by Lacey Legend
“Um, I’m Catalina Marshall,” she answered, and as soon as she spoke her name, she saw the expression on Deborah Hargrove’s face change instantly. It was a strange combination of rage and jealousy and bitterness.
“Oh…. So you’re the little slut that almost cost my husband his job,” she spat out at Catalina.
Catalina froze where she stood. She couldn’t have heard Deborah correctly. “I’m… I’m sorry, what did you say?” she asked, astounded.
Deborah walked a little closer to her, her piercing eyes boring into Catalina’s.
“Which part?” she asked coldly. “The part where I realized that you are the little slut that my husband was screwing, or the part where you almost cost my husband his job?” she repeated.
Catalina stared at her. “What do you mean, your husband?” she asked in utter confusion. “Connor’s not married.”
Deborah looked up and laughed coldly. “Oh… yes, I guess you’re right. We’re still just engaged. He asked me to marry him, and he gave me this stunning ring,” she held her left hand up and showed off a massive diamond rock on it, “and we’ve been as hot for each other as newlyweds, but we haven’t walked down the aisle together, yet.
“That is still two weeks away. I apologize for the confusion; we are already calling each other husband and wife. I guess we’re both just so excited about it that we can’t wait for the official day. Oh well. Hot lovers, I guess, passionate about each other and the prospect of spending our lives together, but what can I say.”
Catalina’s heart shattered where she stood. Connor was getting married. He was marrying the cold hateful woman standing in front of her. Her mind was a blur of questions and confusion as she shook her head and stared at Deborah.
“That… that can’t be…” she said quietly.
Deborah laughed at her. “Oh, honey, I promise you that it most certainly… is.”
The older woman walked right up to her and blocked her off from the rest of the room. “Now, I realize that he had a little fun screwing you, but you were just a little toy for him to amuse himself for a little while. He’s done with you. You can go now, and don’t ever come back. He doesn’t want to see you ever again.
“He told me how miserable he was after he screwed you the first time and you just kept coming back after him, trying to get him to be with you, and my poor lover couldn’t get rid of you, like a bad penny…” her eyes moved up and down Catalina’s body and she shook her head, “and by the looks of it, worth about as much as a bad penny, too.”
Catalina couldn’t breathe and for a moment she was sure that she couldn’t move either, until Deborah took another step toward her and she suddenly had the energy to turn on the spot and bolt from Connor’s office, racing as fast and as far as she could with no destination in mind at all.
She was blinded by the tears that poured from her eyes, and she finally fell to her knees in the yellow winter grass, just beneath a huge old oak tree. She buried her face in her hands, sobbing into them as her whole body shook.
Catalina had never known that she could hurt as much as she was hurting just then, and it was all that she could do to just try and breathe in between the sobs. It felt like everything in her had been destroyed beyond a point of salvation, as if the entire universe had somehow ended and there was nothing that she could do about it.
Connor was getting married. He was not going to care about a baby, he was not going to care about her, and he was not going to ever see her again. He was going to spend the rest of his life with the cold evil woman who was sitting on the sofa in his office.
The sofa where she had made love with him a few times, and where each time she had felt like she was the only woman for him. The sofa where he had probably had sex with the cold evil bitch that had kicked her out of Connor’s life and out of Connor’s heart.
Catalina felt like she was going to throw up, she was crying so hard. Out of nowhere, she felt a large hand on her back and she sucked in her breath and looked up to see Reggie kneeling down beside her.
She closed her eyes and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest and hugging her tightly as she cried herself out and finally the tears and sobs subsided. She took a few deep breaths and then looked up at him and he loosened his arms from around her, letting her go.
“What- What are you doing here?” she tried to say as calmly as she could.
He tilted his head and smiled kindly at her. “Well, this is our spot,” he told her and she looked around and discovered that she was on the grass beneath their big old oak tree, and their bench was just a few feet behind her.
She laughed a little in surprise and then wiped the tears from her eyes and face. “I didn’t realize I was here,. she whispered.
“I did,” he told her quietly.
She looked up at him in confusion, her brow furrowed slightly. “What do you mean? How did you know that I was here?” she asked him curiously.
He took a deep breath and sighed. “Well, I went to your dad’s house to talk with you and your dad said that you weren’t there. He told me that you found out that you’re pregnant and I knew you would really need someone to talk to, so I thought that the first place you would probably come would be here.”
She closed her eyes to try to hold in all of the pain she felt, at least for a moment, and then she looked back up at him. “Did he say anything else to you?” she asked, surprised that her father had been home.
Reggie nodded subtly. “Yeah, he did. He said that you are going to change schools and get an abortion or you’re going to get kicked out of his house.”
Catalina’s shoulders fell in defeat. “Yeah. That’s what he said,” she whispered.
