Betrayal: Brianna's Secret (The Betrayal Series) (4 page)

With shaky hands, Brianna scribbled something on the piece of paper, took one of Abby’s hands in hers and crumpled the piece of paper inside Abby’s fist.

A still panting, flushed-faced Abby glanced at the piece of paper curiously before turning her glassy eyes back to Brianna.

Brianna nestled her hips between Abby’s thighs once more, leaning in and cradling Abby’s face with both hands. She slammed her lips against Abby’s once more, letting Abby taste herself in her mouth. Abby moaned inside Brianna’s mouth, letting her know that she liked what she was tasting.

“I have to go now,” Brianna breathed against Abby’s lips, after breaking their most intense kiss yet. Her breathy voice was sounding sexier than ever.

“I got the part in Chicago,” she continued. “I’m going to be in the city for a while. The producers of the play have set me up in an apartment in midtown. I wrote the address on that piece of paper. Those things Kyle told you about me being deviant and not being trustworthy are not true. Do you want to know why I ran away from home?  Do you want to know why I’m estranged, not only from Kyle, but also from most of my family back in Montana? Come see me tonight. Afterwards, if you decide you don’t want to see me ever again, I will understand. I just don’t want you to go on hating me and thinking I’m something I’m not.”

She gave Abby a hungry but restrained kiss which left Abby gasping for air when Brianna abruptly broke it off. Without looking at Abby in the eye, Brianna turned on her heel and began to walk towards the red curtain. With her hand on the edge of the curtain, Brianna froze and turned around. “Please come see me, Abby. I’m going to hang on to these until I see you again,” she announced, waving Abby’s panties in the air before stuffing them in her handbag. She turned on her heel once again, drew the curtain wide open and disappeared from view.

Abby remained seated on the table, stunned, speechless, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. She needed a few minutes to recover from the mind blowing orgasm and to regain feeling in her legs.

She knew it was time to get off the table and go back to work when customers began walking by the door and peeking inside the backroom. They were giving her curious looks when they saw her looking all flustered and sitting on the table with books scattered all over the floor.

She got on her feet, drew the curtain close and began to pick the books off the floor and tidy up the place. She prayed that none of her co-workers would come in and question her about the mess. She didn’t want to lie to them about what went on in that backroom.

With the memories of Brianna’s lips ravishing her, Abby went on with her day. She spent the rest of her shift at the busy bookstore stocking new arrivals, recommending books and helping customers while feeling extremely self-conscious from the lack of underwear. She smiled politely to everyone and tried her hardest to pretend everything was okay.

She tried to focus on work and not think about Kyle or Brianna, but her conscience wouldn’t let her concentrate. After Brianna’s visit, Abby felt more confused and conflicted than ever.

*****

After her shift ended, Abby went back to her empty apartment and went straight to the bathroom. She drew herself a nice, warm bath and soaked in the tub for hours to try and clear her head. While she was at work, Abby had received a text from Kyle telling her he wanted to Skype with her after her shift at the bookstore.

Abby was dreading that video chat. How could she look Kyle in the eye and pretend nothing had happened? She had cheated on him again, and he did not deserve it. Even though they were going to be talking through a low quality video feed, Abby was afraid Kyle was going to see her betrayal smeared all over her face.

Abby’s chest began to tighten from the overwhelming guilt. She couldn’t breathe. The nice bath had failed to calm her down. She got out of the tub, put on a white bathrobe and went to her kitchen. Everywhere she looked, there was a reminder of Kyle. There were pictures of him all over the apartment.

In the kitchen, Abby’s eyes flew to Kyle’s favorite mug sitting on the counter. Abby felt so much shame and self-hate. Kyle was a good guy. He had never cheated on her. He didn’t deserve to be cheated on. Even Brianna, the woman who had been the recipient of his derision and hostility for years, did not think Kyle was a bad guy.

Abby took deep breaths. The guilt and the shame felt like a noose tightening around her neck. After what happened at the bookstore, there was no question in Abby’s mind that she had to tell Kyle about Brianna. The only question was where she was going to find the courage to do so.

