He picked up after the second ring
“Hey Ems..”
“Can you come get me please?” Emily returned instead. She sounded choked up from trying to suppress the tears that was threatening to bust out any minute. There was a pregnant pause on the other side of the line. Emily knew he wanted to ask questions but probably didn’t know how to approach her. For a second, she feared he would turn her down but he surprised her instead.
“Will be there in 20 minutes”.
Emily realized a deep breath then thanked him before hanging up. She washed her face then proceeded to change her clothes to dark blue jeans and a grey sweater which she paired with black airwalks. She could hear chattering in the kitchen as she got dressed, her reminder of Cindy and Ash’s betrayal. She still couldn’t believe Cindy had betrayed her like that; she wasn’t at all surprised at Ash’s behavior. She had suspected he would try to get Cindy in bed with him but didn’t fret about it since she believed her friend would not fall for his charm. Besides, Ash had acted like Cindy was beneath him when she introduced them; she remembered him giving Cindy the same look of disgust he had always given her. It turned out he could look past his disgust just to hurt her.
Fifteen minutes later, she received a ping on her phone. She looked down at the message
I’m outside. The text read.
She got off her bed, strengthened her sweater before walking out of the room. She ignored both Ash and Cindy who were still sitting on the kitchen bar chatting away. They both looked up at her when they heard her approached but none of them said anything.
With a heavy heart, she walked out of the penthouse, leaving both Cindy and Ash to their shameless display of affection. A small part of her wanted him to ask her of her whereabouts to show that he care just a little about her. Of course that would never happen. Ash hated her and that was that. Her shock and anger had finally worn off and was now replaced with resignation. She knew her next step was to divorce him so she could move on with her life with someone that deserved her. Someone different from Ash.
Someone like…. Michael.
Speaking of Michael, she noticed a black Lexus parked in the front of the lobby. She didn’t know what car he drove but suspected that would be him. Her suspicion was confirmed when he got out of the car then walked over to the other side as she approached him. He was in a plain black long sleeved shirt and dark jeans.
“Hey” he mumbled softly when she got close to him. She mumbled back a greeting as well as she tried to smile at him. He didn’t comment on the weak smile as he opened the car door for her. He closed the door when she was safely in the car. Emily leaned her head back then closed her eyes.
She felt and heard him enter the car. She could feel him staring at her profile but she closed her eyes shut. She wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.
He must have understood that since the car started moving. Emily opened her eyes then stared out the window at the monstrosity Ash called home. As they drove past the building, she craned her neck trying to get a view of the top floor; she wondered what they were doing at the moment. Were they f**king on the kitchen bar?
Leaning her head on the window, she closed her eyes again submitting herself to whatever plans Michael had for her.
After minutes of driving, the car finally came to a stop. Emily opened her eyes to find that they had stopped in what looked like a garage. She looked around trying to figure out where they were.
“We are at my place” Michael volunteered. She relaxed again then nodded. She opened her door when he opened his. He was there in a flash to help her out of the car. They walked silently from the garage to the elevator. His place was too similar to that of Ash’s. Not like she expected anything less, after all Michael was in the league as Ash.
Michael opened the door to his place then ushered her in. She took in his place as he walked her further inside. It was just as fancy as Ash. Red and white couches took up space in the living room. She looked for a stair case but came up short; it must have been a one floor apartment. The apartment was spotless including the kitchen with its black appliances and marble counter. Like Ash, Michael also had a kitchen bar but unlike Ash’s no dinner table.
He led her to the red sectional where he sat her down gently.
He offered her a juice which she sipped quietly. The silence was deafening as they both waited for the other to speak first. She could feel the words at the tip of Michael’s tongue. He was dying to know what was wrong with her.
She took another sip of her orange juice then took a deep breath. Here it goes
“Ash is cheating on me” she uttered quietly.
No response from Michael at her declaration. She looked at her to find him staring with a look that wasn’t of surprise. Of course he knew Ash was not being faithful. They were best friends after all.
“With my friend” she added. That did it.
“What? How?” she heard the surprise in his voice and knew Ash had kept Cindy a secret from his friend as well. Typical of him to hide anyone that wasn’t of the same class from his friends.
She nodded then dove into Ash and Cindy’s affair and how she found out. When she was done, she realized she had been crying. She wiped them off angrily; she didn’t want to cry for Ash. Not anymore.
Michael came over to her then pulled her into his chest.
“I’m so sorry” he muttered in her hair.
