Post by Deleted on Nov 17, 2015 2:38:21 GMT -6
Here I am standing outside the Yorkdale Shopping Mall in Toronto, Ontario, Canada dressed in a pair of black leather high heeled boots, a pair of skin tight black leather trousers, my black “A Sound Of Thunder” T-shirt and a black leather jacket with my small black leather handbag slung over my left shoulder. Taking a drag of my half smoked cigarette, I take my black Samsung Galaxy S5 out of my pocket and check the time, it reads 9:05am.
“She shouldn’t be too much longer...”
I look around trying to see if I can see Zelda when suddenly I spot her in the distance dressed in a pair of white converse trainers, a pair of plain black sweatpants, a plain white T-shirt and a light brown leather jacket with a large red leather handbag slung over her right shoulder. I give her a quick wave and she reciprocates before I quickly finish off my cigarette, last thing I want to do is smoke around Zelda whilst she’s pregnant. Once I have disposed of the cigarette end in one of those cigarette disposal metal box things, I turn around as Zelda reaches me.
“Hi, you!”
I wrap my arms around her neck in an embrace, rubbing her back a little before breaking away from her. I look down at her stomach and see that she’s already got a small bump and it fills me with happiness and excitement.
“Look at you! Future Mommy...”
"It's a start I guess. I already feel so bloated but it will be worth it once we get to see this little guy or gal. Also, sorry it took me a bit, it was hard to decide something to wear that didn't make me stand out as a lazy bum woman."
I scoff at her comment as we both enter the shopping mall and make our way to our first destination.
“Oh c’mon Zel...you look great no matter what you wear...and I aint just sayin’ that because you're my best friend either...”
Zelda blushes a bit and smiles at me.
"You are so nice, Stace. It's good to know I'm still looking great to someone other than Tyler even though I am slowly turning into a blimp."
Zelda looks around at the mall a bit, then back to me with a bit of a quizzical look.
"So, just curious, what is this gift idea you were thinking of getting for Katie for Christmas? I mean I'd be lying if I said I wasn't really curious about it."
I almost burst with excitement, however manage to contain myself, albeit doing a little jump in the air which kinda caught Zelda off guard a bit.
“Well, I was going to buy Ty’s present first...but since you asked...and since we’re right here...we may as well get Katie’s first...”
I point to the shop that we’re about to go into and Zelda looks up at the sign which reads, “People’s Jewellers”.
"Ooh, jewellery. Aww Stace! Are you gonna get her like, a charm necklace? That would be so adorable."
Continuing to try and hold in my excitement, keeping my mouth closed tight so I don’t scream out in excitement, I shake my head.
“Nope, something a lot more meaningful than that...”
Zelda stood there for a few moments before it finally hit her, immediately having both of her hands cover her mouth to muffle out a scream of excitement.
"Oh my God, Stacy! Are you getting what I think you are getting?!?"
“Well, not entirely...it’s still early on in our relationship, but I want to get her a promise ring...and you’re going to help me pick out the perfect one for her...”
Zelda begins to calm down and nods with a smile on her face, but just as I'm turning to walk into the jewellers, Zelda punches me softly in the back that sends me stumbling forward a little.
“Hey!”
I turn around and scrunch my face up, puffing out my bottom lip and crossing my arms in a huff.
“What was that for? It was mean!”
Zelda sticks out her tongue at me then smirks.
"That's what you get for almost making a pregnant woman have a heart attack in the middle of a mall, you butt."
“Yeah well, I figured after some of the things that have recently happened, I thought I would give you something to be happy about...”
Even just referring to it in that way makes me feel a little cold inside as my expression turns to one of sadness. I slowly pull up the right sleeve of my jacket and stare at the scars on my wrist, as if in some kind of trance. Zelda's look then immediately turns to concern as she walks over and holds me tight in a hug.
"Hey, you know I didn't mean it in that way Stace. The past is where it needs to be, remember it's time to be stronger. You even considering doing this for Katie is such an amazingly big step, especially when a big reason for your stress was your being stuck on the past relationships."
She leans my head up to hers, and then slowly begins pulling down my sleeve again.
"You got this, alright. I'm here to make sure you can relax, it's what friends are for. You always make me happy, even when things can get a little shitty. That's just how life can be and I understand that."