She made some tea to try and calm herself down. She didn’t eat anything. She was not hungry. Guilt is a great appetite suppressor, she thought. She grabbed her cup of tea and made her way to her living room.

While sitting on her couch in her bathrobe and sipping chamomile tea, Abby debated whether to go see Brianna at her new apartment or stay away from her. Seeing Brianna again would only complicate things more. Abby felt that even if she and Kyle split up, it would be wrong for her to continue to see Brianna.

But Brianna had promised to tell her the story behind her running away from home if she came over. Abby’s curiosity and fascination with Brianna’s mysterious life was eating at her. She was dying to finally learn what happened to Brianna that was so horrible she had to run away and leave everything behind.

While Abby struggled with that decision, her old phone, which was sitting on the coffee table next to the brand new one Brianna gave her, buzzed once. She picked it up with her free hand and saw it was a text from Kyle telling her to get on the computer to talk to him.

Wincing with dread, Abby got off the couch, went to the kitchen to grab her laptop sitting on the kitchen table and returned to the couch. She did a couple of breathing exercises and put on her best everything-is-fine-smile before connecting to the video chat.

“Hey, gorgeous,” Kyle greeted Abby. His face lit up when Abby’s face appeared on his screen.

“Hi, Kyle. How’s Montana?” Abby replied, forcing a smile.

“It’s okay. It’d be better if you were here with me.”

Abby giggled nervously, trying her best to keep her tears at bay. She died a little inside every time he said something sweet to her. She didn’t deserve his kind words. “I miss you too, Kyle. How’s your mom? Are you at her house right now?”

“My mom’s great, and no, I’m not at her house right now. I’m at a friend’s house.”

“Which friend?” Abby asked.

“You don’t know him. It’s a childhood friend,” Kyle lied. He was not at a friend’s house. He wasn’t even in Montana. He was actually at Abby’s house. He had just asked Abby’s father for her hand in marriage, and Abby’s father enthusiastically gave Kyle his blessing.

Both of Abby’s parents were with Kyle when he was video chatting with her. Abby couldn’t see them because they were sitting away from the camera. They were beaming and fighting the urge to pop on the screen and talk to their daughter. But their doing that would have ruined Kyle’s surprise.

Abby’s parents loved Kyle. How could they not love him? Kyle was the definition of perfection: hard working, studious, respectful. He was from a good, Christian family and treated their daughter like a princess. They were ecstatic when Kyle showed up unannounced and told them he wanted to marry their daughter.

Abby’s father said yes immediately to Kyle’s request, and they had spent that whole day together celebrating and planning. Abby’s parents had just given Kyle a ridiculous amount of pictures and home-made videos for the montage he was putting together for the proposal. That day, Kyle had also made arrangements for Abby’s parents and Abby’s best friend Katie to fly to New York and watch him get on one knee and ask Abby to be his wife.

Kyle could hardly contain his excitement while he talked to his girlfriend over the internet. Part one of Operation Sweeping Abby off Her Feet was complete. He was driving to Montana the next day to get the ring, work on the video montage, and do more flight arrangements.

“I miss you so much, Abby. I love my family and love seeing them and spending time with them, but I’m actually counting the seconds until I get back to New York.”

“It’s been less than twenty-four hours, Kyle.”

“I know. Twenty four hours too long. So what did you do today, baby? How was work?”

Abby shrugged. “Nothing exciting,” she muttered, dropping her gaze. The image of Brianna making love to her in the backroom of the bookstore flashed in front of her eyes, sending shockwaves through her body. The sudden change in her demeanor did not go unnoticed by Kyle.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Kyle asked, cocking his head to the side. A crinkle appeared between his brows.

Abby returned her gaze back to the computer screen and shook her head. “Nothing,” she mouthed, almost inaudibly. “I was just thinking about Jeremy, my boss. He was telling me about this problem he’s having and asked me for advice.”

“What did he need advice about?”

“He recently found out that his girlfriend had cheated on him with someone very close to him. Jeremy has been with his girlfriend for a long time, and he really loves her. Anyway, Jeremy’s girlfriend is very sorry and wants Jeremy to give her a second chance. Jeremy asked me what I think about it. What do you think, Kyle? Do you think Jeremy should forgive his girlfriend and get back together with her?”