Reggie reached for her hands, taking them into his and holding them gently in the cool morning air. “Listen,” he said gently, “I wanted to tell you how sorry I am for everything that went wrong between us. I never meant to hurt you or make you angry. I never meant for any of this to get so crazy and blow up the way that it did, I guess it just happened. I was just trying to look out for you.”
She stared at him and he continued. “Cat, I miss you so much. I love you, even just as a friend, if that’s all you want, and I would rather have that with you than nothing at all. So, I know I really screwed up with you, I know I betrayed our friendship, and I know let you down, but I’m here now, and if you want to be friends again, just friends, with no awkward problems, I promise that I will always be here for you, as just a friend, and I won’t let you down again.” He bit his lip and raised his eyebrows hopefully. “What do you say?” he asked, his voice giving away his nervousness.
Catalina laughed and sniffed and fought back more tears as she looked at him in complete gratitude. “I’d say that you have a friend for life.” She answered him. “I missed you too, so much!” she told him as she reached her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
He held her there for a long while until they were both alright again, and then he let her go and helped her to her feet. “So what do you want to do now?” he asked, looking at her for direction.
She shook her head. “I’m so tired and I hurt so much, I just want to go home and not deal with anything else today. I just don’t have the strength for it.” Then she looked up at him as they began to head for her house together. “Reggie, thank you so much for coming to get me. It means a lot to me that you were there for me right when I needed you most.”
He smiled and elbowed her arm lightly. “Aw, no problem. That’s what friends are for, right?”
She smiled at him and nodded.
He looked over at her a little while later and tipped his head to the side. “So what had you so upset this morning? I don’t think it was your dad that had you crying like that at our spot.”
She shook her head sadly. “No, it wasn’t my dad. It was Connor and his fiancée,” she answered quietly.
Reggie stopped on the spot and stared at her. “His… his fiancée? He’s engaged?” he asked, almost st
upefied.
She stopped and turned to look up at him. “Yeah, he’s engaged. I met her this morning in his office. He wasn’t there, but she was, and she showed me her ring and told me all about how close they are and how they’re getting married in two weeks. I thought I was going to die right there. It isn’t because I’m jealous or anything, but she seems like such a mean bitch!”
Reggie looked at her almost humorously. “It might be that you’re jealous, and it might not be. Who is she?” he asked curiously.
Catalina hated saying her name. “Deborah Hargrove. She’s one of the other professors on campus, although I’ve never had one of her classes.”
Reggie’s eyebrows shot straight up. “Deborah Hargrove?” He shook his head. “I did have her for one class, one semester, and that was one class too many. It’s not you, she’s a mean bitch.” Then he paused thoughtfully. “Well, she’s a mean bitch to the girls, but she has a real thing for most of the guys. She likes to uh… see them in her office after class for extra credit, if you get my drift,” he said with chagrin.
Catalina stared at him. “You’re kidding!” she gasped in amazement. “She accused me of being a slut for sleeping with Connor! …and she…”
Reggie laughed out loud. “That woman has no business calling anyone else a slut. She screwed most of the guys that I knew in class. It was pretty much a guaranteed passing grade if they gave her an orgasm.”
Catalina stared at him for a moment. “Did you…” she began, and paused, eyeing him carefully.
Reggie laughed at her. “No, Cat, I didn’t. I kept making sure that I was too busy and that I was out of class before she could call on me to stay, and I never checked any emails from her all semester, so I passed her class of my own volition.” He shook his head. “Never taking a class from her again, that’s for sure.”
They started walking again and he looked over at her. “So why were you going to see Connor this morning?” he asked quietly.
She sighed. “I was going to tell him about the baby,” she admitted. “He doesn’t know. I guess it isn’t going to matter now, though, if he’s marrying Miss Hot Pants.”
Reggie frowned. “I don’t know, Cat. It’s different for most guys when they find out they are having a kid. I think you ought to make sure he knows, just so he can have a chance to make up his own mind about what he wants to do and who knows, maybe he will man-up and help you. After all, that kid is half his responsibility.”
She sighed. “I know, I thought about that, too, but my dad wants me to get an abortion. He told me I have to either get an abortion or get out of his house, and I have nowhere to go, Reg.” She sighed again and shook her head. “You know, he made a lot of really good points; I have no way to care for a baby, no job, no money, I’m not graduated yet, I have no job waiting for me when I do graduate, and if something goes wrong during the pregnancy, I won’t be able to graduate, so there’s a lot to think about.”
He walked a short distance before he responded to her. “You really don’t strike me as the kind of girl who would be okay with getting an abortion. Are you? Could you do that? Could you get an abortion?”
She shook her head. “You’re right. I’m not the kind who could get an abortion. I told my father that I was thinking of adoption, but he blew a gasket about that, so as far as he is concerned, I can get an abortion or get out.” She hesitated a moment and then looked up at Reggie while they were walking.
