Not even a week after her divorce from Jake was final, dozens of beautiful red roses began arriving at Heather's office.
At first no note was attached to the arrangements, and Heather harbored a secret hope that perhaps Jake had changed his mind and was trying to tell her he wanted to start over, to give her another chance. Remembering the videotape he had sent her showing him make love to another woman, Heather wasn't certain how she felt about that idea anymore. Yes, she still loved Jake. But they had now both been unfaithful. Two wrongs didn't make a right, and now she was just as hurt and angry as Jake was. She didn't know if she could stand living with him again, constantly wondering in the back of her mind if he were seeing another woman. Then again, she supposed that had been the whole point of that tape. He had wanted her to understand what it had felt like when he had discovered her affair. He had even said he doubted she would want to speak to him again, because that was exactly how he'd reacted to her infidelity.
Even so, yes, Heather wanted the chance to try and work things out with Jake. But those hopes were crushed when another dozen roses arrived with a note that bore a short, sweet endearment and Ty's name, not Jake's. She considered sending the arrangements over to her sister's - Cassie had an almost obsessive love for anything floral - but she couldn't bring herself to do it. That same afternoon, the staff secretary buzzed Heather to tell her Ty was there for an eleven o'clock appointment. Steeling herself for the meeting she knew was inevitable, Heather took a deep breath and forced herself to go greet him in the lobby.
When he followed her into her private office, Ty glanced around and said, "Didn't you get my flowers?"
Sending him a cool, professional glance, she nodded curtly. "I did. Thank you."
"You already had them sent home? That was fast," he said with a puzzled, although arrogant smile.
"No, I had them sent over to the hospital with instructions for them to be given to patients without family." She crossed her arms and perched herself on the edge of her desk in front of him. "I really wish you hadn't sent them here. It was completely inappropriate given that my divorce was only final last week. I can't even begin to imagine what my co-workers are thinking."
Ty had had to restrain himself to wait that long. He'd made it his business to find out when Heather would be a free woman, but he had also hoped she would be the one to come to him seeking comfort. It had taken her long enough, but yesterday, he'd finally gotten an email from her, saying she'd thought about things and would like to see where their relationship could lead now that Jake was out of her life. She'd said she missed feeling his cock sliding inside her juicy cunt and couldn't wait until they could be together again. She had also said she thought she was expecting his baby and fully expected him to help her "take care of it." He assumed she meant an abortion. That was fine by him. Someday he wouldn't mind having a kid, but not now, not unless he could bring the kid up in a stable home. Right now, Ty couldn't offer that, so he wasn't opposed to an abortion if Heather wasn't. It wouldn't be the first he'd paid for, and it probably wouldn't be the last.
The first thing he'd done this morning was call to schedule an appointment with Heather's secretary at work, trying to be a little more gentlemanly this time around. He'd figured he could take her to lunch at his place, only eating wasn't on his agenda. And he knew from past experience that beautiful women loved receiving beautiful flowers. He'd paid a small fortune but figured it would be a small price to pay in exchange for Heather's white legs wrapped around his waist again.
"I'm sorry," he told her. "I didn't mean to be insensitive. How are you holding up? Quite frankly you look wonderful, better than I expected."
Heather let out a soft, chafing laugh. It was funny, wasn't it? Even though she felt like shit, she still got up in the mornings, made herself up for work and managed to force food down her throat every now and then. She had once imagined that if Jake ever left her, she'd waste away to nothing, have no desire to live at all. Instead, it was as if she were a robot, continuing with her day-to-day life with no emotion, only the tiny hope that someday she and Jake would find their way back to one another. Yes, she was surviving, but she wasn't living. Rubbing a weary hand over tired eyes, Heather asked Ty, "What are you doing here, Ty? I'm not your accountant anymore."
"You're still my friend," he countered, then added. "You're also something more. I was hoping I could do things right this time, maybe take you out to lunch. What do you think?"
"I think you've got a lot of nerve even coming near me after what you did," she told him, cold anger in her voice. "You ruined my life and now you just expect me to keep on with you as if nothing happened? You're a bastard, Ty. Quite frankly, I hope I never see you again."
"I seem to remember a few times when you liked it that I was such a bastard," he shot back suggestively, moving forward to crowd her against the desk. What was her deal? he wondered. Yesterday she'd sent him that teasing email, and now she was acting like he had the plague. She immediately straightened and pushed him away.
"What's going on here?" he demanded. "Yesterday you sent me that message, getting me all hot and bothered, and now this?"