I smile softly before nodding as we finally turn our attention to the jewellers and head inside. We’re barely in there for two minutes and we are immediately approached by a very flamboyant man who works there.
“Welcome to People’s Jewellers, can I be of any assistance to you two beautiful ladies?”
He points to us in a very camp way as he says this, I think he may be gay.
“Yeah, can you show us where your promise rings are, please?”
“Certainly...follow me dearies...”
The man turns around and ushers us to follow him, after a brief moment, we reach a large display of many different rings encased in a long glass box.
“Here are our rings...and if you don’t mind me saying, I think you two make such a cute couple. And good for you for taking such a big step in your relationship, despite what some of these homophobic people out there may say!”
He pouts at us, yeah, he’s definitely gay. I look over to Zelda, trying not to laugh and ushering her on to tell the guy that he’s made a mistake thinking that we are the couple. Just then I notice that Zelda is looking at me kinda sinisterly. I can tell she is about to take this to some new level.
"Oh me and my bae are like the most in love people ever. I mean how can you not love this absolutely sexy face."
Zelda takes her hand and smushes together my cheeks, and immediately goes red in the face and laughs hard enough to make some of the other patrons in the store turn and look at us. As she calms herself down a bit, she turns back to the guy.
"But no seriously, she is my best friend, not my lover though. My girl is still riding the train you think though, so you get like half points. I definitely agree though, too many homophobic people in this world, but it's nice to see a lot of new change coming about recently. Me and my husband went to a celebration back home in Alabama when we heard they actually ruled gay marriage legal in our state."
“Well congratulations anyway, I’m sure we have the perfect ring for your very lucky girlfriend...but if you’ll excuse me ladies, I am needed elsewhere. Give me a shout if you need anything, or if you’ve found the right one...my name is Joshua...”
Joshua then skips away from us over to another customer as we begin to browse the rings and after a few moments, I begin to mumble angrily.
“I suck at this! I have no idea what to pick! I want something that fits her personality you know...”
Zelda looks over at me and sees the disgruntled look on my face, and taps me on the shoulder. I look over as she begins speaking softly.
"My advice, because Tyler actually had the same type of feeling getting me my first ring. You don't need to choose the thing that fits her personality, it helps but it also adds more trouble. What helps the most, just listen to your heart. The beats of it will let you know how to go about picking the one that fits. Even if you may question it, a heart doesn't lie when you get something for the one you love."
“Wow...that’s amazing Zelda...thanks...”
We continue looking and whilst we are, I figure I best speak to Zel about my present for Ty.
“Speaking of Ty...got any suggestions for what I can get him? I don’t just want to get him something that will be gone eventually, like a bottle of booze or a piece of clothing. I want to get him something he will treasure for the rest of his life, because this isn’t just going to be a Christmas present for him from me, it’s going to be a present to thank him for being there for me when I needed him the most...”
"Well..."
Zelda stands there for a minute contemplating.
"See the thing with Tyler, he hates gifts in all honesty. He is the person who loves giving more than anything, yet hates it when the same is done for him. It's his father in him for sure, they are both stubborn yet amazingly kind people. It is hard to really suggest anything for Tyler though, he appreciates anything he gets, I will say he does have a slight obsession recently with model cars. He started collecting them about a year or so ago and he has like about one hundred and fifty different models already. That's the best I could suggest, but honestly with Tyler just knowing you are a friend in his life makes him the happiest guy alive..."
Well that wasn’t the answer I was hoping for, I’m sure I can think of something to get him. Oh my God, I think I just found it! The moment I look at it, my heart begins to pound rapidly with so much excitement.
“Eeek!”
I grab Zel’s arm and drag her over towards me and point to the beautiful silver promise ring with a small heart in the centre of it made from a dark red ruby. An inscription on the inside of the ring reads ‘A promise is forever’.
“You see it! I think that’s the one!”
Zelda's eyes light up as she smiles, something instantly tells me that is a look of agreement.
"It looks beautiful! I could see Katie's speechless look right now when you give that to her."
Without warning, Zel places her hand on my chest and her smile grows.
"I see my advice was very much put in use there. Your heart is racing like crazy right now Stace!"
