Cake

  Clearing my throat, I go on with my story, “When I first met him, his girlfriend at the moment was Summer. I sadly remember because her name irked me more than her granola-fed attitude did. She was the definition of a tree-hugger and had this annoying habit of not shaving. I just didn’t see what he saw in her at the time. Pretty? Yes, but if cleanliness is next to Godliness, than I figured he must be down with the Devil because those pits of hers were shaggier than Big Foot’s. Anywho, I joined all of the same clubs they were involved in and became Trent’s confidant, insinuating myself deeply into his life. He came to me first, a year later, when he decided that Hairy McScary wasn’t his thing anymore, and dumped Summer the Bummer. Now, was my chance. My time. I just knew that this was the moment I had suffered the last year for. All those achingly, lonely nights, where I wished that he would see me, would come to love me, had finally arrived; however, the next month he introduced me to Sheena, who he met while fixing her cafe latte. She was attending the medical school downtown and planned on joining Doctors Without Borders to save lives in third world countries after she graduated. He actually introduced me as his sister from another mister.”

  Leo sputters as he exclaims, “He did not!”

  “I kid you not, he did. Now, shut it if you want to hear the rest. So this was the process for the next couple of years. He was the best boyfriend to his usually long-term girlfriends, I the token best gal pal, and Dray was his best friend who I quibbled constantly with. We both were jealous of the other when it came to Trent. So every single time he finally ended his relationship, I would think: Here was my chance again. One night, our senior year in college, after his break up with Cara save the wounded animal princess, he drunkenly told me what I hated to hear. He said that he loved me like a sister and that Dray and I were the only two people that he could call family. That night, I let my heart silently shatter into a million pieces. I thought I saw something more, but as fast as I caught it, he shut it down while closing his eyes and pulled away.” My breath hitches in my throat at what happened later that night that is best forgotten. The same way Trent forgot it the next morning.

  Not looking at Leo, I keep looking down to finish, “And that was that. I valued him in my life and knew that girlfriends didn’t last long in his. So, since college, Trent travels the world designing safe water supplies and saving lives. He really is one of the greatest men I know. When he comes into town, he spends his time with Dray and me, telling us about all of his travels and we usually spend a couple of days at the lake just the three of us. Dray and I, both, seem to hunger for his attention, so we set our differences aside and call a truce during that time because we both know he will be gone again soon.”

  Finishing my story, I glance over at Leo as he sits in stony silence, staring back at me with his gaping mouth.

  “Gawd! That is the most sadistic love story that I have ever heard in my lifetime,” he says with disgust. “Pass me the razorblade and let me cut your wrist for you, why don’t ya?” Rolling his eyes, he turns around and straightens the rack of clothing he is leaning against. “Here I am, thinking I am finally going to hear why this fabulous beautiful socialite is single. I could deal with the tragic story of her one and only love dying an untimely death or even getting jilted at the altar, but no, all I get is Flowers In The Attic, without the actual incest or real familial connection. I feel horribly cheated.”

  Stepping back, he turns around while straightening his sweater-vest and stares. I’m at a loss at what to say. He’s only the third person I’ve ever told my story to other than Mads and my Aunt Leigh. He has been begging me for the last year to hear my tale of lost love and now he throws it back into my face?

  “Screw you, Leo,” I retort as I hear his chortler of laughter. I glare into his twinkling eyes.

  “C’mon, Kylie,” he says laughingly. “Here you are owning and operating one of the most successful high-end boutiques in the Atlanta area at twenty-five years of age. You are the most sought after bachelorette in the Southern Hemisphere, and you’re pretty much telling me that you’re lonely and single, not because of some horrific accident, but because you never told the guy you love him. Actually, that is the single most depressing story I have ever heard, but I cringe to say love story, because if the other person doesn’t know how you feel, than that’s just a story of obsession, and that is creepy. I never saw you as the Scooby Doo Creeper. Just saying,” he says as he walks past my stunned expression, cutting his eyes at me.

  Placing my hands on my hips, I finally find my voice and reply, “I should fire your ass.”

  Turning towards me, he crosses his arms and asks, “Why? Because I’m speaking the truth? Kylie, I’ve known you now for what? Several years? I’ve seen you shoot down more guys in a night than a Camper in a Black Ops video game session. If you are lonely and lost in love, then it’s your own damn fault because you sure as hell don’t have to be.”

  Feeling the rush of emotion seizing my throat, I barely choke out, “You have no idea what you are talking about.”

  Tilting his stylish blonde head to look down at me, he asks, “Don’t I?”

  Our staring stand-off seems to last forever. Finally, shaking his head, Leo sighs and rubs his eyes with one hand.

  “Kylie, you know you are one of my favorite people, not just because you are my boss and I desperately want and need this job, but because you are one of the sweetest people that I know. I guess I don’t understand how you can let yourself be the unrequited love heroine.”

  “Well, at what, a couple of years older than me, you think you know all about love?” My voice shakes as I hold back the tears. It’s hard for me to share my past, and my bad on obviously picking the wrong person to impart it to.

