You.

Chapter Five

    I feel guilt churn in my stomach as Jake talks to the lady behind the counter about the latest and best phones. He wants one with great camera quality because of the baby. That's when I hear the lady mention backing up all of the info and files from my broken phone.
    "No!" They jump a bit, slightly startled from my outburst. "I mean, no that won't be necessary. This new phone should be just that- new. A clean slate for the baby." Guilt churns harder. "Maybe a new number even, yeah?" Jake looks at me, confused. "Why? You would have to give everyone your new number, change it at work, do you really want the headache babe?" I nod my head. "Yeah. I've had that number for ages. Please?" He stares at me a moment before agreeing.
    Jake takes the phone and bag and heads in my direction. "New phone, new number, new you. Where to now?" I smile weakly.
    "I just want to go home and rest, baby. Is that okay?" He places his hand on my lower back and guides me outside into the parking lot. "Whatever you want, my love."
    I ride in the passenger seat in complete silence. I'm just lost in thought. Why was Xander calling me? Why now? My heart hurts. My head hurts. I'm completely torn. I look down at my stomach and then at the man beside me. I just want to cry. I'm a horrible, dark person. Because a tiny, bleak part of me wishes this child was fathered by another.
    We pull into our driveway and I'm relieved to see Tiffany's car in the yard. I don't see her in it though. "Well, at least we know Tiff is alive." I smile at Jake before squeezing his hand and nod my head.
    I open the unlocked front door and and take in a big whiff of the aroma coming out of the kitchen. "Tiff? What's going on? And how did you get in?" Tiffany appears while wearing my apron with a too big smile on her face.
    "Macy! Jake! Hope you guys don't mind, but I snuck Macy's spare key from the office and popped in to surprise you! Come see what I have in the kitchen for you, Jake!" I'm trying to remain calm as a twang of possessiveness hits me. This is my best friend. I'm overreacting. Stupid hormones.
    I walk into the kitchen to find quiet the spread. Of macaroni and cheese. Quiet the spread of macaroni and cheese. There's homemade macaroni and cheese. There's boxed macaroni and cheese, deli mac and cheese. I turn around and stare at her. Jake smiles politely. "What in the world, Tiffany?"
    She smirks at me a bit before answering. "Well, I figured since we have reason to celebrate I should make Jakob's favorite! And why not give him options? He shouldn't have to be stuck with the same plain macaroni all of the time. Especially since the cheese started slipping." She stares pointedly at me. I gasp. She borrowed my laptop. Had I closed the letters? The letters that were actually emails addressed to Xander that I had absolutely no intention of ever clicking "Send" on? What if I didn't? What if she saw- I gasp again. Xander called this morning. She didn't. She wouldn't.
    "Baby! Did you tell her about the baby? I thought we were going to do it together?" I watch Jake's handsome but clueless face form a small pout. I hear a clang and look up to see Tiff picking up a serving spoon she apparently dropped.
    Before she can compose herself enough to form a response I jump in. "I couldn't help it, Jake! I'm just so excited to be carrying YOUR baby." I look pointedly at Tiffany before placing my hand on Jake's chest. "Thank you so much Tiffany, I had no idea you'd be this excited! Or even excited enough to steal my house key from my desk in my office to surprise my husband with his favorite dish! MY . Oh. MY. Time for some girl talk, huh?" I hurriedly kiss Jake's cheek and grab Tiffany's wrist. I pull her away my bedroom.
    "You're pregnant? By who?" I scoff. "By Jake! Tiffany you know me better than that." She smiles cynically. "Yeah, you're right I do. I know that I took a chance on you. Invited you into MY home, MY job, MY life. And what do you do? You steal MY guy. And you never even apologized for it. Poor Jake just took one look at you and those big brown eyes and automatically took pity just like I did. You KNEW how I felt about him, but you still took him! And for what? So you could two time him with some foreign fling you had? I don't think so!"
"I've NEVER cheated on Jakob- get that through your head right now. And I also NEVER knew how you felt about him! He doesn't see you that way!" I watch hurt cross her pretty face as it reddens.
"Yes he does! Jake loves ME! Not YOU! He just never got the chance to realize it- but he's about to. As soon as I reveal your true colors!"
There's a knock on the bedroom door. Jake! "Is everything okay in there? What's going on?" I look at Tiff pleadingly. "Please. I've never cheated. Just give me a chance to explain. Please, Tiffany. You're my best friend." She smirks and says "No" before opening the door.