by Wood, Lauren
Chapter 16
Gemma
Geni was there when I got to work, and she had a smile on her face. I was happy for that. It meant that her and Scott were getting along. It made for a better night and she was gushing over a bracelet that he’d gotten her. She really was blinded by some shiny gold and I was happy for her. They should just get married and get it over with.
“So how was your day off?”
My mind went to Frank and I kind of smiled.
“It was alright. I didn’t see you at the party. Did you come?”
Geni said she did, her and Scott, but I didn’t see either one of them. Most likely, the reason was because I had taken off with Frank not too long into it. It hadn’t taken Justin no time at all to get himself with another woman.
“Yeah, it was a good one, though there was so many people there.”
“I know. Frank’s sister showed up.”
“Yeah? How is she?”
“Bitchy as ever and you would never guess what I walked in on?”
She leaned in for the dirt and I had to chuckle a little. She was shameless when it came to gossip, and I knew that even though it was devastating for me, the fact of the matter was that I wanted to tell her. She was always going on about Scott doing that and now I was the one that had a cheating, piece of crap boyfriend. How the tables had turned rather quickly.
“What?”
“I found Justin up in our bedroom, on our bed, with her.”
“No?!”
I agreed that it was exactly what had happened, and I could tell that she was shocked. I’d been shocked as well, but it was the way it was. There was nothing that I could do about it.
“So, what happened?”
That was the tricky part and I was going to have to come clean to someone.
“I left with Frank.”
That had her jaw dropping and I knew that I was going to get that response. I was not that way at all. I was the type of person that didn’t want to admit that I had done that. It was out of my nature.
“So how was it?”
“How was what?”
“Frank, ten years later. Was it as good as you remembered?”
I didn’t know what to say. My head nodded and answered the question for me. If I was truthful, it was actually better than I remembered, and I didn’t know if he’d learned new ways to please, or if he just knew all the ways to drive me crazy. I liked to think it was the latter. That we were meant to be together, so it just made it all the better, but I wasn’t really sure if that was the truth or not. Whatever it was, me and Frank were stronger than ever, and the pleasure had been out of this world. He was making me fall in love with him all over again.
“So, then what happened?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, so you and Frank. So, what about you and Justin? Is that over now?”
“I haven’t talked to him about it. I don’t think he even knows, that I know. I’ve been staying at a cabin Frank has in the woods. I almost got caught there this morning. Justin just popped up.”
“Wow, well you are going to have that opportunity to tell him now. He’s walking in with Frank.”
I wanted to believe that she was messing with me, but I really wasn’t all that sure of that. By the way she was looking, it was clear that she wasn’t joking at all and I wanted to melt into the carpet. The last thing I wanted to do was see Justin and him being with Frank made me uneasy. What had they talked about? I was worried that the men were going to be as chatty as me and Geni were. I had to think that maybe Frank knew about it beforehand or had Justin came clean? Something was different between the two of them and I walked into the back, letting Geni take care of them. The last thing that I wanted to do was have it out with Justin here at work. He should have known better, Frank should have anyways.
Frank’s head popped into the back and asked me if I was coming out.
“Soon. Why did you bring him here?” I really couldn’t believe that he would do such a thing, especially considering that he knew what was going on with us. I wanted to slap him, but he had this big smile on his face.
“You look good.”
“And you’ve lost your mind. You’re with my boyfriend.”
“Is he still your boyfriend?”
It was Frank’s turn to get serious and I told him that I hadn’t broken up with him yet.
“You need to do it soon. He thinks that the two of you are still together. You shouldn’t lead him on like that.”
“I just found out a couple of days ago he was cheating on me. I need time, or you know how I get.”
“That I do. Today is the time.”
I didn’t like him telling me when or even if I was going to say anything. I was staying in his cabin, but that was still my choice. I wasn’t ready to do this, and Frank was pushing it for his own agenda. I certainly didn’t care for that part of it.
“I’m not saying nothing. You need to get him out of here. I don’t care what you have to say to him Frank, but I don’t want him here. This is my job and I’m not doing this here.”
Frank looked at me strange and I’m sure it was the change in tone. Why did I feel so panicky over something that I knew I had to do? It was no shock that it had to be done, so why was it going to be so hard?
“Seriously?”
“Yes, please. Get him out of here. I really don’t want to do this now.”
“You’re going to have to do it eventually.”
“I know, but I’m not ready for it yet and I’m not doing it here. This is my job.”
I could tell that Frank wanted to get it done, but it wasn’t his choice. I don’t know why he cared. We were just having some fun, right?
“Okay, but I can’t say that he’s not going to come back here.”
I just shook my head and told him that he better not. The last thing that I wanted to do was have it out with Justin right here. I still hadn’t gotten my things and that was when I planned to have the discussion that I was avoiding. When it was just me and him and no one else was around to see it. I didn’t want that to happen with a whole bunch of witnesses. I knew that he was going to make it harder on me at my job.
