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Beauty and the Beast
I woke up to feel someone pulling away from me, my body suddenly gone chilled from the movement. I stirred, instantly remembering the previous night.
"Mmm... What are you doing?"
Jeff was dressing as he glanced down at me.
"I have to go," he said, his Southern drawl soft.
"Now?" I murmured. It had to be about four or five in the morning.
"Yeah... I'm sorry, Amy," he said. "I can't do this."
"What?" I stared up at him balefully, suddenly fully awake. Once again, I could feel my heart breaking. I reached out for him and grasped his belt buckle, pulling him slightly closer. "Jeff..."
"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I don't want to lead you on. That's the last thing I want."
"Then don't go."
Jeff leaned down and kissed me tenderly on the lips, then on my forehead.
"I love you, Amy, I do... But I can't do this... I'm sorry."
Resignedly, I nodded slowly, my gaze trailing down. There was so much regret inside of me. I had really messed up a good thing.
Jeff left moments later, and I stayed in bed. It was futile, however, as I didn't get even a wink of sleep for the rest of the early morning hours.
*
Early that afternoon, Trish met up with Glen at the apartment he'd promised to show her. It was on East 85th Street and Park Avenue and was indeed a bachelor pad.
Trish wrinkled her nose at the tastelessness of the decor. A black leather sectional couch with matching easy chairs sat in the living room, and there was a tacky collection of taxidermy stuffed animals along the walls.
"Ugh... How horrible!" she exclaimed.
"Yeah... He's quite the hunter," Glen explained. "But wait'll you see the bedroom."
The little blonde's eyebrow arched as she followed the big man through a hallway and to the room in question.
"Oh, my God!" Trish cried. It was even more tacky in the bedroom. A bearskin rug lay on the center of the floor, while zebra skin adorned the wall just beyond the bed. There was even a mirror directly above, on the ceiling.
Eww!" she groaned upon spotting it.
"That's nothing - check this out!" Glen picked up a remote control, pressing a couple of buttons. Mood music suddenly filled the room.
Trish turned in circles to thoroughly take in the entirety of the room. Her brown eyes were slightly wide, as though with amusement. She lowered her glasses just slightly as she stared around, up and down the space.
"I can't believe the lengths men will go to to try and get a woman into bed. They actually think it takes all of this!"
"What does it take?"
The blonde's gaze traveled over to Glen, and her breath caught instantly at him meaning as well as the look in his eyes.
The big man kept his gaze steadily on her.
"Trish, I think you are the most beautiful, sexiest woman I've ever met."
"What? Glen-"
My God, what a schmuck your ex-husband must be!"
"Randy was not a schmuck!"
"Are you kidding me? He had you and gave you up," Jacobs reminded her. "You are so sexy... So damned sexy!"
Trish smiled nervously, nearly blushing as she looked away from him.
"Don't be silly, Glen... I'm wearing my glasses!" she said.
"It drives me crazy when you say my name!" he exclaimed.
"Well, then, I'm definitely going to stop saying it!" the blonde cried.
"Your lips... Your beautiful pink, perfect lips," Glen said softly, his gaze still affixed on her. "I swear, I'm like freakin' Romeo around you. Ever since we met, you're all I can think about."
Trish turned to meet his gaze, her breathing suddenly faster. His words, something about the way he was looking at her, maybe even the apartment, was stirring something deep in her.
Before she could stop herself, the blonde tossed off her glasses and launched herself into Glen's eager arms. Their lips met in a deep, passionate kiss, and the next thing she knew, they were on the bed.
*
Meanwhile, across town, Candice was at her OB-GYN's office. She was laying on a table in one of the examining rooms, getting checked out to make sure the baby was growing normally and was healthy.
The technician was currently giving her a sonogram.
"Well, everything is progressing along very well," the young woman said. She pointed at the monitor at what was the baby. "This right here is the baby's spine... And here's the head."
The brunette craned her neck slightly for a better look, although the truth was that she was having trouble really seeing it.
"Oh... Okay."
"Do you want to know the sex? I can tell you right now."
Candice's gaze left the monitor to meet the tech's eyes.
"Um... Sure," she said.
The woman pointed to another spot this time.
"It's a boy!" she exclaimed. "You're having a boy!"
Candice eyed the monitor blankly, no true emotion entering her at the news. It honestly hadn't mattered to her what she was having - as long as it was healthy, of course.
"A boy!" the technician repeated. "Aren't you excited?"
The brunette met her eyes again. She still had no reaction, but this time, she realized that the young woman attending to her was eyeing her oddly.
"Wow!" she said, feigning excitement. "A boy!" Candice felt like the world's biggest bullshit artist. It was actually humiliating.
When she left the doctor's office, she came by to meet me for dinner. We were walking a few short blocks to a Thai restaurant in the neighborhood as I told her about my night, and what had happened with Jeff that morning.
"He hates me," I said. "I'm afraid I scarred him."
"You didn't scar him," the brunette said. "You both got caught up in the moment. Meanwhile, I'm fucked... I don't have a maternal bone in my body. What the hell kind of mother am I going to make?"
"You're going to make a wonderful mother," I told her.
"No, really," Candice said. "When I was in the doctor's office, getting a sonogram, I couldn't even give the technician a reaction when she told me I was having a boy."
I gasped with surprise.
"Oh, Candice... You're having a boy!"
"Right there!" she said, turning to face me as we walked, gesturing with both hands. "That's what this woman was waiting for when she told me... and I couldn't give her what she wanted, so... I faked a sonogram."
"You faked a sonogram?" I asked, on the verge of laughter.
"Told you I'm fucked."
*
It was still light outside when I got back home. To my vast surprise and even shock, Jeff was standing at the foot of my stairs, along with his Jack Russell, Jack.
"Hey, Amy."
I was so shocked to see him, I almost couldn't find my voice.
"Jeff... Hi. What are you are Jack doing here?" I stooped over to greet the dog.
"Well, Jack needed a walk," he said, "and the next thing I knew, he led me right here." His gaze stayed steady on me as he went on. "Seriously, though... Okay, let's go for it again."
I felt some hopeful pangs in my chest.
"Really?"
He nodded, a tiny, soft smile touching his lips. "Jack misses you... and so do I."
"Wow," I said. This felt just as surreal as the night before.
"So, what do you say?" Jeff asked. "Want to give it another shot?"
"Hell yeah!" With that, I closed the distance between us and was in his arms as we kissed.