"I never sent you a message," she denied. "What are you talking about, what message?"
"The email saying you wanted some more of this," he said, crudely massaging his crotch.
"You're crazy," she accused. Heather wondered whether he was lieing, or if someone else had sent him a message pretending to be her. But who would have done such a thing? And why?
Ty was almost as confused as Heather until he realized she was only playing hard to get again - obviously she liked that game. OK. He would play along; he would play the big bad black dude sniffing for some innocent white pussy.
"All right, if that's how you want to play it. Maybe you don't realize it, but I have each of our encounters on tape. I'm sure you'd hate it if a copy got mailed to your co-workers and family. But as long as you're nice to me, you won't have a thing to worry about."
The shocked, horrified expression on Heather's face told him all he needed to know. Smiling in triumph, he reached down to unbuckle his belt, planning to teach her a lesson for thinking she could pretend to ignore what was between them. Heather heard his zipper lowering and looked down in time to see his hand slide inside and begin massaging his large black cock, preparing it for her. Instead of feeling any ounce of desire whatsoever, she felt...sick.
"You're disgusting," she told him, quickly moving away. "As far as those tapes are concerned, I could care less who you send them too. Jake already has seen them, and he's the only person I would care about. My family....Cassie already knows what happened...what I did. I told her myself. Go ahead and send them to my co-workers. My job isn't irreplaceable. Jake is the only thing in my life that is irreplaceable. Besides, I'm willing to take responsibility for my actions. Are you?"
Damn, he thought.
"What about the baby?"
"Baby?"
"You're pregnant with my kid, remember," he said. "You told me you wanted me to help you get an abortion. That's another reason I'm here. How much do you need?"
Heather's hand flew up so fast, he couldn't block the slap she delivered to his face. "You bastard! Even if I were pregnant, I would never have an abortion. Not if there was the slightest chance the baby could be Jake's. For the record, I'm not pregnant. Thank god."
Ty had never expected this reaction, not in a million years. She seemed so sincere he figured he must have been reading her wrong after all. Damn, she must really love the bastard to feel as though she had nothing else to loose now that she'd lost Jake. Reluctantly, Ty straightened his clothes.
"I think I could really love you, you know. Do you think, after a few months...?"
"No!" she swore vehemently. "And I'm sorry. If you do love me at all, I'm sorry. The only man I love or will ever love is Jake Devlin."
"He's a lucky man." Desperately trying to think of some way to hold onto her, Ty sighed and finally had to admit defeat. "What I said about the tapes...I would never do anything to hurt you. I'll send you the only copies so you can destroy them if you want."
She glanced at him with a look that told him she didn't believe him. Still, she said, "Thank you."
She was still puzzled by the mysterious message Ty had supposedly been sent. Maybe Jessica had done it. But again why? Sending a message like that was just plain spiteful, something meant to stir things up and cause her trouble, and Jessica had no real reason to be angry with Heather. The fleeting thought that Jake probably still had access to her email account crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. Jake would never do anything like that. Unless he'd been testing the waters, wanting to see how she'd react, a tiny thought whispered.
When Ty finally left, Heather made up her mind that she would drive by the house when she got off work and force Jake to talk to her. At the very least, he deserved to know about the results of her pregnancy test. He deserved to know that she wasn't carrying either his or Ty's baby. But when she arrived at her old house, Jake's car was no where to be seen, the house looked empty, and there was a realtor's FOR SALE sign in the front yard. She almost broke down in tears when she saw that sign. She and Jake had been so happy here once. Wondering if Jake was staying in a motel, she decided to call his cell phone, only to be told it was a number no longer in service. As she was sitting in the drive, contemplating what to do next, she didn't realize that her old neighbor had seen her and decided to come say hello until the middle-aged woman began rapping on Heather's window. Startled, she quickly regained her composure and rolled down the glass. Thankfully, Mrs. Dobbins expressed her disbelief that Heather and Jake had split up. "You were always such a loving couple," she observed. "You must be devastated."
Heather simply nodded, saddened by the reminder that she was the reason her marriage had broken up. "I was actually coming over to try and talk to Jake but he doesn't seem to be staying here anymore. Do you know where I can find him?"
Mrs. Dobbins sent Heather a curious, although sympathetic look. "It's my understanding Jake left town Monday to take a job in another state. I think he told Henry he was moving out west somewhere...oh, I can't remember exactly. He didn't offer to leave any kind of forwarding address with us. Perhaps you can get in touch with his family?"
