Man of Mystery (35 page)

“You will get through this Brandy, I am here and so are your friends.  He isn’t worth this; he had no right to lead you on.  I’m so very sorry.” And tears fall again from both of us.

The phone rings again and she takes the call. She starts screaming into the phone, “How dare you!  You have no right to do this to her!  Leave her alone, you two timing loser!” she is furious and she lets out her frustration out on the man she thought loved her above his society.  She is a fool, letting Tiffany do the talking for now since she can’t say or do anything right now.

She hears him talk loudly back, “Just let me talk to her, I can explain everything!”

“No way, don’t you think you hurt her enough. Leave her alone, she knows what the whole world now knows and you have to leave her be.  You are a snake, you should have told her not lead her on to think you actually cared about her!” she exclaims venting her frustration onto him.

She hears him sigh loudly in exasperation at what Tiffany has said. “Just tell her I made a promise to her and I am keeping my promise to her, can you at least tell her that?”  He pushes to get that much out of her.  “Fine, but don’t call her anymore, she doesn’t need this and she never deserved this from anyone especially you!” she exclaims as she hangs up on him.

Even though she heard most of the conversation since they were both yelling into the phone she sighs coming over to hold her hand.  “I’m sorry I needed to yell at him but he really pissed me off.  He did give me a lame explanation that he can explain everything.  The only thing he said was that he is keeping his promise whatever that is.” She sounds exasperated but relieved to be able to vent it out on him.

Brandy just starts crying more and feels hollow inside.  Tiffany tells her she should go take a long shower and she will make us some breakfast.  Even though she is not really feeling hungry but a hot shower might make her feel a little better and wash some of this cold feeling she has inside away.  Standing under the hot water she remembers everything he has said to her and she still can’t believe it is all gone.  Wrapping up in a robe before heading into the kitchen looking at her heart necklace he gave her sitting on the bathroom vanity were she left it last night.  Slumping back onto the toilet seat she turns it over and over in her hand reading the back several times wishing it was true.

Getting out of the steamy bathroom gently placing it on her dresser not wanting to lose the last connection she has to his heart as he has stolen hers.  Feeling like a robot just going through the motions, Tif has made her some scrambled eggs, with toast and juice.  This is huge since Tiffany really doesn’t cook but she at least didn’t burn the eggs just the toast.  Taking a few small bites to show her gratitude but having no appetite.

She tries to change the subject of the depressing situation by asking her about the new class schedule and if she is ready to go back to work tomorrow.  Answering her politely but she is not in a talkative mood.  She understands and asks if she can do anything else for her.  Giving her a warm smile, Brandy shakes her head as tears start to pool in her eyes again.

There is a knock on the door and her heart skips a beat, maybe it is Nathan and this is all a sad mistake but when Tif answers its Mikey and Pete.  Mikey instantly runs over to her hugging her so hard then holding her shoulders, looking into her face as she can see he has been crying too.  “Oh my sweet girl, we will get through this together ok?” his heart felt compassion opens up a fresh stream of tears down her cheeks then Pete comes over joining in the hug. 

“Thank you both, I’m going to be ok, I just need time to think.  I just can’t believe he would do this to me.”

“None of us ever expected this either, but we are here for you Brandy.” Mikey says with his sad eyes.

“Mikey and I are going to go out for few things and Pete is going to stay with you while we are gone.”  Tiffany says

“That’s not necessary, I’ll be ok.” She softly says

“No, I insist.” Pete says firmly

“We will be back shortly, just relax for a little while.” Tiffany grabs Mikey and leads him out the door.

“Come on Brandy,” leading her to sit on the couch “I would like to talk to you and this is more comfortable.”

Once we are seated he looks her in the face with a firm but sad look.  “I need to ask you a couple of things and if you can’t or don’t want to talk about it just tell me so.”

“OK” she sighs

“When you talked to Nathan last did he even mention this women to you or give you any inclination that he was with anyone else?” getting right to the heart of things

“No” she says swallowing hard trying to contain herself.

“I am aware you had a Skype conversation with him last night so you were able to see his face.  Did you discuss anything that he seemed to shy away from?” he presses on

“I’m not sure what this is leading too Pete, we just finally discusses his family being extremely rich, nothing about being with or getting engaged to someone else.” starting to get angry and she shouldn’t be angry with Pete.  He didn’t cause this pain.

“It’s ok, but let me put it another way, when he spoke to you did he keep his eyes on you or did you notice his eyes going in another direction?  Maybe even turning his head away when he talked about a certain topic?” looking at her intently.

“You know come to think of it he did shake his head slightly and turn away when he said he had a meeting with his father.  He didn’t seem pleased about it for some reason.  That was it.  Everything else he told me he looked straight at me just as if I was there.” She exclaims still not understanding what this is leading into.

Pete taps a finger on his lips.  Thinking before he speaks next. “I’m a pretty good reader of signs that something is amiss and from what you are telling me, he seems to be possibly at odds with his father or whatever the meeting was about.  I can’t say what it is but something just tells me there is more to this than I can fathom.”

“Do you think that there is hope?” she pleads but then shakes her head “No, right now I feel like the other women in his life and I’m not going to be someone’s mistress.  That is not the kind of person I am.”

“You are absolutely right about that you will never be someone’s mistress!  We, as your friends, would never let you be put through that kind torture.  It’s ok we will get through this together.” He pats her hands and clicks on the TV with comedy central on.  “This will be good for you to help you forget for now.  Laughter is the best medicine.” he snuggles up to her on the couch resting her head on his shoulder.

