Unraveled (Love in Salem, book 2) (15 page)

She didn’t finish what she was saying, feeling unbelievably foolish she simply turned around and fled the room.

Chapter Fourteen

The following afternoon Atayla met up with some of the girls for lunch at The Hot Spot, a café owned by her dear friend Ava Morales.  At the moment, she really needed the love and support of her friends surrounding her.  Being at odds with Aidan left her feeling bereft and alone.  She had to make it right between them again somehow, and she hoped her friends could tell her how.

“Oh Dear Lord, Tay, please tell me it isn’t true!”  Carla exclaimed with a look of pure horror on her face.

“It was awful!  Fifteen minutes later Aidan knocked on the bathroom door.  I was hurt and humiliated, and all I wanted to do was go home.”

“So what did you do?”  Ava asked.

“I sucked it up, apologized for my behavior and ate dinner with his family.  No one asked me any questions or made any reference about what had happened, but I got strange looks the rest of the night.”  Atayla hung her head in shame.  “They probably think I’m totally insane.”

“What did Aidan have to say?”  This from Claire.

“He didn’t say anything.  After we got into his car to drive home last night, he asked me what was wrong.  I told him I felt out of place and insecure because he was avoiding me.  He denied it of course, said that he was busy with his brother, but I know better.”  She huffed.

“So did the two of you make up and have hot deviant sex?”  Leave it to Abby.  She believed sex could fix any problem.

“No.  When he pulled up to my house, I got out and told him goodnight.  He didn’t offer to protest, just said that he would talk to me later, so I went inside and went to bed.  I haven’t spoken to him since.”

“So what’s your next step?”

Atayla sighed miserably.  “I have no idea.  Unless one of you has a solution then I’m just going to sulk around until Aidan decides to call. 
If
he even wants anything to do with me again after last night.”

No one seemed to have an answer so Atayla resolved herself to the fact that she was once again at the mercy of man.  At one point in time, she had sworn to herself that she would never be in this position again, but at least Aidan was worth going back on her vow.  She had to admit that this situation was quite preferable to her past.

“He will come around.  You’ll see.”  Abby sounded so sure of it that she couldn’t stop the budding of hope that blossomed in her chest.

Talk turned to Abby’s new project, the construction of a website for Hasher & Pratt’s.  They were a couple of designers that designed, manufactured and sold their own clothing line.  It was one of those overnight successes that received their big break by pure happenstance.  All it took was the right person to walk into their store and
BOOM
it was all over the fashion mags.

Claire also had some good news.  Marcus Masters, a restaurant critic, had called and wanted to do a review of The Sandwich Shoppe in an upcoming addition of Travelers
.
  She was experimenting with some new recipes and trying to come up with the perfect blend of flavors.  A good review would increase business beyond anything she could have ever hoped for.

It was Carla, though, who stole the show.

“I’m pregnant!”  She literally bounced with excitement.

From the squeals around the table, she wasn’t the only excited person.

“How far along are you?”

“Around eight weeks we think!  We took a pregnancy test this morning, and when it showed positive we made an appointment with my OBGYN.”

Abby gave her a playful shove.  “It’s about damn time.  You two have been trying for almost a year now.  I was beginning to think I was going to have to stand on the sidelines and give Bill pointers.  I mean, he couldn’t have been putting it in the right spot to have taken this long.”

“
Har, har.”  Carla shoved her right back.  “My mother had a difficult time getting pregnant too.  That is why I am an only child.”

“Well congratulations!” Atayla exclaimed.  “Wait!  Can I congratulate Bill when I get back to the office or is this one of those things where I’m supposed to pretend not to know?  If it is, Carla, I have to say I’m not sure I can keep it to myself.”

“It’s not a secret.  In fact, I’m surprised you didn’t already know.  I told Bill I was going to tell you today at lunch, but he was so excited I figured he would announce it from the rooftop!”

“Perhaps he didn’t want to spoil your surprise.  He hasn’t said anything about it.  Come to think of it, he has been strutting around the office with big
ol’ smile on his face.  I just figured he got lucky this morning.”  She winked.

The girls laughed and began discussing what changes Bill and Carla were going to have to make to the house in order to prepare a nursery, Carla’s fears of a rough pregnancy like her mother’s, and whether Bill will be able to take time off if she needed him to.  The conversation carried on throughout the rest of lunch until they all said their goodbyes.

Just as they were getting ready to leave Ava stayed Atayla with a hand on her arm saying she would be back in a moment.  Atayla stood there wondering what on earth her friend was up to when she ran in to the café.  A few minutes later Ava came out with a Styrofoam container in her hand.

“Here” She thrust the food at Atayla.

“Thanks, but I already ate.”  She teased.

Ava smirked.  “Smarty pants.  Take this to Aidan.  Consider it a peace offering.  Apologize again for your part in this mess and tell him you are ready talk when he is.  Throw the ball in his court and see if he is interested in playing.”

Atayla hugged her friend.  “Thanks, Ava, you’re the best.”

“Don’t you forget it
either!”

Ava shoved Atayla in the direction of her car, but she decided she would walk to Skinz.  It was only a block away, and the walk would give her time to prepare her for what she would say to him.  She couldn’t very well just shove the container at him with a ‘Sorry.  Call me!’

No, she needed to be suave and say something meaningful, something that would portray her honesty and desire to get past this ordeal.  Being adrift from Aidan was akin to having a knife stabbed into her heart.  No simple Band-Aid would mend the wound.

