A Twist of Fate (18 page)

I STARED AT MY computer screen,
wondering how I was going to get through the next few weeks unscathed.  Rumours
about Edwin and I were running rampant around the office and it made it
difficult to concentrate on work. 
Hell.  They weren't rumours.  It was all
true.

I had already had the
it's not what you think
talk
with Cameron before the March break, and I didn't have it in me to lie to him
now.  If he asked, I would have to come clean.

"Abby, could you come here for a minute?" Maddie
called, when she heard me just outside the copier room.

I headed inside, only to find that Maddie had a sidekick
with her.  Samantha Harper.  Maddie was looking seriously pregnant, and though she
had a beautiful glow to her skin, she only made Samantha look that much more tiny
standing next to her.  Samantha’s fashion sense complimented her long, suspiciously
thin frame and flawless, pale skin.

"Can you believe Sam got the job?” Maddie chimed.  “I’ll
be training her over the next few days.  At least, I'm going to try.  I hope to
hang on that long, but by the feel of things I might be out of here sooner than
I thought.  That’s not to mention that my doctor put me on bed rest and Hunter’s
on my case about it."

I smiled and nodded, taking notice of her overgrown baby
belly.

Maddie looked back to Samantha.  "Abigail works with
Owen Wallace and Wesley Carver,” she said.  “You’ve already met Cam, but he’ll
be gone any day now.  They used to date, eh?"

Samantha flashed her trademark bitch smile, straight from the
fiery depths of the earth.  Her bright green eyes glowed with envy. 
"Lucky you," Samantha said, pure evil flowing from her smooth voice.

I smiled, but it felt forced.  I turned my eyes back to Maddie,
my cool, green eyes warming 10 degrees.  "I still can’t believe you’re
having twins.”  I rubbed her large, round belly.

"I can,” she stated, undoubtedly.  “These babies are
ready to come out.  They’d better soon too or I think I might burst.  Hunter
says they’re coming tomorrow.”

"You’re lucky to have someone who cares so much about
you," I gushed.

"Yeah, he has been a total sweetheart lately.  Too bad
he's got that evil succubus clinging to him every day," Maddie added,
making a sour face.

Helping dig me out of that hole, Samantha changed the
subject.  "Didn't you say you dated Wesley Carver?"

Maddie smirked, taking the bait.  "Yeah.  Been there,
done that.  He couldn't keep up with me."

Samantha chuckled at her confidence.  I was amused too,
until I caught her gawking at Edwin when he passed by the doorway.

"I can’t believe I’ll be working with Eddie too,”
Samantha chimed.

Did she just call my man Eddie?

"You’ll be working closely with him,” Maddie admitted. 
“Edwin works for Miller too.”

"Looking forward to that," she mumbled, under her
breath.

I cleared my throat, anger warming my cheeks. 
"Actually that one's off limits.  He's mine."  I tried to keep my
irritation at a minimum, but she really knew how to get to me.

"It's all good," she replied, coolly.  "There
doesn't seem to be a shortage of suitable men around here for me." 
Samantha’s eyes grew wide with mischief, a seductive smile playing on her lips.

I spun around to find Cameron making his way up behind me. 
"Excuse me, ladies," he said, as he reached for his papers.  He made
a grab for them and briskly walked off, avoiding an awkward exchange.

"Mmm.  He must be fair game.  I didn't see any ring on
that finger," Samantha announced.

"He’s definitely not available,” Maddie explained. 
“He’s still hung up on Abby and he’ll be out of here in a matter of days
anyways."

"What?" I asked, stunned by the change of dates.

"That's what I hear," Maddie said, shrugging her
shoulders.

“Then I’d better get started now,” Samantha purred.

I refused to admit why, but I didn't want that bloodsucker
latching onto Cameron.  Maddie recognized my reaction and I couldn’t even hide
my annoyance as Samantha chased after Cam.  Maddie followed her and I hoped it
was to keep Samantha on a leash.

I caught myself scowling into thin air minutes later.  I
pulled myself together and hurried back to my desk, only to hear Samantha putting
the moves on Cameron one room over.  Then I overheard Cam inviting her to his going
away party this weekend. 
That was news to me.