“I know...I’m so excited right now! That’s the one, I don’t care about the price tag...that’s what I’m getting. Joshua! I’ve found the right one!”
I can’t contain myself as I’m bouncing around a little as Joshua makes his way over to us, this is truly the most excited I’ve been in a long time, and it’s because I have finally found the one for me. And of course, having great friends such as Ty and Zel are even bigger bonuses, I’m such a lucky girl.
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With both of us struggling to carry the copious amounts of shopping bags we are currently holding, here both Zel and I are, waiting for Ty and Katie to arrive to pick us up. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait long when they pull up in Ty’s very well kept, maroon red 2002 Jeep Liberty.
“Here they are...”
The car pulls up in front of us as both Zel and I struggle towards it, as soon as he stops, both Ty and Katie exit the car. Ty opens the boot and helps Zel with some of the bags as Katie helps me out.
"I swear I will never understand how you girls can end up with so much in one shopping trip."
Zelda glares roughly at Tyler who begins to laugh as he sets the last of the bags into the vehicle.
“Get used too it Ty...you have three women in your life...potentially a fourth. Oh and FYI, I know you’re not too keen on receiving presents...but I’ve got you one anyway...and I don’t care...”
"You know you didn't have to get me anything, I'm honestly not worth the trouble of getting gifts for."
Immediately, Zelda smacks Tyler in the side of the head.
"Just appreciate the gift she got you damn it."
Tyler smirks as he rubs his head, then flicks Zelda in the ear.
"Whatever you say, princess. At least while you two were busy, Katie and I thought of a few good ideas for the Christmas party. I have to say, Katie knows how to pop off some great suggestions."
“Yeah, but out of all of our suggestions, Tyler had the best one. Share with the group what you said, because I can’t remember exactly what you said. I was trying to find an early Christmas present to send home.”
"Oh my biggest suggestion was just playing some board games or a video game tournament. Simple yet always fun, but we are a pretty simple group so it's understandable why it's a good idea. Oh and by the way, just letting you two love birds know, if both of you are willing Zel and I would actually love to see if you guys and maybe some family would like to be flown out to Alabama to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. After all, you guys are basically family to us now, it just seems like a good idea to have family together for Thanksgiving."
“That sounds like a great idea Ty...”
The four of us then get into the car, Ty and Zel in the front and Katie and I in the back. We strap ourselves in and Tyler starts the engine.
“Oh Ty...before we head back to the hotel...can we stop somewhere first on the way...”
I pass him a piece of paper with an address on it, before sitting back, hoping that Katie doesn’t get all curious about this. Looking at the paper, Tyler looks back at me and gives a solemn smile and nod as he folds it up and sticks it in his shirt pocket.
"I think we should be fine for a quick stop there Stace."
Katie slightly cocked one eyebrow, but she seems to have thought nothing of it, for the moment at least. Zelda, however, has her curiosity get the best of her and takes the paper out of Tyler's pocket despite him trying to stop her. She unfolds it and looks at it rather oddly.
"Wait, Stace...we are going to see Tayla?"
Tyler lays his head against the steering wheel as they reach a stop sign, realizing Zelda may have started a conversation that didn't need to be made.
"I mean...are you really sure we should be going to see your ex-fiancé after everything that happened?"
"I'm sorry, but where are we going again?"
Frustratedly quizzical is the best way to describe Katie's tone asking that.
"I just need to go and talk to her about something, that's all..."
"That little piece of trash deserves no more attention from either you or I. Know why I say that? Because I thought we had moved on from this situation! I can guarantee you, Stacy, that she already has, and judging from experience, she's not going to be happy to see you one bit. Even then, if she's not completely in shock, and not crazy in anger with you, what's one of the first things you think she'll ask? 'Hey, Stace, where's that little cunt Katie?'
I stare at her in complete shock, as do both Tyler and Zelda. We look over to one another before I then turn back to my girlfriend.
"Katie, I understand your hatred for her...I really do. I know this is hard for you to hear, but even after she did what she did to me, I still loved her and I need to do this for me, because I need to finally put this part of my life behind me forever, so I can continue on with my future...with you. I'm not expecting you to understand this, but I need to do this...for myself..."