“Well can you just tell him that I will meet with him after work at his house to pick up my things?”
“If that’s what you want.”
“It is.”
Frank moved to kiss me, and I stopped him. “Not here Frank.”
The expression on his face was not one that was so happy about my decision, but he had to understand that it wasn’t his choice. Just because me and Justin were going to break up, didn’t mean that I was going to be with Frank. He made me feel all sorts of ways, but it was hard to forget that he’d left me. That still hadn’t changed.
“Well I will see you later then.”
I told him I would see him later and asked if it was okay if I went back up to the cabin. I didn’t want to stay with my parents because I would have to answer a bunch of questions and I wasn’t ready for that.
I waited in the back until Geni told me that they had left. It was undignified, me hiding from him, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t something that I wanted to do here with all of my customers around. The town was small, and I didn’t want to be the main gossip. I was before when Frank left me all of a sudden and I didn’t want that again. It was embarrassing at the very least and I wasn’t ready for it.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I am.”
“I thought you were going to go off on him. It’s not like you to hold it all in.”
“I know, but this time around, I don’t want to make a scene. You know how people are around here. My ears will burn for weeks because they will be talking about me so much.”
Geni agreed. “I didn’t know this was going on Gemma. I feel bad, running my mouth about Scott all the time. But that’s how men are.”
I stopped her. “Scott is not Justin. Scott is a
good man and you need to hold onto him.”
“Do you really think so?”
I agreed. “Yeah, I do. He is a keeper.”
“I thought that about Justin.”
I sighed because she was right. “Yeah, I did too.”
***
I looked at the clock the whole rest of the night. Usually I would look at it because I was ready to get out of there and go home, but things had changed. I didn’t have a home at the moment and the clock was moving far faster than I would have hoped it would. I wasn’t ready to go back to Justin’s place and get my things. It was going to be messy and for some reason, I just wanted to pretend like none of it was happening. I knew that it wouldn’t end well. How could it? Breaking up was always messy business.
Leaving work, I tried to play out the scenario in my head. Especially the fact that I’d slept with Frank, several times now since I’d found out about his infidelity. I didn’t even want to mention it, just that it was over, and it was time for both of us to move on. I knew that to be true. I knew that I was going to have to give a reason, but I didn’t want to bring up Sandra. It was just going to make me upset, more so than I already was. It was extra painful that it was Frank’s sister. I’d known her a long time and though we hadn’t gotten along, I knew that she’d done it with a little malice in her heart and that made it worse somehow.
When I got to Justin’s house, I just shook my head and parked. “Of course, Frank is going to be here. He wants front row seats I suppose.”
No one was there to hear me, but I was now talking to myself. What the hell was I going to do? I didn’t want to do this with Frank. He was part of the reason that I wasn’t comfortable really going into it. As soon as I saw Justin with Sandra, I was angry, hurt, but also, somewhere in the back of my mind and heart, I was relieved. I’d known that it was going to happen eventually, just not like it had.
I got out of my car and tried to compose myself as best as I could. How did a person get ready for a confrontation like this? Frank’s bike was not the only one there and I knew that there were far more people there when I got out of my car and made the bend to the house. Why would he have invited people over, knowing that this was going to go down? Justin knew when I got off of work.
There was music playing inside as I got a little closer. The people were spilling out of the house and I saw several people dancing close together. One man in particular caught my eye. It was Frank, and some girl was all over him. Another moment of anger and hurt flowed through me.
Thankful for the sea of people, I was able to go upstairs and grab some more things of mine for the rest of the week. It wasn’t the time for this to go down and I left back out the front door without seeing Justin. It was just as well. I was just thankful that he wasn’t in there with Sandra again. I really needed a change of clothes.
Leaving, I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t even look towards the people outside when I came back out. I didn’t want to see how the dance had progressed. Bad boys were not worth it. They always hurt me in the end and I vowed then that I wasn’t going to bother with them again. The pain that I felt at the last party, didn’t compare to this time around. I really was never going to mess with a biker again. I loved the bikes, but the men were just pricks. Good in the sack, but bad at everything else.
Chapter 17
Frank
Gemma had been off work for a while and she still hadn’t showed up. The party, or whatever it was going on around us was an impromptu get together that went awry. Everyone brought someone and then some people just found out about it through the grapevine. It made it all the much easier for the amount of people here.
I wasn’t worried about the party though. Justin tracked me down and asked if I’d seen Gemma. She was who I was looking for.
“No, not yet. Have you?”
“No and there is more of her stuff gone.”
“She might have seen all of these people and figured that it wasn’t a good time to talk to you.”
“I guess. Is she still staying at the cabin?”
“I think so.”
“I’m going to go up there and talk to her. Will you watch this?” He motioned to the room where everyone was half-drunk or high.”
