Betrayal: Brianna's Secret (The Betrayal Series) (2 page)

Abby remained in the shower until the water began to get cold. The quietness of the room after she shut the water off sent a chill up her spine. Her own heavy breathing and the pitter-patter of water dribbling out of the leaky sink’s faucet were the only sounds breaking the eerie silence. Abby drew the shower curtain open and glared at the sink’s faucet.

Stop taunting me
, she wanted to yell at the faulty faucet. The dripping sound reminded her of the tick tock of a clock. She knew the clock was running out on her relationship with Kyle. She didn’t need a reminder.

After wrapping herself in a towel and drying her hair with another, Abby quietly made her way to the bedroom. She noticed Kyle was still fast asleep. Like a cat burglar, she tiptoed towards the dresser so she could pull a pair of pajama shorts and a tank top out of one of the drawers.

After slipping the shorts and the tank top on, Abby crawled on the bed as carefully and as quietly as she could. Holding her breath, she laid her body down next to Kyle’s. With her back towards him, Abby said a silent prayer hoping Kyle wouldn’t wake up.

Abby’s praying did not work because as soon as she laid down on the bed, she felt Kyle moving behind her. With her heart clenching and skipping several beats, Abby closed her eyes, held her breath and tried her best not to move. Her heart dropped to her stomach when she felt Kyle’s arms enveloping her while his nose and lips nuzzled the curve of her neck.

“You’re home. How was the concert? Did you have a good time?” Kyle slurred, half asleep.

“Yes,” Abby breathed, almost inaudibly, her voice shaking. Fear had overtaken her body, and she could no longer move even if she wanted to.

“Good. I was worried about you,” Kyle yawned against Abby’s ear.

“I’m sorry. I…”

“Just answer your phone next time, okay?” Kyle cut her off. “This is a very dangerous city. When you don’t answer your phone, I fear the worst. I love you Abby, and I’d die if something happened to you.”

“I love you too Kyle,” Abby cooed. Kyle’s words felt like a thousand pins were being stuck into Abby’s heart. She felt lower than a sewer rat. She fought tears and spent the next few minutes trying to build up enough courage to turn around and confess what a piece of human garbage she was.

By the time she had summoned enough courage to turn around, Kyle had already fallen back asleep. Momentary relief washed over Abby. She let out the breath she had been holding and decided to let Kyle sleep. She thought it’d be better to talk to him in the morning before he left for work.

That night was one of the worst of Abby’s life. She spent most of it tossing and turning and having nightmares about Kyle finding out what she had done. Dawn had started to break when she finally dozed off for good.

When she woke up at around ten that Sunday morning, Kyle was long gone. Abby sighed. She felt as if something or someone didn’t want her to come clean to Kyle. Abby staggered off the bed feeling stiff and exhausted from the awful night she had. Luckily, she did not have to work that day.

She spent the day doing chores, writing the papers that were going to serve as her final exams, and rehearsing what she was going to say to Kyle. Kyle was going to be gone all day working and studying at the Brooklyn campus. Abby promised herself she wouldn’t stall anymore. She was going to talk to Kyle when he got home later that day and tell him everything.

When Kyle came home that night, it was after midnight. Abby had spent the entire night curled up on the couch waiting for him. Abby sat up and watched him step towards her. “Hey, babe,” Kyle purred before kissing Abby on the cheek.

“Are you hungry?” Abby asked as she watched Kyle drag his exhausted body towards the bathroom. “I cooked dinner.”

“I’m not hungry. I had a burger and some fries not too long ago,” Kyle replied before stepping inside the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. A few minutes later, he emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and water dripping from his blond locks. With his eyes half-closed, Kyle walked past Abby and went straight to the bedroom.  He was so tired, he didn’t even notice Abby’s eyes were all red and puffy from crying all day.

Abby hesitated for a second before getting off the couch and going after him. By the time Abby made it to the bedroom, Kyle was lying on his stomach, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. He was already fast asleep. Abby sighed. It was going to be another sleepless night for her.