“I’m really scared, Reg. I’m scared and confused and I have no idea what to do or what will happen. I have no idea what the right thing to do would be.” She stared ahead sadly, not seeing what was in front of her, but looking ahead into oblivion, instead.
He reached over and took her hand gently in his. “Well, the good thing is that no matter what, you aren’t alone,” he told her with a smile. “That’s a promise.”
She looked back up at him then and she knew without a doubt that she finally had her friend back, and it brought her a ray of light and happiness into and otherwise dismal heart.
“Thanks Reg. I’m really glad we are friends again.”
“Me too.”
The Final Chapter
Snowflakes were falling around the campus as Reggie walked, the frosted grass crunching beneath his feet with each step that he took. A cloud of steam billowed out from his lips as he stopped in his tracks for a moment, looking at the corridor before him, wishing that he had never been walking down that corridor the day that he had seen Connor kissing Catalina. So many problems had stemmed from that day, and there he was, back in the corridor, looking down the length of it at a door that was closed to the winter day.
He walked toward the door, telling himself that he was doing the right thing, for once, he was doing what would make all of his mistakes right again. When he reached the door, he pursed his lips for moment and then took a deep breath and raised his hand to the frosted glass, knocking on it carefully.
“Come in!” called a voice.
Reggie pushed the door open and stepped in from the cold, closing it behind him. His eyes moved around the office he found himself in and despite what he felt, he had to admit that he liked the office.
“Can I help you?” the voice asked, and he looked over at the handsome man sitting at the desk in the corner by the window.
Reggie drew another breath and sighed, pulling his gloves off of his hands. “Yeah, Mr. James?” he asked. “I’d like to talk with you, if you have a moment,” he said politely. He knew Connor James from seeing him in the doorway with Catalina, but Connor had never met him and didn’t know who he was.
Connor looked up at the tall solidly built young man before him and indicated the chairs before his desk. “Have a seat, please.”
Reggie walked over to the front of the desk and extended his hand to Connor. “I’m Reginald James, but everyone calls me Reggie,” he said, introducing himself and shaking Connor’s hand.
Connor nodded and something rang a bell of familiarity in the back of his mind, but the connection was not made. Reggie saw the disconnect in Connor’s eyes.
“I’m friends with Catalina,” he added, and the moment he said it, Connor’s eyes grew large for a moment, and then he leaned back in his chair and covered his mouth with his forefinger, staring at Reggie.
Reggie knew he would have some explaining to do before he got to the real reason why he was there. He was also aware that he owed Connor a big apology.
“Sir, I wanted to come see you today for several reasons, but before I get to the heart of it, I wanted to tell you that I’m truly sorry for all the trouble I caused. I never meant for all of the fallout to happen after I told Harold about you and Cat.” He hesitated. “Harold is her father,” Reggie began, and Connor watched him quietly.
“Anyway, I know I caused a lot of problems, and that wasn’t what I was trying to do at all, but it just kind of worked out that way, and I wanted you to know how sorry I am about that, and that I’m here to try to help fix it, kind of,” he offered, his dark brown eyes looking earnestly at Connor’s.
Connor nodded. “Thank you for the apology. What is it that brings you here today?” he asked hesitantly. He hadn’t expected to ever meet Reggie, let alone to hear him apologize for anything that had happened, and a lot had happened. He wasn’t sure yet that he wanted to forgive Reggie for all of the damage that the young man had caused, but he was willing to listen to him, and that was a start.
Reggie took a breath and launched into an explanation of his side of everything that had happened. “So, Cat and I have been best friends since our first day of high school. We were both scared to death to be freshmen in a new school, but I was big for my age and she was really smart, and really nice, and so we became friends and started looking out for each other, and before we knew it, we were best friends.
“Then, sometime around Christmas that first year of high school, I fell in love with her, and I just never had the courage to tell her, so we went on being friends. She dated a few guys here and th
ere, but she was never really into any of them. Not all the way through high school, not all the way through college, that is, until she started falling for you, and I saw it before she did.
“She started calling you by your first name and talking about you all the time. She would get this look on her face and her eyes would kind of… glaze over, and she would look so happy
when she talked about you.
“It started happening more and more, and I started getting jealous, because none of the other guys she ever dated really mattered. They just kind of came and went, and I knew that none of them ever touched her heart, but then things changed with you.”
Connor sat forward in his chair and leaned his elbows on the desk, listening intently to Reggie as the young man continued to explain.
“Anyway, I saw the changes in her and it scared me to death because, for the first time ever, there was actually a man who might steal her away from me. I had a plan for her and me; I was going to graduate and become an engineer, and build a house for us, and then ask her to marry me, and we were gonna have kids and a white picket fence, and it was all going to work out perfectly. “I figured that if I didn’t say anything about her dating other guys all through school that she would have all of that worked out of her system by the time we were out of college and then when I asked her to marry me, she would say yes because she would be ready to settle down.” He looked at Connor expectantly and Connor nodded.
