Damn it! Could the timing possibly by any chance suck even more?
Cody pressed his lips into a thin aggravating line and he closed his eyes cursing inside.
He could not even come up with bad enough words to express the awful and sickening feeling he felt inside of him.
Son of a bi. . . He knew for sure that Laura probably thought the worst, and he could not blame her now, could he? It looked really BAD.
But he had not been cheating on her.
Well, not really.
Or had he?
Gah! He actually loathed himself at this moment.
The only thing he'd done was that he had allowed Karen to go down on him. And not even that he had been able to follow through because of the feelings he had for Laura.
Damn, this really looked bad as hell, and he knew it. He knew by the look he had seen in Laura's eyes, that she was convinced that he had banged Karen for all that he was worth.
He was so utterly and completely fucked, that it was just ridiculous.
Giving Karen a suppressed morose stare, he opened the door on the passenger side to her, letting her step inside the car. Closing the door, he swore silently to himself. Serves you right, you stupid, mindless fucker! You've on your own accord managed to chase away the only person that matters to you.
He stepped into the car and started it up, turning his eyes to Karen.
"I'm giving you a lift home, but I can't stay. I've got to take care of something" he murmured and then turned his gaze forward as they drove off.
Yeah, like trying to placate Laura the best you can, idiot!
Cody was seething inside, cursing his own bad timing to hell.
If she will even talk to you, let alone acknowledge your existence, after what you've done, you'd be a lucky bastard.
~ ~ ~
When Laura came home and stepped inside her house, she slammed the door shut so hard it almost came off its hinges. She was so raging mad. . .and heartbroken.
It felt awful, and she just wanted to scream out loud. Why the hell was she feeling this way?
A knife had been forced into her heart and then been twisted around viciously. And Cody was the one holding it.
Without knowing it she had been kicking the chairs in the kitchen and shoving them around loudly over the floor, but she slowly became aware as she looked up and spotted Lance and Phil standing in the doorway looking oddly at her.
"Ehrm. . .what is it mom?" Phil asked with concern and stepped into the kitchen, "Are you okay?"
Laura bit her lip and shook her head, looking a little ashamed as she stood in the middle of the kitchen, her shoulders sagging.
"No. . Not really" she said truthfully, "Strange evening, is all."
Lance moved over to her and gave her a hug.
"What? You tell us mom. What happened?"
Laura squirmed in her son's embrace. How on earth could she tell them? No. She couldn't. Never.
"It's nothing. It's okay." she lied.
If she had thought of her sons to be easily fooled and gullible, she had been dead wrong. Both of them giving her their most famous 'Oh Yeah! And we believe in Santa, too' stare.
"Mom, I swear to god. . ." Phil said but got interrupted.
Lance's cellphone rang suddenly and he fished it up to answer it, giving Phil a 'wait a minute' stare.
.
"Yeah. You are? Okay. . .we're home" he mumbled and then he finished the call.
He looked first at Phil again, then at his mother. "Cody is coming over" he stated flatly and shrugged his shoulders.
Laura froze.
Phil gazed at his wristwatch all stunned. "He's coming here? At this hour? Why?"
"I have no idea," Lance sighed, also looking at his watch, "He did not say why."
Laura put her hand up to her forehead. "I can't do this. I just can't " she mumbled silently whilst shaking her head slowly. "Oh god!" What a bloody night.
Lance gave her a quizzical look. "What, mom? What did you say?"
Collecting her scattered feelings the best she could, she managed a strained smile at her sons.
"Nothing. . .I'm just tired." she motioned with a shaky finger towards her bedroom, "I'm going to bed. We can talk in the morning." she managed to get her feet moving, "Tell Cody 'Hi' from me. "
"Sure" both Lance and Phil answered in unison, Lance with a frown on his face as they saw her walk into her room. Phil shook his head and sat down by the kitchen table.
"I guess the date with the law didn't exactly go according to plan?" Lance muttered and went over to the counter to heat some water. "Well, if Cody's coming over at this late hour, he has to settle with instant coffee, I can tell you. I will not start up that machine from hell." His finger pointed at the latte machine in the corner.
The next moment they heard his car pull up on the driveway outside.
~ ~ ~
Laura had been standing with her back flush against the door for a minute or two when she heard the car pull up. She caught her breath and instantly she spun around to lock the door. On unsteady limbs she then retreated backwards to her bed and sat down slowly. She stared straight ahead into the wall.
Behind her eyelids, tears threatened to spill, but she refused to let them. She bit her lip, closing her eyes hard.
God how awful she felt. It was like her inside was dealing with a shit load of poison and was about to lose.
Damn it. She knew what that meant. She knew all but too well. Damn!
~ ~ ~
Cody yanked the key from the ignition and plunged out of the car heading for their kitchen door. Not being able to control his actions he knocked so hard on the door his knuckles almost bruised. How he would explain this late visit and his almost desperate behavior, he had no idea. But he did not care. One way or the other. . .he WAS going to see Laura. He just had to talk to her. . .he had to explain, at least try.
"Hey hey hey. . .hold your horses Cody! Come on in." Lance hollered from inside. "Easy on the door, man."
Bursting through the door, he stopped just inside, his eyes scanning around in the kitchen looking almost wild. Both Lance and Phil raised their brows in a questioning stare.
