Comments, critiques and tips are welcome.
***
Kayla opened the door to a dejected looking Cole. She stared at him for a while wishing she could wave a magic wand and see his carefree happy self again.
"Ready to talk now?" She asked her boss with a slight smile.
Cole only gave a slight nod and stepped into Kayla's elegantly decorated living room. She closed the door and turned to Cole with her arms stretched wide.
"Come here."
Cole stepped into her warm embrace and hugged her tight for about two minutes. She had been watching him for the past two months and had seen the light die from his eyes. He had thrown himself so much into his work that she had a feeling he was avoiding her. But she knew at the right time he was going to open up. That day was finally here.
"Come on." Kayla said dragging Cole by the hand to the couch. "What will it be?"
"Cognac."
"Coming right up."
Kayla brought a bottle of Hennessey with two glasses, poured some into both glasses and handed one to Cole. He downed everything in one shot and poured another. Kayla sat on the couch and Cole lied down with his head on her lap.
"Now tell mummy everything." She said sipping at the own drink.
Cole told Kayla the whole story about Janice's pregnancy and Briana insisting on giving him space.
"Oh snap! You just had to knock the bitch up didn't you?"
"Kay I'm so confused I don't know what to do."
"What do you mean you don't know what to do? She should give birth. And you should keep your relationship with Briana and be happy. What the fuck did you want to do?" Kayla asked with so much anger in her voice.
"Kay it's not that simple. I've always known I wanted to be a father one day. But not like this. Janice is a demon with so much venom slithering beneath her polished veneer. Unfortunately I now have to face a future tied to her forever?"
"No you don't Co..."
"Yes I do Kay. As the mother of my child, she will be tied to me forever. It's not the child's fault it has jezebel herself for a mother. I would want to be part of my child's life and Janice knows me well enough to know this. She has me exactly where she wants me and she knows that. There is no way I could ever turn my back on my own child and deny him or her a chance at the type of childhood I had. My child's happiness has to come first. Janice can make my relationship with my kid hell if she wants to. Kay I'm scared." Cole finished in a whisper.
"Oh Cole" Kayla breathed. "It's been what...two months?"
"Since the incident? Yes."
"And she said she was almost three months gone?"
"Yes."
"And when was the last time you saw her?"
"Well I did go to see her a day after she told me. She said she was going to London for a while to visit her sister." Cole replied omitting the part where Janice had tried very hard to have sex with him. She had angrily told him she was going to London after she realized Cole was serious about not succumbing to her advances.
"And Briana? When was the last time you saw her?"
"Not since the incident. I've been calling her but she usually doesn't pick up and even if she does, she always tells me she's busy doing one thing or the other and so can't talk. So I've been texting."
"And does she reply to your texts?"
"Sometimes." He said in a small voice.
Cole sounded so defeated Kayla didn't know what to say. She had never seen him like this before. And she didn't like it one bit. Kayla knew what to do. Her boss was just wasting away right in front of her. That was simply unacceptable. She had to fix this somehow. Starting with Briana. Then she was going to pay that bitch Janice a visit.
***
"Bri?" Briana heard Jessica screaming her name from the corridor moments before she burst into their room.
"What Jess?" Briana asked jumping off her bed thinking something serious had happened.
"Tadaaa" Jessica shouted waving two tickets in front of Briana. "We are going to paaarrrrtyyyyy." She said shaking and twisting her hips in an erotic dance.
Briana snatched the tickets out of Jessica's hands and looked closely at them. "The annual Zonta Party?" Briana exclaimed. "How the hell did you get tickets to Zonta Zone? Who did you sleep with you slut?"
Jessica stopped dancing long enough to shout, "pure luck" then resumed her dance across the room.
"What do you mean by pure luck? Zonta tickets don't just fly around by luck. How did you get them Jess?" Briana followed her friend's movement across the room with shocked eyes. The Zonta annual party was the party of the year, usually attended by very important people who knew how to have fun. A college student getting an invite to such a party was a no-no. Just who had Jessica murdered to get those tickets, Briana wondered. She knew it had always been Jessica's dream to get an invite into Zonta Zone. Hell, who wouldn't wanna get in? But Briana really didn't want to end up in jail for goodness sake. She was too young.
"Jess." Briana screamed to get Jessica's attention.
"Okay okay. Here goes...but you're not going to believe this."
"Try me."
"Okay so I'm on my way here right? I get to the park behind the library. Then see these two hot guys looking at me like I was their wet dream come true. I mean I know I'm hot but you should have seen the way..."
"Yeah yeah yeah Jess. We all know you're God's gift to men. Will you just go on?" Briana interrupted rolling her eyes at her friend, making Jessica roar with laughter.
"Ok so I said hi. And we got to talking. Apparently they were looking for the new library so I gave them the direction. Then they wanted to know what I usually do for fun on weekends. Of course I told them I usually roll with my roommate who was no fun these days because she got her heart broke..."
"Jess you didn't." Briana shouted.
"Ok ok I didn't add the last part but they asked what we would be doing on Friday. And I said nothing much since my roommate was no fun these days."
"You really did say that didn't you?" Briana asked quietly.
"Yes I did Bri. And it's true. You are...like a zombie these days."
"I'm sorry." Briana said softly.
"Hey hey," Jessica quickly sat beside Briana and hugged her. "You have nothing to be sorry about Bri. Just...try and have a little fun okay? For me?" She added with a wink.
"I will try. Maybe I should accept Taylor's date request one of these days. What do you say?"
"Taylor? Well...he doesn't come close to my Cole but..."
"Jess."
"You have to start from somewhere I understand." Jessica said with a resigned sigh.
"Yes I do. You did say I should try and have fun."
"Not that kind of fun but I'm okay if you are."
Briana knew Jessica's stand on the Cole business. She kept saying Cole hadn't cheated on her and was obviously in love with her so she should keep her man. But Briana felt it was wrong to come between Cole and Janice because of the baby. To say her life for the past two months had been shitty was an understatement. All she did was attend lectures, eat and sleep. She had come very close to going to Cole's just to see his face several times. But she always stopped herself. What even made it more difficult was hearing his voice. So she had stopped picking his calls. As for the text messages, they came every day. Cole always wanted to know how she was doing and never failed to remind her that he loved her every day. It was pure torture.
"So they gave me two invites for my 'no-fun' roommate and I. They said we should come and have the time of our lives."
"Just like that."
"Just like that. So...are we going?"
"Hell yeah." Briana shouted with a laugh.
"That's what I'm talking about." Jessica screamed. "Zonta, here we come!"
"That's just in two days. What are we going to wear?" Briana wondered aloud.
"Something sinfully HOT!"
"You're nuts Jess."
"But you love me dontcha?"
"I soooooo do."
***
"This is awesome. Thanks for bringing me Briana." Taylor said looking around with utter amazement on his handsome face.
"Yeah sure." Briana replied looking around. She had almost told Taylor to reserve his thanks for Jess's sick mother. Jessica had to go home the day before the party because her mum had to undergo an emergency surgery. She had insisted Briana attend the party anyway with anyone she preferred. She had therefore invited Taylor to come along since they had become good friends these past two months. He made her laugh and she liked that. Of course Taylor wanted to date her but she had made him understand she wasn't ready for anything serious. He said he still had patience and hope. Funny guy! But she liked him. He was a really nice person.