The rest of the week came and went, and Abby still had not told Kyle about her affair with his sister. Between their jobs and their final exams, Abby and Kyle barely saw each other that week.  Abby decided to wait until the following Friday, after finals were done, to talk to her boyfriend.

Chapter II

“Three down, one more to go,” Kyle cheered as he clinked his wine glass to Abby’s. It was Friday night, and Kyle had decided to take his girlfriend out to dinner to celebrate that their junior year at NYU was finally over. He took Abby to a fancy restaurant in The Village even though they couldn’t really afford it. Kyle felt they both had worked really hard all year and deserved a little treat. Besides, in two weeks he was going to be starting a well-paid summer internship with the New York City Transit Authority. Money was not going to be an issue for them, at least for the rest of the summer.

“Can you believe we’re seniors, babe?” Kyle shouted, drawing the attention of some of the other patrons in the restaurant. He couldn’t control his enthusiasm as he gazed adoringly at his lovely girlfriend sitting across from him. He leaned over the table, gave Abby a sweet kiss on the temple and held her hand.

“Just one more year and we’ll get everything we’ve ever wanted, Abs.” Abs was his nickname for her. “No more counting pennies. No more Ramen Noodle dinners. No more working like dogs for minimum wage just to pay the bills. We’ll be able to see each other and be with each other more. We’ll be able to afford nice things. We’ll be able to eat at nice restaurants like this one all the time without worrying about the cost. We will be able to go on vacations. I will finally be able to give you all the things you deserve, sweetheart,” a euphoric Kyle rambled on as he stared into Abby’s hazel eyes. He brought Abby’s hand to his lips and kissed the back of her fingers.

Abby listened to Kyle’s exuberant ramblings and could only giggle nervously. Her lips struggled to curl into a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. Abby hadn’t had a chance to talk to Kyle all day. Kyle had spent that whole day at the Brooklyn campus studying and taking the last of his final exams.

After he got home that evening, he was too strung out on caffeine. He wouldn’t stop moving or talking on the phone. He was so happy he was done with his final exams, he called everyone he knew.

He ignored Abby every time she tried to talk to him and insisted they go out for dinner. Abby didn’t have the heart to ruin his happiness, so she decided to wait until after dinner to talk to him. She donned a beautiful black cocktail dress and let Kyle take her to one of the most expensive Italian restaurants in The Village.

As she sat across from her deliriously happy boyfriend, Abby felt like the absolute worst person on earth. There he was making plans for a future that was not going to materialize. She couldn’t go on with the charade. It was not fair to him. She was going to come clean right there at that restaurant. It would have been cruel of her to let him continue daydreaming about a future with her.

“Kyle, I…” Abby started talking, but Kyle cut her off.

“I love you Abigail Slone. I love you with all my heart. Every day I wake up and can’t believe that I get to be with you. I can’t believe I get to kiss you, touch you, talk to you, laugh with you, and make love to you. Every day I look at you and can’t get over how beautiful and sexy you are, and I can’t believe you are all mine. You are the best, most wonderful thing that ever happened to me, and I promise you that I will spend every day that you allow me to be around you telling you and showing you just how much I love you.”

Kyle paused to catch his breath. His heart was pounding in his ears. He was about to blow it and propose to Abby right there in that restaurant.
Marry me, Abby,
the words were in the back of his throat. Kyle had to purse his lips to keep himself from hurling those three words all over the table and spoiling the surprise.

Yes, he was going to propose to Abby, but not yet, and certainly not there. Getting on one knee and proposing at a fancy restaurant would have been cheesy, even for Kyle. Kyle felt Abby deserved better than the cliché restaurant proposal.

 He had a whole production planned. He had been planning it for months. He was even going to sing to her even though he is a terrible singer. He had been secretly taking guitar lessons with a friend so he could play and sing one of Abby’s favorite songs: The Beatles’ “And I Love Her.” There were going to be video montages and choreographed dances. Relatives and childhood friends were flying in from Montana and Michigan for the big event. It was a lot of work and money, but Kyle felt Abby was worth it.

