I smirk at her, suddenly remembering that Caesar is her partner for the project as well as the conversation I’d eavesdropped on earlier in the week. “How lucky are you to be partnered with your crush for our team project?” I muse, grabbing a stick of celery and dipping it in ranch dressing.
She smiles and diverts her eyes away. “I wouldn’t say all that,” she says.
“But you’re blushing! It’s obvious that you like him. I noticed that on my first day there,” I say.
“He is rather handsome. He’s single, too,” Carrie Jo adds, biting into a chicken wing.
“Is this the guy with all the hair you were talking about once?” Diana asks. Shayla nods without a word, simply taking a slice of pizza from the box. “Then ditch the zero for the hero.”
All conversation ceases when we all hear a key in the lock. “I thought you said he wasn’t going to be here?” Marissa mutters. The door opens and Shayla’s boyfriend all but crashes through the door, a look of surprise on his face when he sees all of us in the living room.
“Shayla?” he says, looking to her with a cocked brow. He looks nothing like he did when he pretty much crashed our dinner at the Chinese restaurant. He’s rather handsome when his face isn’t all screwed up in annoyance and he looks like someone Shayla may be attracted to. She gets up and walks over to him, pecking him on the cheek and taking his briefcase.
“Baby, I told you I was having a girls’ night. You said you were going out to watch the game with your friends,” she says, trying to keep her voice low.
Though his chocolate skin is smooth and his facial features are strong, he’s nothing memorable. His baldhead is so shiny when he takes off his hat that it’s damn near distracting. Pretty sure he could blind someone with that thing if he stands in the right amount of light. If I had to choose between him and Caesar in a line up, I’d choose Caesar a million times.
“The guys decided not to go out since a couple of them have a stomach bug, so I figured I’d watch it at home,” he says, his tone dry. An uncomfortable silence cloaks us as we watch him move around the living room. “Hello, ladies.”
“Hi,” we all say in unison. Shayla still stands by the door. Call me crazy, but I can swear I see something that resembles terror in her eyes as she watches him go into the kitchen, grab a plate, and come back into the living room. He grabs three slices of pizza and a handful of wings and celery sticks before leaving the room without a word, disappearing down the hall.
As soon as he’s out of sight, Diana mouths the word “loser” and holds an L up to her forehead as we all snicker. Shayla gives her a look and follows him down the hall.
“I seriously don’t like that guy,” Pia murmurs with a sigh, taking a chicken wing from the box.
“What’s wrong with him?” I ask, genuinely curious. I have my own suspicions about him, but I’m sure Shayla’s other friends may know something I don’t.
“He’s an alcoholic for one,” Diana whispers. “When he gets too wasted, sometimes he gets physical with her. I don’t know why she puts up with it. He’s cheated on her, hit her, and is just a shitty person in general. He’s not even cute.”
“Does he get like that often?” Taylor asks with wide eyes.
“It seems like it’s been more often than not lately. He’s extremely controlling and possessive. I’ll bet money he’s going to make her end this party early for one reason or another,” Marissa says just as Shayla joins us back in the living room.
“Sorry about that, ladies. Does anyone need anything?” she asks, wringing her hands together. We all say no. Carrie Jo pulls on Shayla’s hand, forcing her to sit.
“Everything okay?” she whispers.
Shayla simply nods and grabs a slice of pizza without a word. I watch her as I pick over my own pizza slice. At work she seems so strong and confident. It’s hard to imagine her being vulnerable and hurt, but her whole demeanor changes the moment her boyfriend walks through the door. I wonder what’s really going on with her situation. I’m sure the night is bound to get interesting to say the least.
8:59 p.m.
Still in Shayla’s living room
The night is going fairly well aside from the awkward moments when Shayla’s boyfriend comes from wherever he’s watching the game to pour himself another glass of Scotch.
“So we’re walking down the street and Shayla’s trying to hail a cab. We had this huge downpour the night before, so there were puddles everywhere,” Pia says. Shayla puts her palm on her face and shakes her head.