Placing my hand on top of hers, I look at her with a reassuring smile, but from her facial expression, I don't think she's okay with this still. Katie's voice had calmed, but there was still this fiery anger about her.
"You think I don't know that? I understand you loved her, you two were a cute couple. Then I signed with the company and basically hijacked your love life. I admit to that, and it wasn't the best thing to do, but damn it, look where we are now...and until about two minutes ago, not a mention of any of this Tayla business. Not one peep. I honestly thought we had just dropped this like a bad habit."
"You didn't hijack my love life Katie. Please listen to me, part of the reason why I fell into this depression was because of this whole situation with her. Part of my recovery involves sorting out these feelings head on, finally putting them where they belong in the past. This will literally only be a two minute conversation, and most of it will be me getting everything off my chest. Katie, I promise after this, I will never ever see Tayla again, nor will I ever mention her again...because after I've seen her, she will finally be nothing more than a distant memory to me, I promise!"
"You absolutely promise?"
Katie raised an eyebrow, still not entirely okay with the situation told to her. I take hold of her hands in mine and look deep into her eyes.
"I promise on the life of my children. You are the one I love, once this is over, Tayla will be dead to me forever..."
Her eyebrow dropped, and she kind of halfway smiled, not quite a smirk, but not an outright smile at all.
"That's all I needed to hear."
Her demeanour seemed a lot calmer after saying that, almost like she was herself again after becoming someone else entirely for just a moment.
"Well you don't have to wait to get this over with anymore, we are here."
Tyler puts the car in park and looks over to me with a calm and collected look.
"Do you need any of us to come in with you Stace? It's understandable that you want to keep this short and simple...but sadly these things usually don't end up that way and I don't want to see something happen that causes you to be hurt mentally or physically."
“Well I don’t want to put Zel under any unnecessary stress, and I know that if Katie came with me, she’d try and tear her throat out. I would like to do this alone, but I know that it’ll probably be best if I did have someone with me, so I guess that leaves you, Ty...”
Tyler nods and looks over to Zelda.
"Are you going to be okay sitting in here with Katie for a few minutes?"
Zelda nods back and looks over to Stacy.
"Just remember, anything negative Tayla will say, shouldn't have a lasting impact on you. We all love you here Stacy, we just want to see you finally putting the painful past behind you."
Tyler now turns his look to Katie.
"Now, you have a chance to let out anything else if you wish Katie, albeit without violence since we want this situation to get over as calmly as possible. Is there anything you want said for you or would really wish to say to Tayla to her face?"
Katie looked over to Ty and just shook her head no.
"I'd rather not go to jail tonight."
Both Ty and I exit the car, closing the doors behind us as we make our way up the walkway towards the front door. We stop outside of it and I take a deep breath in and slowly exhale. Tyler places a hand on my shoulder and gives a sincere smile.
"If you really want to do this, it's now or never. I'm right here, I won't let this get any more out of hand than it already may be. Just remember everything I told you at the hospital that night, remember how important it is for you to move past this. This isn't just for me, it's for Zelda, Katie, everyone that cares about you, and most importantly yourself."
Tyler gives me a calming hug and places his hand up ready to knock on the door.
"Are you ready Stace?"
Smiling at him, I give him a quick nod.
“I’m ready...”
He knocks three times on the door and we wait, after what feels like an eternity, the door opens and there she stands, looking at both of us in confusion.
“Tyler...Stacy...what are you two doing here?”
She looks over my shoulder at the car and spots Katie sitting in the back, who is simply just looking ahead.
“What is SHE doing here?”
She goes to head past us, but suddenly something explodes inside me and I shove her back, causing her to nearly fall over as a result.
“You touch a single hair on her body and I will break your FUCKING jaw...understand!”
Tyler immediately gets between Tayla and I, holding me back slightly and quickly glaring at me.
"Stacy, relax, we aren't here to make this violent..."
I take a step back, breathing very heavily, as Tyler looks back at Tayla.
"That goes for you too, Tayla. I'm not going to allow this to be anything more than what it is intended to be and I will promise you immediately that if you go near that vehicle where along with Katie is my pregnant wife, I will have zero problem fixing the problem myself or calling the right authorities and have this end badly for everyone. Do both of you understand?!?"
Both Tayla and I begin to say something but Tyler immediately cuts us off by pulling me in and slamming the door shut.
