Fire & Flesh

by Kerri Carr

  Kara didn’t wait for Adam to come out of the shower- she just hurried out of the room and down the stairs where Lucas was sitting in the living room. He grinned when she walked in and said, “So I assume that went well?” looking pointedly at her messed-up hair and her untidily buttoned shirt. Kara wrung her hands and said, “Lucas- what have I done?” Lucas stood up and said, “Hey, Kara- are you okay?” She shook her head- she was shaking, and Lucas gently put an arm around her. “Kara, it’s okay. Talk to me- what is it?” Kara shook her head again and opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, she started crying.

  “I- I-” she started to speak but dissolved into tears again, mumbling incoherently. Lucas pulled her into a hug and said, “Listen to me, it’ll be okay, I promise.” Kara shook her head and moaned, “No, it won’t be. I love him.” She looked up at him through her tears and said, “I love him, Lucas- how do I tell my mother?”

  “Tell your mother what?” A familiar voice said from behind her, and Kara turned to see Margo standing there. Lucas faked nonchalance and said, “Hey- didn’t you guys have to go finalize your gift registry?” Margo was still looking at Kara as she said, “I left my purse so I came back for it- Kara, what do you have to tell me?” Kara glanced at Lucas, whose silly smile faded, and then she turned to her mother, her face drained of all blood as she said, “Mom, I think we should talk.”

  Just then, Adam came running down the stairs and yelled out, “It’s not just her- it’s me too- don’t blame-” but he stopped short when Lucas waved his arms and motioned for him to shut up. Adam’s eyes widened as he realized what he had done. Margo gasped and stared at Adam and then Kara before she shook her head and whispered in horror, “No.” Kara took a deep breath and said, “Yes- Mom, I don’t know how to- I-” her voice faltered before she could finish the sentence. Adam stepped forward and said, “Margo- Kara and I did know each other in school. I loved her.”

  Margo looked like she would either start throwing things or faint, but Adam went on. “I didn’t know if she felt the same way, and once we left high school, I thought it was over. But then- you and Dad happened, and I saw Kara again- and I realized I still love her.” Kara’s voice shook as she said, “And I love him, Mom. I tried not to, I swear I did- I know what this means but I can’t-” she started to cry again and Margo hurried over to her and wrapped her in her arms.

  A voice suddenly said, “What in the hell is going on?” Kara jumped away from her mother and saw Harry standing in the doorway, eyeing them all suspiciously. Margo sighed and said, “You kids go upstairs- I’m going to speak to Harry for a little while.” The twins and Kara nodded, and hurried upstairs. Lucas hugged Kara and said, “It’ll be okay- whatever happens now, at least it’s out in the open.” Kara nodded but was unable to say anything. Adam nervously ran his hands through his hair and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know that she didn’t know yet- I was trying to help.” Kara took his hand in hers and softly said, “I know.” The three of them sat upstairs for what felt like hours until they heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Adam and Kara quickly moved apart just in time to see Margo and Harry enter the room.

  Harry stayed in the doorway and Margo walked in and sat down on the bed next to Kara and Adam, while Lucas moved towards the window. Kara could tell that her mother had been crying and she opened her mouth to speak, but Margo held up her hand and Kara closed her mouth again. “Are you two serious about this?” Margo asked, and Adam nodded. She looked at Kara, who felt tears welling up in her eyes as she said, “Yes.” Margo sighed and Harry turned away. Adam was about to call out to him but Margo shook her head. “Let him go,” she said softly before she sighed.

  “You have one year. Harry and I will wait for one year- we won’t see each other again after today until this time next year. Until then, if you two are still together, if you two are actually serious about moving forward with this relationship, then that’s that. But if not, then Harry and I will get married and I never want to see the two of you together in one place again.” Kara started to cry again and she said, “I’m sorry Mom.” Margo shook her head and said, “Don’t be- love is a wonderful thing, Kara. Trust me- I’ve been in love before too. I’m sorry that you had to hide it from me, and I hope for your sake that you two can work it out for good.” She got up and said, “I’m going to go home- I’ll see you later, Kar.” She walked away, and Kara turned to Adam as she whispered, “I love you.” As he pulled her close and kissed her deeply, she knew that even if she had caused pain to those she cared about, this was the right thing. After all, all’s fair in love and war, right?

  THE END

  Another bonus story is on the next page.

  Bonus Story 25 of 44

  Luck Out

  Betty Banks looked at herself in the mirror. Her pregnant belly protruded, and she wondered how much longer she would remain pregnant. She was looking forward to getting on with her life in the normal way once again. The pregnancy had come with its own issues that she could not control, and they were beginning to have a negative effect on her. For instance, she was very moody and also picky about the things that she wanted to eat. There was also the case of her husband, Ronnie Banks.

  Betty and Ronnie had been married for almost two years now, and everything in their marriage had been going fine until Betty became pregnant. As soon as her belly started expanding, it was as if Ronnie no longer wanted anything to do with her. He spent as little time as possible in the house with her, and whenever Betty wanted to make love, he always had some sort of excuse not to even touch her. Betty suspected that Ronnie was probably cheating on her with some other woman, but did not have any evidence at all. She was, however, determined to find out who the other woman was, and so she hired the services of a private eye to follow Ronnie around.