"Cool down Bro, now where's the darn fire, huh?" Phil held his hands in front of him, staring at Cody with bulging eyes. "Are you alone?"
First Cody did not get it. What did Phil mean? Then when seeing their frowning faces it sunk in. Oh yeah. Karen.
Cody slumped his shoulders and glanced a little shamefaced at both of them. "I drove her home."
Lance raised his brows as he too sat down by the table, motioning for Cody to do the same.
"Drove her home?" the doubt in Lances voice did not pass Cody by.
He pulled out a chair and slumped down on it. He felt impatience flow viciously through every cell in his entire body. This was NOT what he wanted to do. He did not want to sit down here in the kitchen like nothing had happened. He wanted to just simply marsh into Laura's bedroom and beg her for forgiveness, to make her listen. In other words, force her to listen to him.
The consequences of his actions began to slowly sink in, and he shuddered at the thought. It was making him nauseous.
"Coffee? " Phil handed him a cup.
"Sure." Cody said reluctantly and took it, his inside declaring world war 3 on him. Just give me a fuckin' beer, damn it, so that I 'll have an excuse to stay the night.
Damn his fuckin' libido. Making him believe that he could forget about Laura, just like that, by hitting on others and try to get laid. He should have known it was a mistake . . .a dreadful mistake. He should have known better.
But damn it, when she had flirted with the law just because of the age difference between them, just to push him away, he had been furious.
Who the heck was she to decide if she was too old for him, huh?
"So, man. Did you get down to business, eh?" Phil woke him up from his far away thoughts and he stared startled around in the kitchen. Oh shit, he really had to get a grip. His friends would definitely measure him for a darn schmuck if he could not get this shit straight.
"What?" Cody asked as he did not hear the question clearly. But somehow he had a pretty good idea of what it was about.
"Business? The brunette?" Lance pitched in. His eyes searching Cody up and down.
"No. . Couldn't do it" Cody admitted, taking a needy sip from the cup.
Lance and Phil looked at each other, then at Cody. Disbelief written all over both their faces.
"Couldn't do it?" they both echoed.
Cody put down the cup and shrugged his shoulders. A loud 'bang' could be heard from the impact. "No."
"Why the hell not?" Phil almost squeaked.
Because I think of your mother every damn second of every darn day, that's why.
"It did not feel right."
"Did not feel right?" Lance gawked at Cody.
"OH PLEASE!" Cody sputtered and glared around at them both, "Stop the bloody echo. Is that so damn hard to grasp?" Give me that darn beer.
Lance and Phil looked at him then at each other, then they looked back at him and gave him a collective nod.
"Yeah! It is, man." Phil then shook his head, "You must be really fucked up, man, as to NOT shag that broad the moment you saw her. She was HOT enough to cook on."
Lance murmured his support.
Cody rolled his eyes. He really did not have time for this. He needed to get inside Laura's bedroom, and he needed to do it, like, fast. How the hell was he going to trick Lance and Phil into letting him stay the night ?
He had to think of something.
And just one thing came to mind. The damn beer.
"I need a beer." he said bluntly and shoved the coffee cup away from him, "You got one?"
Lance gave him a stern look.
"You are driving, man." he said with a nod outside.
"I'm really thirsty, man. I can crash on the couch" Cody said almost desperately.
Phil couldn't hide his chuckle.
"We know you can. . . you've done it like hundreds of times over the last couple of years."
Cody shot Phil a dark glare as he accepted a bottle from Lance.
"It's not been hundreds of times. . " he muttered as he took a large swig from the bottle.
"Oh, sorry." Phil laughed heartily, " I stand corrected, it must be thousands of times then. . . "
Cody snapped his head up and sent Phil a poisonous stare. Just go to bed, god damn it! I need some time alone with your mother.
"HA! Very funny, do the math will you, " now Cody had a real hard time hiding his growing irritation. He downed the bottle in one last swig and glared both at Lance and Phil. "You guys are hilarious. Really."
Lance smirked at him, nodding back. "We know. It is what we do best."
Phil tried to kill the laugh, that had subsided into a chuckle, even more as he saw the glare from Cody. He was obviously not in the mood for fun and laughs now Phil could tell.
"Hey brother, " he said and patted Lance a little on his back, "Let us go and get some sleep, okay? Let's leave Cody alone, he can manage on his own."
"I know." Lance said as he too killed a small chuckle. Then he gave Cody one last look, before turning to leave for his room," Goodnight, man. Go easy on the couch, will you. And one more thing . . this Brady business trip, we have to talk more about that one, okay?"
Cody raised his gaze and watched them leave for their rooms. "Okay we will. .and I will go easy on the couch, trust me." he muttered darkly, then he turned his gaze down into the floor, his jaw rigid. But I may not go easy on your mother.
Pushing the chair back, he stood up slowly. Grabbing the bottle, he turned around and placed it on top of the counter.
His hand swept across the surface, and he briefly closed his eyes.
The very same surface he and Laura had made love on, not too long ago. He took a deep breath and stared straight ahead.
Then with determined steps he headed for the door.
He opened the door and held it open for a second or two, then he slammed it shut hard enough to be heard further down the hall. Or more exactly . . . for Laura to hear it.
Moving with the grace of a cat, he sneaked without a sound back into the darkness of the living room and slumped down in one of the armchairs. Waiting. Looking. Listening.