  “No. I guess I don’t; however, what I do know is with that luxurious brown hair, those glittering green eyes, and a killer figure, I imagined you had one hell of a story to tell. I’ve seen you go after and get everything you want professionally. It just surprises me that, in regards to your private life, you stand back.” Finishing speaking, he walks towards me, grasping both of my arms at my sides and staring deeply into my eyes, “I’m sorry, if I upset you. You know me. Sometimes I speak without checking with my brain first.”

  Tired from a hellacious day of work, I sigh and say, but not meaning, “Let’s close up and forget this conversation ever happened. Actually, go ahead and go, I’ll lock up myself.” Turning away before he can see the tears, I walk over to the doors to turn the lock and flip the closed sign facing out.

  “Kylie?”

  Turning back with a fake smile, I answer, “Leo, it’s okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  Shrugging his shoulders, he walks through the doors to the back of the store and employee exit. I can’t see him, but eventually, I hear the door shut. Looking around, I note the walls lined with wearable art and as always, my heart swells with pride.

  Flipping the light switches off, I wearily walk back to my office and sag down in my chair. Reaching for the silver lined picture frame sitting on my desk, I stare at the picture of myself and Trent taken over a year ago by the lake. We both are all smiles, cuddled arm and arm in the hammock that had taken hours to hang. Mads had reluctantly snapped the picture after swearing under her breath all day about Trent being a bastard for using me emotionally. Her opinion is even worse than Leo’s about the situation. No one ever understands how I had rather have him in my life to love him how he needs, than to not have him at all. No other man has ever come close to measuring up in my heart.

  Deciding to call it a day, I reach for my purse and head up to my apartment above the shop. Taking Jonsie out for a short walk, I let him run wild in the adjacent doggy park for a little while until it starts getting dark out. Strolling back, I decide to let the whole incident with Leo go. He’s been a great friend, one moment of assholeness has to be forgivable.

  After returning back upstairs, we both settle in for the night as I pour a glass of wine and reach for the remote control. Floppin
g back into my bed, Jonsie hops in beside me as I flip through the channels. Of course, the first preseason game that I missed tonight just happens to be starting. Why does he have to ruin my love of the sport? Within seconds, Dray’s picture in his number twenty-seven jersey fills the frame as the quarterback hands the ball off to him. He dodges several defenders before hitting his stride and running it in for a touchdown. His begrudgingly handsome face with that single dimple fills the television screen as he celebrates in the end-zone. Smug-bastard.

  “UGH!” I yell as I switch off the T.V. and grab my ear-buds, blasting the music from my iPad. Closing my eyes, I drift off with a love song playing in my ears and memories of Trent in my mind.

  Blinking my eyes open, the sound of my cellphone ringing and Jonsie barking wake me from my restless sleep, an hour from when my alarm clock would blaringly do the job. Jumping up when I realize that the phone call could be about my sick aunt, I rush to answer, trying to remember where exactly I left it. Finally, I locate my phone and I answer in a panic, “HELLO?”

  Static crackles loudly, until I finally hear a familiar deep southern voice, “Kylie, can you hear me?”

  “Trent?” Last I heard from him, he was somewhere in South Africa.

  “I need you, Kylie.”

  Silence...either from him pausing or the line being cut off sets off alarms in my head.

  “Oh my God, Trent! What is wrong?” My heart beats out of control, as panic swells in my chest. Is he hurt? He can’t be!

  “It’s Dray. Did you watch him last night? He suffered a head injury during the first half of the game. I’m really worried, and I can’t get any answers.”

  My heart catches when Dray’s image flashes through my head. “No, I turned it off pretty early.” Like after the first two seconds. The thought of Dray being injured tugs at my heart for a full second, until I remember last week when I ran in to him at the Art Gallery.

  “Please, Kylie.” Trent’s voice pulls me back. His voice soothes and tugs at my soul as he pleads, “I need you to go to him for me. I can’t come home now, and you are the only family he has there. You know how stubborn he can be.”

  Not wanting to add any stress, I don’t remind him of the long standing feud of mine and Dray’s. “I’m sure one of his many who...” whores doesn’t seem like the right or nice thing to say, so instead I finish with, “girl friends will be with him.” Leaning against the nearest wall, I try to slow my galloping heart rate. It’s like this when I speak to Trent, and like always, his voice just does it for me. Jonsie jumps and whines at my side, either from wanting outside or because of my emotional distress.

  The line clicks a couple of times and static fills the silence one again. “Listen, I drove fifty miles to the nearest medical center to use their phone. I don’t have much longer before I may lose the connection. I know you two get under each other’s skin, but this is serious, Kylie. I really do need you and you’re the only one that I can count on to do this. So please, for me, go to him and take good care of him.”

  The anxiousness and worry in his voice is my downfall. I don’t even know why I tried to think that I could even possibly say no. Here he is, in some godforsaken land, saving untold number of lives, and I’m being selfish to deny him this. His love of Dray makes me love him that much more.