After slamming around for twenty minutes in the store room looking for the new tips he ordered and should have arrived on Friday’s shipment, he stopped and took a deep breath.  He was in a foul mood, and he knew it didn’t have anything to do with lost supplies.

No, his foul mood had to do with a buxom blonde that had deeper issues than he originally thought.  The woman was one of the world’s greatest mysteries.  A confounding contradiction.  She had major commitment issues but at the same time she had an overwhelming fear of abandonment.  And she was sorely trying his patients.

He thought after pushing her buttons about moving in with him, she would benefit from a little space.  Had even considered telling her not to come to Sunday dinner, but he knew his parents were dying to meet her.  So he brought her along … and left her alone.  What a disaster that had turned out to be.

His mother, God love her, had called him first thing this morning to make sure she was okay.  When he told her he didn’t know, that she had gone home last evening, his mother read him the riot act.  He was informed, quite succinctly, that it was his responsibility to help her heal from the damage wrought by those who chose to harm her instead of love her. 

Yes, his mother knew her history though Atayla would be less than pleased by that knowledge.  He, himself, had been so disturbed by it that he sought out his mother’s advice on how to proceed with their relationship.  If anyone knew how to settle the waters, he believed his mother would.  Unfortunately, she was as taken aback as he was.

Hence his current mood…

Unable to locate the tips, he decided that he would take out some of his frustration on the supply company.  It might not be fair to them, but it was an outlet he couldn’t pass up at the moment.  He needed to vent his frustrations before they ate him alive.  Exiting the storage room, he stomped to the office to find the damn invoice for his last order.

Opening the office door, he took three steps inside the room and stopped dead in his tracks.  Standing in front of the desk was the last person he had expected to see.  Tall and willowy, long brunette hair that hung sleek and straight she was simply stunning.  Until you got to know her.  Spoiled brat didn’t even begin to cover it.  Entitled bitch – now that was adequately descriptive. 

“Hello, handsome.”  She smiled her version of sultry seductress.

“Brittney?  How the hell did you get back here?”  He barked.  He didn’t want to deal with her right now, or ever again for that matter.

“Well, hello, Brittney!  It’s wonderful to see you again too!”  She deepened her voice in imitation of him.

“Sorry.  I can’t say that it is wonderful to see you again.  In fact, I had hoped I wouldn’t.”  He shot back.  “I repeat:  How the hell did you get back here?”

She huffed and rolled her eyes.  “That’s not important.”

“The hell it isn’t!  You have no business here!  I want to know right now who let you back here.”  He commanded.

“Marsha, of course.  She wants to help us reconcile. She knows how much I still love you, baby.  I’m so lost without you.”  Her pout managed to be a combination of sulky arrogance.

“There is nothing between us.  There never was.  You used me until my usefulness was up then you tossed me aside for something better.  If you think I could forgive you for that, or would
want
to forgive that then you are out of your mind.”

“That is not how it was and you know it, but that doesn’t matter right now.”  She stated matter-of-factly as she strode towards him.  “Right now, the only thing that matters is this.”  Lifting up on to her toes, she slanted her mouth over his and kissed him with a single minded purpose.

Atayla walked the block down the street to Skinz
.
  She called Bill along the way to let him know she was taking an extended lunch break.  He didn’t complain.  He didn’t dare.  Atayla was his salvation when it came to case preparation and usually put in more hours than any sane person would willingly do.

The bells chimed over the door as she opened it and stepped inside.  The continuous buzzing sounds she had become accustomed to
were echoing throughout the room as the guys busied themselves with clients. 

There were a few people sitting off to the side that were patiently awaiting their turn in what Atayla had dubbed the “torture chairs.”  She smiled as she walked past them.

She had talked with the guys about getting a tattoo, and they all insisted she wouldn’t regret it, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.  It might be cowardly, but she didn’t care.  The thought of intentionally causing herself pain just wasn’t appealing.

Looking around the shop, she didn’t see Aidan anywhere.  She saw Paxton, though, and the pitying glance he cast her.  Now that got her back up.  She didn’t want to be pitied.  She wasn’t some pathetic little girl who had to be treated with kid gloves.

That’s exactly how you acted in front of them all last night.

Ugh!  She hated that little voice of reason.

“Is Aidan here today?”

Eddie was kind enough to give her a welcoming smile.  “He’s in the back, sugar.”

“Thanks.”

Turning on her heel, she headed for the door that led to the back office.  She assumed that was where he was since the supply room door was shut.  It had a tendency to lock a person inside, so everyone knew to prop the door open with a wedge when they were in there.

The office was at the end of the building and a hallway connected the entire length to all the stores and supply rooms.  There was a small bathroom off the hall to the right of the office and Atayla stepped inside to check her reflection in the mirror.  No food in her teeth.  Always a good thing.

After doing a quick finger comb through her hair, she walked the few steps to the office.  The door was standing wide open so her view of Aidan making out with another woman was absolutely unimpeded. 

Atayla’s cry was fraught with pain and her heart shattered into a million pieces.  The Styrofoam container she was holding dropped to the floor, forgotten, in her moment of anguish.  Tears streaked down her face as she looked into Aidan’s stricken eyes. He quickly pushed the woman back and rounded on Atayla who still seemed to be frozen in place. 

“Atayla, please, it’s not what it looks like.”  He said fervently and reached out to her.

That step snapped Atayla out of whatever stupefied state she was in.  Instinctually, her hand flew to her mouth to muffle the inevitable sob that tore from her chest.  Not knowing what else to do at that moment she turned and fled.  Her only thought was to escape the pain he had caused her.