Kyle leaned back on his chair, shook his head and let out an audible breath. His eyes shifted from side to side as he tried to come up with an answer for Abby’s question. “I don’t know Abby. I don’t think I could be with a woman who cheated on me. I wouldn’t be able to trust her ever again.”

“I understand not wanting to be with her anymore. But would you at least forgive her?”

“I don’t think so. You said Jeremy’s girlfriend cheated on him with a person Jeremy is close with. That’s unforgivable, Abby.”

“But what if she is genuinely sorry? Would you still not forgive her?”

“No. Absolutely not. She’d be dead to me forever, no matter how sorry she was.”

Abby could not pretend anymore. Tears began to well in her eyes.

Even through the low quality video, Kyle could see she was about to burst in tears. “What’s wrong, honey? Why are you getting so upset?” Kyle asked, leaning forward and getting closer to the computer screen. Concern clouded his gorgeous gray eyes.

Abby shook his head and pursed her lips to keep herself from sobbing in front of Kyle. “Nothing. I just had a very long day and have a headache.” She drew in a deep breath and swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “Listen, is it okay if we continue our chat tomorrow? My head is killing me, and I want to go lie down.”

“Sure, honey. Hope you feel better. I’ll call you tomorrow. Good night, my princess.”

“Good night, Kyle. I’m sorry,” Abby breathed.

Kyle thought she was apologizing for ending the video chat too early. “Don’t worry about it,” Kyle assured her before disconnecting the video feed.

Kyle closed his laptop and wondered what was wrong with his girlfriend. Kyle had noticed Abby had been acting strange over the last couple days, but he attributed it all to stress from final exams.

Abby had burst into tears at the restaurant and again during the video chat. Kyle was beginning to suspect Abby was hiding something from him, but cheating never crossed his mind. If there was a person in the entire world whose loyalty Kyle could count on, it was Abby. Kyle firmly believed she would never cheat on him.

Abby’s parents, who had witnessed the weird video conversation her daughter had with her boyfriend, also wondered what was wrong. They had spoken to their daughter earlier that day, and she seemed fine. Kyle assured them that she was probably just stressed out after the grueling week of final exams she had endured, and they all went back to planning the marriage proposal.

Kyle went to sleep that night, concerned rather than suspicious, and counted the days until he could get back to New York and find out what was going on with Abby.

After ending her chat with Kyle, Abby closed her laptop and placed it on her coffee table. She felt too emotionally drained to go to her bed, so she curled up on the couch. Tears kept flooding her eyes and streaming down her cheeks, soaking the couch fabric under her cheek.

She had secretly harbored the hope that Kyle would forgive her for cheating on him. She even dared to fantasize a scenario where Kyle forgave her, took her back, and they lived happily ever after. But it only took Kyle less than a minute to dash all those hopes and fantasies. He made it very clear that he was not going to forgive her, much less take her back. It was over.

Abby had never felt more hopeless or helpless as she did curled up on that couch that night. She wanted to talk to someone, anyone, about what she had done. She needed a pair of sympathetic, nonjudgmental ears that would listen to her before the guilt and shame ate away what was left of her sanity.

She couldn’t talk to her mother about it. The whole thing was just too sordid and complicated for her kind, but conservative mother to handle in person, let alone over the phone. She couldn’t tell any of her friends since all of them had already gone home for summer break. Her best friend, Katie, was too far away, and this was something she couldn’t talk about over the phone.

She thought about taking a quick trip to Michigan, but she couldn’t afford it. She had maxed out her credit card buying the dress she wore to The Philharmonic’s Opening Day Gala. The people she worked with, including Jeremy, were good friends, but they were not close enough that she could share this particular problem with them.

Abby thought about going to confession, but it was a Saturday night, and she wasn’t even Catholic. There was only one person in the entire city she could talk to about this without being judged. That person was also the cause of all her heartaches, but Abby had run out of choices. She needed some human contact that night, or she was going to lose her mind.

After a couple of hours, she got off the couch, put on some clothes and went to see Brianna at her new apartment.