  Ronnie was on one of the state’s best football teams, and being a very handsome man that women could not resist, she was sure that some other woman had probably seduced him.

  It was Saturday, and she sat alone in the living room watching football previews on the television. She had always loved football, and that was one of the reasons that Betty had married a football player. She would spend most of her free time away from the office at the football pitches, watching not only the games but even the training. She loved both the game and the players, enjoying looking at their huge muscular bodies struggling on the pitch.

  Later on, she would hang around at the gym with the players just so she could admire the players’ huge, masculine muscles that looked as if they would tear right through their shirts. This is how she and Ronnie had met and slowly began going out on a date. He was a fullback for the San Francisco Rookies, one of the best teams in the state, and Betty had immediately been blown away by his handsomeness. Months after falling in love, they had gotten married in a flashy wedding that was attended by many of the football players and other celebrities from the city.

  The phone rang, startling her from her television game, and Betty realized that she had left her cell phone in the guest washroom when she had been checking herself out in the mirror. She got up and hurried over to the washroom, wondering who it could be. At this time of the day, just after noon, she was sure that it had to be her girlfriend, Anita Walsh, and she was right.

  “Hello, sweetie,” she said to her best friend excitedly, and glad to hear from her. “I thought that you were supposed to be here keeping me company. Don’t tell me that the Friday hangover still has you in bed?”

  “Hi, Betty, I'm actually still at the hotel where this guy took me out to last night,” her friend said, making Betty envious of her carefree lifestyle since she was not married. Anita seemed to spend every weekend in the arms of a different man saying that she wanted to have tasted it all by the time that she finally decided to get married. Betty's lifestyle had not been very different from Anita's before she got married, and ever since she got pregnant and Ronnie sort of neglected her, she actually missed it. All the clubbing and exchanging of men as if they were cloth
es, it had been quite a life in the fast lane.

  “Are you calling to play games with me, Anita? Because if that’s the case, it is not very funny. I haven’t had sex for at least three months because my husband thinks that I'm ugly, and this weekend he went out of town to visit his folks,” Betty said.

  “Actually, that is one of the reasons that I called, Betty, it regards your husband,” Anita said hesitantly.

  “Out with it already, girlfriend, what is it?” Betty said, wondering what Anita could be driving at since she had not mentioned to her about her suspicions that Ronnie was cheating on her with another woman.

  “Betty, you might want to be prepared for what I’m about to tell you because it might not be the very best news, keeping in mind that you are pregnant,” Anita said, and Betty could already feel the tears coming to her eyes even before she heard the news. “Do you remember that woman that you once told me was his office assistant at the landscaping company where he works when he is off the pitch?”

  “Daisy?” Betty said weakly.

  “Well, yes, I just saw him and her by the poolside of the hotel and from the way that they were kissing, I'm pretty sure that it was more than just a professional office relationship. They were all over each other, their hands touching each other all over shamelessly. I heard him tell her that they were headed off to watch a match and then get back to the hotel for another heated night,” Anita said, stopping when Betty said nothing. “Betty, are you alright? Would you like for me to come over to your place right now?”

  “No, Anita, I'm alright, and I know just what I'm going to do to that asshole. I'm going to hit him where it hurts the most,” Betty said in a voice as cold as ice, slowly making her way out of the washroom and beginning to head up the stairs.

  “Please don’t do anything stupid, Betty, I don’t want anything bad happening to the baby you are about to give birth to,” Anita said.

  “Don’t you worry, Anita, I would never let anything bad happen to my baby. I'm just going to make Ronnie super jealous so that he can realize just what he is missing out on,” she said, hanging up.

  *****

  Her call caught him by surprise. Mike Spencer was not expecting to get a call from Betty, his best friend’s wife. He had always had a crush on her from the very first time that he had set eyes on her, even before she and Ronnie began dating, and at times he regretted why he had not made the first move on the hot brunette. She had a shapely body, a fine ass, and big breasts just the way that he loved his women, and even when she had gotten married to Ronnie, he could not help but look at her in a sexual way. Many a time he had tried to imagine how she looked like without her clothes on, and how it would feel like to bone her like it was the end of the world. It was too bad that such a thing was never going to happen. Mike hadn’t seen Betty in a couple of months now, and he had a feeling that she and Ronnie were not having the best of relationships. He even suspected that Ronnie was running around with other women, although he could not quite be sure since nowadays they did not spend as much time together as they had before. It was as if Ronnie had changed, character wise, spending a lot of time to himself.

  “Mike, do you guys have any matches today?” she asked quietly as he tried to picture how she looked on the other end of the line.

  “Yes, Betty, as a matter of fact, the match is just about to begin, why?” he said to her.

  “It’s nothing, I'm just curious because I haven’t seen Ronnie all morning,” she said to him, and he could sense some sort of loneliness in her tone.

  “Actually, he just walked into the changing rooms a couple of minutes ago. Would you like me to give him the phone?”