Back at the apartment, Kyle had a suitcase full of clothes sitting by the door. He was flying to Montana the next morning to see his family and attend a family reunion. Abby knew Kyle was going home to visit family before starting his summer internship.

What she did not know was that Kyle was taking a little detour to Michigan to ask Abby’s father for her hand in marriage. After getting her father’s blessing, Kyle was going to drive to Montana, and after the family reunion, he was going to ask his mother for his grandmother’s engagement ring to give to Abby. Kyle was going to make an honest woman out of that beautiful girl he met three years earlier and could hardly contain his excitement.

Kyle’s words felt like daggers slicing Abby’s heart into small pieces. Abby could no longer control the tears that were building behind her eyes. She began to openly sob in the middle of that restaurant, not caring that people were staring. Copious tears flowed down her made up cheeks, and her face contorted with soul crushing pain. She felt she was not worthy of Kyle or the love he had just professed. She mentally cursed Brianna’s name as tears continued to dribble down her cheeks.

“Oh sweetie. It’s okay. Don’t cry gorgeous. Come here,” Kyle whispered after dragging his chair closer to Abby’s and pulling her into his arms. Kyle thought she was getting emotional over the things he had just said. Little did he know smothering guilt was the reason behind those tears.

As Abby sobbed with her chin on Kyle’s shoulder, she knew she could not tell him about her betrayal. She did not have the courage nor the heart to do it, especially after all the beautiful, heartfelt things he had just said to her. She decided to wait until after he got back from Montana to tell him, even if it meant more sleepless nights and days full of dread, guilt and self-loathing.

Chapter III

Early the next morning, Abby opened the bookstore and began to get it ready for business. She had come straight from the airport where she had dropped Kyle who was taking a very early flight out to Montana. When Kyle first told Abby about the family reunion two months earlier, Abby found it odd that Kyle did not ask her to go with him, but she did not invite herself on the trip. She needed to work and felt family reunions were for families. She was not family, at least not yet.

It worked out well because she needed some time away from Kyle to clear her head and think about how she was going to confess to him. She also needed time to figure out what she was going to do after she came clean. She felt those ten days away from Kyle were exactly what she needed to get her thoughts in order and plan the next phase of her life, post-Kyle.

Within one hour of opening its doors, the bookstore was buzzing with customers. It was a beautiful Saturday morning in New York City, and Abby was busy in the backroom unpacking boxes full of new arrivals. She had her back to the doorway when the red curtain that separated the backroom from the rest of the store drew open.

“Good. You’re back from your break. I need you to help me shelve these books after I’m done pricing and inventorying them,” Abby instructed the person who had drawn the curtain but without turning around to look at him or her. She thought she was speaking to Victoria, the girl who was working the register that day.

“Hi, Abby.” The smooth, breathy female voice reverberated through Abby’s body, making her stomach flip. She knew that voice too well. That voice had been haunting her dreams every single day for the last week.  She dropped the inventory scanner she was holding on the table in front of her and slowly turned around. As she turned, she prayed it was someone else standing in the doorway or just her mind playing cruel tricks on her.

Unfortunately for Abby, her mind was not playing tricks on her. Abby’s breath caught at the sight of Brianna standing in the doorway, wearing cut-off shorts, a worn out t-shirt and sneakers without socks. Her luscious blonde hair had been pulled into a long braid that rested over her shoulder. She had a colorful handbag slung across her body and was holding a white box in her hands. Even though she looked tired and was not wearing a single drop of makeup, she looked as stunning as ever.

“What are you doing here, Brianna?” Abby barked, the harshness in her tone matching the coldness in her eyes. “You’re not supposed to be back here. I told you to stay away from me. Please get out and don’t come back ever again.”

“I came to give you this,” Brianna breathed, stepping forward and handing Abby the box containing the iPhone Abby had left in Brianna’s hotel suite a week earlier.

“I don’t want it. I don’t want anything from you. Take it back. Please leave,” Abby pleaded, holding up her hand and shaking her head. She staggered backwards with every step Brianna took to get closer to her, but there really wasn’t any place for Abby to go. The bookstore’s backroom was tiny with boxes and other things scattered all over the floor.