“Not this story again,” she mumbles with faux embarrassment.
“Yes, this story again,” Pia continues with a giggle. “Anyway, she’s trying to hail a cab and there’s one speeding toward us. I tell her, ‘Shay, you’re going to be splashed. You may want to back up!’ Of course she doesn’t listen. Instead, she takes a step forward, trips on the curb and falls into another puddle. To make matters worse, the cab races past us and splashes her again. Talk about double whammy.”
We all giggle as Shayla waves her hand. “Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. That was the first and last time I ever hailed—”
“How long are they supposed to be here?” her boyfriend asks. Everyone stops talking and looks at him. He’s leaned against the bar staring at us as he sips his drink. The whites of his eyes look a bit pink. I’m sure he’s probably tipsy by now with the amount of times he’s come out to pour himself a drink. I wish he’d just take the bottle in the back with him and get wasted in the privacy of his bedroom or something.
Shayla clears her throat and stands, moving over to him. “Honey, why don’t I run you a bath? I think you—”
“I don’t need you to do anything but answer my question,” he snaps. The silence in the room is deafening. We all exchange glances, not really sure what to do. Should we leave as to not cause her any issues?
“You said that I could have friends over for the night. We won’t be loud—”
“You’ve been cackling for the past hour and a half and I’m tired of it. People have to work real jobs, you know,” he says, glaring at us as he walks over, snatches another slice of pizza from the box and goes down the hallway.
Shayla sits back in the circle, but no one says anything for a while. The entire vibe is weird now. Everyone eats in silence for a few moments before Shayla clears her throat.
“I’m sorry about Devin. He gets a little testy when he’s had a bit to drink,” she says. Marissa rolls her eyes and sips her drink.
“Which seems to be more often than not,” she mumbles.
Carrie Jo puts down her chicken wing and clasps her hands together. “What’s a pajama party without spilling secrets? A lot of us are meeting for the first time, so how about we either tell the most embarrassing thing that’s happened to us or a secret we have,” she says.
“That sounds like fun!” Taylor shrieks. Shayla puts a finger to her lips and glances toward the hallway.
“We have to keep it down though. I don’t want to give him a reason to come back in here bothering us,” she warns in a low tone.
“Sorry,” Taylor whispers.
“I’ll go first,” Diana says, crossing her legs. “When I was about 15, I got invited to a party by the most popular girl in my grade and my crush was going. I’d never kissed a boy so I felt like I needed to practice before the party. I found this tube looking thing with a mouth on it in my dad’s room and would practice kissing it when my dad was at work.”
“Oh my goodness,” Taylor snorts, covering her mouth with her hand.
“One day, my dad came home earlier than I thought and caught me with it. That day I had a very awkward birds and the bees conversation with my father and learned what a fleshlight was,” Diana finished. “I brushed my teeth so many times after that that my gums bled. It was so gross. I couldn’t even look my dad in the eyes after that and still can’t to this day.”
Everyone in the living room giggles, careful not to be too loud to summon Captain Dickhead from his lair.
“I’ll g
o next,” Carrie Jo says. She blushes and then says, “So I’m turning 28 in two months and I’ve never kissed a guy and I’m still a virgin.”
“You have strong willpower, girl. I break out in hives if I don’t jump my boyfriend’s bones for more than two days,” Pia says with a shake of my head.
“Well, I’ve just never come across the right guy yet. It’s not like I don’t want to,” Carrie Jo says.
“We should set you up with someone,” Diana suggests.
“You can’t just put her with anyone. It’s her virginity she’s losing. It still has to be special,” Shayla says.
“How about I just find my own guy on my own time?” Carrie Jo suggests with a smile. “That’ll be even more special.”
“You say that now and then you’ll end up a 40-year-old virgin,” I joke, causing everyone else to giggle.
Carrie Jo waves me off. “What about you then, Blake? What’s your secret or embarrassing thing?” she asks.