  “No,” she said it a little too quickly as if she did not want her husband to know that she had called. “That is all, Mike, I just wanted to know if he was at the stadium. Please don’t mention to him that I called.”

  “As you say, not a word, Are you sure that everything is alright between you two? You have always known that you can count on me, Betty,” he said quietly into the phone so that the other players could not hear.

  “Let us do this, why don’t you go and play your game, and I promise that I'm going to tell you all about it after the game, okay? I promise,” she said.

  “Okay, we have a deal, you take care of yourself until then,” he said, hanging up and actually finding himself looking forward to hearing from her again.

  Betty knew that she had to hurry. It would be at least an hour before she got to the stadium with the weekend traffic. She checked herself in the mirror one more time to see if she looked alright. She was dressed in a sexy looking free fitting blouse that hid her not so huge belly partially and a pair of pants, and her wavy locks were combed back neatly. She had applied just the right amount of makeup, lipstick, and mascara that went well with her hair and her outfit. Slipping on a pair of sandals, Betty made her way downstairs, grabbing her handbag and car keys off the sideboard before making her way out of the house. She wanted to make sure that what Anita had told her was actually true and then from there, she would figure out what she would do.

  She just hoped that she would have enough strength to stomach it all because she intended to rip the hair out of Daisy’s head to teach her not to play around with other people’s husbands.

  In the car, Betty drummed her fingers on the steering wheel as she zoomed through the streets, looking for the shortest possible route that would get her to the stadium on time. She just hoped that she would make it on time for the game, and to find Ronnie with his shameless lover. She intended to give Daisy a piece of her mind in front of everyone, players and audience alike, and make this the biggest scandal of the city in a long time.

  Ronnie was going to regret ever fooling around with another woman while she was at home waiting for him like a loyal wife. Betty kept checking her watch every few minutes to make sure that she was not running late, but with the traffic snarl up, she was more than sure that she would miss the game. If that happened, she would have to call up Anita so that Anita could give her the address of the hotel where they were lodged. So much for a trip out to his parent's place. Ronnie must really take her to be the biggest fool of them all.

  She knew that the game was just about ending by the time that she brought her car to a stop in the parking lot. Grabbing her sunglasses, she hurried out of her car and made her way into the stadium. The audience was full, and from the crowd noise, it was clear that the game was already finished, or just about to end. She made her way to the front row that overlooked the pitch, getting there just in time to see the players walking off the pitch. So much for the game, but at least she had made it here before the players left the grounds. That way, she could catch Ronnie red handed with his new lover, and she would demand to know if this was his parent's house.

  She felt the bile rising in her throat when she remembered how many times he had told her that he was going to visit his folks since he needed some breathing space between them. He had probably been with that whore all along.

  She found a seat as she waited for the excited audience to thin out before she could make her way back to the main hall, where the players usually met up with their people. She heard her phone's message tone, and when she pulled it out, she realized that it was a message from her private eye. She quickly clicked the message open and sat there stunned as she looked at the photos of her husband and daisy making love in some hotel room.

  Her private investigator must have found a way to bug the room with hidden cameras, and here they told it all. Betty felt her strength draining away from her body and she began to feel dizzy. Somewhere in the distance, she spotted Ronnie with the blonde kissing as they walked into the hall that led to the car park. Betty wanted to get up, but found that her strength had drained away. Tears stung her eyes as she began to weep openly.

  *****

  Mike Spencer left the changing rooms feeling refreshed. He looked for Ronnie, but it looked like yet again, Ronnie had not bothered to wait for him.


  “Have you seen Ronnie anywhere?” he asked Nate, one of the other players on their team. He really needed to ask his friend what was happening with his life without mentioning Betty's name.

  “He left already, I saw him kissing some blonde chick who was waiting for him at the door before they left hand in hand,” Nate said, winking at Mike as he too hurried out of the changing room. “You might want to change your plans if you intended to hang out with him in the evening, that blonde looked like she had him wrapped around her finger.”

  Mike didn’t know what to say, so instead, he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked out of the changing room. How could Ronnie cheat on a woman as hot as Betty? Mike just couldn’t believe it, and he now had the feeling that was the reason why Betty had called him and not her husband. She suspected something was happening with Ronnie, and having asked him if Ronnie was at the game would only mean that she was probably here to cause a scene. Pulling his cell phone out of his pocket, he dialed her number, hurrying through the corridor. She picked up after a couple of rings, and he could hear her sniffing as if she was crying.

  “Betty, what is the matter, where are you?” he said quickly into the phone, feeling the need to protect her from all that she must be going through right now. “Are you at the stadium?”

  “Yes,” came the faint reply before she sniffed back some more.

  “Where exactly are you?” He stopped in his tracks, looking around the hall.

  As soon as she told him where she was, Mike hurried off to get her. He broke into a run when he saw her seated alone in the front row, hunched over. She seemed to be crying and looked weak and vulnerable. He cursed the day that Ronnie was born. As he got closer to Betty, he noticed something different about her, she was pregnant. Now, he felt for her more than ever, dashing to her side and putting his hand around her shoulder.