"Alright, glad to know we are all on the same page. Tayla, thank you for welcoming us to your home, now let's all go take a seat because it's time you two had a chat that needed to happen a long fucking time ago."
Again, before anything further is said, Tyler walks his way over to the nearby couch and sits down. I have to say it's nice Tyler is trying to take control of the situation so it doesn't get out of hand, especially considering it took me only twenty seconds to take things to an extreme already.
“Tayla...I’m just going to get straight to it...”
I take another deep breath as we both sit down.
“What you did to me was unforgivable...and over a month ago now...I...I tried to take my own life...and it was partly because the woman I loved accused me of cheating on her and walked out of my life forever...”
“Stace...I’m so sorry to hear that...”
I cut her off before she can go on any further, this is my time to speak, not hers.
“One, only the people I care about are allowed to call me that...two, I wasn’t finished talking...and three, are you really?”
She goes to speak but again, I stop her before she can say anything.
“Don’t pretend to me you didn’t know...I know you’ve been watching VoW, and you know who was there for me when that happened? Do you know who saved my life when that happened? It was Katie!”
I clench my fists, my blood is boiling right now, I just want to punch her over and over in the face, but I shouldn’t.
“You broke my heart Tayla...and Katie was there to pick up the pieces. I’m simply here to tell you that I’ve moved on with my life, and this is part of my recovery, to finally put you in the past and move on and focus on my future.”
“So you’re just here to rub it in my face?”
Did she not just fucking hear me? This is part of my recovery, I’m not the kind of person to rub something in someone’s face.
“No Tayla, I told you why I’m doing this...and I’m going to be the bigger person here and simply give you one final message. If you ever find someone who loves you as much as I once did...make sure you hold onto them and don’t you dare question them about their loyalty to you unless you have rock solid proof!”
I then stand to my feet, glaring a hole through Tayla before I turn my attention to Tyler.
“C’mon Ty...I’ve said what I’ve needed to say...goodbye Tayla...you’ll never see me again...”
Tyler looks over to Tayla very modestly.
"Trust me when I say, if she wanted to rub it in your face, you wouldn't be in one piece right now. End of the day, we wish you a great life Tayla. The best thing you can do right now, to make this all right, is to wish Stacy the same and actually mean it. You may not like this, you may not be happy with how it turned out in the end, but you need to just let it go yourself and tell that girl who put herself through the worse mental stress I've ever seen in my life mostly because of you, that you hope nothing but the best."
She looks at Ty, before looking over to me, shaking her head, she simply just points towards the door.
“You can let yourselves out...”
I let out a sharp, quick chuckle and shake my head.
“Why am I not surprised...let’s go Ty...she doesn’t give a fuck that I almost died, that just shows the kind of person she is and that her breaking up with me was the best damn thing that could have happened to me...”
As I make my way to the door, Tyler stands up and smirks a little as well.
"If that's how you feel, so be it. Again, wish you nothing but the best Tayla...but, because I'm her friend, I'll say just enjoy the view one last time. You just lost one of the most amazing girls this planet has to offer."
Tyler makes his way over to me, opening the door as I leave the house, Tyler following closely behind as he shuts the door. We make our way about halfway across the walkway before Tyler decides to speak again.
"I'm very proud of you Stacy...you really proved to be the bigger woman there."
“Well it was a good job we left when we did because I was about to jump on her and beat seven shades of shit out of her!”
We reach the car and Tyler opens the driver door as I make my way around the other side and open the door too. We both enter the car, Tyler closes the door behind him as do I, slightly harder than normal, hopefully I didn’t damage his car.
"Well that was fun. Hope we didn't take too long for you ladies."
"I don't think you did."
“Well I would really appreciate it if we just got going and not talk about what just happened. I did what I needed to do, it’s in the past now, I love Katie, I will always love her and I want too one day marr...”
I quickly stop myself from finishing my sentence. Shit! I hope I haven’t said too much, damn that bitch for getting me all flustered.
“Let’s just go, please...”
Even with being flustered, Katie hugs me around the shoulders, kisses me on the cheek, and lies her head on my right shoulder. She didn't say a word, but at this point, I don't think she needed to, her feelings were abundantly clear.