I nibble on the inside of my cheek as I thought. Now would be the perfect time to tell Carrie Jo and Shayla about what happened back at home, but did I want to air my dirty laundry out in front of Taylor as well as four other strangers? Oh well. May as well.
“Well, before I moved here, I did something pretty bad,” I start, focusing on Milo sitting on my lap. “I wrote a lot of gossip about people on a blog and someone found it and told the people involved.”
“Geez, could you be anymore vague?” Diana teased. “Give us details or something.”
“I wrote that one of my best friend’s boyfriend had an STD, which made people think that she had it as well. I also wrote that another friend was gay, which caused his super religious parents to kick him out. And then I outed one of my dad’s cheating construction clients and revealed that he had twins with a woman that lived down the road from him. A lot of people were mad about that.”
“That’s pretty fucked up,” Shayla says. “How long ago was this?”
“Probably about two months or so. So my old friends hate me and my parents don’t really speak to me right now,” I say, my voice cracking as tears fill my eyes.
Carrie Jo gives me a tight squeeze. “Everybody makes mistakes. I still think you’re pretty groovy!”
“And you were doing what a gossip queen normally does. No foul in that,” Shayla says with a smile.
Her boyfriend appears in the living room once again and glares at us for a few moments before going to pour himself yet another glass of scotch. This man must have a liver of steel.
Once he’s out of sight, Shayla sighs. “Let’s not focus on him and let’s focus on our girls’ night. You guys want to play a game instead of this secrets thing?” she asks, jumping to her feet. I don’t necessarily think a game is the best idea considering that her boyfriend is already a bit testy about the noise, but whatever. She knows him better than we do.
“Sure,” we all agree.
“Cards Against Humanity?” she asks.
“Yes! I’ve always wanted to play that,” Taylor says, clapping her hands together as she pulls her knees up under her. Shayla strolls over to the closet and pulls a box from the shelf. She steals a glance down the hallway before coming to join us back on the floor.
“We can’t be too loud though. I don’t want to give him a reason to come in here,” she mumbles, opening the box. I glance to Taylor, who only shrugs. I’m starting to feel as if I’m at a high school friend’s house and we’re trying to have fun without disturbing the host’s dad and making him upset. How old are we again? What kind of relationship does she have with this guy where she has to have permission to have friends over or where she has to be told whether or not she’s being too loud? The whole thing is just odd and is making me extremely uneasy. The sooner this night is over, the better.
9:35 p.m.
Still in the living room
“Okay, okay, okay. Next card,” Marissa says as we gain our composure from Pia’s hilarious answer. “And the Academy Award for blank goes to blank. Pick two. You first, Blake.”
“Oh man,” I say, looking at my cards. “And the Academy Award for not giving a shit about the Third World goes to God.”
“That’s a first class ticket straight to Hell, girl,” Carrie Jo says and laughs, which makes us all laugh.
“Are you fucking serious?” we hear someone bellow behind us. The laughter abruptly stops as we turn our attention to Devin, who stands in the hallway in a tank top and his boxers. “I told you to keep it down. I want all of y’all out of my damn house.” His words are slurred as he slightly sways on his feet, pointing his finger at us.
Shayla rushes over to him and speaks to him in a low voice, trying to maneuver him back down the hall but he pushes her off. “No, I told you bitches to keep the noise down and you don’t listen—”
“Who the hell are you calling a bitch?” Marissa snaps.
“YOU, bitch! Get the hell out of my house,” he demands.
“Honey, please. You’re making a scene,” Shayla says, still trying to move him down the hallway.
“Stop touching me, damn it!” he yells, smacking her across the face. “All of you need to get your shit and your ugly little dog and get the hell out of here. I don’t want to have to repeat myself again.” He roughly pushes Shayla out the way as he stumbles back down the hall, leaving everyone in a state of disbelief. Tears fill Shayla’s eyes as she looks at us.
“Oh my goodness, are you okay?” Carrie Jo asks as we all rush over to her.
“I’m sorry about this. He can get a little tense when he drinks,” she says, unable to look at any of us. “Maybe it’s just best if we just end this for tonight. He’s not going to go to bed as long as he hears voices in here.”