Mikey and Tiffany are back within an hour and they have brought back some prepared items for lunch and dinner.  The food smells good and she tries a few bites as they all encourage her to eat something.

Mikey tells her about the crazy lady they saw who couldn’t figure out forward from reverse while she was in the parking lot and put her car on top of a parked car.  He showed them pictures of her car on top of the car and then he caught the surprised expression of the women’s car she just trashed.  It was funny since no one got hurt.  We all laugh about it as Mikey elaborates the story more so.  He would be great at hosting a comedy show with the way he can make situations even funnier than most people.

We stay in playing video sports game and when we are all exhausted we decide to relax to play a board game.  They are keeping up the good spirits for her which she appreciates every minute with them.  None of them even mention anything about Nathan which helps right now.

We all work on getting dinner together and the boys head home afterwards since they both have to work in the morning.  They constantly remind her that if she needs anything to call and they will be here.  Hugging them both telling them how much she appreciates all they have done as they go home. 

Turning to Tiffany, giving her a hug too she eventually pulls away looking into her the face. “I did get the best medicine for tonight.”   She pulls out a box of Brandy’s favorite chocolates and a movie comedy on DVD we have been dying to see.

“Thanks Tif, you are the best.” smiling warmly at her and we settle in to eat the chocolates and watch a movie.  She made it through the first day and that is only because her friends helped her.  She is not sure how the rest of the upcoming days will follow.

When she makes it to bed it hits her hard again.  Seeing her comfy Teddy Bear and think of him but she wants to tear the head off.  Where is this anger coming from?  Her necklace is sitting on the dresser she touches it remembering him so passionately. Even though she is exhausted from the day her heart hurts so bad as she clutches her pillow crying again. It doesn’t seem possible that this has happened but it has, feeling alone in the world when she once felt so loved.  She knows her friends love her but it is different.  She has never felt loved by a man like Nathan, these are feelings she has never experienced before

How could he forget our time together like it never really happened?  Our summer together then the car accident saying he loves her.  Why oh why would he do this?  He didn’t have to take her heart and drag it around like it meant nothing.  Her hurt feelings making her mind spin because there is no rhyme or reason for his actions.  Did she do something to cause this and thinks no she didn’t.  Why did he hurt her, he could have let her go a long time ago, he never had to tell her he loved her but he did.

Crying herself to sleep with restless dreams to follow.  When she get ups, to her surprise Tiffany is up before her again making coffee acting chipper.  Deep down she knows Tif is doing this to help her through this which she really appreciates the effort she is putting forward to make life better.  Soaking in the shower not caring if she is late for her first day back to work finally coming out; she has a cup of coffee ready for her.  Smiling meekly at her as she frowns at her knowing she is faking her mood.

“I need to help you look somewhat normal for your first day back.  The bags under your eyes do nothing for you” and she hands her a wash cloth with ice to help reduce the swelling.  She places it on her eyes as she sips the coffee.  Tiffany has already gotten an outfit out for her to change into and she does change after another coffee with Tiffany’s version of toast and eggs for breakfast.  She is really trying so hard to help her which she can’t thank her enough for the effort.  She just shoos her into her room to get changed saying she would do the same for her which she is right about, Brandy has done it and would do it again in different ways.

Helping her cover up the puffy eyes with makeup, “Do you want me to take you to work today?” smiling at her kindness but shakes her head no.

“I’ll be fine just go about your day and I’ll call or tm you later.  This will be good for me to keep my mind occupied.” With a another weak smile

“OK, but if you need me you call me any time.” She states firmly

“I will, I promise.” Giving her a warm hug

Climbing in her new car that Nathan gave her she sighs again, she isn’t her lud and life has changed dramatically.  She now has a car that Nathan bought for her and he is gone just like her lud.  How ironic as she stifles a sniffle.  Picking up her cell and noticing she has missed several calls and tm for the first time in a day.

Almost all the calls are from him and the tms but she can’t bear to look or listen to them right now.  It will hurt too much and she needs to think about getting to work.  Thinking she will be about a half hour late looking to see the last call she received was from Mr. Bradshaw himself.  He is looking forward to seeing her but wants her to know if she is running late it is not a problem since it will be the first day back after the accident.  He sounds a little worried like she might have had another accident making her chuckle a little at that.  This accident has nothing to do with driving to work.

Once she arrives only about 15min late enveloped by everyone happy to see her. The warm hugs from fellow workers make her feel alive not as dead inside as last night.  A Mr. Bradshaw step out of his office, staying professional as always gives her a warm handshake telling her how pleased he is to see her.  Expressing she needs to take her time to adjust back into the routine. He states if she needs to take more time to adjust it is ok.  It is so wonderful to think that everyone was so concerned about her seeing in their faces how much they really cared about her.  It brings tears to her eyes making her truly grateful for the warm welcome.  She needed this today so she dives into fixing what the temp has obviously disorganized when she was gone.  It is great to be able to divert her mind onto a task and not think of Nathan.  Coming back to work right now is the best medicine since she has other things to think about.

The day flies by so before she knows it she is heading home.  Suddenly feeling alone again she sighs being extra vigilant about all the traffic signals watching for anyone who would even think about running a red light. This was another good day she guesses since it kept her mind occupied.  When she gets home there is note from Tif saying she had to go out for little bit but she will be home soon.  If she needs anything Mikey is home or call and she will be home promptly.  Appreciating her concern but Brandy knows she has her life too.  She has been awesome she needs her time too.

She decides to open up a bottle of wine to relax as she nibbles on leftovers for dinner.  Without really thinking she looks at her phone scrolling through all the missed messages.

They are all from him sent yesterday.

9am
Brandy, I’m so sorry we need to talk