The Next Best Thing: Part II

Ten

Min

I had woken up in unfamiliar arms, in a place I didn't recognise, next to someone I despised. My clothes were still on, my shoes having been unwelcomed as they stood idle at the foot of the patio door.

I had done it.

I had officially ruined my life and it didn't make the pain go away. If at all, I felt way worse. I loved him so much - I had to do this for us. For him. I couldn't stand to see him hurt because of me, my cruel mother. He deserved much better than me. I had to make sure of that.

I stole Stephen's shirt sitting on the chair adjacent to the bed, before slipping out of his hotel room and racing out into the lobby. A cab I had called earlier drove up to entrance and I thanked the doorman for informing me of its arrival.

The long drive allowed me to reflect on what we'd had. What I'd be losing. It gave me time to go over my story, fabricated to make this painful task all the more difficult. And it gave me ample opportunity to cry, something I couldn't do in front of him. Not today.

It deposited me at the beach house I'd been calling home for the past six days. The atmosphere was tense and depressing: Zoe's emotional departure saw Mitchell remaining a grief stricken zombie, unable to function without her. He was holed up in his room everyday after she left, refusing to eat or talk to anyone.

I missed her. We all did. Had she still have been here, I probably wouldn't have done what I was about to do.

Stephen's shirt over my short, leather dress, I walked through the door, encouraging myself to go through with, no matter how hard it would be.

Lyle sat around the breakfast bar, trying to reach me. He obviously thought I'd resorted to my old ways, afraid that we were too good to be true and that I would be hurt in the long run. He was looking for me.

His hair looked disheveled, his frightened state disheartening. He looked like he'd been up all through the night - I had left him on the same stool with the same shorts on, shirtless because of the previous evening's stifling heat.

My baby was scared out of his mind, unaware that this had been my plan all along. I had the sudden urge to run up to him and pull him close, to tell him I was safe and I loved him like crazy. I loved him. I really did. That's why I was going to make him break up with me. For good this time.

"Babe? Hi," I said, wrapping my arms around his neck.

"Min! I was so worried about you!" He turned to face me: the light in his eyes dimmed immediately, his relieved expression souring.

He stood up, towering menacingly over me. Usually, it was so adorable when he hovered above me; right now however, not so much. "Min? Where were you, Min?"

"Out," I said nonchalantly, turning towards the refrigerator. I was about to cry, again. I had to cool my face.

"Out with who?" I didn't reply. "Min, who were you with?" Hush. "Min, please look at me."

He walked up to me, smelling the air around me. His disappointed expression turned to one of anger and hurt. "This isn't mine. Who's shirt is this?"

I merely shrugged acting coy, when inside my heart sunk and my throat slowly closed up. I was about to burst into tears. "Is it Stephen's?" I looked down, ignoring him. He shook me to get my attention. "Min can you face me, please? I asked if this is Stephen's."

I nodded.

"Did you sleep with him?" No reply. "Min, please tell me?" he begged, his voice breaking.

"Yes I did, okay! It's no big deal," I lied, and took a sip of the orange juice I'd grabbed from the fridge. I downed it to avoid breaking down. I had come this far. I had done my part. It was his turn now.

"No big deal?" he snorted. "Min," turning my body to face him, "I cannot believe that after what you promised me, what I promised you, you went and broke us."

He raised my face with his fingers. "Look at me. I can't believe how selfish you can be. I love you so much. I always have. But right now, I wish I never did, then it wouldn't hurt this much."

He searched my eyes for any remorse or regret - I switched off my emotions to play my callous part; I watched his heart break in front of me and I did nothing to stop it. I loved him but I watched him go. I watched him leave my life, walking out on me. He needed, deserved, something better, and that something was not me.

...

"I felt like throwing up after he left. At first I thought it was from alcohol poisoning or some of the seafood we ate for lunch that afternoon you left," she continued.

I was listening attentively, my gaze unconsciously shifting to her stomach where a baby, her baby, was growing inside of her.

"I threw up for the entire day so Rosette decided to intervene. She's the one who told me I was pregnant. I had developed a fever and I could feel my head spinning. In the back of my mind I knew I was pregnant - I just didn't want to diagnose myself since Lyle had just left me and I felt horrible."

She told me they left two days after me, the boys having left for France that same afternoon when her relationship ended.

"Are you going to tell him you're pregnant, Min?" I asked her. I thought he deserved to know, regardless of where they stood.

"Had I known I wouldn't have broken up with him. But my mom threatened me, Zoe. Lily and my dad aren't allowed to contact me. I don't have my own place to stay because they had insisted I live with them. I can't now. I won't. I lost the only guy I saw a future with and the only thing I have left is my baby and a bank account that's probably been frozen."

Min looked broken now, shedding her strong persona to reveal her vulnerability. "Min, I'm here for you. We're all here for you," I assured her with a hug. "And despite the circumstances, I'm so excited that you're having a baby."

"That's what's keeping me going right now. I am in love with him or her already and even though I'm so scared to raise this baby as a single mom, I know I'll be fine." Whenever she heard or said the word baby, she lit up and looked very happy, the brightest light in her life at the moment.

"I want to help you, Min. I want to help you take care of your child. I need something to fill my life with purpose too," I proposed.

She was reluctant, refusing to let me change my lifestyle to accommodate a baby. "I can do it alone, Z. I promise." But I wasn't about to let that happen.

Whether she liked it or not, I was going to help her out with everything and be the best godmother to my little niece or nephew. I was too emotionally attached now anyways.