I stood there stewing for a moment, wishing I didn’t have to
listen to her annoying voice anymore.  I gritted my teeth the entire time that
she gushed about how great it would be to hear more about him.  Cameron didn't
seem to share her enthusiasm, but it still irked me worse than I cared to
admit. 
If that evil whore is going to his party, then I will be there.

***

TWO DAYS LATER, WHEN I was least
expecting an attack, I found the floosy – Samantha - with Edwin in his office,
and she was leaning over his shoulder, giggling.  I froze in the hall, folded my
arms across my chest, and cast an evil eye at her.  She knew the stakes; and if
I had one right now, I'd be stabbing it into her menacing heart.

She glanced up at me unbeknownst to Edwin and returned a
bright green glare.  She knew exactly what she was doing.  And, though I
trusted Edwin with all my heart, I couldn't trust her as far as I could throw
her.  Still, I didn’t want my possessiveness to encourage her, so I dropped the
glare and flashed her a false smile, as I passed the door.  I ducked my head
into Aliah’s cubicle and found her staring into space.  She jumped when she saw
me.

"Oh shit.  You scared me.  I thought you were Bailey,"
Aliah said.

I was unable to get past my own troubles.  "Can you
believe that slut?  She's already making it her full time job to mess with my
life."

"Yeah, I saw her flirting with Edwin this morning… then
Cameron this afternoon."

"If she's trying to piss me off, then it's
working."

Aliah’s responding smile was surprisingly soft.  "You
really have nothing to worry about though.  Edwin is in love with you."

"It's not him that I'm worried about."  I narrowed
my eyes, when I recalled the image of Samantha hovering over Edwin at his desk,
her fangs descending, warding me off.

"Relax," Aliah said, and leaned back in her
chair.  "I saw Edwin around her.  He doesn't even give her the time of
day.  You have to hand it to him.  I mean, she is a looker."

"Exactly.  And she's throwing herself at him.  I'm not about
to let her sick herself on Edwin and hope he doesn’t have an unsuspecting
moment
of weakness
.  I'm trying to keep it together here, but it's tough when you
just want to strangle the girl."

"How do you think I feel?  I had to watch Hunter
grovelling on his knees the other night, just to get Maddie to take her
maternity leave a few days early.  She’d better pop those kids out soon,
because she’s driving me nuts."

"It's only going to get worse, you realize.  Once she
has the babies, she'll have two wondrous tools to control Hunter with."

"I hope you're wrong.  I don't know how much more of
this I can take," Aliah admitted.

"It looks like we're both in for a bumpy ride."

***

EDWIN INSISTED THAT WE meet up with
the rest of the staff to kiss Cameron off from the firm.  While I wasn’t
looking forward to our official goodbye, I had to go to make sure Sam kept her
paws off of Cameron.  As Edwin guided me inside the club, it was apparent that
he was eager to send Cameron packing.

On the other side of the room, a crowd of our coworkers had
formed next to the bar.  I let go of Edwin's arm the second I saw Maddie
sitting on a stool there.

"Oh my gosh!  Maddie!  What are you doing here?" I
squealed.

She squeezed Cam’s shoulder and gave him a friendly kiss on
his cheek.  "I couldn’t miss this.  Besides, I hear labour could use a
little kick-start sometimes."

"I don't think this is what they meant," I
answered, my lips parting on a smile.

She shrugged her shoulders and looked around the room until
her eyes locked onto her target.  In an instant, I realized exactly what she
was doing.  She smiled and winked at me and I turned around to find Aliah and
Hunter making their way toward us.  As I suspected, the moment Hunter found his
baby momma sitting there, all hell broke loose.

"What in the world are you doing here?" Hunter
hollered.

"Relax, I'm not drinking.  Cam deserves a proper
goodbye," Maddie insisted.

Hunter lifted her from the bar stool, careful to protect his
babies.  "You're not staying here.  I'm taking you home right now." 
He tried to gently guide her away, his other hand bracing her back.

"You're crazy!  Lighten up," she said, smiling. 
She had him right where she wanted him.

"Lighten up?  You're eight and a half months pregnant,
with twins.  You could go into labour any minute!"  He growled, with
wolfish frustration.  "Sometimes you can be downright stupid."

Hunter looked to Aliah to apologize.  "I'm sorry, but I
have to do this."

Aliah flailed her hand uncaringly, but I knew it had to
hurt.