The tears came back again, this time not for Ash but from the overwhelming feeling she felt been in Michael’s arm. She felt the sincerity in his apology as he continued to mumble how sorry he was.
When she was done crying, she pulled her head from his chest and noticed his shirt was now soaked with her tears. He wiped her tears then gave her a kiss on her forehead.
“It’s going to be alright” he promised.
Emily simply nodded. It was going to be alright. She was going to move on and care for her child herself. Fortunately for her, she had Michael and Mr. Hurley who would be there if anything were to happen to her.
He wiped her eyes again then kissed her eye lids, one after the other. Emily suddenly noticed the proximity and felt her whole body tensed up. His eyes crashed at hers and she gasped softly. She didn’t know who leaned in first but the next thing she knew a pair of soft lips landed on hers. Without thinking of it, she opened her mouth giving into the kiss. The kiss felt nice and she suddenly wanted more. She grabbed his shirt pulling him closer to her. It felt her she was on fire and was in desperate need for something to cool her down. It had been too long since Ash and she was about to remedy that.
Michael held her head in place as he ravished her mouth. She moaned into his mouth as their tongue tangled together, both fighting a losing battle. She wasn’t surprised her body reacted to him; he was intend handsome and she had gotten attached to him with the phone calls and text messages.
Her toes curled as the kiss deepened. More, please.
She reached for his pants to get things moving but a warm hand stopped her. Michael pulled away first giving her an apologetic look.
“Ems, no”
The rejection struck a nerve. She had believed he wanted the same thing too.
Emily blinked suddenly realizing what almost happened. What’s wrong with me? She wondered.
“I’m sorry….I don’t know what came over me” she tried to explain her bizarre behavior. This was unlike her; other than with Ash, she had never felt this needy.
Michael rested his forehead on hers. “Don’t apologize. I want you too but not like this. I won’t take advantage of you like this”
Emily felt better that the feeling wasn’t one sided. She felt her stomach swell with butterflies. It felt nice to be wanted. With Ash’s constant reminder of how big she had gotten with the pregnancy, the fact that Michael wanted her was exactly wanted she needed to get back her confidence.
One man’s trash was another man’s treasure.
Michael traced her now swollen lips with his thumb. She noticed her hard he was controlling himself and she admired him for having such self-control.
“You might think this is what you want but you are hurting right now so your judgment are a little impaled. You will regret this tomorrow”
Emily wanted to argue with him on that assessment but refrain from doing so. She was sure she wouldn’t regret whatever would happen between them but if Michael felt that way, she would give him the benefit of the doubt.
“Besides if we do this, we would be just as bad as Ash. Two wrongs don’t make a right” Michael being the source of reasoning added.
His words were a shot of reality she needed at the moment. She pulled away from him then leaned back in the couch. He was right; she would be doing the same thing Ash was doing. Michael was just as his friend as Cindy was to her.
Ash had labelled her a whore and sleeping with Michael would prove him right too. She refused to give him that satisfaction.
She blew a harsh breath out. There was no winning with Ash. She felt her hand being cradled into a warm ones. She turned to Michael who was staring at her hands like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. He pulled her hands to his lips then placed a kiss at the back.
Their eyes crashed again and the look in his eyes shattered her already broken heart. He looked like someone who wanted something but knew he couldn’t have it.
Emily unconsciously squeezed his hands back.
“I’m getting a divorce” she stated out of the blue. She noticed the shock that flashed in his eyes. He released her hand then strengthened up.
“Why?” he asked then licked his lips.
“Why?” Emily returned looking down at her hands. She missed his warmth already. She looked back to Michael to find him looking at her expectedly. She scrunched up her face in confusion. Why? Did he just ask why she wanted a divorce? After everything that had happened with Ash?
“I have decided Ash is a lost cause and I’m not going to waste my time anymore”
“He is not a lost cause” Michael defended. Emily rolled her eyes at him. He would always defend his best friend.
“He just needs time to come to terms with things” he continued. He further added that Ash had promised to change when the baby turned out to be his.
Emily didn’t know Ash had made that promise. But was he really going to change? Sure the DNA would prove he was wrong but would that make any difference?. The kind of hatred Ash felt for her couldn’t possibly go poof just from a DNA result.
“Ash hates me” she reminded Michael incase he had forgotten that tad bit of information. Michael dismissed her with a wave of his hands.
“There is a thin line between love and hate. He doesn’t hate you. He is just trying to save face”
Emily tried not to feel hopeful but failed. She knew it took an incredible amount of feeling to hate someone so if Ash truly hated her, it had to have taken a great deal of feeling for him to feel that way.