  “God, Kylie. I’m so worried about him, and I just can’t leave or I would...”

  Not letting him finish, I interrupt, “I’m going now. Please don’t worry. I’ll handle everything.”

  Hearing his sigh of relief melts my heart just a little, and deep down inside of me, I know it was never a question if I would help him.

  “I knew I could count on you. I’ll stay here for the next twelve-hours to try and contact you back to check on him.

  Pushing away from the wall, I walk directly back to my bedroom to get dressed. “Yeah...yeah. I’ll make some phone calls and find out where he is and make my way there,” I say, only to hear our connection go dead.

  Tossing the phone onto my bed, I rub my hands back and forth across my face. When I think that Dray could seriously be injured, my heart seizes up. Okay, so I do hate the bastard, but I don’t want him to die on my watch. Not when Trent is counting on me.

  Deciding to forgo the shower, I scrub my face clear of sleep and decide to leave my glasses on, not fussing with my contact lenses. Going incognito seems like a good plan. I still have a great tan from mine and Mads’s tanning trip last week, so makeup is optional, which I usually never leave home without. Opening my drawer, I grab a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt then locate my one and only pair of running shoes for comfort. Letting Jonsie out to do his business, I return to fill his food and water in his crate. After locking him in, I grab my keys and wristlet on the way out as I dial a mutual friend of mine and Dray’s to get some information.

  Finding out exactly what hospital he was in proved to be easy, but trying to get upstairs is the challenge because of his status of being a famous football player. The waiting room on the bottom floor currently is covered in news media. I could pretty much figure that the women who were in tight skimpy dresses were, um fans, but then you also had others that I’m sure were legitimately waiting for family members. After approaching the nurses’ station to find out what room he is in, I realize that I’m not the first woman today to claim to be his wife, girlfriend, or relative. I am told that he is having no visitors and that the hospital has a zero tolerance for loitering. Great.

  Looking up as the glass doors open, I notice the offensive line coach’s wife, who is also one of my biggest clients, walk through the door.

  “Mary Grace!” I yell, hoping to get her attention.

  Turning around to look who is calling for her, I wave like a loon. At first, I can tell she doesn’t recognize me, but then a small smile burst across her face as she crosses directly towards me.

  “My God, Kylie. I almost didn’t recognize you.” Her well-known sweet country voice rings across the waiting room, making more than one media head pop up.

  Hoping to not be recognized for any juicy socialite tidbits linking me to Dray, I duck my head slightly, and join my arms with hers. Leaning down I whisper in her ear, “Listen, I need help getting up to see Dray.”

  The surprise in her eyes as they lock onto mine, is almost comical as is the big shit eating grin on her face. “Well, well, well. I knew that gorgeous man would eventually be snapped up, but never in a million years would I imagine by who it would be.”

  Giving a little snort, I start to correct her when one of the larger media outlets looks over and seems to recognize her. Grabbing his microphone, he speaks to his cameraman while glancing our way.

  “Let’s get upstairs,” she says, pulling me towards the elevators. She flashes a pass to the security guard manning it.

  Once we are encased inside, she smiles at me again.

  “You know, this girl next door look really works for you. In fact, I have to know if this is how nobody knows that you two are an item?” She looks smug, like she has uncovered the mystery of the pyramids.

  I start to set her straight on the situation when her next words completely knock me on my ass.

  “The way he looks at you when you’re not looking. I should have known.” Shaking her head, she continues, “You know, I’ve watched you for years at the same parties and benefits we’ve attended.”

  I guess my look of horror on my face must have caught her attention.

  Laughing, she continues, “Not that I’m a stalker, but the way you weave and dodge men has always been so fascinating to me. I’ve found myself looking forward to seeing you verbally spar and shoot them all down, especially with Dray. I must admit, it has always been far better entertainment than what is usually provided.”

  What?

  The?

  Hell?

  “Mary Grace, I am best friends with his foster brother who is out of the country. He called and wanted me to check on him since Dray doesn’t have any family.”

 
“Look, your secret is safe with me.” She imitates zipping her mouth and locking it.

  Who does that? I haven’t seen that move since Jenny Bart caught me kissing Ryan Landers in the bathroom in middle school, and I swore her to secrecy. Not to mention that the little witch went on to tell the entire school. Feeling my anger start to overflow at just the thought of anyone linking me to Dray, I start to get down and dirty when the elevator doors ding open.

  We meet another security officer and again she flashes her badge to get us through to a large room where most of his teammates are waiting. So many worried faces greet us that immediately I start to panic. Maybe Dray is worse off than even I could have imagined. Mary Grace rushes to her husband and talks with him in a hushed tone. The other players send covert glances towards me. I know many of them and their wives or girlfriends. Most seem not to recognize or care, which is what I want.

  Deciding I can’t take any more suspense, I turn to try and get information, when I feel a large hand wrap around my arm to tug me back around. Looking up at Jason Silas, my mouth goes dry at his intent stare.