“Yeah. I got this.”
I didn’t want him to go. I was already thinking about going up to the cabin to see if I could find her. There was no way I wanted him to go there himself. What if they made up and Gemma gave in? I couldn’t even think of that without a rage flooding over me that was as strong as it was irrational.
Watching him go, I waited until I heard his bike start up before I called Gemma. I wanted to warn her that he was going to be popping up, as well as get a read on her and where she was at. I didn’t like this at all.
She never answered, and I wasn’t able to ease my mind. I really wouldn’t have minded that. It wasn’t pleasant feeling this way, wondering what the hell was going on.
Destiny came up to me as I tried for the second time to call Gemma.
“Do you want to dance?”
I pushed her hand away from my arm as nicely as I could. This chick was getting on my nerves and she wouldn’t keep her hands off of me.
“I told you Destiny, I have someone.”
“Then why are you all here alone? You shouldn’t be here by yourself. If you were mine, I wouldn’t let you go to a party like this by yourself.”
I had to shrugged out of her grip again. “Go find someone else to entertain. I’m not going to be nice about it next time. You’re here because I allow you to be here. Another girl will take your place with the club in a heartbeat.”
Her face crumbled, and I almost felt bad about it. If I hadn’t tried so many times unsuccessfully before in a nicer way, I would have. But she wasn’t getting the hint, so I was going to have to be a little more forward about it.
“Fine, sorry. I didn’t realize you were being for real. No one else here cares if they got another old lady or not.”
“Well I do. My old lady is a bit crazy and seeing you touching me would set her off.”
That got her moving a little quicker and I chuckled to myself as she left. I should have led with that earlier when she was getting grabby outside. Her job was to make the club men feel like kings, but I wasn’t lying about Gemma. I’d seen her go off before when a woman put their hands on me. It hadn’t been pretty and that’s why it was so strange that she wasn’t down Justin’s throat about Sandra.
I called her again and still got no answer. I couldn’t wait anymore, and I left Racen to take care of things while I was gone.
“Start clearing them out slowly. We got a big day tomorrow and I need people to fuck and get some sleep.”
Racen agreed and I left knowing that the man would get the job done. He was good to go for anything and clearing a house out wasn’t a tall order for him.
I left the party and went towards the cabin. Something was unsettled in me and I knew that it wasn’t right. I didn’t know what I was expecting to find when I got there, but when I pulled up, it was just Justin on the steps. He was reading something, and he looked upset.
The engine stopped, and he looked up at me.
“What’s going on, brother?”
His eyes were glassy, and it was uncomfortable to see another man cry. I averted my gaze when I walked up and noticed that the note was hanging in his hand. Had Gemma left him a Dear John letter?
“Brother, huh? You knew that she was going to leave me.”
“What are you talking about? What does the letter say?”
“It’s not for me. It’s to you.”
That made me a little uncomfortable. It made sense that she would leave it for me, but now I really wanted to know what it said.
“She isn’t here?”
“No, she’s not?.You want to tell me what is going on between you and my old lady? She’s about to be my fiancée and you fucked her?”
He was standing up an
d I wasn’t moving. It was something that had to happen, no matter how ugly it became. There was nothing that I could do to avoid this, but I didn’t want to ruin ties with my VP. He was the only one for the job. Club came first.
“She found out about Sandra and came onto me. It was going to happen. She was mad at you and I was there.”
“Doesn’t sound like it was just one time.”
I didn’t have an answer for that. It had been more than once, and I knew that he wasn’t going to get it. We were meant to be together. Him being with Gemma was a fluke.
“You cheated on her with my sister Justin. Did you forget that part?”
He stopped, but he was still angry. I waited for the impact and before I could get another word out, he hit me across the face. Thing was, I wasn’t going to let that go more than once. He had one shot. I deserved it, but that was it.
“You get one freebie my friend. That’s it.”
He went to draw back and hit me again and I punched him in the throat. It was the only way to stop him from getting in a full brawl with me. It was hard, but it had to be done.
While he gagged, I tried to explain.
“It happened bro, sorry. She was going to leave you anyways. You can’t cheat on Gemma. You know how she is. This wasn’t me Justin and you know it. You fucked up.”
He was gasping for air, but I knew that he was going to be fine. It was just going to take a minute. I pushed past him because I wanted to see the note that was dropped on the porch and where Gemma was sleeping. I don’t know why, but I knew what I was going to find when I got there. Everything that she had left behind was gone. Gemma was gone and by the looks of it, she wasn’t coming back. The note told me more and I groaned out loud. What the hell?
“Frank, I knew that us getting back together was a mistake. I wanted to forget who you are for a while and it worked, but not for long. I was reminded tonight when I saw some blonde skank all over you. You and Justin are just alike and not worth my time. I hope our paths never cross again.”
