The Next Best Thing: Part II

Fifty-Three

Min

Lily and I hardly spoke as soon as we got back to the city. She kept a cool façade, hiding how she was feeling about pretty much anything. Her eyes were emotionless. She was hurting and she was shutting me out. I knew it had something to do with Aidan. He called her once during our trip, and come to think of it, she wasn't the same after that.

I knew this would happen. I knew somehow he'd break Lily's heart. It was inevitable. I had been there before, and it took a certain type of emotionally capable person to maintain a relationship with one of them. Hell, I was the rule. I never wore my heart on my sleeve because I knew that I'd never get it back intact. I knew Lyle would steal it otherwise.

But Lily, my little Lily Pad fell hard for big bad rock star Aidan. She was willing to do anything for him. She was ready to let him invade her space. She was willing to go the extra mile with him. He was the One.

Like I said though, Lily and I hardly spoke after he called her, so I had no idea what he said to her. I could only guess and it wasn't pretty. It wasn't anything she wanted to hear.

"Lil," I called to her one morning over breakfast, "I'm here if you want to talk, okay? Don't shut me out." It wasn't anything she wanted to hear but I meant it.

Her response: "There's a package for you in the kitchen."

A small powder pink bakery box sat on the kitchen counter, waiting patiently to be opened. Adhered to the inside of the box was a neat handwritten note, bearing the insignia of my secret admirer; I remember how much you loved these. The kids there did too, thanks to you. Happy New Year, J.

1 Month Earlier

"I'm going to pop into Trent's to see if I can't get some more pie," I told Zoe as I grabbed my coat. "And yes, I'll be safe. I have my phone on me just in case." Lately, she was watching over me at every turn, making sure that I took care of myself and my unborn baby. I appreciated her concern, I really did, but I was feeling a little smothered. She needed to loosen up. I did too.

I took my car to the only Trent's bakery in the city; there was a queue spanning almost an entire block, brave New Yorkers braving the icy winds and light drizzle for the most amazing dessert treats in Manhattan. Because I was finally showing and the weather was terrible, I was given first preference and I was allowed to jump the line. Inside, I asked my regular attendant for her best pick of the day.

"I'd get the pecan pie. It's very traditional and perfect for Thanksgiving dinner," a familiar face beside me advised in a Southern drawl. "Your guests will love it." She gave me a pretty smile that reached her eyes and with that she left, wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving.

I recognised her from something Lily had shown me recently - it was a picture of someone very similar to her leaving a restaurant in midtown with Lyle. She could have easily been his new girlfriend's doppelganger. They were both Southern belles too, and that struck me as odd.

Subconsciously, I followed her out onto the street and I caught her silhouette entering an unassuming vehicle driven by a handsome, mysterious blonde man. I didn't recognise him, not immediately, but the whole encounter bothered me. I quickly whipped out my phone and Googled the article about Lyle and his romantic night out with a new leading lady. That same picture Lily showed me popped up on the screen, and that same beautiful girl's face I'd just seen drive away with another man appeared behind Lyle's shoulder, her hand firm in his as he led her away the hounding paps.

It wasn't my place nor was it any of my business after what I'd done to him but I couldn't stand by and let him get his heart broken by a gold digging fame whore. Maybe I was overreacting, or maybe I was delusional, but I'm pretty sure I'd just seen his perfect princess drive off with none other than the notorious Justin Bieber, infamous for his many flings with many such beautiful, and taken, things.

I was already in my car, tailing unassumingly behind the Biebs in disguise chauffeuring Lyle's soon to be ex after I dug up enough dirt to bury this cheating bitch. I loved Lyle too much to see him get his heart broken by somebody else, not if I could help it. She was going to break it off with him once I confronted her and called her out for what she really was, in my delusions of course.

I didn't realise I'd followed them into a children's hospital until I was parking in the designated parking space underground a few feet away from their SUV, making sure not to raise the suspicion of Justin's sole bodyguard hovering about the couple on the sly. They were met at the basement elevators by a beaming doctor who then snuck them up to the hospital. He was doing charity work with his sides now? Very classy.

I managed to get into the hospital using the visitors entrance and I called one of my contacts from medical school. If I was going to call Southern Sally out, I needed reinforcements and nobody was better suited for this than Parisa Sowlaty, currently doing her paediatric residency at the facility.

"Min, do you really want to do this? Are you sure you won't regret it?" she asked as she snuck me into the terminal illnesses ward, where Justin was visiting. "I could get fired for this."

"Par, you won't lose your job," I assured her. "I just need a few minutes to talk to her and I'll be out, I promise."

I was led into an intimate gathering of all the infant patients, their attending physicians and a few nurses all visibly excited by the surprise visit. In the front of the room, Justin was perched on a stool spreading infectious holiday cheer, belting out Christmas carols with the chirpy little kids joining in whilst they devoured delicious looking cupcakes being handed out by Lyle's girlfriend and his bodyguard.

She spotted me from across the room and a look of recognition flashed across her eyes, which was immediately replaced by a knowing smile. Dammit! She closed the short distance between us, her long legs striding confidently up to me. "You're Min, aren't you?" she said as more of a statement than a question.

"Yes," I answered boldly, holding my own in the height division. I was a few inches taller than her, an advantage I thought made me more menacing. It didn't.

"I'm Kai. But you probably know that since you know who I work for and you're Lyle's ex." Her voice, surprisingly and annoyingly enough, was genuine. Argh!

"Wait, you work for him?" I thought aloud. Dammit, again.

"Yes ma'am. I made those cupcakes for him," Kai clarified.

"Why were you at Trent's then if you're his pastry chef?" Min, shut up. You are digging yourself a deeper grave, my subconscious advised. Just stop asking anymore questions. Clearly she's not like that.

"Not that it is any of your business, but I was actually filling out a job application. I was only hired by Mr. Bieber temporarily. He arranged an interview with the bakery for me."

It wasn't any of my business and I had just made the biggest fool of myself in front of my most revered enemy who I apparently had no reason to take down. And if I was honest to myself, I had no reason to hate.

"I respect you because you're carrying his baby," she whispered conspiratorially, "and I get that you're trying to look out for Lyle. But you don't have anything to worry about." Kai revealed her pearly whites in another pretty smile as she offered me a cupcake. And God was it amazing!

"What are you ladies whispering about?" a deep voice asked from behind us. We both turned to see Justin watching us, amused. He'd finished his set and he was now making his rounds around the floor, making polite conversation with everyone in attendance. "Kai, who's your glowing friend?"

"This... is Min," Kai introduced theatrically. "She loves the cupcakes. I told you cupcakes were better than cookies."

"Yes, she did," he responded with a laugh, addressing me. "Happy Thanksgiving, Min."

We talked a bit longer about his annual visits to a number of these different institutions early in the holiday period and I suggested a few other places he could visit, including one of the children hospitals my father was a head of. "The kids there would appreciate this very much," I finished. We exchanged further information regarding the charity and I left Kai with a hug, to which she handed me a box of her cupcakes to take home.

"Happy holidays."