"I'm going to pull the car up and you’d better be at
the curb when I get there," Hunter threatened.  He stormed off angrily, as
Maddie tried to hide her giddiness.  Her plan had worked like a charm.

Maddie gave Cameron a hug and he gently cupped her huge
belly with both of his hands before he let her go.  That small exchange sent an
arrow through my heart and gave me the urge to scream out in frustration.  I
was short on breath, when Maddie came to give me a squeeze goodbye.

Aliah stomped to our side.  "I'll walk you to the car. 
Wouldn't want you to get lost on the way." 
Oh, she was mad.

"You be careful, girly," I said to her discreetly,
before letting her go.  "Take care of yourself."

Maddie spun around with the grace of a cow and walked out
the door to the waiting car.  Aliah followed behind her like a shadow.

When I turned back to the guys, I was surprised to find Edwin
patting Cameron on the back.  I had to force myself not to watch, even as Samantha
slithered her way in between them.  Edwin kept talking, and I could hear
Samantha laughing at everything he said.  I couldn’t get my wits about me, when
I saw how Edwin continued to pat Cameron on the back like they were buddies.

It was all too weird for me to watch, so I tried to focus on
Aliah, who was already knee deep into a bottle of vodka.  “Do you see Samantha
eyeing up my man like he's dessert or something?  I want to slap that slutty
smile right off her face."

Aliah nodded, having noticed it herself.  "She is so
blissfully unaware of your wrath," she slurred, already three sheets to
the wind.  She raised her drink to me.  "May she suffer from dealing with
other selfish bichez like herself."

Already roused, I clinked my plastic cup off of hers.  "I'll
drink to that."

After downing the rest of my drink, I straightened up, feeling
a little better prepared to deal with Cameron.  I ducked under Edwin's arm and
squeezed my way between him and Samantha.  She tossed herself purposefully into
Cameron's arms and he caught her cooperatively.  I smiled up at Edwin, to dodge
Cameron's reaction.

Though I may have driven Samantha into Cameron’s arms, I had
to be happy that I had saved Edwin.  That had to be enough for me. 
So why
wasn't it?

I sipped from my drink, annoyed by Samantha’s mischievous
behaviour.  She was still all over Cameron, nuzzling her nose close to his ear
and hanging off of him like a cheap air freshener.  He wasn't exactly knocking
her off of him. 
A taste of my own medicine.

Edwin gave me a swift peck on my lips, and then told me he’d
be back in a bit.  I was glad.  I wanted him as far away from that scandalous
hoe as possible.  Cameron caught my glaring green stare and instantly realized
that Edwin was gone.  He peeled Samantha off of his side and smiled at her, then
casually wandered next to me.  Samantha slunk away and dragged Taylor along
with her.

"I didn't think you'd come,” Cameron admitted.  “But I'm
glad you did."  His tone was soft, reminding me just how gentle he used to
be with me.

Edwin watched me from a distance and I smiled to show him
that he had nothing to worry about.

"I hope everything works out for you.  And for
Pheobe," I said, emotion choking my words.

"Thanks.  That means a lot," he replied, leaning
in sideways for a hug.  He sensed my hesitation and stopped, mirroring my
frozen stance.  Then he wrinkled that adorable forehead.  "One friendly
hug won't kill you, Abby.  Edwin's right there.  Do you really think I would
try anything?"

Though his smile was tense, I wanted nothing more than to
ease into his arms and give in to the wayward effect he was having on me.  I
gulped back my nerve and reached an arm around him for a friendly squeeze.  Cameron
held on a little too long and a little too tight.  His cologne made me feel dizzy
and confused, triggering painful recollections of our happiness together.

I pulled away from his tempting embrace, and gazed into his
resolute eyes.  One of his hands lingered on the curve of my hip.  He was aware
of my discomfort, but wouldn't allow me to detach from him.  He leaned forward. 
He was going to kiss me and I couldn't move.

His lips slipped right past my mouth and landed on my cheek.

Duh.  Why would he kiss me on the lips? 
I gasped for
air, as his mouth continued to my ear.

"I hope you're happy," he said, softly.  He wasn't
being mean.  It actually sounded like he truly wanted me to be happy.

He hovered near my ear, with his eyes closed, and inhaled me
before dropping his hand.  When I didn't answer him, he turned and walked away.