“So you are telling me not to get a divorce?” she asked incredulously.
“I’m telling you to wait until after the baby is born and if nothing changes then you can get a divorce. Then you can say you stuck to the end but he remained an asshole”
Emily pondered on his words; could she wait until the baby was born to see if Ash would turn a new leaf? She was less than a month from her due date so she didn’t have to wait long.
Another thought came to her. What if Ash changes, what was she going to do then about Michael?
She knew she was developing feelings for him, feelings she wasn’t going to throw away that easily. He had been nothing but caring to her and didn’t deserve to be thrown aside just because Ash decided he was ready to be a man.
“What about us? What would happen to us then?” she asked in a quiet voice that wouldn’t have been heard if not for the dead silence in the living room.
Michael swallowed no doubt thinking the same thing. He remained silent lost in his own thought.
“Do you even like me?” Emily wanted to know. After the first time Michael approached her, he had not mentioned his feelings to her again. She held her breath as she waited for him to answer
He grabbed her hand then leaned closer “Yes. I like you”
She smiled a genuine smile then wrapped her hands around his neck, pulling him close to her. That was exactly what she wanted him to say.
He hugged her back before pulling away.
Emily’s happiness was short lived as her face dropped from his expression. He didn’t look as excited as she was, instead he looked torn.
She opened her mouth to ask him what was wrong but his next words left her completely speechless.
“Ash asked me to make you fall with me so you can divorce him” Michael uttered remorsefully.
Emily felt her hopes and dreams shatter right underneath her. Everything she thought she knew about him were false.
He had been nice to her just so she would fall in love with him? She didn’t know which was worse, the fact that it was Ash’s idea or that Michael had agreed to it.
What was it about her that made her unlovable? Why could she never find happiness? She had never wronged anyone in her entire life but for some reason, she had always been ill-treated.
She had thought Michael was different. For once in her life, she had thought of having it all with him. But he turned out to be just like Ash. A lying sack of shit.
“So that’s what you have been doing this whole time? Playing me?” she asked in a calm voice, the opposite of what she was feeling inside. Ash was probably laughing at how naïve she was. She wondered if he knew about everything that went on with Michael and her. Was he going to know about the kiss too?
“No no ems, that’s not what this is about. I already liked you before he came up with the stupid idea. I’m not playing you, I swear” Michael begged then tried to grab her hand again but she wasn’t having it.
She pulled it out of his reach. She wanted nothing to do with him.
His face fell further at the rejection. “Emily please. I promise I’m not playing you”. He continued then told her everything about the plan and how he had thought Ash was insane.
Emily listened to him talk and when he was done she…. believed him. She didn’t know how but she somehow believed him.
“So let me get this straight. This is the same person you think is going to change?” she asked in reference to Ash. She was stunned he had concocted the plan on their wedding day; that showed how much he wanted to end this sham they called marriage.
She and Michael talked about Ash some more with Michael trying to convince her that Ash would change and the end of their talk, she decided she was going to withhold the divorce. She knew it was going to happen, it was just a matter of when but for now she would humor Michael and wait. As for her and Michael, nothing was going to happen until she was free of Ash. She wasn’t going to stoop low to his level by committing adultery.
She stayed with Michael for a while watching TV and talking about random stuff including the baby.
Michael decided she needed to get out of the house so they went out. They stopped at a restaurant to get lunch since she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. While they were eating, she mentioned she still hadn’t gotten the stuff she needed for the baby like crib and car seat.
Michael couldn’t believe she hadn’t gotten the nursery set up yet when her due date was fast approaching.
“C’mon. we have some shopping to do” he stated as they finished their lunch.
They ended up buying practically everything she needed for the baby which he paid for without a second thought. He even bought her a new cell phone since hers was completely outdated.
Later that evening, he dropped her back at home. The baby gears were going to be delivered in 2-3 days. Emily thanked him for everything then gave him a kiss on the cheek before getting out of the car.
As she took the elevator back to Ash’s floor, it suddenly hit her that this was the happiest she had been in a long, long time. She knew for sure then Michael was what she wanted. He made her happy and provided her with the security she need. But if he wanted her to try with Ash, she was going to do that as well. It wouldn’t hurt anyway.
She would do it for the baby.
A/N
whoop! whoop!....it's spring break. I had to update, just to celebrate. Sorry for any error, its not edited. I was too excited to update after almost three months of MIA