, clenching the knife in her right hand. Before she met the bottom of the stairs, her body curled up into a ball and continued to tumble down the stairs with her head facing the handrails. 

When she finally met the bottom level, I saw the knife sticking out of her stomach. Blood began to seep through her blouse and onto the floor. Her eyes were closed and she wasn’t moving.

I stood there for a minute or so just staring at her in shock, waiting for her to make the slightest movement. She didn’t move. I ran into Brandon’s bedroom, grabbed the cordless phone on the nightstand and dialed 911.

“911, what is your emergency?” the dispatcher asked.

“Someone broke into my boyfriend’s condo and we fought…and there is blood everywhere!” I shouted into the receiver.

“Ma’am, calm down. Is anyone hurt?”

“Yes.”

“Are you or your boyfriend hurt?”

“No...I’m here alone with her.” Tears started pooling in my eyes as I began to cry.

“Is the intruder hurt?”

“Yes, yes she is. There is blood everywhere and she isn’t moving.” Tears were rolling down my cheeks. I wiped them but the tears continued to roll down my cheeks.

“Okay, Ma’am. Help is on their way. Are you safe at this moment?”

“I…I don’t know. She isn’t moving.”

“Okay, I’m going to stay on the phone with you until help arrives. If you don’t feel safe, please lock yourself in a room. Help will be there any minute.”

“Okay…thank you,” I sniffled. 

I watched Christy as she just laid there with her eyes closed. Her blood had started to pool around her body. A few seconds later, I heard the faint sound of the sirens in the distance.

“I hear the sirens,” I told the dispatcher.

“Yes, Ma’am, they should be arriving in less than a minute.” 

“Okay, thank you. I need to call my boyfriend.”

I hung up before the dispatcher could respond. I needed to call Brandon. I didn’t know how long Christy and I fought but I was expecting him at any minute. I sat on the first step at the top of the stairs looking down at Christy’s body.

“Hey Baby, Jason and I are just down the street. There is some commotion with cops and fire trucks, so we are stopped in traffic to let them pass.”

“Bra...andon…” my voice cracked.

“Spencer, what’s wrong? You never use my name.”

“I…I think…I think I killed your baby.” I started to cry again as the words left my mouth.

“What do you mean?”

“Christy broke in…”

“She what? Stay there, I’m almost there.” I heard Brandon tell Jason that Christy had broken in and then I heard the car door open and a lot of white noise, as if he was running. “Baby, I’m literally like a block away. Are you hurt?”

“No.” I sniffed again.

“Where is Christy?”

“She is lying on the floor not moving; there is blood everywhere.”

“Stay with me on the phone, Baby. Just keep talking to me until I get there.” I could tell Brandon was running. He wasn’t out of breath but he sounded a bit winded.

I started to tell him how Christy used a key that she made and entered the condo when I was getting out of the shower. Before I could go any further, firemen and paramedics were entering the apartment. I looked down at them where they were standing by Christy's body. Stunned, I stared at them for a moment, unsure how they had gotten in. I realized that Christy had probably left the front door open. 

I hung up with Brandon. He said that he was getting in the elevator and a paramedic was walking up the stairs towards me.

“Ma’am, are you hurt?”

“No,” I answered as I looked up at him. 

I clenched the phone in my hand as the paramedic turned around and walked down to Christy’s body. I sat there staring as the paramedics tended to her. 

Brandon ran into the condo a few seconds later. He paused for a brief moment looking at the bloody scene. He looked up at me, our eyes met and he was instantly bounding up the stairs to wrap his arms around me, hugging me tight.

“Thank God you’re okay. Tell me what happened,” he said as he continued to hug me, holding the back of my head firmly with his right hand and his left arm wrapped around my back.

I pulled my head back glancing at Christy and back at Brandon as I started to retell him what had happened. Before I could finish again a police officer and Jason walked up the stairs. 

Brandon and I continued to sit on the top step of the staircase as I told the police officer what had happened. Jason leaned on the railing behind the police officer and listened to my story while Brandon rested his arm around my shoulders to comfort me.

While I was relaying everything to the police officer, the paramedics put Christy on a gurney and took her to the hospital. She was alive. We told the officer that she was pregnant with Brandon’s baby. Brandon said it was up to me if I wanted to go to the hospital to see how she was doing.

I could tell Brandon was torn. I made the decision easy for him. I didn’t want to stay alone and I knew he needed to check on his baby. I left Brandon and Jason as I went to Brandon's room to finish changing so we could go to the hospital.

I put my bra on and put on my black t-shirt that I wore that day for casual Friday at work; the back of the t-shirt was still damp from my hair. I put on my San Francisco Giants pull-over sweatshirt I had hanging in Brandon's closet and slipped on my dark grey 
UGGS
. 

Pulling my hair back, I wound it into a loose knot on the crown of my head. I didn't have the energy or willpower to put on any make-up. I didn't want to go out in public looking like a mess even though inside I was trembling. 

Jason left to pick up Becca when Brandon and I left for the hospital. He said they would meet us there. I asked Jason to call Ryan for me and he said he would as he gave me a hug.

When Brandon and I arrived at the hospital, we checked in with the Emergency Room.
 
We were told to wait until a doctor could give us an update on how Christy and the baby were doing.

We waited and waited. Jason and Becca arrived followed by Ryan and Max. I recounted the horrific event as Becca and Ryan gasped several times. Everyone hugged me numerous times, they were thankful I wasn’t hurt. Brandon never let go of my hand.