We clean up the cards from the game in silence. Tonight was a waste. Had I known it would’ve ended like this, I could’ve saved my time and went out with Silas instead of having an awkward evening here.
“Are they gone yet?” he yells from the back. Shayla doesn’t answer, simply moving around and picking up the leftover food to take to the kitchen. Moments later he’s back in the living room. “Didn’t you hear me talking to you, Shayla? Do I need to embarrass you in front of your friends?”
“Oh shut up, you drunken asshole,” Pia hisses. “We’re leaving when we finish helping her clean.”
“You shut up, you slut. No one was talking to you,” he says, coming toward her. Shayla quickly crosses over to Pia and blocks Devin from reaching her.
“They’re going to leave, Devin. I said I’ll handle it,” she says, holding his gaze. He stares at her for a few moments before wiping the spittle on his mouth.
“This place better be clear in ten minutes. I’ll deal with you in a few minutes,” he growls and leaves again. The malice in his eyes makes me afraid for Shayla. Was it even a good idea to even leave her here with him?
Shayla runs a hand along her ponytail and sighs. “I’ll clean the rest of this, guys. Maybe it’s best if you go ahead and leave. I’m sorry about this,” she says, her gaze fixed on the floor.
“Are you going to be okay? You’re more than welcome to stay at my place tonight if you need to,” Carrie Jo whispers, giving her a reassuring hug.
Shayla gives her a small smile. “No, I’ll be fine. He’ll be asleep soon anyway. Thanks for coming tonight though,” she says as she walks to the door. I gather Milo and follow the rest of the girls across the living room and walk out of the apartment.
“I’m just a phone call away if you need me,” Pia says as she steps out of the apartment. Shayla gives her a small nod as she slowly closes the door behind us. The other girls turn to leave, but I hesitate. I don’t feel right just leaving her there, but what can I really do?
“Blake, are you coming?” Taylor asks. I sigh and follow the rest of the girls to the elevator. I hope she’ll be all right.
10:02 p.m.
In the backseat of an Uber
“That was some party, huh?” Taylor finally says. I shrug and keep my gaze o
ut of the window. I’d texted Shayla to see if she was okay, but haven’t received a response back. My mind is running rampant with a million different scenarios that could’ve happened after we left, none of which were good for her. Apparently I watch entirely way too much television.
“Was that your first time meeting him?” she asks.
“I met him briefly once before, but it’s the first time I’d seen anything like that.”
“It’s sad to be trapped in a relationship like that, you know? I could feel the fear radiating from her the moment he walked into the house,” Taylor says and shudders. “He doesn’t seem like a good dude.”
No, he doesn’t. The way he hit her in front of us and how he talks to her isn’t the way a man is supposed to treat to his woman. Shayla’s friends have said it’s happened often, so this isn’t new for him. Why won’t she leave though? It’s obvious that she likes Caesar and I’m sure he’d treat her a lot better than the douchebag she’s with.
Oh well.
Not my circus; not my monkeys.
10:12 p.m.
In bed
Blake Unfiltered blog post #793
Domestic violence is VERY real and scary. It’s even more scary to see it happening to someone you know. I don’t know much about Shayla’s relationship with her boyfriend, but he doesn’t seem very nice. Seeing the way she caters to his every need and how he talks to her when she’s been drinking is heartbreaking. I wonder why she sits there and puts up with it. Is she afraid of losing something by leaving him or does she fear for her own safety if she tries to walk away? I always see movies about domestic violence on Lifetime or some other TV channel, but never in real life. Now that I’ve witnessed it, I can’t help but to worry about her and overthink everything. She still hasn’t texted me back to let me know she’s okay. I almost want to call the police just to have them check on her for my own peace of mind. Ugh. Perhaps I should just mind my own business. That could possibly get her into more trouble and that’s the last thing I want to do. But what if me remaining silent ends up being the difference between life and death for her?
Musings of a Gossip Queen: A Chick-Lit Comedy Page 19
